Book Reviews

If you’ve ever wanted to sit down and pick the mind of a monk — a man or woman steeped in the church’s monastic tradition stretching back to the desert fathers and mothers — then this is the book for you.

“Little Big Love,” set in a small fishing town in England, is a heartwarming tale about a boy who wants his dad, whom he’s never met, to be a part of his life.

This book tells one of the most remarkable and astonishing true stories ever to come out of the Vatican.

A new book titled “Pope Francis: Deacons — Servants of Charity” available from the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops “draws the reader into the sacred ministry of the diaconate.”

Two excellent books, “Eunice: The Kennedy Who Changed the World” and “I’ve Been Thinking: Reflections, Prayers and Meditations for a Meaningful Life,” are best read together, starting with McNamara’s insightful page-turner history of the struggles and accomplishments of Eunice Kennedy Shriver, which also includes the achievements of her husband, Sarge Shriver.

Phyllis Tickle, who died in 2015, was relatively unknown to many Catholics but was an important figure in recent Christianity in the United States.

Baseball and comic books, two colorful American originals, come together in “The Comic Book Story of Baseball: The Heroes, Hustlers, and History-Making Swings (and Misses) of America’s National Pastime” (Ten Speed Press) by author Alex Irvine and illustrators Tomm Coker and C.P. Smith.

Author Robert Hudson is a recognized Bob Dylan scholar and a member of the International Thomas Merton Society, and here is his starting point: “Although (Father Thomas Merton and Bob Dylan) lived their lives a thousand miles apart, their souls were next-door neighbors.”