Witness by Whittaker Chambers. There is always next year! “The Great Khan showed he holds that Christian faith for the truer and better because he says it commands nothing that is not full of goodness and holiness,” wrote Marco Polo. Top of the list of books I’ve relished in 2018 is George Weigel’s collection of topical essays, The Fragility of Order, a deeply readable comment on a range of current issues—much recommended. This book contains a brilliant introductory essay by Cardinal Müller and many perceptive insights by Prof. Buttiglione. The Great Adventure Catholic Bible by Jeff Cavins (Ascension Press, 2018). Other works in psychoanalysis this year included Todd McGowan’s utterly compelling Enjoying What We Don’t Have: The Political Project of Psychoanalysis. Marmion is an excellent spiritual writer who truly knows Jesus. Absolutely fantastic. Theology and Sanity by Frank Sheed. His gift was fire to one who was in the dark, battered by wind and cold. 2 (Hildebrand Press, 2018), Peter Kreeft, The Platonic Tradition (St. Augustine’s Press, 2018), Christopher S. Morrissey, The Way of Logic (Nanjing Normal University Press, 2018), Josef Pieper, Don’t Worry about Socrates: Three Plays for Television (St. Augustine’s Press, 2018), Donald Robinson, Stoicism and the Art of Happiness: Practical Wisdom for Everyday Life, Second Edition (McGraw-Hill, 2018), Roger Scruton, Conservatism: An Invitation to the Great Tradition (St. Martin’s Press, 2018), Roger Scruton, Music as an Art (Bloomsbury Continuum, 2018), Roger Scruton, Souls in the Twilight (Beaufort Books, 2018), John Sellars, Hellenistic Philosophy (Oxford University Press, 2018), Seneca translated by James S. Romm, How to Die: An Ancient Guide to the End of Life (Princeton University Press, 2018), Timothy Snyder, The Road to Unfreedom: Russia, Europe, America (Tim Duggan Books, 2018), Gregory Allan Thornbury, Why Should the Devil Have All the Good Music? You don’t need to have your own chapel in your house (yes, both these ladies have their own chapels in their houses) to find inspiration and encouragement in these books. There are tales of intrigue and espionage; conspiracy theories […]. They have gone to great lengths to make her life and works known again. For my take on Thoreau, you can read my piece on him over at the Wall Street Journal. The Bizarro Book Award goes to Czeslaw Milosz’s The Mountain of Parnassus. Last and least on the year’s favorite booklist was Ray Bradbury’s Fahrenheit 451 (1951). This presentation of Ratzinger/Benedict’s many insights into the theological crises of our times is a virtuoso performance. Professor of Moral and Pastoral Theology at the University of Oxford (1949-1971) and a leading member of the Christendom movement within Anglicanism. This book is worth reading if only for a serious textual snapshot––other than a YouTube clip––of the man who in my estimation has done more to light an existential spark in people than the entire “new evangelization” industry of the Church. Am reading the sequel now…. Simply by his commitment to tell no lies, to give it to people raw, and thus his uncanny ability to bear witness to something real and existential “for which I can live and die,” as Kierkegaard would say. Recently, I came across The Bookman’s Manual: A Guide to Literature by Bessie Graham, published in 1921. Thomas M. Doran is the author of the Tolkien-inspired Toward the Gleam and its 2018 sequel The Lucifer Ego. Trying to explain to someone why I like The Lord, I called it “the work of a brilliant mind reflecting on Christ from the standpoint of profound faith.” I recommend it highly as spiritual reading. Harper’s excellent historical analysis of the transition from ancient Roman to Christian sexual norms (often in eye-opening detail) sheds fresh scholarly light on the irrepressible newness of early Christian treatment of sex. There haven’t been many days since I finished this book last spring in which some image or scene or line of dialogue hasn’t come to my mind. Back in January, Jordan Teti in Los Angeles gave me a copy of Co-Workers of the Truth: Meditations for Every Day of the Year. For the first I dwelt particularly on a new book published in Italy in 2016: Karol Wojtyla e Humanae Vitae by Fr. Seth Abramson, Proof of Collusion: How Trump Betrayed America (Simon & Schuster, 2018), Robert Alter, The Hebrew Bible: A Translation with Commentary (W.W. Norton, 2018), Robert Arp, Steven Barbone, and Michael Bruce (eds. But how are we each called to live out that discipleship? I recently had the opportunity to meet Obianuju at a pro-life talk at Georgetown University, and you would do well to consider the implications of her book as they relate to the future of Africa, all of humanity, and the Catholic Church (those three should just about cover it). I’m always on the lookout for great Catholic children’s books. By thirteen, he concluded there was no God. Philosophers and Philosophies by Frederick Copleston. Did Jesus Really Rise from the Dead? Why did I wait so long? And secondly, there is continual praise for the growing Chinese economy and its aim towards prosperity, while still being a Communist country. My healing began with Catholic treatments of the book from writers like Scott Hahn and I’m pleased to announce a full recovery after reading the good monsignor’s offering. Besides the fact that Frank Sheed is the author, Karl Keating endorsed it, so you know it’s solid. Don’t miss it. It is wonderful to be led by a great teacher. 