My reading time is suffering TREMENDOUSLY from an attack of the killer cute. Consider:

And then I have THIS:

Don’t worry, y’all. I’m not giving up the reading, even though they’re conspiring to try to eat my homework.

Recent Reads

21 Ways to Worship: A Guide to Eucharistic Adoration, by Vinny Flynn (MercySong/Ignatius, 2012)

My rating: 5 out of 5 stars

Why yes, I was rather reluctant to read this one. That makes the awesomesauce that this book was even sweeter. I thought I knew the tone it would have and the attitude of eye-rolling it would inspire in me. I was, in fact, convinced I would have to work to write a favorable review.

In this book, Flynn brilliantly and concisely makes a case, not just for Adoration, not just for a deeper prayer life, not just for a gimmick-style Christian life, but for an approach to really living and transforming your life through small actions. Call it prayer, call it worship, call it Adoration: it is, at the root of it, encouragement for those of us who struggle, for those of us who juggle unsuccessfully, for those of us who wonder if what we’re doing is ever enough.

There’s no “Catholic lite” in this book, just a toolbox packed with approaches, ideas, and sincere devotion. You won’t be able to help changing your life as you read this book. Mine’s already better. I can’t wait to read it again.

Current Reads

Strange Gods: Unmasking the Idols in Everyday Life, by Elizabeth Scalia (Ave Maria Press, 2013)

What’s not to love? I’m only partway through the acknowledgements, which are a who’s-who of Catholic bloggers and writers, but I’m already hooked. I heard Scalia on a recent episode of Catholic Weekend and, had it not been for the fact that I was baling my crazy-grass-growing yard for something like the fifth time that week, I would have stopped everything to start reading.

A Method to the Madness: A Guide to the Super Evil, by Jeffrey Hite (Five Rivers Chapmanry, 2013, fiction)

I should be done with this book already! Except…except that it’s MAY. And you know what THAT means, right? It means…well, yeah, I have excuses and dirt under my toenails and grimy kids and mowing to do and…and…and… The more I read of this book, the more I love it. Next week, I will have more to say under the “I’m done with it now” category.

On Heaven and Earth: Pope Francis on Faith, Family, and the Church in the Twenty-First Century, by Jorge Bergoglio (Pope Francis) & Abraham Skorka (Image Books, 2013)

On the one hand, this is a great book to read in small chunks. It’s spiritual reading with a conversational tone (because it’s really a conversation). On the other hand, I want to just…keep…reading. Good, good, GOOOOOOOD stuff.

What have YOU been reading lately?

*Are you on Goodreads? I’ll see you there!

Curious about what my ratings mean? Here’s an explanation of what the stars mean to me.

Be sure to check out our Book Notes archive.

Copyright 2013, Sarah Reinhard

Here are two apps we’ve enjoyed using together recently.

Note: my reviews are based on the iPad version of these apps. I do NOT have iOS 6.0 because I’m still on the original iPad. Both of these apps work just fine on it, which makes me love them even more. I used the screenshots that are available from iTunes, in part because I couldn’t pry my iPad away from the short people on the day I was writing this review.

Patron Saints

By Our Sunday Visitor; Available for iOS (99-cents); Official Website

This came out as one of three saints-related apps Our Sunday Visitor released a few months ago. (The other two are set up similarly to this one and have been reviewed here at Tech Talk.)

I love that this draws from a database of over 1000 saints and is based on The Encyclopedia of Catholic History, Revised. With all the information that’s available, this is information I can trust.

That, and you can do some really cool Catholic geekiness with it.

We went through and found out who the patron saint of horses was (there were at least four!) and then ran through birthdays of people we knew (ourselves included).

When I hear that someone’s having a baby (or their due date), I make sure to check out potential patrons. (I also use the calendar function at Saints.SQPN.com for this purpose.)

And hey, opening the app to a beautiful image of the saint of the day isn’t bad either.

This is one of those Catholic must-have apps, and it’s also an easy way to familiarize yourself with the huge family we have in heaven.

Saint of the Day for Kids

By Cary Molyneux; Available for iOS (99-cents); Official Website

This is an app that has “genius” written all over it. For my love-to-color gang, printing pictures of the saints is a win on a lot of levels. The summary bios are appropriately written, too.

However, this app comes with a warning (and this should be proof that I’m unbiased): there’s some weird in-app purchasing options. I keep meaning to write a rant about that, and I was largely disappointed by that. The developer 

That said, I paid the in-app option to have it unlocked, because my eight-year-old was LOVING IT so much! When you unlock it, you can move around to whatever day you want on the calendar, and that allowed us to print copies of saints for, you know, every day of the year.

Note: the early version I tested had an in-app purchase option, but it turns out I’m not the only one who was disappointed by that. The latest version, which should be available yet this week in iTunes, will cost $2 up-front, instead of 99-cents and then another 99-cents in-app.

You can look for saints alphabetically too:

And if you’re like us, you have favorites you want to be able to find again.

Overall, we’re happy with this app. I highly recommend it and even more now that the “hidden cost” has been updated..

Read more of our Tech Talk columns.

Copyright 2013 Sarah Reinhard

Here are the Tech Talk highlights from last week.

Catholic’s Companion on Windows

Here’s the Catholic app we found in a recent foray into a Windows smartphone.

New “Missio” App to be Unlocked by Pope Francis on Friday

Pope Francis is unveiling a new smartphone app and our team is jumping up and down in all kinds of excitement.

Pentecost: The  Mission, Method, and Means

What does Pentecost have to do with Tech Talk? We don’t think you’ll be disappointed by this reflection!

More Than Words (Wake Up to the Creed App Review)

How a new app is helping us pray differently (and better?).

Read all of our Tech Talk columns.

Copyright 2013 Sarah Reinhard

Oh May, you are crazy-busy-chaos no matter what I do. But when I come across this:

and this:

as I mow and chase kids through the yard, it’s hard not to just be thankful for May.

And the books I’m reading lately are a spring flower all of their own. This week, quite a fragrant bunch…

Recent Reads

The Everyday Catholic’s Guide to the Liturgy of the Hours, by Daria Sockey (Servant Books, 2013)

My rating: 5 out of 5 stars

This book is amazing, in part for how accessible it makes the Liturgy of the Hours and in part for how well it’s written. Get a copy of it for yourself and read it. Let it touch your heart and transform your approach to the prayer of the Church. Then get a copy for your parish library and your best friend. It’s THAT good, I promise.

More or Less: Choosing a Lifestyle of Excessive Generosity, by Jeff Shinabarger (David C. Cook, 2013)

My rating: 5 out of 5 stars

There are 14 chapters in More or Less, covering virtually everything in your life, from your kitchen pantry to your closet to your time, from your transportation to your presents to your access. I didn’t find it a fast read, though it’s a VERY good read. I found I could only manage so much before my brain sort of stopped. I needed to noodle a bit before I could read more.

It’s practical and applicable and it doesn’t just leave you with a good idea. Shinaberger outlines a general plan of action after he shares how he or others approached what he calls Enough Experiments. In fact, he went so far as to build a pretty rockin website that has links to the videos mentioned in the book, a discussion guide, and a worksheet to help you with your closet.

What makes this an incredible book isn’t just that it’s tightly written, that it has a thread of story running through the whole thing, that Jeff sounds like the kind of guy you would probably like. What makes this a remarkable read is the challenge it leaves in your heart, the way it forces you to acknowledge your role in the world at large, whether you choose to engage or not. It reminds me, in fact, of how I felt and continue to feel after reading Refuse to Do Nothing.

Read this book. And then share it with someone close to you.

The Parish Guide to Social Media: How Social Networking Can Recharge Your Ministry, by Clarissa Aljentera (Twenty-Third Publications, 2013)

My rating: 5 out 5 stars

Consoling the Heart of Jesus: A Do-It-Yourself Retreat, by Fr. Michael E. Gaitley, MIC (Marian Press, 2010)

My rating: 5 out of 5 stars

This book is amazing, awesome, and challenging in ways I don’t think I even appreciate yet. I did it as part of an 8-week retreat using Google Hangouts with friends from all over the country. I can feel it continuing to work on me, and I know it has changed me internally and has impacted my spiritual life in a big way. I’m still working on a more formal way to review this book: I’m sort of “gut reacting” to it…so stay tuned.

