Magnificat Press was a family-run Christian (not exclusively Catholic) book publisher that lasted from 1986 till 1991. I looked at the website for the Magnificat Missal and couldn’t figure out the company name. Maybe they stole our name. That’s a sin. Just kidding! And I was a reader long before I worked in book publishing. And back around 1975 our TV broke, and we didn’t miss it, so for most of the time since then we haven’t had one.
1 Like
That’s the publisher I’m talking about. Their monthly missal has a lot of extra info and prayer help. Top notch stuff
“Magnificat meets every need of your spiritual life.” That’s a lot to promise!
A lot of parishes have their monthly missal on hand. If you can find one I’d give it a try. I know someone who saves all the covers for the artwork.
I just got “Counterfeit Christs: Finding the Real Jesus Among the Impostors” by Trent Horn for Father’s Day.
Looking at the table of contents and the cover, I’m super excited to read it.
1 Like
Thanks for the tips. I like you have more than one going at the same time.
I reading The Gospel of John, the word became flesh by Wlm. Anderson, DMin, PhD n No Regrets, Mathew Kelly.
1 Like
The Great Story of Israel- Election,Freedom,Holiness by Robert Barron
I’ve been taking a hiatus from the internet and decided to visit the two public libraries near me. Of course they’re full of “pride” crap right now but I read in an article that through taxes you give your local public library around $7.50 a month, so I might as well use it for not so free books. I also just got novels because my mind needs a break from the real world in general.
Already read:
The picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde - amazing book. Embraced by Catholics as a tale that outlines the downfalls of pride and self worship. Sad that mass media thinks it’s a gay tale, which is actually damaging to the “gay community” if you actually read the book.
Fall Back Down When I Die by Joe Wilkins - I absolutely loved this book. Its so satisfying to have a strong male and father figure in a book. Also takes place in rural Montana which I love.
The Blood Of Heaven by Kent Wascom - I wanted a violent book but this one is a bit dumb and feels like a power fantasy. Has historical relevance, taking place in Spanish occupied Louisiana and Florida in the early 1800’s with historical figures playing a role in the imaginary character’s life. Nicely outlines the downfalls of Baptist Sola scriptura thinking if you read between the lines. Read with caution.
As Good As Gone by Larry Watson - Haven’t finished yet but will today after work. Liking it so far but oh my it moves so slow. Again a fan of the strong male figure presented and is similar to Fall Back Down When I Die except takes place in 1960’s Montana. The Lutheran main character being so uncomfortable talking to a Nun at a Catholic hospital while asking very basic questions on salvation made me giggle.
I’ll sprinkle in a Catholic book soon. Probably A Family of Saints by Fr. Joseph Piat. Just need to unwind my mind first. I don’t like reading theology books with a clouded mind because then I tend to forget them.
1 Like
I just finished Let Beauty Speak, by Jimmy Mitchell. He lists 10 principles for living a beautiful life, such as Mission, Suffering, Community, Prayer, etc. My favorite part of the book was his “For Further Reading” section after each chapter. Some really good resources.
I’m also making my way through The Fellowship: The Literary Lives of the Inklings by Philip and Carol Zaleski. They have a wonderful writing style and this is the best book I’ve read on the Inklings. It’s long but very clear and enjoyable.
1 Like
I reread The Picture of Dorian Gray last year. The picture’s “gold would wither into gray. Its red and white roses would die. For every sin that he committed, a stain would wreck and fleck its fairness. The picture … would be to him the visible emblem of conscience.” Dorian Gray was dissolute, but he wasn’t proud of it.
He wasn’t proud of being immoral, but his pride is what caused him to be immoral in the first place. Him knowing his outward appearance never changing no matter what he did, making him seek company with the highest class people, along with the amassing of the finest physical goods (including an expensive toilet seat), along with his rejection of Sibyl due to her showing imperfections he did not approve of, him murdering Basil after he confronts him about his behavior, and then his ultimate suicide when he sees how terrible the painting had become showing how he is on the inside are all examples of his pride in action.
Now I’m reading Pilgrimage and Exile: Mother Marianne of Moloka’i by Sister Mary Lawrence Hanley and O. A. Bushnell, about the life of Saint Marianne Cope. I plan to post a review of it on my website by and by.