1. Joshua Hedley’s Mr. Jukebox. Tracey Rowland holds the St. John Paul II Chair of Theology at the University of Notre Dame (Australia) and is the author of several books. It is also effective. In all, the book is both a great primer for the study of sacramental theology, not to mention a great apologetical handbook. It…. Gloria Falcão Dodd, 2012. The book is proving a soothing balm during these most chaotic of times both within the Church and our culture at large. It is also pleasing to use and handle: attractive illustrations, a good layout—even the village map is charming as well as useful. Romano Guardini was a leading Catholic theologian of the years before Vatican Council II. John Bew’s Clement Atlee: The Man Who Made Modern Britain is fascinating, showing many charming characteristics of a vastly under-rated figure overshadowed by Churchill. Rebel in the Ranks by Brad Gregory. How many of us pull that off today? Sign up to receive an email each Monday with orthodox Catholic books and ebooks discounted 50-100% off. The novel tells the story of one day in the life of Adam Appleby, a struggling literature graduate student. The single best book I read this year was The Buried Giant, by Kazuo Ishiguro. These are one-page per day selections from the writings and speeches of Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger. Molly McBride is planning her birthday party, and everyone is invited. Notable both for its unusual setting (a tiny community in the English Channel recovering from World War II) and its uncommon format (an epistolary novel, written as a series of letters), the story looks lovingly at the joy to be found in closely-knit small communities and the beauty of letter-writing relationships. Timothy J. Gordon resides in central California with his wife and five children, where he writes and teaches philosophy and theology. Open the doors and go about doing what the church is suppose to be doing. Love and Responsibility also offers advice on how to build a successful relationship and marriage based on friendship and affection that can outlast the point when it seems that “love fades,” to quote one of my favorite movies, Annie Hall. “To advance the useful arts is one thing,” Newman writes, “and to cultivate the mind is another.”. This is a well-researched and well-written biography of the Franciscan Sor María of Ágreda (1602–1665), the author of the Mystical City of God. Although the subject matter is dense and the chapter titles a little ‘scary’, Schindler does manage to present his analysis in language that is much clearer than is commonly encountered in academic books on German idealism. What do you get when you combine a neurotic graduate student, the Church’s teaching on contraception, and academic politics? Fairbairn, a Scottish psychoanalyst significantly motivated by his Christian faith. This is a deceptively simple book. Playing by Heart is a historical romance that takes place during Baroque era Italy. Even though the novel takes place in the Baroque Era, it reminds me of a Jane Austen novel with all the social climbing, beautiful settings, and the preoccupation with making a good marriage. Gustavo Gutierrez A Theology of Liberation. This book was also a nominee for the Dragon Award, a feat in and of itself for Indie & Catholic book. Intellectual rigor is matched with love for the subject and with an elegance in expression which can only be the fruit of the high culture of the Incarnation in its middle-European embodiment. That is especially the case in a year filled with so much bad news that when we hear the word “news” we instinctively think, “It must be bad!”. Most of them are available in fine readings on Audible. Then by all means, do. 1) Spiritual Memoir – The Seven Storey Mountain by Thomas Merton. The two Angels, both broken in various ways, and their siblings, spouses, and children, embody all the varied layers of immigrant experience and the almost unimaginable distance between the struggle and poverty in Mexico half a century before and the present day, surrounded by English-only speaking, smartphone-wielding grandchildren. argues that the typically post-modern mentality of, wanting to keep all options open, of avoiding irrevocable choices, is hubristic. Kampowski argues that the typically post-modern mentality of wanting to keep all options open, of avoiding irrevocable choices, is hubristic. With the crises of Church and State gaping their ugly maws, I decided to do a lot of pleasure reading this year. The family of Gonxhe Bojaxhiu, the millennials enjoyed them the London of more s! Exegetical writing John Henry Newman credited Scott for promoting enthusiasm for the Dragon Award for best novel! 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