Current Reads

A Method to the Madness: A Guide to the Super Evil, by Jeffrey Hite (fiction)

This book is cracking! me! up! I think I have an early version (Wannabe-Editor Sarah has caught some small items), but it is so delightful and hilarious to read. The premise: a handbook for those whose aim is to take over the world. Cue Pinky & The Brain, prepare yourself for laugh-out-loud funny, and kick back. I’m so glad I agreed to read it!

On Heaven and Earth: Pope Francis on Faith, Family, and the Church in the Twenty-First Century, by Jorge Bergoglio (Pope Francis) & Abraham Skorka (Image Books, 2013)

Oh, I am SO enjoying this. I’ve read most of it during the barely-controlled chaos that is Adoration mornings with my two youngest kids (ages 2 and 5) and my mother-in-law. The kids are noisily enthusiastic, my mother-in-law is smilingly encouraging, and I take the wisdom as I get it. This book is a beautiful conversation and it’s a good translation, near as I can tell (I don’t speak or read Spanish), because I get the tenderness and passion of Pope Francis so loudly and clearly through it.

Save, Send, Delete, by Danusha Goska (John Hunt Publishing, 2012, fiction)

This is a good book, but it hit me at a time when (a) I’m not particularly motivated to read it and (b) when I’m buried in other books. I think I’ll end up walking away from it (in about 5 weeks at the rate I’m going!) with glowing reviews, though I do wish I had the hard copy of it instead. This is one of the first times I’ve felt this way about a novel, which speaks to the unique nature of this novel.

New to My Review Shelf

American Church: The Remarkable Rise, Meteoric Fall, and Uncertain Future of Catholicism in America, by Russell Shaw (Ignatius Press, 2013)

I’m not sure if I’ll really read this one or not, but it’s on my review shelf. I have this feeling that it’s a book that will just tell me more about how bad we are as American Catholics. On the other hand, someone I really respect said it’s their favorite Ignatius release of the season. So there’s that. Here’s what it’s about:

Has the Americanization of American Catholics-their cultural assimilation, that is-been a blessing or a curse for the Church in the United States? Or has it been a bit of both?

In American Church Russell Shaw takes a searching look at that question and reaches a disturbing conclusion. Cultural assimilation, which was ardently championed by churchmen like the great Cardinal James Gibbons of Baltimore around the turn of the last century, has undoubtedly conferred many benefits on Catholics. Their absorption into the secular culture of America, however, now threatens the Catholic identity of millions of faithful and of their institutions, such as schools, universities, and hospitals.

Shaw does not offer this conclusion as an unsupported generalization. American Church is a richly documented analysis of a process extending over two centuries. Colorful characters and dramatic incidents abound, including the nineteenth-century intellectual feud between Orestes Brownson and the Transcendentalist convert to Catholicism Isaac Hecker, Pope Leo XIII’s condemnation of Americanism, the anti-Catholicism that greeted the presidential campaigns of Al Smith and John F. Kennedy, and the numerous intra-Church conflicts that have divided American Catholics since the Second Vatican Council.

In concluding his study, Shaw offers a number of thought-provoking suggestions about what the Church in America needs to do now in the face of an ongoing decline that is sapping its strength and may threaten its very survival.

Jesus the Evangelist: A Gospel Guide to the New Evangelization, by Allan F. Wright (Franciscan Media, 2013)

Let’s just say this book had me at “New Evangelization.” It looks promising, don’t you think?

The Catholic Church is in the midst of a worldwide effort to engage its members in evangelization, and welcome home those who have left the Church. Yet the meaning of evangelization is unclear to many people: what is it, and how is it part of my life and my faith?

Jesus the Evangelist is a transformative guide to becoming a better disciple through studying the words of Jesus. Using specific and concrete examples from Scripture, the book focuses on the life of Jesus and on the ways he evangelized among his disciples and followers. It defines for Catholics what evangelization is while addressing how individuals can evangelize in their everyday lives, and how parishes can evangelize through the examples Jesus gave us.

Pope Benedict XVI said; “The missionary task is not to bring about revolution in the world but to transfigure it, drawing power from Jesus Christ who ‘convokes us at the table of his Word and Eucharist.’” This book will guide the reader into active discipleship, providing a practical application of both Scripture and Church teaching to the process of evangelization.

Consuming the Word: The New Testament and the Eucharist in the Early Church, by Scott Hahn (Image Books, 2013)

I’m a big fan of Scott Hahn, but I’ll admit I haven’t read anything of his in a lonnnnng time. There are quite a few reasons for this, but I’ll be interested, now, to see if I find him as riveting as I did when he was the main author of the theology I was reading. Here’s what this book’s about:

Long before the New Testament was a document, it was a sacrament. Jesus called the Eucharist by the name Christians subsequently gave to the latter books of the Holy Bible. It was the “New Covenant,” the “New Testament,” in his blood. Christians later extended the phrase to cover the books produced by the apostles and their companions; but they did so because these were the books that could be read at Mass.

This simple and demonstrable historical fact has enormous implications for the way we read the Bible. In Consuming the Word: The New Testament and the Eucharist in the Early Church, Dr. Scott Hahn undertakes an examination of some of Christianity’s most basic terms to discover what they meant to the sacred authors, the apostolic preachers, and their first hearers. Moreover, at a time when the Church is embarking on a New Evangelization he draws lessons for Christians today to help solidify their understanding of the why it is Catholics do what Catholics do.

Anyone acquainted with the rich body of writing that flows so inspiringly from the hand and heart of Dr. Hahn knows that he brings profound personal insight to his demonstrated theological expertise,” writes Cardinal Donald Wuerl in the foreword to the book.  Consuming the Word continues in that illustrious tradition.  It brings us a powerful and welcome guide as we take our place in the great and challenging work in sharing the Good News.

What have YOU been reading lately?

*Are you on Goodreads? I’ll see you there!

Curious about what my ratings mean? Here’s an explanation of what the stars mean to me.

Be sure to check out our Book Notes archive.

Copyright 2013, Sarah Reinhard

Here are the Tech Talk highlights from last week.

Catholic Techie K T Cat

In which we interview our first anonymous Catholic Techie.

Fantastical by Flexbits for Mac and iOS

A look at a calendar app that was worth every penny and we found really easy to use and integrate.

The Value of Social Interaction

Let’s not miss the chance to interact with the people who are physically present!

Unwinding Without (Completely) Unplugging

Who says you have to leave the apps at home while you’re maxing and relaxing? Here’s what we took on a recent vacation and how we used them.

Game Review: Mass Effect

If your kids are asking to play, the answer should be no, without a doubt. We take a look at this game and leave it to your discretion whether you choose to play it for yourself.

Read all of our Tech Talk columns.

Copyright 2013 Sarah Reinhard

Lately, the hardest part about reviewing children’s books is that my eight-year-old finds the basket I’m saving them in and claims them. That, or my five-year-old sees something pretty and needs the basket (or wherever I’m piling them) for a project.

These three books are books I’ve barely managed to keep from getting dog-eared and well-loved by my children, and there’s a reason for that: they’re beautiful. While these books are about very different topics, they represent what’s good and alive in Catholic publishing aimed at children. Bright covers, great illustrations, clear text. They’re as fun to read as an adult as they are for the kids they’re intended for.

A Picture Book of the Mass (Illustrated by the Masters!), by Lacy Rabideau

This book is sure to be an example I use if and when I ever write about my thoughts on self-publishing over at the Catholic Writers Guild blog. Honestly, I’m not usually a big fan of self-pubbing. But this book blows all of my usual objections right out of the water.

It’s on magazine-quality paper and it’s full-color throughout. As the title promises, it has illustrations, and they’re classics. The publication quality of this book is top-notch.

The book includes all the parts of Mass, and explanations. At 29 pages, it doesn’t skimp and try to squish a bunch of things onto one page, which is good for little hands.

The pictures are engaging too, and did I mention they’re full of color? Seriously, it’s striking.

