A Room Without Books is Like a Body Without a Soul

Hooray, I've started 2010 out properly. I started and finished a book and it is only January 10. After working so many dang jobs this past year, I didn't think I'd ever get my reading brain in focus. This is the same way I felt after I finished my PhD coursework. After that draining experience, it took me a whole year to unwind before I even wanted to pick up a book. So the fact that I picked up on reading so quickly after this past semester of working too many jobs and being totally burnt out is something to write home about or shall I say blog about. This past year, I started out with two jobs, then went to three, and then in September added a fourth. Come Christmas I was exhausted and had no energy to jingle any bells.

Last year I joined a group on Goodreads.com called the 75 Book Challenge. I was well on my way to completing the challenge when I picked up my fourth job. That addition cut short any further additions I might have made to the 75 challenge group. Below is my log from Goodreads telling what books I read in 2009. Now that I'll be working two jobs in 2010, and will be on reserve on my third job, and am determined to start my dissertation, I should have no problem completing Goodreads 2010 75 Book Challenge! HA!

MAM's 2009 Book Log

1. Mother Teresa's Secret Fire: The Encounter that Changed Her Life and How It Can Transform Your Own 5 stars

2.Edith Stein: A Biography/the Untold Story of the Philosopher and Mystic Who Lost Her Life in the Death Camps of Auschwitz Herbstrith, Waltraud 4 stars

3.Moments of Grace: Inspiring Stories from Well-Known Catholics Kresta, Al 3 stars

4. Matt Talbot and His Times Purcell, Mary 3 stars

5. Green Dolphin Street Goudge, Elizabeth 4 stars

6. Barabbas Lagerkvist, Pär 4 stars

7. 1984 George Orwell 4 stars
Well, this was not what I expected. But I liked it. I didn't love it. Not sure what I would have made of it if I read it in high school like so many others did/do. I have to saya the rats freaked me out. I hate rats. I probably would have caved in too.

8.Something Beautiful for God (Paperback)
by Malcolm Muggeridge 5 stars
I've always wanted to read this and found it for 87 cents. It's is a gem of a little book.

9.Francis of Assisi: The Man Who Found Perfect Joy
by Michael De LA Bedoyere 3 stars.I like Saint Francis but this was not the greatest book written about him.

10. The Courage to Create
by Rollo May 4 stars. Very good philosophial look at creativity.

Something Beautiful for God (Paperback) Muggeridge, Malcolm 5 stars

Malcolm Muggeridge's thoughts on knowing Mother Teresa and a transcript of his interview.

Description: No woman alive today has inspired so many with her simplicity of faith and compassion so all-encompassing. As she daily embraces the "least of the least" in her arms, Mother Theresa challenges the whole world to greater acts of service and understanding in the name of love.

First published in 1971, this classic work introduced Mother Theresa to the Western World. As timely now as it was then, Something Beautiful for God interprets her life through the eyes of a modern-day skeptic who became literally transformed within her presence, describing her as "a light which could never be extinguised."

12. Dolores Clairborne by Stephen King 4 stars. I am torn between 3 and 4 stars. Considering Dolores is a hoot and I now feel like I know her, I give it 4. :) I needed my King fix (it's been too long). I have been satisfied.

#13 Finished March 27, Crossbearer: A Memoir of Faith (Hardcover)
by Joe Eszterhas 4 stars

"I found this book extremely entertaining and read it in three days. Joe still is on his journey and I think still has things to learn about his faith (don't we all)regarding dogma, etc. Also, he struggles with reeling in his ego. If he ever ventures ...more I found this book extremely entertaining and read it in three days. Joe still is on his journey and I think still has things to learn about his faith (don't we all)regarding dogma, etc. Also, he struggles with reeling in his ego. If he ever ventures on to Goodreads and reads this, this is not an insult.;) I think the ego comes from years of beating down and being beat up by Hollywood, not to mention the childhood he had. I spent some time in Hollywood and I frequently thank God I left. I couldn't take its superficiality. However, Joe's heart seems much bigger than his ego and he humble's himself, alot. He admits to flunking Christian test number 1, 2, 3, 4 etc, etc. etc, etc. It seems by the end of the book his ego has become smaller. He is starting to pass the tests that come his way. You can't help but grow very fond of him, and what a life he has had. There were times I was busting out laughing and then filling up with tears. I wish Joe peace and luck. And that he continues to grow in his faith. If he was my neighbor, I'd look forward to chatting as we passed each other on walks around the neighborhood."

