Book Reviews

Imaginary Jesus by Matt Mikalatos
240 Pages

Mikalatos writes this in first person. He takes us through his world of Imaginary Jesuses. We first meet him and his traditional imaginary Jesus, the one with blue eyes and long blonde hair, but we quickly see that our view of Jesus is not traditional through the eyes of others, but rather we imagine Jesus the way we need him to be.

Mikalatos runs into the Secret Society of Imaginary Jesuses, and is quickly overwhelmed with a bevvy of Jesuses for every occation and every individual.

This is mainly a book about searching for the true God, but it has a humorous slant. My favorite part is when Mikalatos meets the Mormons Elder Laurel and Elder Hardy (yes that's right Laurel and Hardy), and their conversations are laugh out loud funny.

Interesting enough to keep your attention but not offensive to turn a Christian off.

4 out of 5 stars

Accidental Genius by Mark Levy

Audiobook narrated by Bronson Pinchot

Unabridged 4+hours

In this book, Mark Levy talks about how free writing can help generate ideas. This is not just a guide for writers, it is a guide for anyone who needs to generate new ideas, whether it be in business or life.

Throughout the 29 chapters, Levy gives insight as to how the process works. He gives examples and prompts and shows why it works. At the end of each chapter he suggests an excersise.

Free Writing can be a useful tool, especially when we are stuck.

One prompt that stuck with me, that I've used several time now is:

The night smelled like...

This book is narrated by the smooth voice of actor Bronson Pinchot. I cannot tell you how important it is to have a good narrator for an audiobook.

Catholic Movies

Last year I did a post on Catholic Fiction. I found it interesting that there were some Catholic themed books out there that I had no idea were such. Now I will take a look at movies. Of course, some are obvious, while others are not. Some I've seen, some I have not, some I've heard of, others not.

Considering that Pope John Paul II wrote the play verison of The Jeweller's Shop (1988), I think it is safe to say that this is a Catholic Movie. Drama about three married couples and their ups and downs in holy matrimony. With a faithful jeweler acting as their spiritual adviser, three sets of husbands and wives struggle to live their lives with love, steering clear of avarice and infidelity. Must say away from those pesky deadly sins now!!

Brother Orchid (1940) is another movie I don't recall hearing about. The storyline sounds interesting. When retired racket boss John Sarto tries to reclaim his place and former friends try to kill him, he finds solace in a monastery and reinvents himself as a pious monk.

Well, just by looking at the cover I can see this is a Catholic Themed movie. I have never seen The Miracle of the Bells (1948), but I will put it on my list. I actually haven't heard of this one, and the synopsis sounds good: Granting her final request, a Hollywood press agent brings the dead body of an actress, who died after making her first and only film, back to her hometown for burial. To arouse public interest, and to get the reluctant studio head to release the film, he asks all the local churches to ring their bells for three days.

Apparently Mel Gibson has his hand in a lot of Catholic Themed movies (OK we get it, you are proud to be Catholic). We Were Soldiers (2002) is also considered a Catholic themed and refrenced movie. I have not seen it, but if Mel is in it, it probably is true.

This is one of my favorite Christmas movies. The Trouble With Angels (1966) centeres around a girls Catholic school and some students who don't quite behave. Definetly a light movie, sometimes Catholic movies are so serious, it is nice to laugh occasionally.

The Decalogue (1987) are 10 full length Polish language movies by the late Polish director Krzysztof Kieslowski. Each story is based on one of the 10 commandments. Each and every film is depressing, dark and thought provoking.

I remember seeing this movie in the library in the foreign film section. Sometimes I do like to watch thought provoking older films. Monsieur Vincent (1947) a French film talks about the life of 16th-century French priest St. Vincent de Paul (Pierre Fresnay). He faced slavery in Algiers as a boy and the horrific Black Death in Europe as an adult. The internationally acclaimed film won the Best Foreign Language Film Oscar in 1948. It isn't hard to see why.

Karol: A Man Who Became Pope (2005) is obviously a Catholic Movie. It takes us through the life of the man who would become Pope John Paul II. We get to see how the war affected him, and his rise to the highest 'human' seat in the Catholic world. This isn't your typical 'pretty' story, this is raw and depressing, but very good.

Come on, you know you love this movie. I have not met anyone who did not like Sister Act (1992). I enjoy this movie too because I am in a choir, and to see how she whips these sisters into shape makes me smile. There is the Mother Superior who is strict as hell, there are all sorts of nuns in this convent, just like there are all sorts of people in life. I love the scene where they are sitting around making rosaries.

