The London House by Katherine Reay, book review

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The London House by Katherine Reay
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Read this because you're an intelligent (probably) woman who seeks to enrich her life through good stories, good characters, and Truth. It's a story of reconciliation, hope, mercy, rebuking long-held survivor guilt, and openness to learning that we don't always know the whole story and we can't always see the whole picture.

Put this at the top of your TBR pile. This author knows how to get you involved in the character's hearts and minds while telling a good story and keeping you invested in the plot. I've read everything she's published and I practically have an alarm set for when she might soon publish a new one.

Micro-Summary:
After a tantalizing sneak peek into a mysterious scene in occupied Paris, we jump forward to modern day America. We first meet Caroline who comes from a family marinating in sadness, shattered by an embarrassing secret that was buried during World War II and a somewhat recent tragic death. Even more than 75 years later the assumed Truth still seems to rot under the surface.

The story gives us the perspective in the 21st century as well as point of views from the 1930s and 1940s. I personally love the switching back and forth of those different eras, it's one of my favorite trends and literature right now.

Why it's great:
Clearly an immense amount of research was done. I have at least a dozen notes in my Kindle encouraging me to look up a different Schiaparelli dresses and events reported in the book. I remember seeing an Instagram post where she got to go to London just weeks before the pandemic shut down began to do research for this book. Yes, that is when I decided I was going to keep checking to see when it became available!

There's an element of this book that only struck me a few weeks after finishing the book that is quite niche and important in this era of our culture where masculinity and femininity seem to be at odds. The male characters embody masculinity in the truest sense of the word (positive and negative) and the female characters live all the best (and the worst manifestations of) characteristics of femininity. In the end, they show the strengths of how we are created. We see how one can use gifts given to us to help others rather than focusing so much on gaining power and recognition.

Something I have read the author share is that many of her novels grow out of different specific C.S. Lewis books. I'm not positive which one this is, but she does mention a talk he gave on the BBC called, "Right and Wrong -- A Clue to the Meaning of the Universe." That title gives you a peek into the lessons you might learn from this book. I don't consider this chick-lit. There is intelligent philosophy weaved throughout.

I received a digital advance copy of this book. All words and opinions are my own.

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Home for Christmas: Stories for Young and Old, book review

This post may contain affiliate links, which help me support my art habit, Liz Lenzi Art. Home for Christmas: Stories for Young and Old by Elizabeth Goudge
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Though I'm unfamiliar with some of these writers, I'm delighted to get to know them in this book! There is something so cozy about a book of short stories, especially with themes of Christmas and the values that traditionally come with them.

This is a book for old souls or for those who hope to develop the old souls in your own children. Most of the stories aren't explicitly focused on Christ's birth, but they're stories with Truth as their guide.

I'm still working my way through the stories, seeing as I'm writing this in August, slowly approaching them like a wise ten year old who takes his or her time to eat the Christmas candy. I can't wait to make some of these stories part of our tradition.

I received a digital advance copy of this book. All words and opinions are my own.

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St. Dymphna's Playbook, by Tommy Tighe

This post may contain affiliate links, which help me support my art habit, Liz Lenzi Art. St. Dymphna’s Playbook: A Catholic Guide to Finding Mental and Emotional Well-Being by Tommy Tighe
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Often we feel steeped in fear, loneliness, feelings of exile, depression, or other mental illness from the evil one. It's not a romantic poem in a few short stanzas when it's a part of your daily life. This book is exactly what it sounds like: a playbook. Instructions for finding your way for a myriad of illnesses plaguing you or your loved ones.

I liken the book to a faithful complement to the DSM. Rather than cold descriptions, you have occasional anecdotes and real, spiritually practical solutions. The solutions are rooted in faith, prayer, scripture, and hope. Mental illness is real and it can feel like a dark room into which you've been dropped. But through the Church and scripture God reminds us our feelings aren't reliable.

If you or someone you love are struggling with anything related to mental illness (depression, anhedonia, irritability, fatigue, hopelessness, anxiety, self-consciousness, OCD, scrupulosity, trauma, relationship struggles of all kinds, grief, and more), pick up this book as a guideline to lead you out of the darkness and a way to figure out how to turn on the light.

I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

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The vestments are rose colored, no longer the glasses

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We've reached the halfway point of Lent 2021 and in my own Linton tradition, I have finally come to the place of preparation to begin Lent.

Yesterday's rose-colored vestments marked the middle of our Lenten journey and after trying and trying and trying during Lent this year, I have finally made some headway in my spiritual journey and I almost wish that Lent was twice as long. I still have the endurance to build and the efforts to make in order to see the the fruits by the end. 

Disclaimer: Lent is not a diet! And perhaps for the first time I am finally not treating it like a diet, though my spiritual woes tend to be in the food world.

I have an addictive personality, though I keep it pretty tame on the outside with as many efforts as I can. However, over the years I have been engaged in what I'll call a binge eating disorder and then binge learning and then a binge dieting. I finally come to conclusion that I should have been asking God for help this entire time instead of trying to do it all by myself. He has a vested interest in me succeeding over my food addictions as they are in obstacle for me to Him.

It is hard to find a Catholic book that addresses this and I think it's because Protestants cherry pick scripture verses to apply to their lives. Maybe that's not fair. But I want to make sure I maintain a Catholic perspective which includes the fact that Jesus himself gave himself as food for us. Therefore food is such a glorious gift from God.

I've been reading a couple of books that have been helping me and they're all written by Protestants, so I have to make sure I'm praying about the truth as I read them. I feel good about recommending Dr Michael Brown's Breaking the Stronghold of Food. 

With the one exception of a time when his wife Nancy refers to Jesus' Last Supper and His final words of "it is finished," (oh how I wish I could send them a few Scott Hahn books), the rest is applicable to our lives as future saints. The major lesson that I've learned from it is that God is more powerful than any of my obsessive food thoughts and he wants me to be free of them.