#OpenBook for July 2025

 

Welcome to #OpenBook. I'm joining up with Carolyn Astfalk who hosts an #OpenBook Linkup on CatholicMom.com. Here's what I've been reading this past month. The dates indicate when I finished the books. Thanks for stopping by!

 

6-5- 25 Bead by Bead: The Joyful Mysteries of the Rosary ; Bead by Bead: The Sorrowful Mysteries of the Rosary ; Bead by Bead: The Glorious Mysteries of the Rosary - All three by Stephanie Lear Engelman - I only put the image of one of the books, but all three of these are absolutely lovely. They are basically a scriptural rosary for children, with the story of the mystery told in between each bead. Each of the beads are also color-coded, so that children can follow along and know which bead they are on. You can purchase a matching rosary or follow the directions to make one at https://www.stephanieengelman.com/bead-by-bead. These books are also full of color works of art depicting the mysteries, which add to the beautiful experience. While these are actually for children, I actually used them to meditate on the mysteries for First Saturday devotions. 

6-9-25 Austen at Sea - Natalie Jenner - I had read The Jane Austen Society by the same author and enjoyed it. This one follows two sisters and two brothers who are both in correspondence with Jane Austen's last living brother in the aftermath of the Civil War. He invites them all to come visit in the hopes of them making a match. They end up on the same ship along with Louisa May Alcott before getting to see him and pursue their love of all things Austen. Most of the book was pretty good, but the last part was a bit confusing and mostly focused on women's property rights after they married. 

6-10-25 The Christmas House - Beverly Lewis - This is a feel-good Christmas story set in Hickory Hollow in Lancaster County, PA. Liz Lantz is 22, runs an Amish buggy tour business, and has been praying to find a good man. When her brother, who usually helps out, has to go out of town, her father arranges for Matthew Yoder to assist with the tours. Matthew just might be an answer to her prayers. The Christmas House in the title refers to a house owned by Englishers in the community who put on a lavish Christmas display each year, which is a huge hit for those on Liz's tours but raises the ire of the Amish community. 

6-14-25 Maya Angelou Finds Her Voice - Connie & Peter Roop - I've known about Maya Angelou for a long time and knew a few things about her life, but I have never read I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings. I saw this picture book at the library and decided to pick it up. It is a lovely picture book to introduce young children to Maya Angelou. It portrays Angelou as a young girl who loved words until she was attacked when she was eight years old and went silent. A few years later, Mrs. Flowers, a kind woman, helps Maya find her voice by having her read aloud.

6-15-25 The Names - Florence Knapp - This debut novel is three stories in one, told in successive chapters, about what happens when a young boy is given three different names: Bear, Julian, or Gordon. It is also a sad portrait of domestic violence. The story timehops seven years for each set of chapters, with chapters in 1987, 1994, 2001, 2008, 2015, and 2022. It got a bit confusing to keep the stories straight because many of the same characters are in each story. I found it interesting though and it makes you think about how our choices define us and change our futures. This book does feature premarital sex (with one graphic sexual assault scene) and lesbian romance. 

6-18-25 Marriage for God's Sake: A Guide for Catholics by Rev. Thomas Morrow - I've read a lot of books on Catholic marriage in my life (over the course of my nearly 28-year marriage), and many of them have left me feeling quite discouraged and dismayed because my real life doesn't look like the picture those books paint. Even Theology of the Body, as wonderful as its ideals are, can often feel like such an unattainable portrait of marriage. I was pleasantly surprised by this book. Fr. Morrow has a doctorate in sacred theology from the Pope John Paul II Institute for Studies on Marriage and Family, so the theology behind this book is sound (and Theology of the Body is included in an appendix), but this is ultimately a practical guide to marriage that discusses love, communication, personalities, finances, and family planning in down-to-earth terms. This would be a great book for marriage preparation programs or marriage classes in college. 