#14 Called Out of Darkness: A Spiritual Confession Rice, Anne 3 stars I was dissapointed in this. Very tedious read.

#15 Death on a Friday Afternoon: Meditations on the Last Words of Jesus from the Cross Neuhaus, Richard John 5 stars

#16 The Life of Faustina Kowalska: The Authorized Biography (Paperback) Michalenko, Sister Sophia 4 stars A good introduction to St. Faustina.

#17 Jacob Have I Loved Paterson, Katherine childrens, fiction 3 stars

#18 The World According to Mister Rogers Rogers, Fred 4 stars cute and makes you feel good

#19 Slaughterhouse-Five Kurt Vonnegut

Ok, I finally read this. I am reading my way through the classics I never read. I enjoyed it. It has a lot of memorable lines/quips. However, if I had read it in high school, I wouldn't have cared much for it. It is interesting how as I forge through classics 30 years or so after most have read them, I find myself questioning--highschoolers are reading this??????????????? Much would have been lost on me back then. Hmmmmmmmmmmmmm ... in the words of Vonnegut, "So it goes."

#20 Prince Caspian (The Chronicles of Narnia)
by C.S. Lewis 5 stars

#21 Thura's Diary by Thura al-Windawi 4 stars A diary froma 19 year old girl during the Irag War. This was very good.

#22 The Voyage of the Dawn Treader (The Chronicles of Narnia by C.S. Lewis 5 stars This was a hoot.

#23 The Silver Chair (The Chronicles of Narnia)
by C.S. Lewis 5 stars
I am emjoying this series immensely.

#24 Twilight (Twilight, #1) by Stephenie Meyer This book is so dumb.

#25 The Horse and His Boy C. S. Lewis

#26 Prayer Primer : Igniting a Fire Within by Thomas Dubay 5 stars. Great for seekers at any stage of the search

#27 The Little Prince by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry

Hmmm ... I did not know what to expect when I took this book out of the library. I am trying to read classics I have never read, especially kids books. At first, I was getting distracted reading this, but then something kicked in and I was hooked. This book is deep and philosphical for a kid's book. Quite a few adults probably would not pick up on the profound metaphors. I found myself smiling at the author's whimsy and satirical humor. He does a good job of bringing heavy concepts to a level that a child can understand while maintaining a healthy respect for a child's ability to grasp supernatural theory. No baby talk here. I love his concept those who know where they are going -- Children always know they are going. -- That's so true. It's the adults who get lost. I also love his rose philosophy-- the rose was not unigue until the prince made it his friend. And then the fox's lesson of "taming" was pretty crafty.;) All in all, I was torn between 4 and 5 stars. I decided to give it 5 since I was moved to review it. I hardly ever spend the time reviewing books. So 5 stars it is. :)

# 28 The Chosen Chaim Potok 5 stars Wow! I enjoyed every word in this book. GREAT writing. Potok held me captive from the first to last sentence. The character development is excellent. I love the tender relationship between Reuven and his father, and the tense relationship between Danny and his father is palpable. The friendship between Reuven and Danny is well explored. Also, the Jewish history is so interesting. The characters will stay in my mind forever.

Here are two passages I marked:

Reuven's tired father talking to Reuven

"Human beings do not live forever, Reuven. We live less than the time it takes to blink an eye, if we measure our lives against eternity. So it may be asked what value is there to a human life. There is so much pain in the world. What does it mean to have to suffer so much if our lives are nothing more than the blink of an eye?" He paused again, his eyes misty now, then went on. "I learned a long time ago, Reuven, that a blink of an eye in itself is nothing. But the man who lives that span, he is something. He can fill that tiny span with meaning, meaning is not automatically given to life. It is hard work to fill one's life with meaning. That I do not think you understand yet. A life filled with meaning is worthy of rest. I want to be worthy of rest when I am no longer here. Do you understand what I am saying?"

Danny to Reuven:

"You can listen to silence, Reuven. I've begun to realize that you can listen to silence and learn from it. It has a quality and a dimension all its own. It talks to me sometimes. I feel myself alive in it. It talks. And I can hear it."

The words came out in a soft singsong. He sounded exactly like his father.

"You don't understand that. do you? He asked.

"No"

He nodded. "I didn't think you would."

"What do you mean, it talks to you?"

