One Catholic Life Blog

Tolkien Artist and Illustrator

Books and Reading

Nonfiction November Week 4: Be the Expert – Reading Lord of the Rings

This week’s Nonfiction November discussion prompt is hosted by Julz: 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 that you’d like to read (become the expert). One type of nonfiction that I...

Christ and the Good Thief by Titian

Homily

Famous Last Words: Homily for the Solemnity of Our Lord Jesus Christ, King of the Universe

A while back a friend shared a website with me that was a collection of the last words of famous people, and it was very interesting. Some of their final words were humble. For example, Leonard DaVinci said, “I have offended God and mankind because my work did not reach the quality it should have.” Some tried to be prophetic. Nostradamus, for instance said, “Tomorrow I will not be here.” He was right. And there were some who didn’t realize they were speaking their final words. The last...

Lord of the World

Book Review / Books and Reading

Classics Club Book #3: Lord of the World by Robert Hugh Benson

The two Cities of Augustine lay for him to choose. The one was that of a world self-originated, self-organised, and self-sufficient, interpreted by such men as Marx and Hervé, socialists, materialists, and, in the end, hedonists, summed up at last in Felsenburgh. The other lay displayed in the sight he saw before him, telling of a Creator and of a creation, of a Divine purpose, a redemption, and a world transcendent and eternal from which all sprang and to which all moved. Before Fahrenheit 451, before Nineteen Eighty-four,...

S by Doug Dorst and J.J. Abrams

Books and Reading

Nonfiction November Week 3: Book Pairing

Nonfiction November continues this week with the task of pairing a fiction book and a nonfiction book together. For a summary of last week’s posts about how people choose nonfiction books, check out Rachel’s wrap-up at Hibernator’s Library. And now, on to the question for this third week: 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...

The Professor and the Madman by Simon WInchester

Books and Reading

Nonfiction November Week 2: Choosing Nonfiction

I really enjoyed last week’s Nonfiction November kick-off. I’ll get to my answers to this week’s questions in a moment, but first here are some of the fascinating titles from other participants that caught my attention (titles are affiliate links to Amazon): The Book: A Cover-to-Cover Exploration of the Most Powerful Object of Our Time by Keith Houston from Louise at Lone Star on a Lark. On the Trail of Genghis Khan: An Epic Journey Through the Land of the Nomads from Nancy at ipsofactodotme As You Wish: Inconceivable Tales...

Three Hearts and Three Lions by Poul Anderson

Book Review / Books and Reading

Three Hearts and Three Lions by Poul Anderson

‘In olden time,’ said Hugi, ‘richt after the Fall, nigh everything were Chaos, see ye. But step by step ’tis been driven back. The longest step was when the Saviour lived on earth, for then naught o’ darkness could stand…’ Three Hearts and Three Lions is one of those classic heroic fantasy novels that satisfies on almost every level. Published originally in 1953 and expanded in 1961, it tells the story of Holger Carlsen, an engineer from Denmark who is suddenly transported from a World War II battlefield...

The House on the Borderland

Book Review / Books and Reading

Classics Club Book #2: The House on the Borderland by William Hope Hodgson

The House on the Borderland is an eerie novel that ultimately leaves many questions unanswered. Written in 1908, it is often cited as an influence on writers like H.P. Lovecraft and Terry Pratchett, and it is listed in Fantasy: The 100 Best Books, edited by James Cawthorn and Michael Moorcock. It also becomes my second finished book in the Classics Club Challenge. I really wanted this book to be good. The beginning starts off promising: two men on a fishing holiday in a remote part of Ireland discover...

Nonfiction November

Books and Reading

Nonfiction November Week 1

Nonfiction November looks like a fun event to participate in, plus it gives me an incentive to keep writing, so count me in. Here is this week’s discussion prompt: Your Year in Nonfiction: Take a look back at your year of nonfiction and reflect on the following questions – What was your favorite nonfiction read of the year? What nonfiction book have you recommended the most? What is one topic or type of nonfiction you haven’t read enough of yet? What are you hoping to get out of...

The Betrothed by Alessandro Manzoni

Book Review / Books and Reading

Classics Club Book #1: The Betrothed by Alessandro Manzoni

Strange to say, although in times of immediate danger, in face of an enemy, the image of death always breathed new spirit into him and filled him with angry courage, the same image appearing to him in the silence of the night, in the safety of his own castle, afflicted him with sudden dismay. For this time it was not death at the hands of a mortal like himself that threatened him; not a death that could be driven off by better weapons or a quicker hand. It...

Classic Books

Books and Reading

50 Classic Books in 5 Years for My 50th Birthday

Since today is my 50th birthday, I thought I would start my next 50 years off right by joining the Classics Club and committing to read 50 classic novels by October 25, 2021. The idea behind the club is to read at least 50 classic books within five years, and to blog about each one. My main purpose in this project is to read more books from my Summary of Great Books Lists and my Catholic Classics List. I’ve selected books from those two lists along with a...

Ship in Stormy Sea by Ivan Konstantinovich Aivazovsky

Books and Reading

Don’t Miss These Ice Waves, Nautical Paintings and More from the Aubrey-Maturin Appreciation Society

The amazing videos and links below come from one of my favorite Facebook groups. If you’re a fellow Patrick O’Brian fan and you’re not a member of the Aubrey-Maturin Appreciation Society on Facebook, you’re missing out on good fellowship, discussion, and amazing shared content. The group is for those of us who have read most or all of the Aubrey/Maturin books. From the group’s description: From Master & Commander through to the 21st incomplete instalment, this group is for those who have shared in the long ocean voyages,...

The Betrothed (I Promessi Sposi) by Alessandro Manzoni

Books and Reading

Reading The Betrothed by Alessandro Manzoni

I’ve been enjoying The Betrothed in a mellow sort of way, the way one enjoys a beer or glass of wine. Rather than gulping it down, I’ve been taking it in small sips. It’s that kind of book. The Betrothed by Alessandro Manzoni is one of the books on my Catholic Classics Reading List. It appears in Fr. John Hardon’s Catholic Lifetime Reading Plan, in Harold Bloom’s The Western Canon: The Books and School of the Ages, and it is number 94 in Daniel Burt’s The Novel 100: A Ranking of...