6-22-25 Miss Austen - Gill Hornby - I recently indulged in watching the Miss Austen series on PBS, which I absolutely loved, so I decided to watch the book it was based on. Both the series and the book share the story of Cassandra Austen, Jane's sister, trying to find letters Jane had written during her life so that she can destroy ones that would paint Jane or their family in a bad light. The story features letters and flashbacks and other members of the Austen family. The series stayed relatively faithful to the book, and I pictured the characters from the series as I read it. If you are a Jane Austen fan, I highly recommend either or both!

 

6-23-25 Holly and Nick Hate Christmas - Betsy St. Amant - "How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days" meets Christmas rom-com in this fun story of two people who hate Christmas but are thrown together at the holidays. Holly's brother sets her up with his friend Nick, who also hates Christmas, for their family's Christmas gathering, but when she realizes she is just a pity date and that Nick has other reasons for being there, she's determined to get even by going over the top with Christmas spirit. (Read for a book review publication).

 6-29-25 The Disengaged Teen: Helping Kids Learn Better, Feel Better, and Live Better - Jenny Anderson and Rebecca Winthrop - I have a 14-year-old daughter, so this book caught my eye at my local library. The authors divided learners into four categories: Resister, Passenger, Achiever, and Explorer Mode, all of which have their advantages and disadvantages. It was an interesting look at our modern American educational system as well as the challenges of being a teen today. I recommend this for any parents of pre-teens or teens and middle and high school teachers. 

6-30-25 Jesus Every Day, Jesus Every Way: A Weekly Devotional - Lisa M. Hendey - I was blessed to read an advanced copy of this book by CatholicMom.com founder Lisa Hendey. It is a simple book, set up in 52-week sections, each focused on a theme, that you can read and reflect on in any order. It is filled with meaningful quotes and reflection questions that are worth pondering. Hendey's goal is to have readers look for and find Jesus in their everyday lives.

 

Since spring of 2019, I have been making my way through the Great Books Curriculum of Thomas Aquinas College (I'm currently working on the readings for junior year). 

6-5-25 Gulliver's Travels - Jonathan Swift - It's good to get a book on this list every now and then that I can just read as a novel. Swift was born in Ireland but lived in England. He was a Church of Ireland priest who wrote this in 1726 and then revised it in 1735. It is satirical travel story about Gulliver's four travels. I had read an excerpt in high school, but this was my first time reading the whole thing and it was reasonably entertaining. 

In progress - The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire - Edward Gibbon -  Gibbon was an English essayist, historian, and politician who wrote this epic six-volume work between 1776 and 1789. It's incredibly long, and I have little interest in the Roman Empire. It is going to take me a while to get through this one.

 

My fourteen-year-old daughter and I read the following book this month:

6-17-25 Linked - Gordon Korman -  This was a remarkably good book about a group of middle schoolers in a small town who learn about the Holocaust, antisemitism, and their personal connection to it. It also has a good lesson about forgiveness.

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Two Books for Catholics with Anxiety

 

I’ve struggled with depression and anxiety most of my life, but I find I am having more difficulty with anxiety as I age. I am thankful to have recently come across two Catholic resources to help with the challenge of trusting in God more and worrying less.

A Clinical and Spiritual Look at Anxiety

 

Anxiety: A Catholic Guide to Freedom from Worry and Fear by Art Bennett, Laraine Bennett, and Lianna Bennett Haidar explores anxiety from a clinical and spiritual perspective and offers practical ways to allay it. The three authors bring a wealth of knowledge to this task, including having sometimes experienced anxiety themselves. Art Bennett is a licensed marriage and family therapist. His wife, Larraine, has a master’s degree in philosophy and has co-authored several books with her husband on the temperaments. Their daughter, Dr. Lianna Bennett Haidar, is a clinical psychologist and Catholic therapist.

