One Catholic Life Blog

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

Announcing the 2021 Chapter-a-Day Read-Along

This is the official sign-up post for the 2021 Chapter-a-Day Read-along. This marks the fourth year of the read-along, and we are once again back to reading several books instead of just one. As you might remember, there aren’t too many books that have exactly 365 chapters, and we’ve already read the most well known: Les Misérables and War and Peace. So, like we did in 2019, for 2021 we will be reading several different books whose chapters add up to 365. By joining along in reading one...

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

War and Peace Chapter-a-day Read-along November Update

As we get ready to say goodbye to November, we flip the pages closer and closer to the end of the War and Peace Chapter-a-day Read-along. I hope you have enjoyed the book as much as I have in this very challenging year. Although I haven’t been able to blog during these last months, I’ve been keeping up with reading a chapter each day and posting quotes on Twitter and Facebook. And now the story is reaching its end. In fact, if you’ve looked at the schedule lately,...

Books and Reading

Tolkien Reading Day 2020: The Legend of Sigurd and Gudrún

Every year the Tolkien Society sponsors Tolkien Reading Day on March 25, the anniversary of the fall of Sauron: It has been organised by the Tolkien Society since 2003 to encourage fans to celebrate and promote the life and works of J.R.R. Tolkien by reading favourite passages. We particularly encourage schools, museums and libraries to host their own Tolkien Reading Day events. With the world in the grip of the COVID-19 pandemic, reading a bit of Tolkien can give us hope. Far from being an escape from reality,...

Homily

The Crucifix on the Wall: Homily for the 7th Sunday in Ordinary Time

An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth. On the surface that seems so barbaric. And yet that law, known as the Law of Retaliation, was one of the most civilizing acts in human history. In the ancient world, before there were any laws, if a person was hurt or offended, then they would round up their clan and go after the person who caused the injury and their revenge would often be worse than the original crime, perhaps even leading to death. The Law...

Book Review / Books and Reading

Classics Club #32: Crime and Punishment by Fyodor Dostoevesky

Was it really the hag I killed? It was myself I killed, not her! I murdered myself in one fell blow, for all time! It has taken me many false starts to try and read Crime and Punishment by Fyodor Dostoevsky, but I finally managed to do the deed. I’m not sure why it has taken so much effort for me to read this Russian classic. The characters are well developed and believable. The plot is suspenseful and compelling. The issues it explores are timeless and significant. And...

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

War and Peace Chapter-a-Day Read-along Comment Post – Week 1: Book I, Part I, Chapters 1-5

Welcome to week 1 of the War and Peace Chapter-a-Day Read-along. Each Monday morning during the read-along I am going to try and publish a short post to give everyone a chance to comment on the previous chapters. These posts will be very brief, because their main purpose is to provide a forum for us to talk about the book. Please be sure to talk only about the chapters that have been scheduled up to this point, so as not to spoil anything for other readers. And if...

Books and Reading

My Favorite Reads of 2019

When 2019 began I knew that my reading time would be limited, so I set a modest reading goal of 25 books for the year. I’m happy to say that just this morning I finished book number 30, exceeding my goal by five. I’m also happy that I was able to complete the three other reading challenges I set for the year, the Charity Reading Challenge, the European Reading Challenge, and the Deal Me In Short Story Challenge. For the Charity challenge, since I read 30 books I...

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

2019 Chapter-a-Day Read-along Wrap Up

Thank you to everyone who participated in this year’s Chapter-a-Day Read-along, whether you read all four books or limited yourself to one, two or three of them. In this post I’ll share a few of my reflections on the year, and I would love to know your thoughts about the experience. I invite you to leave a comment on this post to share what reading a chapter a day was like for you. First of all, while I still love Don Quixote, I am not sure that reading...

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

Preparing for the War and Peace Chapter-a-Day Read-along

We’re only two days away from the War and Peace Chapter-a-Day Read-along, and I hope you’re as excited as I am. Please tell your friends and family that they can still sign up by visiting the announcement post. As we get ready to start our journey I thought I’d share a few things to help us prepare. First of all, Cary, one of our fellow readers, has created a calendar that can be imported into your favorite calendar app. Thank you, Cary! The calendar comes in two formats,...

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

Announcing the 2020 War and Peace Chapter-a-Day Read-along

This is the official sign-up post for the 2020 War and Peace Chapter-a-Day Read-along. You’re invited to join me in spending the first year of the new decade reading one of the truly monumental literary achievements of the world, War and Peace by Leo Tolstoy. The best thing about it is that you don’t have to be intimidated by how long the book is because we’ll be reading it in little bites, a chapter a day, savoring the experience and making it a part of daily life for...

Homily

Glad Tidings to the Poor: Homily for Christ the King

Today we celebrate the Solemnity of Our Lord Jesus Christ, King of the Universe, the last Sunday of our Church year. Today all of the themes of Jesus’ life and ministry come together in this one culminating feast here at the end of the year. Each liturgical year has its own particular character because of the fact that we read from one particular gospel. This year it’s been the Gospel according to Luke, and it’s good for us to look back over the year and try to see...