January 2023 Picks and Pans

  I don’t know what I’d do without books. They keep me company when I am lonely, they fill long quiet nights of insomnia, they bring me to locales all over the world, and introduce me to extraordinary people. For those of you who love books, too, here are the ones I read in January. With suspense, thrillers, mysteries, devotionals, historical fiction, classics, and contemporary fiction, there’s something here for every taste. Enjoy!   Good Enough: 40ish Devotionals for a Life of Imperfection By Kate Bowler, Jessica Richie “Blessed are you who realize there is simply not enough—time, money, resources. Blessed are you who are tired of pretending that raw effort […]

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Haven

  What, then, consoles us in this human society full of calamities, but the unfeigned faith and mutual love of true and good friends?—Augustine, City of God, AD 426. Emma Donoghue’s (ROOM) latest novel is set in seventh-century Ireland in Cluain Mhic Nóis, a monastery in County Offaly on the River Shannon. A scholar and priest named Artt has a dream telling him to leave the sinful world behind and found an isolated monastery. With two monks, young Trian and elderly Cormac, he sets out on a pilgrimage in a small boat with only faith to guide them. Drifting out into the Atlantic, the three men find a steep, craggy […]

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