The authors define anxiety as a “feeling of worry, nervousness, or unease, typically about a future threat; we can distinguish it from fear, which is the response to a real or perceived imminent threat” (7). If you experience anxiety, you are not alone. “One out of three people will meet the criteria for an anxiety disorder at some point in their life” (10). Even saints, such as St. Therese and St. Jane Frances de Chantal, have suffered from anxiety. Some people seemed to be more hard-wired for worry than others. But Scripture tells us not to be anxious and anxiety is certainly not good for our mental and physical well-being, so what is an anxious person to do?

Practical Help for Anxiety

Anxiety offers practical help for those who experience anxiety, including suggestions for those who suffer from scrupulosity, which the authors describe as a “phobia concerning sin” (127). They focus on mindfulness as well as eye movement desensitization and reprocessing (EMDR) as ways to retrain the brain. They mention that there are many other therapies to manage anxiety, such as cognitive behavioral therapy, cognitive processing therapy, internal family systems, and emotion-focused therapy, but Dr. Lianna Bennett Haidar focuses on EMDR in her practice, so that is what is covered extensively in this book. While EMDR and other therapies should be pursued in a therapist’s office, being more mindful of the present moment and focusing on gratitude instead of worrying about the future is a tactic all of us can use at any time to help alleviate our anxiety.

Anxiety also includes a beautiful Litany of Consolation by Fr. Peter John Cameron, O.P., that offers a beautiful way to pray for peace and focus on Jesus’ love in the midst of mental difficulties.

Praying the Rosary for Relief from Anxiety

I didn't realize when I picked up  Breathe Deeply: The Joyful Mysteries of the Rosary as Invitations to Peace by Allison Ramirez that it was a book on using the Rosary to pray for relief from anxiety. Apparently, God knew I needed to read it. It offers a Scripture passage, reflection, a "Place Yourself in the Story" meditation, a personal story, and activity suggestions from the author for each decade of the Joyful Mysteries.

In addition, there is a unique prayer to offer before each Hail Mary that focuses on praying for relief from anxiety in different situations. It is clear that the author understands what it is to suffer from anxiety, and I found these prayers very moving and helpful.

Ramirez also offers practical suggestions for coping with anxiety, including: “Each time a worrying thought comes to mind, speak aloud a blessing and offer up your thoughts and feelings to the Lord” (46).

This book concludes with Mary's Magnificat for Anxiety, which incorporates Luke 1:46-55 and adds portions related to anxiety. Breathe Deeply: The Joyful Mysteries of the Rosary as Invitations to Peace  is a beautiful resource for anyone who wants to pray for peace of mind.

 

This post contains Amazon affiliate links. Purchases made after clicking a link help support this site. Thank you!

#OpenBook for June 2025

 

Welcome to #OpenBook. I'm joining up with Carolyn Astfalk who hosts an #OpenBook Linkup on CatholicMom.com. Here's what I've been reading this past month. The dates indicate when I finished the books. Thanks for stopping by!

5-7-25 The Love Elixir of Augusta Stern - Lynda Cohen Loigman - I delighted in this dual-timeline story set in 1920s and 1987. In both timelines, it tells the story of Augusta Stern and Irving Rivkin. In the 1920s, Augusta was the daughter of the pharmacist at the pharmacy where Irving worked as a delivery boy. Augusta wants to be a pharmacist herself but she also learns about using herbs and natural remedies to heal from her aunt. One of the elixirs her aunt prepares helps clear the mind. It isn't a love potion, but if you love someone, it will help make you realize it. Augusta uses it on Irving, hoping he will realize he loves her, but the results are disastrous. Sixty years later, they meet up again at a retirement community, and a lot of old feelings and complications are brought to the surface. As an added bonus, when I read the author bio at the end of the book, I realized this book was written by a woman who grew up in Longmeadow, Massachusetts. which is one town over from where I live!

5-11-25 The Reading List - Sara Nisha Adams - The two main characters in this book are a seventeen-year-old girl who is unwillingly working at a library for the summer and a widower who is grieving the loss of his wife. They bond over a mysterious list of books that they and several other minor characters in the book read. The book incorporates lessons from those books, and I was able to appreciate the lessons of even the books I hadn't read that they were discussing. Ultimately, this is a story about the power of healing that books and the friendship of others can provide.  