From the author:

These booklets are not “dumbed down” for children, yet they are simple, straight-forward, and easy to use. They are based on the most common, ordinary time Mass.

The paintings that illustrate the Mass were carefully chosen to aid meditation during the Mass, and are meant to be used as an evangelization tool for any Protestants you might invite to attend Mass with you.

The beautiful dedication page in the front of this booklet makes them into the perfect gift for your Godchild, First Communion students, or any religious occasion!

Big thumbs-up from the Reinhards on this one!

The Way of the Cross, by Juliette Levivier, Illustrated by Anne Gravier (Ignatius Press (reprint edition), 2013, hardcover)

It has history. It has the devotion. It has simple, astounding illustrations.

I didn’t have this book during Holy Week this year, but I’ll be using it next year, you can bet on it. And maybe I’ll even share it with my kids…

Godparents, catechists, parents, aunts and uncles, take note: this book is a GREAT gift idea. The hard cover makes it sturdy enough to tuck into a purse or diaper bag and it’s simply written.

From the publisher:

Help your youngsters meditate on the Stations of the Cross. Beautifully illustrated and simply written, this little guide is a wonderful introduction to an important prayer and ancient devotion of the Church.

The book begins with a description of the events of that first Holy Week, when Jesus suffered, died and rose from the dead. There is also a brief history of the Way of the Cross devotion, which began in Jerusalem. Each station includes a Scripture verse, a brief text to help children imagine the scene, a four-color illustration, and a prayer.

Forever You: A Book about Your Soul and Body, by Nicole Lataif, Illustrated by Mary Rojas (Pauline Books & Media, 2012)

Someone sent me a link to an interview with Nicole Lataif about her inspiration for writing this book, and I promptly wrote Pauline Books requesting a copy. The kind marketing associate wrote me back and mentioned that I had already received a copy.

(My apologies, dear publishers. I run a pretty organized book ship here, but the fact that my kids also like books is KILLIN ME lately when it comes to figuring out where they’ve put the children’s books I’m supposed to be reviewing.)

Well, I found it. And then my eight-year-old found it. As she was walking out of my office with it, I said, “Hey! We have to write a review about that one!”

“OK!” she said, already opening the book. “I’ll tell you what to write.”

About ten minutes later, she found me in the kitchen. “So?” I said. “What are we writing?”

“Ten out of ten stars,” she said. “I really liked it!”

“What was your favorite part?”

“I like how it talks about our soul and the person we are.”

I hadn’t read the book at that point, and I was intrigued.

The first page of the book, titled “For Grown-ups,” states that Forever You is “a resource for Christian faith formation at the most basic level, intended to help you explain to children what being human is all about.”

We’re both body AND soul.

The book opens with, “Your soul is in all you are and do—soul and body, forever you.” It continues, engaging readers with pictures and emphasizing that body and soul aren’t separated, even in things like climbing a tree or taking a bath. The refrain’s repeated and there’s rhyming.

It’s an easy read, whether you’re the adult or the eight-year-old. This is a message *I* needed to hear, too, one that we could all use a reminder of.

From the publisher:

Starting at an early age, kids are curious about their existence as human beings. At the primary stage, they wonder about where they came from, who they are as individuals, and how they fit into this world. As adults, it is often difficult to find the right words to explain these complex ideas to them in a way that they can relate to. And in this critical period of individual identity formation, finding those ‘right words’ is all the more essential.

At the most basic level, this resource for Christian faith formation introduces children ages 4-8 to what being human is all about. Whether you are a parent, grandparent, or catechist, you will find this resource to be helpful in explaining the concept of a “soul” to your children. Simply structured sentences, engaging text, relatable analogies grounded in nature and creation, and whimsical illustrations invite children to understand and embrace the whole human person.

In the words of my five-year-old, this book gets 25 gold stars. Good stuff, worth sharing and rereading.

Be sure to check out our Book Notes archive.

Copyright 2013, Sarah Reinhard

Recent Reads

Greater Treasures: A DragonEye Novella, by Karina Fabian (self-published, 2013, fiction)

My rating: 5 out of 5 stars

A quick read that’s as entertaining and clever as I expected. I’m a Vern fangirl and Fabian didn’t let me down with this one. The one thing I’d change? I wanted MORE!

Current Reads

More or Less: Choosing a Lifestyle of Excessive Generosity, by Jeff Shinabarger (David C. Cook, 2013)

I’m reading this a chapter at a time. It’s well-done and wow, what a way to not just look at “simplifying your life” in a general way, but in a systematic and Christian way. This book is another life-changer and game-changer for me. (I’m not exactly thrilled about that, because I wasn’t necessarily LOOKING to have things go all changey-changey on me!) Good book, though, and one I’m enjoying reading.

The Everyday Catholic’s Guide to the Liturgy of the Hours, by Daria Sockey (Servant Books, 2013)

I *thought* I would be able to whip through this book. It’s less than 150 pages, after all, and Sockey’s the kind of writer who’s fun and easy to read. (That’s not to say she’s not saying really important stuff. SHE IS. She just makes it go down easy.)

I’m not, however, rushing through this book. I’ll finish it this week for sure, and it’s already influenced my prayer habits. A great read, all around, and one I’ll be promoting a lot!

On Heaven and Earth: Pope Francis on Faith, Family, and the Church in the Twenty-First Century, by Jorge Bergoglio (Pope Francis) & Abraham Skorka (Image Books, 2013)

I loved Pope Francis before I started reading this book, which is a conversation between him (as Archbishop Bergoglio) and rabbi Abraham Skorka. It’s a great conversational sort of read. It also has short chapters, which is helpful in May while I’m swamped but wanting spiritual doses of reading. LOVING it so far.

New to My Review Shelf

There’s a lot of new stuff coming in, and I am just unable to compile it today. I think I’ll do a post later this week or next week highlighting some that I’m really looking forward to reading. Stay tuned!

What have YOU been reading lately?

*Are you on Goodreads? I’ll see you there!

Curious about what my ratings mean? Here’s an explanation of what the stars mean to me.

Be sure to check out our Book Notes archive.

Copyright 2013, Sarah Reinhard

K T Cat has been blogging at The Scratching Post about as long as I have, 7 years. That means he remembers the “old days” of blogging (cue eye-rolling from the up-and-coming kids on the blogosphere), back when “meme” meant a sort of chain-post thing and blogging awards were one of the ways we interacted. Back then, a “carnival” wasn’t this linky-fest thing, but something that involved actually reading every post before you posted it by hand into your blog post.

And you know, back in those days, there were a handful of Catholic bloggers and we all pretty much knew each other. Sorta.

I mean, really. Things they have a-changed in the blogosphere! For one thing, we’re all on Twitter now (so is he, not surprisingly, as @ktcat).

This is our first Catholic Techie who won’t even tell me his real name though we’ve been acquainted for years and though I’m conducting this interview. I might, in fact, be disinclined to interview K T Cat, except I know he’s a real guy (or a real cat?). I can respect the not-sharing-your-name thing, especially when it’s done as well as he’s doing it.

So let’s learn about the illustrious K T Cat, shall we?

Tell us about yourself in five words or less.

Catholic husband and father.

Of your pursuits, what’s your favorite?

Blogging! It’s got to be.

Outside of that, I have way more passions than I will have time to fully explore. I love watching sports (Newcastle United and the New Orleans Saints), I love to cook, I love Catholic theology (Chesterton and Lewis and Augustine and Aquinas), we like to entertain, I scuba dive with our boys, adore my wife, love my daughter, photograph sunsets and flowers …

When you think of the New Evangelization from your approach as a “Catholic Techie,” what excites you? What makes you want to continue?

I love how new technologies give us a chance to explore what we want and connect with each other. Over the last 7 years, my blog has helped me grow as a Catholic and as a person. It has changed the way I approach others about Christ and the Church, thanks to things I’ve learned from everyone else.

Having said that, I can get Catholicked-out. (How’s that for a word?) For me, Catholicism is the foundation of my life, not the central motivating force in my life. It instructs everything I do, but truth to tell, I’d rather watch a Newcastle game while drinking a London Pride instead of reading the latest Jesuitical ramblings. I think that we as Catholics can get way too wound up in the thing.