"You have to want to listen to it, and then you can hear it. It has a strange, beautiful texture. It doesn't always talk. Sometimes--somtimes it cries, and you can hear the pain of the world in it. It hurts to listen to it then. But you have to."

#29 Survival in Auschwitz Primo Levi 4 stars I was walking through my library and this book caught my eye. I was surprised I had not heard of it before. It is amazing that people survived this horrid time. Gives proof to the innate knowledge that life is sacred.

Here are passages I marked:

All took leave from life in the manner which most suited them. Some praying, some deliberately drunk, others lustfully intoxicated for the last time. But the mothers stayed up to prepare the food for the journey with tender care, and washed their children and packed the luggage; and at dawn the barbed wire was full of children's washing hung out in the wind to dry. Nor did they forget the diapers, the toys, the cushions and the hundred other small things which mothers remember and which children always need. Would you not do the same? If you and your child were going to be killed tomorrow, would you not give him to eat today?

Sooner or later in life everyone discovers that perfect happiness is unrealizable, but there are few who pause to consider the antithesis: that perfect unhappiness is equally unattainable.

We are slaves, deprived of every right, exposed to every insult, condemned to certain death, but we still possess one power, and we must defend it with all our strength for it is the last--the power to refuse consent. So we must certainly wash our faces without soap in dirty water and dry ourselves on our jackets. We must polish our shoes, not because the regulation states it, but for dignity and propriety. We must walk erect, without dragging our feet, not in homage to Prussian discipline but to remain alive, not to begin to die.

30 The Last Battle C. S. Lewis. 5 stars. I finally read all the Narnia books. My mother has been trying to get me to read these books for 35 years. LOL Mom will be proud.

#31 Ten Prayers God Always Answers Anthony DeStefano 4 stars This was good. It is different from the spiritual books I usually read. I tend to read the mystics whose message you need to ponder deeply. This book is simple and not laden down with over-your-head theological concepts. Each chapter relates to a different life circumstance and the author lays out a prayer that relates. What makes this book unique is that the prayers come from a perspective that the general and/or overwhelmed mind tends to overlook.

#32 The Prison Angel. Mary Jordan and Kevin Sullican 4 stars. Well, this was a pleasant surprise. This woman has had an incredible journey. Raised in an affluent Beverly Hills family,and well off herself, later in life she found herself searching for a deeper meaning to her existence. She had gone through two failed marriages and had seven kids. Her father had instilled in her an affinity for helping the poor. When she was 50 (and her kids were grown) she became a Catholic nun and moved into one of Mexico's worst(and nightmarish) prisons to help the inmates and their families. She had already been volunteering her services on a part time basis before deciding to make it her life's work, so she knew what she was getting into. She chose to live in a cell right along side the other inmates. She stepped in between guards and prisoners during riots. She ministered to the richest drug dealers and the poorest innocent inmates. She forgave and ministered to the worst murderers (some of whom murdered her friends) while at the same time comforting the victims families. She stood up to guards wehn they were brutally beating prisnoers. She would get down on her knees and beg them to stop and they usually did stop. She walked straight through bullets flying; the inmates and guards would drop their weapons upon seeing her. It was interesting reading what her children thought of her decision to live this life. You would expect they would not approve. But they felt this was who their mother was meant to be and that it made perfect sense. This is a story of how God can turn bad into good when you possess sincerity and a heart that only wants to put God before others and do His will and not your own.

Mother Antonia is still alive. And I believe is still living in the prison. I need to do a little more internet research to find out her whereabouts. She was asked to create an order of nuns so that her work will continue. Here is info from the nuns' website--

The Eudist Servants Of The Eleventh Hour is a new branch, a twig sprouting on the 400 year-old tree of the extended spiritual family of St. John Eudes, whose strong branches include the Congregation Of The Sisters Of Our Lady Of Charity, our Eudist sisters, and the Congregation Of Jesus And Mary, our Eudist priests. Both of these orders were founded by Saint John Eudes, close friend of Saint Vincent de Paul, in the early 17th century. The Eudist Servants Of The Eleventh Hour is an association of the faithful whose members are sisters who are mature women who love Jesus and want to follow Him by serving the poor and the needy. The Eleventh Hour refers to the scripture where Jesus calls the last, and signifies that the community is for older women, generally between the ages of forty five and sixty five. The reference to St. John Eudes is recognition that the community is part of the Eudist Congregation, and it is also in honor of St. John Eudes spirituality. In 2003 the Eudist Servants Of The Eleventh Hour community was formally accepted by Bishop Rafael Romo Munoz of Tijuana, Mexico.The community's mission is to minister to the poor and the needy, to bring to them the love of Jesus Christ. To accomplish this members must, in their hearts and in their lives, bear the pain of the poor, the imprisoned, the sick, the rejected, the forgotten and the abandoned children of God. Members of the community serve, with the permission of the local Bishop, in a variety of locations in Mexico and the United States, and perform a variety of services. Mother Antonia Brenner, the Servants founder and current superior of the community, serves by ministering to prisoners and guards at a prison in Tijuana, Mexico. Several other sisters work alongside her in Tijuana. Sister Kathleen serves her ministry in Baton Rouge and Lafayette, Louisiana as a prison chaplain. Still another Servant, Sister Lillian, serves in her home area of Texas, tending to the elderly in nursing homes.