5-14-25 The Women of Oak Ridge - Michelle Shocklee - In 1944, Mae Willett goes to work at Oak Ridge to help earn money to support her family. Little does she know the community is helping to build the bomb that will end WWII. Life gets complicated when her roommate begins dating a man whom Mae doesn't trust. In 1979, Laurel Willett is working on a dissertation on those who worked on the Manhattan Project. She is eager to visit Oak Ridge and learn her aunt's story, but her aunt isn't talking. With the help of an attractive detective, Laurel begins to delve into the mystery of her aunt's past. I enjoyed this historical novel that featured mystery with a small side of romance. (Read for a book review publication.)

5-16-25 Anxiety: A Catholic Guide to Freedom from Worry and Fear - Art Bennett, Laraine Bennett, and Lianna Bennett Haidar - This book is a wonderful resource for any Catholic who suffers from anxiety. It explains where anxiety comes from and how we may unwittingly add to its power in our lives. It also offers practical help for coping with anxiety and removing its power over our lives. It is all written from a faith-based perspective which is very helpful.

 

5-18-25 The Eights - Joanna Miller - I greatly enjoyed this novel about the first group of women allowed to officially matriculate at Oxford University in 1920. It centers on the lives of four women who live on Corridor 8 ("The Eights") who become close friends. They are all trying to find their place as well as deal with living in the aftermath of World War I.  Dora is grieving the loss of her brother and fiance in the war. Beatrice is the daughter of a famous suffragette, who never had much use for her daughter. Otto was a nurse during the war and was scarred by the experience. Marianne is the quiet daughter of a pastor who returns home every other weekend to attend to her duties there. (Note: This story does feature one lesbian sex scene.)

5-19-25 Breathe Deeply: The Joyful Mysteries of the Rosary as Invitations to Peace - Allison Ramirez - I didn't realize when I picked this up that it is a book on using the Rosary to pray for relief from anxiety. Apparently, God knew I needed to read it. It offers a Scripture passage, reflection, a "Place Yourself in the Story" meditation, personal story, and activity suggestions from the author for each decade of the Joyful Mysteries. In addition, there is a unique prayer to offer before each Hail Mary that focuses on praying for relief from anxiety in different situations. It is clear that the author understands what it is to suffer from anxiety, and I found these prayers very moving and helpful. It concludes with Mary's Magnificat for Anxiety which incorporates Like 1:46-55 and adds portions related to anxiety. This is a beautiful resource for anyone who wants to pray for mental peace.    

5-22-25 A Summer to Treasure - Leslea Wahl - I'm always happy to read one of Leslea Wahl's Catholic teen books and this one was no exception. A trio of teenage siblings is forced to go on a summer road trip with their family, but it turns into an unexpected treasure hunt. Along the way, they'll learn some interesting facts about their parents and grandmother as well as some important lessons they can take with them into the future.  

5-23-25 God's Masterpiece - Elisabeth Hasselbeck - This is a charming picture book for young children about how they are a unique and wonderful creation of God. (Adults can sometimes use that reminder as well.)

5-29-25 Unfit Parent: A Disabled Mother Challenges an Inaccessible World - Jessica Slice - I'm recommending this book with some caveats - the author is pro-trans, pro-choice, and pro-surrogate parenting and there are places where her arguments seem to lack a cohesive logic (such as she is against people choosing abortion to end a pregnancy simply because the child may be disabled, however she defends the right of people to choose that abortion anyway). However, this book really challenged my thinking about disability and opened my eyes to how disabled people are able to parent their children well, albeit in different ways. It also raises the point that child protective services and the medical system have an inherent bias against those with disabilities (even more so if the person happens to be of color and/or poor). The author makes the case that CPS should be done away with. As someone who dealt with DCF for over three years while fostering and then adopting my daughter, I agree with that 100%. This book was very eye-opening and forced me to consider my own biases (which is always uncomfortable but necessary).

