Book Reviews

Book Review: Babbitt

by: Sinclair Lewis Babbit was written in the 1920s by Sinclair Lewis who was a socialist.  Normally, a socialist's commentary on American culture from the 1920s wouldn't interest me, but this book is part of the literature curriculum of a Catholic homeschool I...

Book Review: Frankenstein

by Mary Shelley             This was another book on Joseph Pearce’s "100 Works of Literature Every Catholic Should Read" list.  In the beginning, it felt a bit melodramatic, particularly the male characters and especially Victor Frankenstein.  I kept thinking someone...

Book Review: American Pilgrimage

by: Christopher Shannon This is a Catholic history of life in the New World which, as I have learned from homeschooling my children and using Catholic history books, is a bit different than a non-Catholic history.  For instance, there is quite a bit more discussion of...

Book Review: Tremendous Trifles

by: GK Chesterton             I went in search of this book after reading a quote attributed to it – “A baby is the kingdom of God.”  (Thank you American Chesterton Society!).  I suspected if the rest of the book came anywhere near to as good as that small sample, it...
Book Review: The Vikings

Book Review: The Vikings

by: Elizabeth Janeway             This was a pretty good book.  I read it aloud to my 4th grader for his history and I think we both considered it time well spent.  Probably me more than he but only because he’s a young boy who would rather be up to his armpits in...

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Book Review: Confessions (F.J. Sheed translation)

Book Review: Confessions (F.J. Sheed translation)

by Saint Augustine of Hippo             I’ve tried a couple of translations of this book over the years and I’m not sure if I’m just in a place where my mind was finally ready for this book or if it was Sheed’s translation, but I really clicked with this book.  I’ve...

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Book Review: Jesus and the Dead Sea Scrolls

Book Review: Jesus and the Dead Sea Scrolls

by Dr. John Bergsma I got this for Christmas. It was as great as I hoped it would be.Doctor Bergsma is an Old Testament and Dead Sea Scrolls specialist and a teacher at Franciscan University. You can tell how fascinating and exciting he finds all this and his...

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Book Review: Fearing the Stigmata

Book Review: Fearing the Stigmata

by Matt Weber It does seem that really young people and really old people have a good handle on their faith/life whereas those of us in the middle are still working on how to Catholic in our post-Christian culture.This book was about one man’s story of searching for...

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Book Review: Amos Fortune: Free Man

Book Review: Amos Fortune: Free Man

by Elizabeth Yates This book was excellent! One of my favorite things about the curriculum we use is the heavy use of books like this one that do a great job of bringing the historical context to life.So with this book, we were taken from a village in Africa where...

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Book Review:The Whipping Boy

Book Review:The Whipping Boy

by Sid Fleischman  When buying books for the next school year, there was a Sid Fleischman book on the list that I purchased which must have been what made Ebay suggest “The Whipping Boy” to me. I forgot all about this book! It was one of my favorites as a kid.Happily,...

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Book Review: The Black Arrow

Book Review: The Black Arrow

by Robert Louis Stevenson             The novel opens with the murder of a man by a black arrow.  A letter is later found attached to a door that informed the reader that more men were marked for the black arrows - a powerful and crafty knight named Sir Daniel and two...

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Book Review: King Solomon’s Ring

Book Review: King Solomon’s Ring

by Konrad Lorenz My daughter read this book for her high school science class. She so enjoyed the book she told me all about it practically verbatim. Her stories peaked my interest and since I had a little free summer reading time, I thought I'd give it a read. It was...

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