Backtracking again, I’ll note that I’m a Eucharistic Minister and active in our Cursillo community. So I dunno, maybe I’m more Catholicky than I think I am. Whatever. I gave one of Pope Benedict’s books a chance on audible.com, but after about an hour, I went back to TalkSport radio and listened to the drive time pair from England argue and joke about Premier League soccer. On the other hand, I can’t get enough Chesterton and Lewis, so there’s that.

I guess what I’m saying is that for me, theology has to be applied theology.

What’s the most rewarding aspect of your work?

I feel like I understand the world much better because of my work as a Catholic blogger. I’ve gone through many interests on the blog – economics, parenting, politics, religion, science and more. The more I learn and the more I explore, the more I see how Catholicism is true. It just works in every way. I’m trained as a scientist and it bugged the heck out of me to see how many atheists there are in the sciences. I just didn’t get it at all. I’m a cradle Catholic and science and religion have never been in conflict for me. I spent quite a while on the blog exploring just what it is the science-atheists think. I was sooo disappointed. It was the most juvenile and shallow nonsense. Here was one post on my path to enlightenment and eventual boredom with the topic.

In your spare time, what are we likely to find you doing? Do you have a gadget in hand or do you go native and screenless?

In my spare time, I can never be found without my Galaxy S3. I love it, love it, love it.

Read more of our Tech Talk columns.

Copyright 2013 Sarah Reinhard

Here are the Tech Talk highlights from last week.

Catholic Techie Laura Bradley

She didn’t stop at landing her dream job, but shot for the calendar-planning moon. And she hit it!

App Giveaway: Confession (Newly Updated!)

We share the updates to the popular Confession app and offer you a chance to win it.

Flow Free–Just One of the Games Teens Dig

Our resident mom reviewer checks out what the teens in her life recommend…and she found herself addicted!

Trello: A Visual Planner’s Virtual Dream

Are you swamped with a bunch of projects and lacking enough bulletin board space? Maybe you’ll find this solution as helpful as we did.

3 Ways I Use Evernote Every Day

Here’s how Evernote has helped us become and stay more organized.

Read all of our Tech Talk columns.

Copyright 2013 Sarah Reinhard

Now, nearly a year later, I use Evernote every single day. It’s one of the two programs I always have open on my laptop. Here are three of the ways I use Evernote daily.

My To-Do List

I have a two-way system for my to-do list(s). One is using Toodledo, which allows me to set up repeating events and jot things in. I also have a weekly note in my To-Do notebook in Evernote. I list the days of the week, our dinner plans for each day, my appointments for each day, and the listing of what I need to get done each day.

Some (many) days I don’t get it all done, and I delete the day when it’s over and move the events to another part of the note (or another day).

I tried (unsuccessfully) to use only Toodledo for quite a while. Maybe it’s just the season of life I’m in right now, but transferring things into my Evernote list helps me get a feel for what’s ahead of me in the week.

Web Clipping

It seems, some days, that there is so much on the internet that I need to save for later or that inspires an idea or any number of other things. And, thanks to the Evernote web clipper, I can. I have notebooks where I save things I want to share on various Facebook pages I help manage (including our very own CatholicMom.com page!). I also clip things that give me an idea for a column or a post somewhere.

I also use web clipping when I’m researching a project. I have a book project I’m sorta kinda starting on, and I’ve been a web clipping machine, finding relevant resources and saving ideas for later.

Within the notebooks where I’ve clipped, I can also make notes of other content too. It’s truly

Sharing Ideas and Resources

I started sharing notebooks with a friend and fellow catechist at our parish. I have a “religious education ideas” notebook and, since she’s an Evernote junkie too, she asked me to share that notebook with her.

And then we started sharing recipes. And then we got into green cleaning (don’t even ask) and we have a shared notebook of DIY green cleaning and resources for finding

Another friend and I have a shared “dreams” folder for a website we both work on and are passionate about. We have, at last count, almost ten notes with giveaway ideas, notes for things to do in the future, and ideas.

When we redid our parish website recently, the web designer (our very own Dorian, as a matter of fact) and I had a shared notebook where we communicated ideas and needs.

The collaboration that shared notebooks make possible is endless. And awesome.

Want more?

Barb Szyszkiewicz wrote a great post about an alternative to Evernote that she loves: ”5 Reasons to Use Springpad.”

Dorian Speed’s Evernote Series:

• The Evernote Evangelist
• Evernote Basics
• Evernote Enhanced: The Premium Version
• Five Family Lists to Share in Evernote
• The One Thing I’d Change about Evernote
• Widget Wonderfulness: The Evernote Saga Continues
• Trying–and Loving–Skitch

Read more of our Tech Talk columns.

Copyright 2013 Sarah Reinhard

The first part of this year has seen a quite amazing batch of books coming my way. And since I may not be the only one trying to come up with a few great Mother’s Day ideas, I thought I’d share links to a few of these newly-released books and (not always) brief reviews.

The mom in your life is sure to love any of these books, and your purchase through our links supports the work we do here.

These are listed alphabetically by title, in case you were wondering.

Blessed, Beautiful, and Bodacioius: Celebrating the Gift of Catholic Womanhood, by Pat Gohn (Ave Maria Press, 2013)

I can tell you already that one of the books on my “Best of 2013″ list is the newly released brilliance in B by Pat Gohn, Blessed, Beautiful, and Bodacious: Celebrating the Gift of Catholic Womanhood. Pat has a streak of sassy New England, and she also has a swash of practical Midwestern. She’s studied and she’s lived. And it’s all there, in a title that makes me smile every time I see it.

This book makes a big promise: it has a sort of all-encompassing premise that could really fall flat. I mean, how many of us celebrate cramps or hot flashes or pains in various parts of our bodies? And put the word Catholic in there and there’s a whole separate set of gripes I could point out.

Modern thinking meets Church teaching, written by the woman who’s pouring you coffee and pulling out her stash of chocolate to share. Gohn doesn’t shy away from the tough issues: she faces them squarely and just takes ‘em on.

At the end of each chapter, in a way that’s so approachable and real that even I couldn’t roll my eyes, Gohn gives the world an inside look at her devotion.

And it’s blessed, beautiful, and bodacious.

Truly, the title of this book doesn’t just describe Pat’s vision of what Catholic womanhood is and should be—Blessed, Beautiful, and Bodacious describes the book itself. It’s a blessing to read, beautifully executed, and bodacious all around. I won’t be surprised when it becomes a Catholic bestseller for the way it so easily shares so much information so well. I won’t be surprised when I give it as a gift to people who already have it, because it’s that good. If you don’t have a copy, don’t wait.

Think of it this way: you’ll read it and love it and leave notes in the margins. Then you’ll share it with your best friend, who won’t be able to give it back because her sister will need to read it.

Imitating Mary: Ten Marian Virtues for the Modern Mom, by Marge Fenelon (Ave Maria Press, 2013)

For so many people, she’s inaccessible. It’s something I find again and again as I write and speak and ponder this woman who changed the course of humanity.

You may call her Blessed Mother or Virgin Mary. You may call her Mama or you might just call her Mary. Whatever you call her and wherever you see her, from your garden to your church, from your daily life to your deeper devotion, there’s a new book you should consider a must-read: Imitating Mary: Ten Marian Virtues for the Modern Mom, by Marge Fenelon.

What Fenelon has done isn’t so remarkable, really. The market is saturated with books on mothering, books on Mary, and books that are lists of things. What this book has that no other book I’ve found has is all of that together: Mary, mothering, and lists.

Did I mention that it’s written in an accessible and down-to-earth style? Within these pages, you won’t be able to help growing closer to Mary…she will breathe from the pages and take shape before you.

The virtues highlighted throughout the book aren’t things that I think I’m naturally good at; they’re definitely things I need to improve. I’m glad I read it before I got caught up in thinking about how far I had to go: each chapter inspired me and made me think more deeply about how very much Mary wants to help me personally, ME.

Throughout the ten chapters of this book, Marge Fenelon makes the Virgin Mary into a real person without subtracting from any of the Blessed Mother’s amazing qualities. Mary becomes a model—not of a distant figure from thousands of years ago, but of a mom like you and me who wants to walk beside us.