The most obvious movie that comes to mind is The Excorsist (1973). This movie should just have a big Catholic symbol ont he cover. You know the story, two priests save the soul of a young girl who is possessed by The Devil himself. One would think all movies about excorsism would be considered a Catholic Movie, but I haven't watched another one in which I would consider even on par with this one. Others that come to mind are The Exorcism of Emily Rose and The Last Exorcism. Both of these movies fell short of what The Excorsist did.

One movie that surprised me in having not only a Catholic Theme but Catholic Refrences as well was, It's a Wonderful Life (1946). This is my favorite movie, but in watching it, year after year, I never noticed the Catholicness about it. I will really watch for it this year. I mean, it is Christian in theme, there is Clarence the Angel after all. Does anyone recall a specific Catholic reference? Never-the-less, it is on the Pro-Catholic Movie List.

The Liturgical Year - the spiraling adventure of the spiritual life by Joan Chittister

“The Liturgical Year: the spiraling adventure of the spiritual life” takes the reader on a journey through one year of the liturgical calendar. The book briefly talks about the basics of liturgical life. The adventure starts with Advent and takes the reader step by step through each pinnacle of the Christian year, including Christmas and Easter. It also speaks of ordinary time and Marian feasts. Nothing is left out and it gives a glorious full picture of the joys of the Christian year, and why each day is special in its own way.

I am a weekly church goer, and I have tried to understand the various parts of the year, but could never quite grasp the meaning of certain periods of the year. This book opened my eyes to the beauty behind the purpose and reason for each day. I also was pleased that this book was not overly technical with the theology. It was written for the layman. Joan Chittister wants us to understand and appreciate our faith and the gifts it offers. I think she was successful with this book.

Catholic Fiction

In the past few years I've been stretching myself to read more Christian Fiction. I noticed there was a gap in my reading in that particular genre. I went out and blindly looked through the Christian Fiction section and my local Barnes & Noble. I had no idea what I was looking for. The only author I had any idea about was Janette Oke and that was only because I had seen her movie adaptations. I wanted to try someone else, so I looked and looked, but could not decide on anything. Then I found With Endless Sight #3 in the series by Allison Pittman. I was not familiar with series #s. This is not to say I've never read a series, but for some reason I didn't think reading this particular book out of order would matter. The book was able to stand alone, but I wanted to go back and read #1 and #2. I did that and I enjoyed it very much. It was a mix of Historical and Christian Fiction, but I have yet to find anyone aside from these two women that captured my attention in this duo genre. The other Christian reads that I enjoyed were Believe by Dan Oran, Christ out of Egypt by Anne Rice and The Shack by William Young. And let's not forget the books of Richard Paul Evans!!

It dawned on me that there might be a sub-genre of Catholic Fiction. There are sub-genre's in movies so why not books. So I went on a search to see if there were actually any books I read or would want to read or at least heard of and didn't know they were considered 'Catholic Fiction'. My assumption is that most of these reads would revolve around Popes and Saints, so here is what I found:

- Everything Jane Austen is considered 'Catholic Fiction' - How did I miss this?
- The Diary of a Country Priest: A Novel by Georges Bernanos - Well of course by the title, you know it is a Catholic thing.
- Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte - I did not know that.
- Every book written by Fyodor Dostoevsky including Crime and Punishment.
- The works of Alexander Dumas
- Three of George Eliot's books: Middlemarch currently reading, Silas Marner (which I read) and Daniel Deronda.
- The Great Gatsby by F. Scotts Fitzgerald - I had no clue when I was reading it.
- Victor Hugo's Les Miserables and The Hunchback of Notre Dame - although when I think about it, I can see where it would be considered 'Catholic'.
- John Irving's A Prayer for Owen Meany - which I couldn't get through, but the movie adaptation "Simon Birch" I loved, but am not sure if I recall a Catholic thread.
- Thomas Keneally's Schindler's List (huh??) - Can you see it flying over my head?
- Stephen King's The Stand - which I am about to read, and Yes I can see this, and The Dark Tower Series which I can also see it.
- George Orwell's books Animal Farm and 1984

I will stop here because the list can get rather long. If you are interested in looking at the Full List please feel free.

