What Are You Reading?

[Tindomiel]

Why is this unpinned?

[phatcatholic]

i dunno, it was gettin kinda cluttered and i wanted to pin the thread on the liturgy.

btw, i just finished Ralph McInerny's "What Went Wrong with Vatican II: The Catholic Crisis Explained." it was a fast read, but very good

[Fides_et_Ratio]

[quote name='Tindomiel' post='985873' date='May 20 2006, 11:58 AM']
I read some excerpts from that and found it rather generally depressing.
[/quote]

St. John of the Cross is far from depressing. He's wonderful! It definitely takes a lot of thought, understanding, and context (which is radically important in reading him, I think).

[journeyman]

I'm about to start "This is Our Faith" A Catholic Catechism for Adults . . . Michael Pennock

[Fulton Sheen Warrior]

+JMJ+

[u][i]The Letters of St. Paul (Navarre Commentary) [/i] [/u]

[u][i]The Imitation of Christ[/i][/u]

[u][i]The Priest is Not His Own[/i]- [/u] Archbishop Fulton Sheen

[i][u]MARY: The Church at the Scource[/u][/i]- Hans Urs von Balthsaar/Cardinal Ratzinger

-My personal favourite (besides the Bible of course)-

[u][i]The Confessions of St. Augustine[/i][/u]

[Victor]

[u][b]The Divine Primacy Of The Bishop of Rome And Modern Eastern Orthodoxy[/b][/u]

[b]By:[/b] James Likoudis

[Lil Red]

[quote name='Tindomiel' post='985281' date='May 19 2006, 11:39 AM'][quote name='Lil Red' post='984467' date='May 18 2006, 10:18 AM'][u]Letters to a Young Catholic[/u] by George Weigel[/quote]Let me know how this one is... I've been thinking about ordering it.[/quote]well, it's number #5 on the reading list (i have four books i'm going to read before it) so it might be awhile. course my hubby is out of town most of the summer so i have nothing better to do!

[quote name='phatcatholic' post='985884' date='May 20 2006, 10:24 AM']what is Hitler's Niece about?[/quote]here's the synopsis from amazon: [quote][i]Hitler's Niece offers the unforgettable spectacle of a tyrant in love: kneeling, shouting, groveling, sputtering with rage, posing naked for his lover with fists clenched and stomach sucked in--and that's leaving out the dog whip and jackboots. The unfortunate victim of these attentions is Angelika Raubal, daughter of Hitler's half-sister, and the only one in his circle who dares to stand up to him. "What a good game: Who's not frightened of Adolf Hitler?" Geli's friend Henny playfully asks. No one, as it turns out, but Geli--the one who should be most afraid.

Ron Hansen's tale begins with the most gemütlichkeit family gathering imaginable: a Sunday-afternoon party celebrating the infant Geli's baptism, with a pale, peevish, and hungry young Adolph as one of the guests. Geli's father Leo teases the would-be painter ("Rembrandt's only rival!"), the Monsignor needles him about his ancestry, and finally Hitler leaves in a huff. This is, truly, a new view of der führer--the 20th century's greatest villain as the embarrassing relative you don't want to talk to at reunions. By the time Geli has reached her teens, however, the tables have turned. Her father is dead, her mother is an impoverished widow, and Hitler has begun his meteoric rise to power. Geli herself is no intellectual, much less interested in politics, but she's a fun-loving, good-looking girl who captivates the Nazi inner circle even though she speaks her mind more often than she should. At first, her uncle seems like a savior, sending Geli off to university and showering gifts on his "Princess." As the infatuation deepens, however, Hitler's grip tightens, until what began with a family party ends 23 years later with a gunshot.

The basic outlines of this story are true--or at least rumored to be true--and although Geli's 1931 death was officially ruled a suicide, Hansen describes a quite plausible version of events. But the real enigma here is not who killed Geli Raubal; it is Hitler himself. How did he manage to seduce her? How did he manage to seduce an entire people? In a way, Ron Hansen's novels are all mysteries: solving the murder of a prodigal son, as in Atticus, or approaching the miracle of faith, as in Mariette in Ecstasy. He is preoccupied with the big questions, and in Hitler's Niece, that big question is none other than evil.

In this case, evil wears an ordinary human face. The novel's Hitler, much like the real one, is lazy, vain, jealous, and cowardly. In his relations with other people, "he shoots for love, but the arrow falls, and he only hits sentimentality," as his sister puts it. His looks are far from impressive; until Geli sees him speak in public, he seems "wary, officious, and ordinary, like a concierge in a hotel that had fallen on hard times." But what Hitler has is the most powerful seduction tool of all: the ability to inspire fear. By the time his niece has learned to fear rather than to pity him, it is too late--for her, and for the German people. In this heartbreaking portrait of aggression and complacency, Hansen has created a Hitler all the more frightening for how much he looks like us. --Mary Park [/i][/quote]
[quote name='phatcatholic' post='986482' date='May 21 2006, 12:10 PM']btw, i just finished Ralph McInerny's "What Went Wrong with Vatican II: The Catholic Crisis Explained." it was a fast read, but very good [/quote] that sounds good!
[quote name='Fulton Sheen Warrior' post='986510' date='May 21 2006, 01:13 PM']+JMJ+
-My personal favourite (besides the Bible of course)-
[u][i]The Confessions of St. Augustine[/i][/u][/quote]that's number 4 on my reading list :

[kateri05]

oooh oooh!! Red, when you're done with that book can i borrow it? i hit my limit of buying books without my husband yelling at me :

also, that hitler book sounds really interesting: is it a novel or historical?

[Lil Red]

[quote name='kateri05' post='987084' date='May 22 2006, 10:23 AM']
oooh oooh!! Red, when you're done with that book can i borrow it? i hit my limit of buying books without my husband yelling at me :

also, that hitler book sounds really interesting: is it a novel or historical?
[/quote][u]Hitler's Niece[/u] is a novel

what's the book you want to borrow?

[kateri05]

ummm.... both? (oh the hitler and the letters to a young catholic books )

nah, im jk, by the time i pay shipping, i might as well have bought the books! :

[Kristen]

Orthodoxy by Chesterton

[Lil Red]

[quote name='kateri05' post='987336' date='May 22 2006, 03:24 PM']
ummm.... both? (oh the hitler and the letters to a young catholic books )

nah, im jk, by the time i pay shipping, i might as well have bought the books! :
[/quote]
i bought both from bookcloseouts.com for very cheap. check them out! :

[XIX]

Teen/College Catechism, by Fr. McBride
Christian Courtship in an Oversexed World: A Catholic Perspective, by Fr. T. G. Morrow
I Ask St. Philomena, by...I forget whom

[brandelynmarie]

[i]Sophia House[/i] by Micheal O'Brien

Writings of Maria Valtora (I consider this devotional reading...) I forget the title...

[i]To Heaven With Diana[/i]...it's a reprint available from the Summit Dominicans...


[i]Cooking With the Saints[/i]...pretty paintings of the saints with a page each talking about them & their feast day...the recipes tend to be fancy & rich...(think lotsa cream)

there's one more I may have to mention later....I can't think of it....

I'm always happy if I have several books going on at once...

[Tindomiel]

[i]He Leadeth Me[/i] by Fr. Ciszek

[i]Rome Sweet Home[/i]

[i]Knowledge and Faith[/i] by St. Edith Stein

[i]The Essantial Aquinas[/i] and the Council of Trent documents.