Love & Salt: A Spiritual Friendship Shared in Letters, by Amy Andrews & Jessica Mesmith Griffith (Loyola Press, 2013)

To have a friend who leads you closer to God is nothing short of a gift. I have one such friend. After reading Love & Salt: A Spiritual Friendship Shared in Letters, I realized that, though I’m a writer, I don’t write this dear friend of mine nearly enough.

There’s something personal about letters–they’re not dashed off like email, short like a text, or rambling like a phone call. They remain, full of their original words, to be reread and cherished and, if they’re lucky, saved.

In Love & Salt, we have three years distilled into a few hundred pages and at least a hundred letters (no, I’m not counting). It felt like glimpsing into a personal time capsule, one filled with memories and shared laughter and honest experience.

This book is sincere in the most beautiful expression of that word. You read a part of the two women’s souls, share their smiles and their tears, feel yourself wrenched along lives filled with questions.

They are questions I’ve asked myself. They are pains I have also borne. They are tears I have shared with others.

I have no doubt that, a year from now, I will still be raving about this book. It is one of the best examples of “spiritual memoir” I have ever read, told in conversation and by real people. Except…did I mention that I’m not such a fan of memoirs? Yeah, I should probably mention that. I’m not. But this is…well, it’s more than memoir. It’s an almost voyeuristic look into how a friendship developed and grew into more than simply two women who liked each other. They became sisters in Christ in the very best, most ideal sense of that phrase.

This book reads like real life. In some ways, it’s what I love about blogs and find so rarely in books: the honesty, the bare emotion, the hilarity mixed in. It’s truly a cocktail of love and salt, roses and thorns, sugar and spice.

My Sisters the Saints: A Spiritual Memoir, by Colleen Carroll Campbell (Image Books, 2012)

I’m always a little scared, lately, when I agree to read something that is either biography or memoir. Though they can be well-done (and often are), they can also represent a genre that, well, sends me packing and screaming and launching a book across the room.

I was unable, though, to turn down the chance to read Colleen Carroll Campbell’s new book, My Sisters the Saints: A Spiritual Memoir. And then, about halfway through, I was unable to put it down.

Bottom line: GREAT BOOK.

This was truly a look inside, and dare I say there was even a plot? I loved how there was a story woven throughout, and that the stitches of the story were some of my favorite saints.

In no way does Campbell give in to the temptation just to tell us about the saints in a long “we could find that on Google” lecture. She does not reduce the saints to her own take on them, either.

Within this book is some of the best writing I’ve seen and a style that captivated even me, an admitted non-biography/memoir-reader.

This is a book that documents an ongoing conversion in a way that I found engaging and thought-provoking. I caught myself marking passages and shaking my head.

I also found myself with tears running down my face. Campbell’s struggles with her own conversion and understanding, with her father’s declining health, and with her infertility were shared intimately in this book. It took some kind of courage to write the way she did throughout this book, and it was a light to me. After I finished the book, I wanted to email her words of encouragement, and I couldn’t help praying for her.

And isn’t that the beauty of a good book like this? It not only makes a stranger into someone we feel like we might know, it also brings us closer to some truths about ourselves. And, in the case of this book, it draws closer the communion of saints and the beauty of our Christianity.

Random MOMents of Grace: Experiencing God in the Adventures of Motherhood, by Ginny Kubitz Moyer (Loyola Press, 2013)

Some books are good reading, but when you’re done with them, you shelve them, let them collect dust, and eventually give them away to an unsuspecting thrift store bargain shopper.

Some books are good reading, and when you’re done, you rave about them on your blog, shelve them, let them collect dust, and eventually give them away to an unsuspecting giveaway winner.

Some books are good reading and no matter what, YOU DO NOT EVEN LEND YOUR COPY TO ANYONE. You know you’re going to be referencing those folded-down pages, tapping into the insight and wisdom that brought a dusting to your eyes, searching for a shoulder to lean on between the cover.

Some books are such good reading that they’re almost “blankie” books.

Ginny Kubitz Moyer has written one such book with her latest release, Random MOMents of Grace: Experiencing God in the Adventures of Motherhood.

Moyer writes with the voice of experience and the insight of appreciating what she has. She doesn’t sugarcoat things and yet she taps into the beauty of motherhood. She’s sappy without being sickening, funny without being overbearing, wise without being unreachable.

After reading this book, I was left feeling encouraged by a sister-in-arms. It’s a book I’ll be sharing, for sure, and I’ll also be re-reading. Because you know what? All moms deserve this sort of reading every once in a while.

Recipe for Joy: A Stepmom’s Story of Finding Faith, Following Love, and Feeding a Family, by Robin Davis (Loyola Press, 2013)

Recipe for Joy: A Stepmom’s Story of Finding Faith, Following Love, and Feeding a Family looked interesting, but I’ll be honest: I almost didn’t read it. There are a number of reasons why, but none of them are as huge as the feeling of “Wow, I am SO GLAD I read that!” that I felt late on Saturday night, with the whole house asleep, as tears streamed down my face and I closed the back cover.

This was great read that makes me consider that maybe I do like memoirs when they’re told as expertly and entertainingly and heart-wrenchingly as this one.

Did I mention there are some recipes? That I felt nearly motivated to try?* And that the author is practically my neighbor? (I found out that last bit quite by accident. She doesn’t know I know that yet. Shhhhh…she’s still safe…for a little while longer…)

The book’s arranged in courses, beginning with a toast and continuing to appetizer, soup, salad, bread, main course, and ending with dessert. At the end of each chapter, which are beautifully written and not, in fact, forced in any way, there is a relevant recipe. By the time you’re done with the book, you have a full meal. And it looks like one my family may even eat.

Davis was never going to get married or have children, and the surprise and delight she has found in both of those vocations seeps through her descriptions and writing. But don’t think that they’re sappy or irrelevant to you.

I’m not spoiling anything to tell you that yes, she did marry Ken. She embarked on something for which she felt ill-equipped, and as I turned the pages, I couldn’t help but nod. A lot.

Robin Davis, under the guise of a memoir, shares a beautiful story of conversion and ongoing trust in God. She bares an intimate part of herself, shares recipes, and poetically makes you love and hate and interact with her experiences.

I found this to be a book that plumbed my heart in ways few books have. It spoke to me as a daughter, to me as a mother, to me as a fellow woman. Davis dives into her story and doesn’t slow down. I could sum it up in one sentence (and some of the synopses I’ve seen do just that), and yet the gift within these pages is found in the love that’s within the very core of the story itself.

Refuse to Do Nothing: Finding Your Power to Abolish Modern-Day Slavery, by Shayne Moore and Kimberly McOwen Yim (IVP Books, 2012)

Despite the fact that I regularly whip through books, I could not whip through this one. I found myself choked up after chapters, and the image of those young girls from Taken, the ones who were part of the prostitution ring and were drugged into submission.

I pictured the children who didn’t know a better life, who couldn’t imagine hope.

And, more than anything, I pictured these two ordinary moms changing the world, one small step at a time.

This isn’t an easy topic. I actually haven’t talked much to the people around me about its content because…well, not only is it uncomfortable, but I just about need to reread the book to feel confident about it.

And the problem is so stinkin huge, what difference can Imake from my home here in central Ohio?

I love how Moore and Yim begin the book by writing at length about the abolition of slavery in the United States. That initiative was carried by women, believe it or not, and specifically Christian women. Without the women–who controlled what was purchased, who kept the prayers going, who never ever gave up–we may still have legal slaves here in the U.S.

This book is a must-read for you, no matter who you are. You need to know what you know (and what you don’t know).

Within its pages, Refuse to Do Nothing inspires both hope and action in readers. At the end of each chapter there are discussion questions, and see if you can read them without thinking (maybe for hours afterward, maybe with some actual discussion with the poor spouse who looks over at you while tears are streaming down your face). There are also action items at the end of each chapter–add the hotlines to your phone, sign up for email updates, tell a friend, watch a movie–that are neither overwhelming nor impossible.

I told more than one friend that this book has probably changed my life. And you know what? I’m not really happy about that. I was pretty happy with the way things were.

