The Catholic Book Club discussion

This thread is for discussion of anything and everything. It is intended to be truly catholic, with the exception of self-promotion. Seeing the recent discussions in the nominations thread I realized we didn't have anyplace designated for just sharing about various topics. I was struggling for a name for this thread and came up with the Atrium based on the name for the courtyard at the entrance to a church - a place for people to gather and chat before and after worship. I am open to other suggestions.

Cheers

Thank you, John! I wasn't sure where was the best place to have random conversations, so I was kind of hanging back about chatting. :-) I like the name.

I agree with Jane. I like the name, too. Thanks, John.

Hi! Just wanted to drop a quick line here that my Christian fantasy novel, The Wrong Enemy, is free for Kindle until this Sunday. :-)

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01B...

As we continue reading the life of St. Theresa, I am reminded of a beautiful movie set in Spain in the middle ages called "The Miracle of Marcelino." It came out in 1955. Has anyone else in the group seen it? https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Miracle.... Youtube features scenes from it. I highly recommend it.

I did see that! But I was so young that I don't remember anything about it. :-(

Great! I'm glad it's available on DVD for anyone who missed it, too. I own a copy of the picture book. My whole parochial school was taken to see it at the neighborhood movie theater when I was a kid.

Yes, of course, I know very well "Marcelino pan y vino" (Marcelino bread and wine), a book written by José María Sánchez Silva, later adapted to the cinema. Sánchez Silva, by the way, is the only Spanish author who has been awarded the Hans Christian Andersen Award for children and juvenile literature (back in 1968) mainly due to his fame because of Marcelino.

Manuel, I'm glad to hear about the award. Richly deserved.

I am so buried - about the only time I get on line is when I am on conference calls, like the one I'm on now. Sometimes the work swells to the point where I wake up start working and keep at it until I crash. Repeat.

This of course dramatically reduces my reading, let alone comments. I am nearly finished with The Life of Saint Teresa of Ávila by Herself, but that's been true for a week.

Not that I'm not reading at all: deeds of trust, escrow agreements, purchase agreements, joint marketing agreements, zzzzzzzzzzzzz.

John wrote: "deeds of trust, escrow agreements, purchase agreements, joint marketing agreements, zzzzzzzzzzzzz. "

Err...fascinating? I'm so sorry.

Jane wrote: "John wrote: "deeds of trust, escrow agreements, purchase agreements, joint marketing agreements, zzzzzzzzzzzzz. "

Err...fascinating? I'm so sorry."

I guess that sounded like a plea for pity. It wasn't, really. I generally enjoy what I do to put bread on the table, though sometimes it seems like too much blessing.

It was more an explanation why my discussion of books has been so light lately.

John wrote: "I guess that sounded like a plea"

It did kind of. So what kind of attorney are you?

Jane wrote: "John wrote: "I guess that sounded like a plea"

It did kind of. So what kind of attorney are you?"

Finance and energy.

Oh my goodness, it's the 16th - I'm late. I will get the voting for the July BOTM up by the end of the day.

About the Novena for the Nation . . . anybody here planning on doing this?

https://www.novenaforournation.com/20...

The time is now to call upon God, through the powerful intercession of Our Lady of the Rosary, to heal our country and return it to holiness.

This is a nationwide prayer campaign called the “Novena for Our Nation.” Everyone from around the nation is encouraged to join ranks as, united, we pray the very powerful 54 Day Rosary Novena from the Feast of the Assumption on August 15 to the Feast of Our Lady of the Rosary on October 7.

We are living in extraordinary times. Presidential executive actions, US congressional and state legislation as well as court rulings at all levels up to the Supreme Court are in conflict with God’s laws; especially the disregard for the rights of the unborn, elderly and weak in our society and the attacks on marriage and family values. At the same time society and government are becoming more intolerant towards biblically based religious belief and practice. In conflict with First Amendment constitutional rights, persecution of traditional religious expression has reached unprecedented levels. We are in a Spiritual Battle.

Extraordinary times call for extraordinary action. In this Jubilee Year of Mercy, and as we enter the centennial year of the apparitions of Our Lady of Fatima, we are called upon to help turn our country back towards God. We will accomplish that through prayer; prayer that can change hearts, change families, change our communities and change our country. There is no stronger weapon in this Spiritual Battle than the Rosary.

Sounds like a great idea. I've passed it along to our local pro-life activists, who frequently sponsor novenas with gatherings and e-mail support.

Thank you, C.D., for posting this timely information. I will let others including my parish know.

General instructions are included in the link, but that's a good question. I think the specifics are kind of vague.

https://www.novenaforournation.com/54...

FRANCE: A priest was beheaded as he was saying Mass today.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/artic...

For the sake of His sorrowful passion, have mercy on us and on the whole world.