The Servants operate a ministry center, Casa Campos de San Miguel, located just three blocks from the La Mesa penitentiary. The Casa is a refuge for women leaving prison and for women visiting incarcerated family in the nearby prison, and also for women and children who have come to Tijuana for treatment for cancer. The sisters also have a convent nearby, Corazon de Maria, which serves as the community headquarters and is also a residence for some of the sisters in Tijuana. Corazon de Maria is also used as the community’s house of formation. Still other sisters and associates live in the United States and commute daily to Tijuana to visit area hospitals and comfort patients and their families.

All of the sisters are self-supporting, both economically and with their own health care. Vows are taken for a one year period and then renewed annually, if mutually agreeable.

#33 Alice in Exile: A Novel by Piers Paul Read 3 stars

#34 The Rite The Making of a Modern Exorcist. Matt Baglio 4 stars Ooohhhh, this was really good. The only reason I didn't give it 5 stars is because it ended abruptly. It seemed to lack a conclsuion. Even so this book is an excellent reference. Along with being informative it leaves you not wanting to put it down.

35 Road to Survival David Snyder 5 stars Great little book about the author's work

David Snyder combines both writing and photography. He travels to countries around the world to document the work of Catholic Relief Services and its partners during emergencies like those recounted in this book and reports on development projects aimed at improving the lives of poeple in need. During his travels, David lives and works with Catholic Relief Services staff and partners whose daily efforts in areas of crisis, disaster, and poverty to assist those in need are the final link in a chain of assistance that begins with supporters in the United States.

Catholic Relief Services is the official international relief and development agency of the United States Catholic community. Their mission is to help the poor and vulnerable overseas without regard to race, belief, or nationality. They work in 99 countries around the world and touch the lives of 80 million people.

#36 Honeymoon in Tehran: Two Years of Love and Danger in Iran by Azadeh Moaveni 3 and a half stars. Interesting reading considering what is occurring in Iran now.

#37 The Stoning of Soraya M.: A True Story by Freidoune Shebjam 4 stars This started off slowly but really got rolling half way through. When it got rolling it was unstopable. The stoning scene was heartbreaking.

#38 Tales of Padre Pio: The friar of San Giovanni by John McCaffery 3 stars

#39 Midnight Express by Billy Hayes, William Hoffer 4 stars The book's ending is so much better than the ending in the movie

#40 The Old Man and the Sea Ernest Hemingway 5 stars Oh my gosh! What a great story. I can't believe I never read this. I was "hooked" from beginning to end. All I can say is--fishermen are brave. I feel so sad for the old man.

# 41 Bud, Not Buddy by Christopher Paul Curtis 4 stars

#42 The Time Machine by H.G. Wells 3 statrs. Some people love this book, but I just coudn't manage to get into. I was sort of bored with it. Maybe it is just the mood I'm in.

#43 A Mercy by Toni Morrison 3 stars This was good but it just seemed as though it wandered, and I wanted the characters to be developed more.

#44 The Road by Cormac McCarthy 4 stars

#45 The Little Book of Mother Teresa by Sangeet Duchane 4 stars

#46 All Star: Teacher's Edition Bk. 3 (All-Star) by Linda Lee, Jean Bernard, Kristin D. Sherman, Stephen Sloan, Grace Tanaka, Shirley Velasco

#47All-Star - Book 3 (Intermediate) - Workbook (All-Star)

#48 All-Star - Book 2 (High Beginning) - Los Angeles Workbook

Here's to more good reading, less working, and postive dissertating thoughts!!!!!!!

I'll end tonight with a little song to get you in the reading spirit. :)



Peace, MAM :)