But conversion is ongoing, and social justice is something we are called to, especially as Christians. There are very real, very tangible, very actionable things we can do–starting with our prayers and with how we spend our money.

Back when I was in corporate America there was a saying about money talking and something else walking. We can make our money say a lot of things, and this book gives us real ways to make that happen.

Don’t sit still. Don’t click away without resolving to read this book.

It won’t be easy. I promise that.

Like me, you may even be sorta sorry you read it.

Until, that is, the image of those girls in Europe comes to mind…and then, the thought of abolishing the modern-day slavery that is here all around us, even in the United States, even in central Ohio, will light a fire under you and leave you unable to sit still any longer.

Be sure to check out our Book Notes archive and, while you’re at it, stop on over and visit the lovely Jen at Conversion Diary, whose Quick Takes are always entertaining, enlightening, and educational.

Copyright 2013, Sarah Reinhard

Bliss, I tell you!

The other bliss is the batch of books I’ve been diving through lately. Seriously: what a spring for new books!

Recent Reads

God’s Favorite Place on Earth, by Frank Viola (David C. Cook, 2013)

My rating: 5 out of 5 stars

This book is the kind that shakes you out of your comfort level with stories you thought you knew from the Bible. Viola maintains that Bethany was God’s favorite place on earth, and he makes a pretty good case for it. I enjoyed how he told the story from Lazarus’s viewpoint at the beginning of each chapter and then dug into it as the last part of each chapter. This was a book that surprised and delighted me, and I highly recommend it as one for spiritual growth and deeper insight into the Gospels.

Evangelical Catholicism: Deep Reform in the 21st Century, by George Weigel (Basic Books, 2013)

My rating: 5 out of 5 stars

I actually bought this book because our pastor recommended it and kept talking about it. In fact, he mentioned to me that he was reading it for the second time, which is remarkable because

(a) I’ve known him long enough to know that he doesn’t hang onto books after he’s read them and he rarely rereads them RIGHT AFTER he’s read them the first time and

(b) the references Father kept making to things in the book were astounding and curious.

As it turns out, I would consider this required reading. If you consider yourself a practicing Catholic trying to grow in your faith, get this book. Whether you agree with it or disagree with it, it will make you think and consider how Catholicism is changing and transforming—and how it needs to continue to adapt.

Part reference, part history, part insight, this book won’t be leaving my house on any sort of lending adventure. I consider it an invaluable part of my Catholic library. Highly, HIGHLY recommended.

How To Deliver A TED Talk: Secrets Of The World’s Most Inspiring Presentations, by Jeremy Donovan (Createspace, 2012)

My rating: 2 out of 5 stars

I don’t know when the last time I rated a book so low was, but this book was truly a disappointment. Maybe it’s that I’ve heard so many amazing things about TED Talks and about how the TED people get everything right. Mistake #1: this book isn’t written by them. Mistake #2: and it’s not written that well. If you’re looking for a good book about public speaking, I can recommend some others. This one is better than nothing, I suppose, but it left me wanting.

Current Reads

More or Less: Choosing a Lifestyle of Excessive Generosity, by Jeff Shinabarger

I’m a chapter-and-a-half in and already raising my eyebrows. I expect this book to change my worldview, and I don’t say that lightly (and, really, I didn’t want my worldview changed!). Maybe I’ll finish it this week—I think it’s going to be a fast read.

On Heaven and Earth: Pope Francis on Faith, Family, and the Church in the Twenty-First Century, by Jorge Bergoglio (Pope Francis) & Abraham Skorka

On Friday, I said this would be the next book I would read. I can’t let my faithful followers down, and guys! This book! Is as amazing as I thought it would be! I’m six or seven chapters in and wow! Wow! WOOOOWWWWW!

I thought it might be awkward to read the back-and-forth conversation (I find interviews tiresome to read sometimes), but it’s NOT. At. All.

Just go get a copy of this book. Don’t wait for reviews to pour in. Go. Trust me. You DESERVE this book!

Save, Send, Delete, by Danusha Goska (John Hunt Publishing, 2012, fiction)

I thought I’d whip through this book. The other two people whose reviews I follow and love did. But…I’m not. I’m enjoying it a lot and finding it brain-stretching-good, but I’m not reading it fast. I do hope to finish it this week (so many other books to read!), but we’ll see.

What have YOU been reading lately?

*Are you on Goodreads? I’ll see you there!

Curious about what my ratings mean? Here’s an explanation of what the stars mean to me.

Be sure to check out our Book Notes archive.

Copyright 2013, Sarah Reinhard

You know you’re a Catholic geek of immense proportions when finding something like this makes you jump up and down:

Little i Apps, LLC is pleased to announce the updated release of Confession: A Roman Catholic App, the international best seller for iPhone™, iPad, iPod touch© and Android devices. Developed for those who frequent the sacrament and those who wish to return, this popular confession helper now features push notification reminders, additional vocation choices, sin counts, and updated examinations.  In honor of the election of Pope Francis and the global renewal of the New Evangelization, the app is also now available natively in Spanish, Italian, and Portuguese.

I’m even more excited because we have a few iOS copies of the app to give away!

To win, leave a comment below by Tuesday, May 7 at midnight Pacific.

Now, let’s talk about the app and what’s new:

• Now available in English, Italian, Portuguese, and Spanish
• Personalized examination of conscience questions for deacons (married and single) and seminarians
• Track the number of times a sin is committed

• Set push notification reminders for going to confession

• Helpful updates to all examination questions that will aid your preparation and make it easier to use the app during confession

As hard as it is to get myself to Confession, I always make sure I have my iPad with me, and this is the app I use (though yes, I have tried others). It has helped me to get over the hurdle of “I don’t know what to confess!” and the embarrassment of “I forget what to say!”

It’s worth every penny you pay for it, and don’t forget to enter to win it!

Read more of our Tech Talk columns.

Copyright 2013 Sarah Reinhard

I was working as a youth minster part time at my parish after completing a BA in Media and Cultural Studies after my degree I really wanted to work for the Church in New Media.

I discovered the Catholic social network www.Xt3.com, became a member, and loved it. I saw so much potential for the website to help youth ministry in Australia. So I enquired about some work experience. Now I am working here full time.

That might be exciting enough, but Laura’s passion for ministry didn’t stop just with landing a dream job. She took one of the biggest challenges she faced as a youth minister—that of things calendar-related, from updating them to communicating them to 1000 other details—and made it a priority of Xt3.

And now there’s a user-generated calenda for every diocese in the world on Xt3.com. They have how-to videos on how to use the calendar in your diocese and how to embed it into your parish website and Facebook page.

You can upload your parish events to the diocese calendar and the calendar can be embedded on parish websites. This means that a parish or diocese website will never have outdated events being advertised on their website if they embed the Xt3 calendar.  It is a Catholic moderated site and several dioceses in Australia have embedded their specific Xt3 events calendar on their website. It can also be integrated onto a Facebook page, which makes it really a powerful tool.

“My aim and mission,” writes Laura, “is to get this out to every diocese in the world, to create a calendar where you can see all diocese and parish events.”

So with that introduction, let’s dive into the interview…

Tell us about yourself in five words or less.

Catholic, Media, Apologetics, Ministry, ice cream.

Of your pursuits, what’s your favorite?

Youth ministry, media and film.

When you think of the New Evangelization from your approach as a “Catholic Techie,” what excites you? What makes you want to continue?

When I hear of dioceses running New Media conferences and seeing how Xt3, Twitter, and Facebook are being used effectively to pass our Catholic faith to the next generation, this excites me.

What’s the most rewarding aspect of your work?

When someone embeds the Xt3 calendar and emails me saying how useful it is to their ministry.

In your spare time, what are we likely to find you doing? Do you have a gadget in hand or do you go native and screenless?

Socializing, trying out new restaurants, and recently wedding planning. Always have my phone on me and sometimes the laptop.

Read more of our Tech Talk columns.

Copyright 2013 Sarah Reinhard

Here are the Tech Talk highlights from last week.

Catholic Techie Clare Zajicek

She’s a writer, she’s a mom, she’s a Catholic Techie! Meet the latest Catholic Techie and smile along with us as you get to know her.