The Jubilee Year of Mercy ends on November 20, 2016 (Feast of Christ the King). Does the symbolism of the Doors of Mercy closing give anyone else the chills?

No, the symbolism of doors closing does not give me a chill. Unlike human calendars, God's mercy never ends.

That's true, but knowing that Justice follows His mercy is a sobering thought. I'm thinking of the Lord's words as recorded in the Diary of St. Faustina:

Speak to the world about My mercy ... It is a sign for the end times. After it will come the Day of Justice. While there is still time, let them have recourse to the fountain of My mercy. (Diary 848)

Tell souls about this great mercy of Mine, because the awful day, the day of My justice, is near. (Diary 965).

I am prolonging the time of mercy for the sake of sinners. But woe to them if they do not recognize this time of My visitation. (Diary 1160)

Before the Day of Justice, I am sending the Day of Mercy. (Diary 1588)

He who refuses to pass through the door of My mercy must pass through the door of My justice. (Diary 1146).

The month is almost over and we have no discussion of our BOTM and one review. Have you read it and just not participated in the discussion? If so, why not? If you have not read it, why not?

Do we need to change the way we select the BOTM each month?

If so, have you any suggestions?

The selection process seems okay to me, pretty much like every other book club I've belonged to. I think summertime is always slow. People aren't at home reading or sitting in front of their computers as much.

I didn't read the last book because it looks like the main genre is romance. That's not my thing.

I had planned to read the previous month's book, but when I got to the Amazon page, I got sticker shock. For a self-published ebook I was expecting something more budget-friendly. Maybe the retail price should be included in the description before we vote? Just a thought.

Fatal Rhythm is more to my taste . . . a thriller and the digital price is under 5 bucks.

I, too, didn't find more fiction very appealing after the two previous ones we read, which were well-intentioned but somewhat poorly written. So I sat out this month. But those who are reading shouldn't be shy about conversing on-line!

Like C.D., romance is not my thing. Neither is YA, though I tried last month's book. I have to admit that I am a little leery of self-published books. I think it is really hard to be a good editor of your own writing. But that said, I have bought Fatal Rhythm and am hoping for the best.

But this month's book did get the most votes - like Jill said, those who are reading should be discussing. I was wondering if we should add some extra weight to the votes of folks who read and discuss the books.

John, the time you put into this group is much appreciated. Here are my thoughts. The migration from shelfari and summer may explain fewer responses. Format-wise, why retype long quotes from the books? Maybe instead of going chapter by chapter, we could answer 5-7 common questions for every book that would promote an exchange of opinions. I won't be nominating anymore that have to be purchased.

It might be hard to come up with questions that would apply to every different type of book, but here are a few:
Are you glad you read this book? Why (why not)?
What struck you? What did you learn?
What do you wonder about?
Is there anything on which you'd appreciate other readers' insight?

The same common questions would probably help promote the discussion. Speaking for myself, I'd come to the club better prepared if I knew ahead of time what I ought to zero in on as I read. However, I'd prefer not to see it get too formulaic.

I like the way John lifts quotes from the book. Maybe one of the common questions can be where members share their favorite lines or the passages they found particularly profound.

In case it hasn't come through clearly, coming up with questions is my least favorite part of doing this. If anyone feels inspired to take over that aspect of matter I am more than happy to yield the pen, as it were.

I am also aware that this forum is very public and some of the books we read could lead to some very deep, very personal discussions, and I'm not sure that's entirely appropriate given the forum. (I do discuss some of those things in my Cursillo group.)

So the "comment on chapter x" grew out of desperation - not able to find questions on the internet or come up with questions - I essentially punted.

Something we tried on another group seems to be working. I would post three or four standard questions each month. Then each reader would add a question of their own to raise and discuss a specific aspect of the book that they wanted to discuss. I can post the generic questions before the month starts so people are aware of those before they start reading.

Is anyone else reading this month's book?

I started it over the weekend, but didn't get very far. I like what I've read and hope to get back to it soon.

I have started it, though I'm having trouble liking the main character. We've been traveling for the past week so I'll get back to it when I've deleted those 200 e-mails that came in while I was away!

Happy Thanksgiving and safe travel to all those who celebrate this secular feast initiated to honor God's benevolence.

A nice review of Scorsese's Silence, based on Endo's book of the same title. Based on the review it sounds like Scorsese was pretty faithful to the book.

http://freebeacon.com/culture/silence...

Just so everyone knows - I noticed Manuel and C.D. hadn't voted yet, so sent them a note saying that even though their books were in the running they were, as members of the group, perfectly entitled to vote and it would, of course, be expected that they would want the group to read their work and vote accordingly.

I decided to post this note just so that if anyone does think it inappropriate they can know I disagree and have encouraged C.D. and Manuel to participate and to feel free to vote for their own work.