Thinking on these books and what I know of them, why are they considered 'Catholic Fiction'? Is it because it talks on Catholic values? Not that I'm aware. Is it because it has something Catholic in it (like the main character is Catholic or a Nun walks through the street while two characters are talking)? What makes these books fall under the sub-genre Catholic? Most of them aren't obvious like "The Excorsist" or "The Scarlet Letter", so what is it? Well I don't know. But then again, most of the movies that are labled as 'Catholic' aren't very Catholic to me.

Will I go out of my way to read a book that is labled 'Catholic Fiction'? Probably not, I'll read it because I want to. Will I go out of my way to read a book that is labled 'Christian Fiction'? Probably. I really enjoy Christian Fiction. It is uplifting and all Christian's can relate.

I still love being a Catholic, I just won't narrow my reading to that tiny scope.

This Weeks Enlightening Reads

The Third Jesus: The Christ We Cannot Ignore by Deepak Chopra

I was never a fan of Deepak Chopra, sometimes I think he talks out of his ear, but I was intrigued by the title of this book, I skimmed through it in the library and it looked interesting enough for me to at least give it a shot. At first, I had a huge chip on my shoulder, I thought "This guy is a flake", "He doesn't know Jesus from Joe". But I kept reading, because the more I read the better the book seemed. I didn't agree with some stuff he said, but some of what he wrote was enlightening. And by the end of the book, though still not of fan of Chopra's, I had to appreciate the effort that went into this book. He does admit he is not a commited Christian, which is why I initially thought this book would be full of bull, but maybe it takes someone who approaches the religion from the outside to see how it works (or doesn't). The chip is no longer on my shoulder, and I am thinking a little differently about Jesus. I cannot say this is the best inspirational book I've ever read, but it was worth the read.

I wanted to post a synopsis from Amazon, but there isn't one. However, they have loads of editorials about the book, all positive in praise. So I'm thinking that is a little one sided. So I will have to try and give a brief synopsis for you.

Deepak talks about Jesus and religion today. How today's Christian doesn't know the real Jesus, how the church hides and misuses doctrine. He takes passages from the Bible and attempts to explain them for the average person to understand. This is where the chip on the shoulder comes in, how can someone who is not Christian explain the Bible to me? However, he does a pretty good job, I think he's explained it better than people who have been Christian all of their life.

4/5 stars for This one.

The Last Lecture by Randy Pausch

I've been avoiding this book since it came out. I don't know why, the premise seemed so sad. But it was in the library and I thought, WHY NOT. It was a quick read. The first two-thirds of the book was OK, it started like any other memoir, talked about childhood, marriage, life in general, dying...etc. The last third of the book grabbed my attention. He starts doling out the advice, things he's learned over the years. Things I have learned, but forgot or chose not to follow. Some of the writing is sophmoric, but the good intention was apparent. For myself, this came at the appropriate time, things were going real bad and going down hill fast. This book didn't cure it, but it helped me think about things differently, which made my day better.

From Publishers Weekly
Made famous by his Last Lecture at Carnegie Mellon and the quick Internet proliferation of the video of the event, Pausch decided that maybe he just wasn't done lecturing. Despite being several months into the last stage of pancreatic cancer, he managed to put together this book. The crux of it is lessons and morals for his young and infant children to learn once he is gone. Despite his sometimes-contradictory life rules, it proves entertaining and at times inspirational.

4/5 Stars for This one.

Believe by Dan Oran

I think I got wind of this book on my Facebook page. It kept creeping up in the sidebar, so I went to read about it and was interested. It was a Beta version for Kindle only, it wasn't much, I'm not sure what the price was but I think I paid $2.74. I had downloaded it and forgotten about it and then I remembered, so I started reading it. I was very pleased. Below is the synopsis:

Late December is a season of miracles, from the return of longer days to the commemoration of a long-ago birth that continues to inspire the faithful.
This short novel is set at that wondrous time of the year. On December 25, a man with amnesia -- and surprising talents -- appears at a Manhattan hospital. A struggling young doctor befriends the man, and together they search for the truth. It's a story about friendship and faith. And it's also a story about ripples: how the actions of one person can affect so many others.

So after reading that, I am sure you can imagine who the guy with amnesia is. After all, it is December 25th. But the story was not what I expected. Taking place in New York City made it especially enjoyable for me. I would think anyone reading this would have some thought of belief in Christ to take much away from it.

Rating: 4.5 out of 5