Crowdfunding: Supporting Independent Catholic Artists

We speak from experience on this one (and maybe you can even chime in and support a little too?).

Catholic eLearning

Here’s a technology we feel the Catholic Church can–and should–use better and more frequently.

App Review: MyFertilityMD

Our team takes another look at MyFertilityMD and assures you that yes, it really IS as good as you’ve been hearing.

The Working Catholic Mom – Catholic Pinterest Board of the Week

CatholicMom.com’s own blogger Mary Wallace hosts a wonderful board that informs and inspires.

Vlogs: The New Evangelization

Why, we ask, isn’t anyone tearing up YouTube with some awesome Catholic videos? Maybe you’ll be inspired to try after reading this piece!

Read all of our Tech Talk columns.

Copyright 2013 Sarah Reinhard

I’ve had a reading “crush” on YA fiction for quite some time. And given the number of young readers in my life, I have an interest in it on a lot of levels.

In the last couple of months, I’ve read some books that bear mentioning here. These are all worthy of being read whether you’re an adult looking for a book (which will be a fairly quick read) or a parent looking for something for the younger reader in your life.

Wonder, by R.J. Palacio (Knopf Books, 2012)

This was a book that made me stop and think more than once. Dare I add it to my “best of 2013″ list already? Quite possibly. Dare I call it a “must read” for parents and youth alike? I think so.

A few weeks ago, the topic of people who are different from us came up while I was teaching 5th grade religious education. I asked if anyone had read Wonder and was shocked when every single student had. Apparently it’s school reading already.

Had I known how popular it was, I probably would have really had a mental resistance to reading it, but as it was, I walked into it knowing that the friend who picked it for our monthly fiction book club felt really compelled to read it. I trusted her.

It’s a book that’s written from the heart and one of the things that I loved about it was the author’s use of point-of-view. You don’t just hear the story from the boy with the deformed face; you also get a good view of how things are for other characters in the story.

And this book is nothing if not totally, completely, wholly Catholic. It invites conversation that kids want to have, though it’s never easy and hugely uncomfortable. This is a book I’d encourage you to buy, because there are passages you’ll want to mark. The descriptions are vivid, heart-wrenching, and so real you’ll look over your shoulder.

Highly, HIGHLY recommended.

From the publisher:

August Pullman was born with a facial deformity that, up until now, has prevented him from going to a mainstream school. Starting 5th grade at Beecher Prep, he wants nothing more than to be treated as an ordinary kid—but his new classmates can’t get past Auggie’s extraordinary face. WONDER, now a #1 New York Times bestseller and included on the Texas Bluebonnet Award master list, begins from Auggie’s point of view, but soon switches to include his classmates, his sister, her boyfriend, and others. These perspectives converge in a portrait of one community’s struggle with empathy, compassion, and acceptance.

Mission Libertad, by Lizette M. Lantigua (Pauline Books & Media, 2012)

It’s an adventure story and a history lesson, packaged with some cultural tidbits on top. I wasn’t sure how that cocktail would “taste,” but I found myself enjoying it, guessing what would come next, and even dreaming Mission Libertad-inspired dreams.

This is a look at America a few decades ago, and I had to remind myself of that as I read it. (And I had a bit of a “Yeah, we WERE that cool, weren’t we?” reaction, I’ll admit.) I haven’t talked to anyone in the YA/MG age-range to see what their reaction to that was, but I’m sure it will feel like it happened a lonnnnng time ago to them.

I especially liked how this book makes something that is a hot topic—immigration—and puts it into perspective. This book lays the foundation for what poverty could really look like in a Communist third-world country and contrasts it with the things Americans take for granted. It’s not done in a “open up and take THIS” kind of way, but as part of the setting and plot.

In other words, this is well-written, fun to read, and worth your time. And you should share it with your kids, too!

From the publisher:

Fact and fiction converge in this thrilling tale of 14-year old Luisito Ramirez-a courageous boy who daringly escapes from 1970s communist Cuba-as he becomes immersed in American culture, and sets out on fulfilling a secret religious mission under the eyes of spies.

Integrating Spanish vocabulary and Cuban culture, this novel offers young people ages 10-14 an exciting story of the Catholic faith lived out during turmoil. Based on real events, the historical, political, economical, and cultural realities of the time period are fused in the fictional story of Luisito. Author Lizette M. Lantigua achieves this fusion through combining her historical knowledge and experiences as a newspaper reporter interviewing Cuban exiles with her craft for storytelling.

The story opens with Luisito and his family aboard a raft as they escape under the cover of darkness to the United States. Leaving behind his grandmother until she can be safely transported to freedom, this getaway to a better life is bittersweet. Luisito cannot help but think about her, especially because she entrusts him to carry out a secret mission when he arrives in the United States. She leaves him with a place to visit, a Biblical passage, and a person to deliver an obscure message to. Luisito must use his wit and courage to decode his grandmother’s secret-all the while being followed and watched by Cuban spies!

Will Luisito fulfill his grandmother’s mission, and will they be united in the land of freedom? Accompany Luisito on his Mission Libertad to find out!

Toupeé Mice, by Karl Bjorn Erickson (Rafka Press, 2013)

This is the latest book by Karl Bjorn Erickson, and it’s every bit as delightful as the cover makes it seem.

It’s the tale of a mouse who really just wants to sing in the church choir but is so misunderstood. (He’s a rodent. I can’t blame the humans, myself.) Consequently, he lands an adventure of both survival and finding a way to get back to the church choir. He just wants to praise God with the gift he’s been given!

The sidekicks he finds are as charming as they are unexpected (and I forgive them for being rodents, and so will you by the end of the book). It’s not a long book, and it’s designed to be middle grade.

I have intentions of hiding this in a place where my 8-year-old will find it and devour it.

Highly recommended.

From the publisher:

All Ian wanted to do was sing in the church choir.

However, he is a mouse, not a human. The choir members were not too happy to hear him – or see him! Join Ian and Pierre, along with their “big-boned” dwarf-hamster friend, Fred, as they disguise themselves to hide from Ludwig, the house cat afraid of dust bunnies. Along the way the determined and witty friends learn about St. Cecilia and the importance of singing praise to God.

Did Ian ever get to squeak along with the choir? Read his “tale of tails” and find out!

Be sure to check out our Book Notes archive.

Copyright 2013, Sarah Reinhard

Recent Reads

This Little Light of Mine: Living the Beatitudes, by Kathleen M. Basi (Liguori, 2013)

My rating: 5 out of 5 stars

I don’t know whether Mom Sarah or Catechist Sarah was more excited to read this book, but I do wish this: that I had gotten my hands on it BEFORE our religious education year was over (we have two classes left this school year). This book is a tremendous resource for families, but let’s not limit ourselves here. As an adult reading it, I was struck by Basi’s conversational down-to-earth been-there-still-there-let’s-talk style and her ideas that are not impossible. Highly, highly, HIGHLY recommended.

Random MOMents of Grace: Experiencing God in the Adventures of Motherhood, by Ginny Kubitz Moyer (Loyola Press, 2013)

My rating: 5 out of 5 stars

When Ginny Moyer sets out to write a book, she doesn’t mess around. After reading this book, I was left with a very similar feeling as I felt years ago reading that first Danielle Bean book: encouraged by a sister-in-arms. While Moyer may be more sentimental about things than I think I am, she also points me to a side of my mothering that I may have a tendency to completely overlook. While she may be more cognizant of the preciousness of her children, she also has a way of phrasing that had me laughing out loud in places. Another book I highly, highly, HIGHLY recommend. Get your copy now, before they sell out.

Current Reads

God’s Favorite Place on Earth, by Frank Viola (David C. Cook, 2013)

I picked this up because of the Patheos Book Club. I’m finishing it because I’m engaged and intrigued and hooked. This is a book that will have me using WOW a lot in my review of it, I think.

The Mouse in the Mountain, by Norbert Davis (as read by Julie Davis at Forgotten Classics)

We have Julie Davis and her flair for narration and Norbert Davis, who has a main character whose canine qualities had me at hello. Folks, you don’t want to miss this. I am trying not to obsessively check iTunes for the next podcast download (and I may or may not be failing).