Even though Comet Dust didn't get enough votes to be the book of the month, if you'd like a free digital copy to read at your leisure please send me a PM by the end of the week.

C.D. wrote: "Even though Comet Dust didn't get enough votes to be the book of the month, if you'd like a free digital copy to read at your leisure please send me a PM by the end of the week."

It will be in the running again next month, C.D.

Great!

John wrote: "C.D. wrote: "Even though Comet Dust didn't get enough votes to be the book of the month, if you'd like a free digital copy to read at your leisure please send me a PM by the end of the week."

It w..."
Yes i promise that in the next election i am going to vote for the Leslea Whal´s novel, and for the novelof C.D.. I know that i have not right to purpose but i would like to purpose this novel for future election "The swrd and serpent" was writteb by Taylor R. Marshall i like really much https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/2... I apologise in case i committed a mistake, because this section was not the suitable place to purpose a new novel, besides i suppose that this novel will have to go to the queue, because we ave a lot of books to read but it is an amaizing catholic novel. I recomend enthusiastically. It is like in spanish called Peplum, you call sword and sandal, but this novel is really especial.

Fonch wrote: "John wrote: "C.D. wrote: "Even though Comet Dust didn't get enough votes to be the book of the month, if you'd like a free digital copy to read at your leisure please send me a PM by the end of the..."

Of course you have the right to propose books, Fonch. But you are right that they go to the end of the queue. I've added Sword and Serpent to the nominations list.

John wrote: "Fonch wrote: "John wrote: "C.D. wrote: "Even though Comet Dust didn't get enough votes to be the book of the month, if you'd like a free digital copy to read at your leisure please send me a PM by ..."
Thanks a lot. Am i sure that you will not regret your decission. I voted like the best book that i have ever read the previous year drew with the Juan Manuel de Prada`s novel "To die under your Sky" in spanish "Morir bajo tu cielo".

I have returned safely from our family cruise and have posted questions for the discussion of The Coat Without Seam.

A couple days into our cruise we discovered that a priest was traveling with his family (at least his mother and his sister) and several nuns from his diocese and was celebrating mass each day. So on those days we were able we joined them. His parish is designated in his diocese to celebrate the mass according to the extraordinary rite, in Latin. It was a wonderful blessing to have that on our cruise.

You will notice that our group picture has changed. I've been meaning to update it for sometime since we are long past the Year of Mercy. I decided, at least for now, to replace it with a picture of the Father McGlynn statue of the Fatima apparition of the Blessed Mother. I will probably leave this up for the rest of this liturgical year. I am thinking of "we preach Christ crucified" as the theme for next year's picture. I don't know if it's even possible, but if anyone can figure out a way to post pictures on the group - perhaps just links - I would be happy to make the group photo selection a group event.

John wrote: "You will notice that our group picture has changed. I've been meaning to update it for sometime since we are long past the Year of Mercy. I decided, at least for now, to replace it with a picture o..."

I should have given credit for this picture: I "borrowed" it from the blog "Ashes from Burnt Roses" which can be found here: https://ashesfromburntroses.blogspot....

Manny graciously gave me belated permission.

Goodreads has a limit on the number of Folders we're allowed to use. We are several years away from hitting that limit, but I am pondering what to do in anticipation of getting there. Another group I am in is moving all of the discussion to an archive folder, where they will be available to be used again if that book is read within the group again. That group reads from a specific list and we do not, so it is less likely that we will re-read, but not impossible. I see at least three options:

1) Just delete the folders and discussions, if we decide to re-read we can start fresh.

2) Save the questions (at least those that seemed to work well) but delete the discussion.

3) Save it all; it would be interesting to see if our perceptions and thoughts change over time with multiple readings.

Please share any thoughts you may have on the best way to address this future problem. Don't feel limited by my three proposals - if you think there is an alternative that I have missed, throw it out for consideration.

Definitely NOT #1.

I vote for #3.

What about #4?

4) Join all the sub-folders about a book as a single folder containing all the discussions.

It's a mix of #2 and #3.

Manuel wrote: "What about #4?

4) Join all the sub-folders about a book as a single folder containing all the discussions.

It's a mix of #2 and #3."

I'm not sure I can do that, and the limits that I've run into are the number of folders, and the amount of information you can put into a single post. There may be limits on the number of topics (sub-folders) you can have within a folder, or the number of posts you can have on a topic, but I've never run into those.

I am leaning towards #3 as I think it would be less work than #2 and it saves everything. I hate deleting stuff if it's not absolutely necessary - it's so final and I fear as soon as I delete it I will realize a need for it. (Yes, I am a bit of a pack rat and my garage looks it.)

Perhaps I don't understand option #3. Does it mean doing nothing? What happens when the limits are exceeded?