Category Archives: reviews

Murder in the Cathedral is a short play by T.S. Eliot dramatizes the murder (and martyrdom) of Thomas Beckett, former archbishop of Canterbury. Having studied that period of church history during my college career, I found the play well done, … Continue reading →

Anne is the series I am going to attempt to read in 2009. Unlike the Chronicles of Narnia last year and Harry Potter the year before, I haven’t read most of the Anne books, but I am looking forward to … Continue reading →

Boomtown is a fun story, overall. Zany and goofy characters and plot twists abound, and in general I like that in a book. It may be a tad too colorful and crazy, but I can forgive that. Clearly, the author … Continue reading →

This novel is simple, but the descriptions are lush and realistic, the characters interesting, the setting unique for a classic. The balance between the male narrator and female subject worked well for Cather. I tend to read more Southern and … Continue reading →

About 3 or 4 of the books I read every year are actually unabridged audio books we listen to on road trips. The night before we left for North Carolina, I made a whirlwind trip to the library with the … Continue reading →

Kristin Lavransdatter I: The Wreath by Sigrid Undset A classic coming of age story that everyone should read. Kristin’s struggles with sin and relationships are portrayed with beauty and grace in this lovely historical novel. It was well translated and … Continue reading →

Held together by rusty paper clips and hidden in a trunk, the manuscript of The Moon Shines Down by Margaret Wise Brown was forgotten for decades. Unexpectedly discovered in a Vermont barn, the book was recently introduced to the world … Continue reading →

The Faith of Barack Obama by Stephen Mansfield is one of a host of books that hit the market in this election season, capitalizing on this year’s fascinating candidates. Mansfield has been a prolific writer in the last decade, writing … Continue reading →

We moved, so the reading was light. Looking for Alaska by John Green I liked this book, I really liked this book, even. Part of its allure for me was its semi-autobigraphical nature, and the fact that as a local, … Continue reading →

American Pastoral by Philip Roth This is one of the best modern novels I’ve read, hands down. It captures the human experience breathlessly with a great story written exceptionally well. Heartbreaking, yet enjoyable, beautiful, yet full of despair. It does … Continue reading →

Silence is a novel set in 17th century Japan.  The feudal system in Japan had welcomed missionaries for a few decades but had turned against the Christians, both foreign and Japanese, at that time.  The narrator is a missionary priest … Continue reading →