Consoling the Heart of Jesus: A Do-It-Yourself Retreat, by Fr. Michael E. Gaitley, MIC (Marian Press, 2010)

I’m just over halfway through the group retreat I’ve been doing using this book for the guide. And it KEEPS striking me. Over and over and anew each week. If I haven’t recommended it lately (and I checked: I haven’t), consider this a plug.

Ora et Labora et Zombies, by Ryan Charles Trussell (fiction, in letters!)

I have a secret: I sometimes let the letters pile up so that I can read a bunch at once. I’m walking around wondering how people are doing and then! A letter! In the mail! With the next installment! It’s a great story—and handwritten!—and I can’t endorse it enough. So go. Treat yourself. You deserve it.

New to My Review Shelf, Kindle Edition

These are new review titles that are waiting for me on my Kindle.

A Method to the Madness: A Guide to the Super Evil, edited by Jeffrey Hite and Michell Plested (Five Rivers Publishing, 2013, fiction)

This book looks SOOOOO amusing. I can’t wait to get started on it…

In an almost unprecedented move, a conclave of The Super Evil convened last year at a secret lair in North America to create a guide book for aspiring ne’er-do-wells. The result? A collection of papers known generally as A Method to the Madness: a Guide to the Super Evil, a collection destined to become the handbook globally of every evil genius.

The collection includes 24 papers presented by evil luminaries such as Her Serene Omnipotence Calassandra, Conqueror and Empress; Janus Kinase Hateyuaniwae, BFA, PhD, PhD, FRCCP, P.Eng; and Dr. Evil-n-Carnate, Frequent Flyer, Grocery Shopper and Overlord Of Cubical Block 3257J – to name but a few.

Between the 24 sages who assembled at the North American Conclave, they created insightful papers on the pressing subjects of Cognitive Perspective in the Pursuit of Evil; Principles of Biology and Genetics for Minion Breeding Programs; and, The Importance of Date Night to the Married Super Villain.

The Mysteries of The Holy Rosary Illustrated, by Andrea Maglio-Macullar (self-published, 2013)

The author tells me this book is very similar to the app she also developed (which I reviewed a while back). I was intrigued and told her to send it over. Here’s what the synopsis says:

The Mysteries of the Holy Rosary Illustrated is a book for anyone interested in learning and praying the Rosary. It has colorful, inspiring, illustrations to help draw you in to prayer. Helping you visualize the many beautiful Mysteries of the lives of our Jesus and Blessed Mother Mary.

It includes all 20 of the Mysteries, each having an illustration and a short explanation and meditation. Also includes all the prayers and history of this wonderful, powerful, prayer.

Greater Treasures: A DragonEye Novella, by Karina Fabian (self-published, 2013, fiction)

I’m a fangirl of Karina Fabian and I love the main character in these books, a detective dragon named Vern, who’s dry humor and utter style are, well, irresistible. This is another one I’m looking forward to reading. Here’s a bit about it:

Being a private detective in the border town of the Faerie and Mundane worlds isn’t easy, even for a dragon like Vern. Still, finding the wayward brother of a teary damsel in distress shouldn’t have gotten so dangerous. When his partner, Sister Grace, gets poisoned by a dart meant for him, Vern offers to find an artifact in exchange for a cure. However, this is no ordinary trinket—with a little magic power, it could control all of mankind. Can Vern find the artifact, and will he sacrifice the fate of two worlds for the life of his best friend?

What have YOU been reading lately?

*Are you on Goodreads? I’ll see you there!

Curious about what my ratings mean? Here’s an explanation of what the stars mean to me.

Be sure to check out our Book Notes archive.

Copyright 2013, Sarah Reinhard

Clare works as a Marketing Content Specialist at Liturgical Publications Inc, publisher of bulletins and newsletters for churches. Liturgical Publications offers parishes online solutions for donations and event registrations, websites, and private social networks for churches. You’ll find Clare creating online church communications, online donation resources, and Stewardship materials, in addition to working with website strategy, analytics, and advertising management.

To put it simply, she does anything that will help churches communicate and engage with their members and grow their faith communities online!

And did I mention Clare’s on Google+? No? Well, there you have it. She is.

Tell us about yourself in five words or less.

Catholic mother and tech marketer.

Of your pursuits, what’s your favorite?

Nothing beats being a mom! Our son has brought so much love and absolute joy into our lives, and I’m thankful that I have the opportunity to work the majority of my week from home so I can be with him.

In my professional life, I love being a part of CatholicTechTalk.com. Through the blog I’ve been able to network with so many “techie” Catholics who have a passion for spreading the Gospel online. I’ve learned a lot about church communication because of them, and I always look forward to learning more. On the blog we’re currently holding our second annual Catholic Parish Website of the Year contest, and we can’t wait to see the entries this year.

When you think of the New Evangelization from your approach as a “Catholic Techie,” what excites you? What makes you want to continue?

The New Evangelization has made me rethink what my goal is as a “Catholic Techie.” When working with LPi’s web products, I ask myself a few questions: How can churches utilize their websites to welcome new members and communicate how essential it is to celebrate Mass? How can we help churches increase a sense of Stewardship within online parish communities? And once parishioners leave their pews, how can we get them talking and connected with one another?

These are all exciting questions, and I continue because I want to figure out the answers.

What’s the most rewarding aspect of your work?

It’s a real blessing to be able to integrate my faith and work. I love all aspects of technology and marketing, and using my communication skills in a faith-filled setting is really the best of both worlds.

In your spare time, what are we likely to find you doing? Do you have a gadget in hand or do you go native and screenless?

I’m most likely chasing after my one-year-old son who is always on the move! I also love watching movies and going to concerts with my husband. We both have Android phones, and I rarely go anywhere without my iPod.

Read more of our Tech Talk columns.

Copyright 2013 Sarah Reinhard

Here are the Tech Talk highlights from last week.

Catholic Techie Alana Mitrovich

She’s a teacher, she’s a newlywed, she’s a techie!

5 Apps to Help My Garden Grow

Whether your thumb is green or wanting-to-be-green, you’ll want to make sure you’re using these apps this spring.

Answering the Call to Holiness—iPieta for Android

Here’s how an app answers a call to holiness and helps you transform those odd moments of waiting into an opportunity.

Kindle Organizing Notes

Some tips on using Collections to organize your Kindle so that you don’t lose track of your books.

Read all of our Tech Talk columns.

Copyright 2013 Sarah Reinhard

Then, slowly, I started to think about how some of the “just like real paper” e-readers might be handy. I ended up getting one of the simple non-glowing-screen-versions last year, and I had a chance to find out just how having a pocket-sized bookcase at my fingertips could change the reading game for me.

One thing I quickly found, though, was that books could get lost in the shuffle. I needed to get things organized so I wouldn’t lose or forget what books I was supposed to be reading or wanted to read next. It seemed silly to keep written lists (in part because a certain child kept snagging my scrap of paper for drawing or a certain mom around the house (me!) kept throwing away the scraps of paper).

My key to organizing titles on my Kindle was using collections as bookshelves.

I have one collection titled “0current” for the books I’m currently reading. (The “0″ in the front assures it’s always at the top of the list.) Some other collections I have:

• Review fiction to read
• Review nonfiction to read
• Catholic books
• Classics
• GK (as in Chesterton)
• P.G. Wodehouse (a new discovery of mine who I plan to devour)
• Reference
• Dictionaries

Since books can be in more than one collection at a time, I can cross-shelve in a way that’s not possible on my physical bookshelves.

I “archive” (aka “remove from device”) most of the books I finish reading. I have not been a big re-reader so far in my life and probably more than half of the books I read I won’t reread. I trust I’ll be able to find them again through the power of search engine smarts.

Some other helpful tidbits for organizing on your Kindle:

• Amazon’s notes on organizing content on your Kindle.
• A handy website for converting files to mobi (and other) formats - I’m not such a fan of reading PDFs on my Kindle. Be warned, sometimes the converted files aren’t pretty. That said, I use this site all. the. time.

Read more of our Tech Talk columns.

Copyright 2013 Sarah Reinhard