Author: Deacon Nick

The Bookworm by Carl Spitzweg

Books and Reading

101 Essential Web Sites for Readers of Literature

(Updated May 5, 2007) You’ve heard the saying, “So many books, so little time.” It’s also true of book resources on the internet: “So many websites, so little time.” To help you navigate through them all I’ve put together this list of essential web resources for readers. This list reflects my own tastes, so no doubt I’ve left some of your favorites off the list, or put some on that you find fault with. Leave a comment and tell me where I’ve done you wrong, or tell me...

Books and Reading

How to Mark a Book

One of the most important skills in reading well is marking the text. Mortimer Adler gives an excellent introduction to writing in books in his essay “How to Mark a Book.” Here are a few quotes, followed by my thoughts: You know you have to read “between the lines” to get the most out of anything. I want to persuade you to do something equally important in the course of your reading. I want to persuade you to write between the lines. Unless you do, you are not...

War and Peace Naxos Audiobook

Books and Reading

Ever Wonder How Audio Books Were Recorded?

Naxos Audiobooks has released a video trailer of Neville Jason recording War and Peace. It’s fascinating to watch him act out the book as he reads. I never realized that audio book narrators actually read from books. I always thought the book was made into a script before recording. But you can see for yourself that he’s using a hardcover copy of the book, and has even dog-eared some of the pages: I read War and Peace once, but I have to admit that I went through the...

Practice of the Presence of God

Books and Reading / Spirituality

9 Short Books That Will Change Your Life Forever

A book doesn’t have to be long to have long-reaching effects. Here are 9 books that can profoundly change you, in order from shortest to longest: The Practice of the Presence of God – Brother Lawrence (96 pp.): Brother Lawrence was a humble monk who cooked for the monastery, but found God in the daily chores of his life. This book contains the lessons he learned about experiencing God’s presence throughout his entire day. The Rule of St. Benedict (112 pp.): St. Benedict wrote this to regulate the...

Don Quixote and Sancho Panza

Books and Reading / Humor

Do You Recognize the 7 Early Signs of Manchegan Madness?

One of the biggest risks facing readers today is the danger of falling prey to Manchegan Madness. Manchegan Madness is an obsessive compulsive desire to act out the events of a fictional story and/or become a fictional character. The first known manifestation of Manchegan Madness was documented by Miguel de Cervantes in Don Quixote. If you are a habitual reader, you should learn to recognize these early signs of the onset of the disease: Naming your pets after literary characters: Our dog’s name is Pippin, and we constantly...

Sailing

Books and Reading / Poetry

An Irish Poem for St. Patrick’s Day

A beautiful poem from an Irish poet for this St. Patrick’s Day: Sailing to Byzantium by William Butler Yeats THAT is no country for old men. The young In one another’s arms, birds in the trees – Those dying generations – at their song, The salmon-falls, the mackerel-crowded seas, Fish, flesh, or fowl, commend all summer long Whatever is begotten, born, and dies. Caught in that sensual music all neglect Monuments of unageing intellect. An aged man is but a paltry thing, A tattered coat upon a stick,...

The Vicar of Wakefield

Books and Reading

10 Famous Irish Authors

In honor of St. Patrick’s Day tomorrow, here is a list of 10 Irish authors and their most famous works: Samuel Beckett – Waiting for Godot Oliver Goldsmith – The Vicar of Wakefield Seamus Heaney – Beowulf (as translator) James Joyce – Ulysses George Bernard Shaw – Pygmalion Laurence Sterne – The Life and Opinions of Tristram Shandy, Gentleman Bram Stoker – Dracula Jonathan Swift – Gulliver’s Travels Oscar Wilde – The Picture of Dorian Gray William Butler Yeats – Collected Poems I can’t comment on too many...

Jacques Futrelle

Book Review / Books and Reading / Teaching

The Thinking Machine

I’m currently reading “The Problem of Cell 13” by Jacques Futrelle to my eighth grade students. Futrelle is probably the best mystery writer you’ve never heard of. He could have been the next Arthur Conan Doyle except for one tragic event in his life: he bought a ticket to sail on the Titanic. He and his wife were in Europe and decided to return to American on the Titanic, cutting their vacation short. When the ship began sinking his wife May boarded a lifeboat and survived, but Futrelle...

Flanders Field

Books and Reading / Poetry / Technology

In Flanders Field

I’m experimenting with Windows Movie Maker and have created this video illustrating John McCrae’s “In Flanders Fields.” The audio comes from Librivox.org and the photos come from the Wikimedia Commons Project. Let me know what you think.

The Best Old Movies for Families

Book Review / Books and Reading / Family / Movies

The Best Old Movies for Families

I was browsing through Borders Books the other day and came across a new book called The Best Old Movies for Families: A Guide to Watching Together by Ty Burr. Old movies are an interest of mine, and I have struggled with trying to get my kids to watch them, so I picked this book up hoping to get some help. Burr, the film critic for The Boston Globe, does a great job listing movies from the golden age of cinema that kids of different ages will appreciate....

The Words We Pray

Books and Reading / Catholic Education / Spirituality / Theology

10 Best Books for New Catholics

Do you know someone who is joining the Catholic Church this Easter? Maybe you’re enrolled in RCIA classes yourself. The following books are what I consider to be the best books for newcomers to the Catholic Church, and would be especially appropriate to read during Lent, as preparation for Easter Vigil (assuming one already has a Bible). With exception of the first two titles, they are not listed in any particular order: The Catechism of the Catholic Church: next to the Bible, probably the most indispensable book for...

La Belle Dame Sans Merci

Books and Reading / Poetry

A Thing of Beauty Is a Joy Forever

Today is the anniversary of the death of John Keats, one of the major poets of the Romantic era. He died of tuberculosis on this day in 1821 at the age of 25. In his brief life he wrote several poems that are considered major works in English literature such as “La Belle Dame Sans Merci,” “Ode on a Grecian Urn,” “Ode to Psyche,” and “Endymion.” Here is one of my favorites: On First Looking into Chapman’s Homer Much have I travel’d in the realms of gold, And...