catherineofalx's reviews
600 reviews

reflective medium-paced

This book has some lovely things to say, but Sheen's vision of God is far too authoritarian to be the same God I know. He has a very reactionary view of the Church as well. This book gave me some insight into his following, but I probably won't be turning to him for actual spiritual reading again.

Tenderness: A Gay Christian's Guide to Unlearning Rejection and Experiencing God's Extravagant Love by Eve Tushnet

Go to review page

dark emotional funny hopeful inspiring reflective medium-paced

5.0

Jesus said it best, in the epigraph to this book (taken from his words to Bl. Angela of Foligno): "I did not love you as a joke."

This book will save lives. I am not exaggerating. Eve's questions are born of hope in its real, genuine, deep sense—not sunny optimism, but confidence in a project worth giving your life to: "What if gay people were *safer* in our churches than in the secular world? What if we could find *more* ways to give and receive love within the Church than we do outside it?" (xv) By starting here, and mixing lectio divina with real talk, practical advice, and lofty dreams along the way, this book manages to reckon with the pastoral crisis we're in while keeping us ever focused on the all-powerful, all-overcoming love of God.

This book is first and foremost for gay Christians looking for community and longing for a whole kaleidoscope of futures, as it should be. But, while I don't wanna make this about ~the straights~, it's also for straight Christians who want to love gay Christians better... and straight Christians who know the secret that many of us see our sexualities as crosses, not gifts from and for God, too. This book will leave you loving the God who made us, and delighted to have gotten to know him better. I can't give a better review than that.

Thank you to NetGalley and Ave Maria Press for a free ARC in exchange for an honest review!

Jesus of Nazareth: From the Baptism in the Jordan to the Transfiguration by Benedict XVI, Adrian J. Walker

Go to review page

challenging informative reflective slow-paced

Pray for Us: 75 Saints Who Sinned, Suffered, and Struggled on Their Way to Holiness by Meg Hunter-Kilmer

Go to review page

adventurous hopeful informative inspiring lighthearted fast-paced

5.0

Whenever I pick up a book about the lives of the saints, I’m usually bracing myself for all the usual tropes. All those generic white girls with no personality and colonizing men presented completely uncritically. Glossed-over rape and glorified eating disorders. The list goes on.

What a relief it was to open this book and know from page one that I wouldn’t have to worry about any of that, In Meg Hunter-Kilmer’s capable hands, each saint really does leap out as a unique image of Christ, utterly irrepeatable, formed in this real world. You get the sense that Hunter-Kilmer has learned to see the Creator’s delight in each of us, and wants to teach us that above all. This book doesn’t shy away from difficult topics, but handles them all with instructive grace.

If the goal of this book was to make me want to be a saint… To be a part of this star-studded cast… To meet people in heaven like jungle surgeon Bl. Maria Troncatti, bold foundress Ven. Mary Elizabeth Lange, and misfit sister Bl. Sara Salkahazi… Then it was successful. Sign me up!

(Thank you to NetGalley for providing me with an ARC!)

Finlay Donovan Is Killing It by Elle Cosimano

Go to review page

adventurous dark funny tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

PHENOMENAL, FIVE STARS, CANNOT WAIT TO READ THE THOUSAND INEVITABLE SEQUELS

Content Warnings

Black Catholic Studies Reader: History and Theology by David J Endres

Go to review page

informative inspiring medium-paced

5.0

I just can't get over how many fascinating lives are in this book. I want to know everything about all of them!!! What a gift to the Church.

Content Warnings

Heaven, My Home by Attica Locke

Go to review page

adventurous dark tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

This was the perfect book to experience as an audiobook. I really enjoy the world Locke has built up around this character and how much more complicated everything is than when it first appears.

Content Warnings

Once There Were Wolves by Charlotte McConaghy

Go to review page

adventurous dark emotional mysterious sad medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

Just like Migrations, this book devastated me and I loved every minute of being in its world.

Content Warnings

The Tale of Genji by Murasaki Shikibu

Go to review page

challenging informative lighthearted reflective slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated

I decided to finish my reading with

Genji’s death

, about 2/3 into the text, because that’s really where his tale ends and a totally different novel begins. But I’m so glad I read this for Women in Translation month. What a whirlwind tour of another world. I loved learning about it: the rudeness of naming, the surprising humor at court, and best of all, everyone speaking in code through poems on meaningfully dyed paper tied to meaningful plants. I also deeply admire this as a feat of translation. The length alone, let alone the Austen-like style and tone! What a marvel! Anyway, in conclusion, Murasaki was always too good for Genji, but I was sorta rooting for his forbidden romance with the emperor’s widow!!

Bluebird, Bluebird by Attica Locke

Go to review page

adventurous dark tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

Content Warnings

More...

catherineofalx's reviews 600 reviews

catherineofalx's reviews
600 reviews