It wasn't actually on Monday (the day this post is for because I'm behind again), that I finished these two books, but I really enjoyed both of them and I just really wanted to tell you, loyal reader, about them.
Last week during a sprinkler/pool/garden digging session in the backyard, I finished Archbishop Charles Chaput's Render Unto Caesar. I picked it up at our parish's Lighthouse Catholic Media stand on a whim. The subtitle is Serving the Nation by Living Our Catholic Beliefs in Political Life, which actually didn't interest me much at all. I've been left cynical by the current state of American politics, although my reading up on Theodore Roosevelt piqued my interest in such matters just a bit. I figured with the ridiculous, awful election we have coming up that it wouldn't hurt to read a book with this title.
I don't feel adequately prepared to give a legit review of it, since I read it with 10,005 interruptions. I'm sure someparagraphs sentences were skipped and others read multiple times but not really digested, as most of my reading is done in a lawn chair while I "watch" the kids play in the driveway. At any rate, it gave a great history of the role Christianity and Catholics have played in American politics. I definitely think all Americans who call themselves Christians should at least peruse it, and I would wholeheartedly recommend it to those people who cry out "separation of church and state!" every time a Christian speaks out about some issue on which his religion has formed him.
Chaput gives an interesting history lesson and explains what "separation of church and state" was really intended to look like. It's not a voter's guide, but rather an encouragement for us to become engaged citizens. I will definitely be reading this one again, hopefully without a zillion interruptions.
The other book, The Nightingale, was an Audible selection which I just finished a night or two ago. I've mentioned in a couple of other posts about my fascination with World War II books, both novels and non-fiction. This one was recommended after I'd posted something here or on Facebook about All The Light We Cannot See. I left an Audible review about what I thought was a poor reading performance, but the story did not disappoint.
At times I wanted to turn it off because I could no longer stand to hear tales of the torture and extreme danger that so many people endured during that awful war, but the story was so compelling that I just had to continue on. The Nightingale is definitely a book I would recommend (although maybe not the audio version unless you're okay with really bad French and German accents which are inconsistent even when it's supposed to be the same person talking). If you're on the hunt for an engaging and exciting novel, check it out.
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| My book, my weird alien hands, and my backyard |
Last week during a sprinkler/pool/garden digging session in the backyard, I finished Archbishop Charles Chaput's Render Unto Caesar. I picked it up at our parish's Lighthouse Catholic Media stand on a whim. The subtitle is Serving the Nation by Living Our Catholic Beliefs in Political Life, which actually didn't interest me much at all. I've been left cynical by the current state of American politics, although my reading up on Theodore Roosevelt piqued my interest in such matters just a bit. I figured with the ridiculous, awful election we have coming up that it wouldn't hurt to read a book with this title.
I don't feel adequately prepared to give a legit review of it, since I read it with 10,005 interruptions. I'm sure some
Chaput gives an interesting history lesson and explains what "separation of church and state" was really intended to look like. It's not a voter's guide, but rather an encouragement for us to become engaged citizens. I will definitely be reading this one again, hopefully without a zillion interruptions.
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| iPhone screenshot, because blogs are supposed to have pictures. |
The other book, The Nightingale, was an Audible selection which I just finished a night or two ago. I've mentioned in a couple of other posts about my fascination with World War II books, both novels and non-fiction. This one was recommended after I'd posted something here or on Facebook about All The Light We Cannot See. I left an Audible review about what I thought was a poor reading performance, but the story did not disappoint.
At times I wanted to turn it off because I could no longer stand to hear tales of the torture and extreme danger that so many people endured during that awful war, but the story was so compelling that I just had to continue on. The Nightingale is definitely a book I would recommend (although maybe not the audio version unless you're okay with really bad French and German accents which are inconsistent even when it's supposed to be the same person talking). If you're on the hunt for an engaging and exciting novel, check it out.
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