5-30-25 Jesus Heals: Finding Hope, Wholeness, and Peace - Allison Gingras- This is the latest edition in the Stay Connected Journals for Catholic Women series. This is a scripture-based reflection/journal that invites women to ponder the ways Jesus healed women during his earthly ministry and the ways he can bring healing to our own bodies, minds, and hearts today.Gingras writes in a conversational struggle and is willing to honestly share her own challenges with faith. This is recommended for any woman who needs healing from Jesus (and really, that is all of us).

 

 5-31-25 Pope Leo XIV - Jesus Colina - I am truly impressed by how quickly traditional publishers have been able to get out books about our new pope. This one was sent to me by OSV for review. The author is a Spanish journalist based in Rome. It combines a biography about Pope Leo XIV with chapters on the positives and challenges of the Catholic Church today. I found this book very interesting in that it reports on the Church from a global perspective, and as an American, living in Massachusetts, I often have only a myopic view of the Church. I recommend this book for anyone interesting in learning a bit more about Pope Leo XIV's background or who wants to know what is happening in the Church around the world. For being written quickly, this 107-page book is quite informative.

 

5-31-25 The Good Death: A Guide for Supporting Your Loved One Through the End of Life - Suzanne B. O'Brien, RN - High on my list of worries is caring for my parents at the end of their life. I'm not good in medical situations. I don't know how to navigate any of this. And there is a whole lot of unknown - when? how? I am a planner and I can't plan for this. Just writing this has my chest tightening and my blood pressure increasing. This is written by a hospice nurse. It is a secular book, but it offers a great deal of practical information about the nitty-gritty of caring for people at the end of life, and what that might look like with different illnesses. O'Brien is trying to empower people to make good decisions and know what to expect. While the material is difficult, O'Brien's writing style is conversational. I found this book to have a great deal of helpful information. O'Brien also runs https://doulagivers.com/ which offers free training for caregivers. She also shared these five things to say when someone is dying: "I forgive you, Please forgive me, I love you, Thank you, I wish you only peace." Those are good things to say anytime. 

 

 6-1-25 The Lost Passenger - Frances Quinn - After reading about death, I needed something to relax with. This is a novel about a woman tricked into marrying an aristocrat in England. When she survives the Titanic (and he doesn't), she assumes the identity of a maid who also perished in the disaster and begins a new life with her son in America. I really enjoyed this story, but as I was reading, I kept thinking I had read another book about a woman who assumes someone else's identity and I couldn't remember what it was. Thanks to Google, I found out it was Carnegie's Maid by Marie Benedict, which I had also enjoyed.

 

Since spring of 2019, I have been making my way through the Great Books Curriculum of Thomas Aquinas College (I'm currently working on the readings for junior year). 

5-12-25 A Treatise Concerning Human Knowledge - George Berkeley - Berkeley lived from 1685-1753 and wrote this in 1710. During his life, he lived in London, Dubai, and America and was known to be eccentric. He sought to destroy skepticism and atheism and influence Hume and Kant. This book looks at the concept of ideas. 

5-24-25 An Inquiry Concerning Human Understanding - David Hume - Hume (1711-1776) was a Scottish philosopher who examined the psychological basis of human nature and believed all human knowledge comes from experience. He rejected miracles. He didn't outright reject God, but at the same time, he seemed skeptical of belief in God. In general, this work left me confused.

 

My fourteen-year-old daughter and I read the following book this month:

5-20-25 Ungifted - Gordon Korman - This was a fun story about a middle-school boy who gets sent to a gifted academy by mistake after an unfortunate incident in which he accidentally destroyed his middle school gym. So, he's hiding out at the academy, trying to fit in with kids who are way smarter than he is and stay out of sight of the superintendent.

This post contains Amazon affiliate links. Purchases made after clicking a link help support this site. Thank you!