One Catholic Life Blog

Monument Valley

Books and Reading

Wild Wild West Reading Challenge 2018

As I was looking at my TBR pile I noticed I have quite a few unread westerns. I started looking around for a reading challenge that focused on the American West, but I came up empty. I checked three lists of 2017 challenges from Feed Your Fiction, Girlxoxo, and Xxertz, and aside from a few choose-your-own-genre challenges, I didn’t see any that were specifically aimed at reading westerns. So, I thought, why not create my own challenge for next year? Thus, the Wild Wild West 2018 Reading Challenge...

Spiritual Reading Recommendations

Books and Reading / Spirituality

Nonfiction November 2017 Week 3: Be the Expert – Spiritual Reading

This week for Nonfiction November 2017, Kim at Sophisticated Dorkiness invites readers to either Be the Expert, Ask the Expert, or Become the Expert: Three ways to join in this week! You can either share 3 or more books on a single topic that you have read and can recommend (be the expert), you can put the call out for good nonfiction on a specific topic that you have been dying to read (ask the expert), or you can create your own list of books on a topic...

Les Miserables Read-along Logo

Books and Reading / Chapter-a-Day Read-Along

Announcing the Les Misérables Chapter-a-Day Read-along

This is the official sign-up post for the Les Misérables Chapter-a-Day Read-along. Please join me in spending the next year reading one of the great works of world literature, Les Misérables by Victor Hugo. If you’ve always wanted to read the unabridged edition of Les Misérables, this is your opportunity. Maybe you love the musical or one of the movies. Maybe you’ve read an abridged version and now you want more. Whatever it is that has brought you here, I invite you to join me in reading this epic work of historical...

Whats In a Name Challenge 2017

Books and Reading

What’s in a Name 2017 Reading Challenge Wrap-Up

The What’s in a Name Reading Challenge hosted by The Worm Hole was a lot of fun. The challenge was to choose a book from each of six categories, write reviews of each of them, and post them on the appropriate pages at The Worm Hole. I’m happy to say that I have finished the challenge–my first real reading challenge ever. Here are the books I read in the order I read them, along with links to my reviews: A title which has an “X” somewhere in it: The Chronicles...

David Bellos Les Miserables Novel of the Century

Books and Reading

Nonfiction November 2017 Week 2: Book Pairing

It’s time for another Nonfiction November post. After reading last week’s posts my TBR pile has already grown! For a roundup of last week, see the links at JulzReads. This week Sarah at Sarah’s Bookshelves hosts one of my favorite events of Nonfiction November, Book Pairings: This week, pair up a nonfiction book with a fiction title. It can be a “If you loved this book, read this!” or just two titles that you think would go well together. Maybe it’s a historical novel and you’d like to...

Book Review / Books and Reading

The Story Knife by Fr. Brad Reynolds, S.J.

Late last year when I was trying to find books for the What’s in a Name Reading Challenge, the hardest to find was a book whose title included “an item of cutlery.” After a lot of searching I finally settled on a book I had last read in 1996 when it first came out, The Story Knife, a mystery by Fr. Brad Reynolds, SJ. Fr. Reynolds is a Jesuit priest (like Pope Francis), and he happens to have grown up right here in Spokane, Washington, where I live. I...

Murder at the Vicarage by Agatha Christie

Book Review / Books and Reading

The Murder at the Vicarage by Agatha Christie

What’s a clergyman to do when murder is committed in his home? Start investigating, that’s what, especially when Miss Marple lives next door. Leonard Clement is the vicar in St. Mary Mead, a small English village. He’s also the narrator of The Murder at the Vicarage, the first full length novel to feature Agatha’s Christie’s elderly sleuth Miss Jane Marple. When Colonel Protheroe is murdered in Clement’s study, the difficulty is not in finding a suspect, but in sorting through all the people who wanted him dead–including the vicar...

All Saints Day

Spirituality

These Are the Saints – An All Saints Day Meditation

When a loved one dies their life is changed not ended. This is a truth of Faith, it is not wishful thinking. Those who have gone before us are still alive, but in a new way. Some of them now dwell forever in heaven. Not a boring heaven where people recline on clouds, strumming harps; but a vibrant, joyful heaven, where there is fun, laughter, and friendships deeper than one can imagine. Where they live there is no fear, no prejudice, no division, no aching bones or illness....

Nonfiction November 2017

Books and Reading

Nonfiction November 2017 Begins

My favorite reading event from last year, Nonfiction November, is back! Nonfiction November was my very first online reading event, and it was a terrific experience. It helped reignite my excitement for blogging and it connected me with several terrific book bloggers. I can’t wait to see what new discoveries are in store this year. The topic for this first week is Your Year in Nonfiction, so here we go… Your Year in Nonfiction: Take a look back at your year of nonfiction and reflect on the following...

Alfred Hitchcock

Books and Reading

Alfred Hitchcock Presents: A Deal Me In Challenge Status Report

One of my favorite reading challenges this year has been the Deal Me In Short Story Challenge. Every Sunday I look forward to drawing a random card from the deck to see what story I’ll be reading this week. At this point in the year I only have nine cards left, which means I’ve read 43 stories. I’ve enjoyed this challenge so much that I’m already looking at anthologies to use for next year’s challenge. If you’ve been following along, you might remember that my theme is year...

Book Review / Books and Reading

The Last Queen of England by Steve Robinson

If you love genealogy, mysteries, or stories set in contemporary London, then you will likely enjoy The Last Queen of England by Steve Robinson. Main character Jefferson Tayte is an American genealogist on a brief visit to London when he gets embroiled in an elaborate (and confusing) plot to topple the British monarchy. They key to the mystery lies in the genealogical records of the House of Stuart, but Tayte has to survive long enough to be able to solve it. This genealogical thriller is a quick and...

The Lincoln Lawyer by Michael Connelly

Book Review / Books and Reading

The Lincoln Lawyer by Michael Connelly

I had no idea when I began reading The Lincoln Lawyer by Michael Connelly that it was such a highly regarded mystery novel. I had heard of the movie starring Matthew McMcConaughey, so when the ebook went on sale for $2.99 I figured it was a pretty safe bet to be entertaining. It was all that and more. It’s no wonder that in 2006 it was awarded the Shamus Award and the Macavity Award for best mystery novel and, in 2010 was nominated for the Best Mystery Novel of...