Just finished Crucified Rabbi by Taylor Marshall
2 Likes
I added my review of Pilgrimage and Exile to my website for anyone who is interested. All my other book reviews I have are on the same web page. The subjects tend toward homeland security topics because I once wrote for and copy edited a homeland security journal and newsletter and had permission to reproduce my articles and reviews on my website. But there are books on other subjects too.
1 Like
I’m reading The Fighting at Jutland, about the naval battle in the North Sea in 1916, written by people who were there. And I just finished Come, Walk With Me Thru the Needle’s Eye, about a Christian counseling center in Youngstown, Ohio, that was formed to assist drug addicts and work to prevent drug addiction.
1 Like
What’s everyone reading right now?
The Imperial Japanese Navy (1904) by Fred T. Jane. I’m interested in naval history, and it was on Project Gutenberg, where everything is free. I didn’t expect it to be so interesting, but it is. I expected a reference book, but it has history too, including one sad blunder (a Chinese ship was out of control and steering toward some Japanese ships) that provoked an unintended battle. Jane authored the reference series Jane’s Fighting Ships, which is still published today.
1 Like
I see that the previous post in this thread was also by me. Since then, I’ve read more than 50 books—about one per week. I keep a log of books I’ve read, sometimes with extensive notes, other times with cursory ones. Occasionally I make the notes into a review that I post on my website at Book and Movie Reviews by Steve Dunham.
I had read all the Jeeves and Wooster books by P.G. Wodehouse that I could find, and in the past year I looked on Project Gutenberg (https://www.gutenberg.org/) to see what other books of his I could find. I found a lot; some were so-so, some very good. Money for Nothing , although uneven, was funny, and I especially liked the character Emily (a dog) who thinks human thoughts and speaks them, but people hear her words as barks.
A few times a year I browse Project Gutenberg to see what’s new and download anything that looks interesting.
Some of the other books I read:
The Brothers Karamazov by Fyodor Dostoyevsky. I had heard that Dostoyevsky wrote that if there is no God, then nothing is forbidden, and that this is in The Brothers Karamazov. Yes, one of the characters says it several times. I was supposed to read this book in high school, and I got around to it more than 50 years late.
Friars and Filipinos (an abridged English translation by Frank Ernest Gannett of Noli Me Tangere by José Rizal). Rizal is the national hero of the Philippines, and my wife is a Filipina, so I read this book to learn more about the history of the Philippines.
Incredible Victory by Walter Lord, about the Battle of Midway in World War II. Like Lord’s other books, such as A Night to Remember (about the Titanic ), this is readable history, much of it told through the words of people who were there.
Candide by Voltaire—the Old School Freight Train (a “newgrass” band) had a song called “Doctor Pangloss” but it was only music, no words. When I learned that Doctor Pangloss is a character in Candide, I read the book out of curiosity. It’s a satire, but I didn’t find it funny.
Metropolis by Thea von Harbou. I had seen the classic (though weird) silent movie Metropolis (caution: it has some brief lewd scenes to illustrate depravity). I didn’t know there was a book; actually it was written as a proposal for a movie, and the author wrote the subsequent screenplay.
Blind Descent by Brian Dickinson, about getting down Mt. Everest alone while snowblind.
The Making of the Modern Philippines: Pieces of a Jigsaw State by Philip Bowring. I read a review praising this book, but the work is poorly edited and has a lot of statements with no source cited.
East of the Sun by Rebecca Price Janney—a new book by a friend. It’s a Christian historical novel, kind of heavy on romance.
The Diary of a Young Girl by Anne Frank, who was in hiding during the Holocaust but was captured and killed. This edition included every bit of her diary, and although she had hoped to write a book based on it after the war, there are bits about her developing sexuality that maybe weren’t intended for publication; I think the editors should have given her some privacy.
Erewhon by Samuel Butler—a satire on life in the late 1800s. Erewhon is an anagram of nowhere. I thought it was pretty good.
1 Like
That “Doublespeak” book by William Lutz looks interesting. I remember the term being popularized in George Orwell’s “1984.”
I’m reading the following books:
- The Gospel as Revealed to Me, or The Poem of the Man-God
- The Notebooks: 1943
- The Notebooks: 1944
- The Notebooks: 1945-1950
- The Little Notebooks
- The Book of Azariah
- Lessons on the Epistle of St. Paul to the Romans