No.685: What I Read in August 2022

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#48. CHRISTUS VINCIT: CHRIST’S TRIUMPH OVER THE DARKNESS OF THE AGE by Bishop Athanasius Schneider // ★★★★☆
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I really enjoyed this book.  Written in question and answer form, Bishop Schneider addressed many issues happening within the Church in a clear and balanced way.  Like society at large, the Church sometimes seems extremely polarized on issues and it was a breath of fresh air to read someone intelligently discuss the good and bad of each side without compromising on Church teaching.  We attended a Solemn Pontifical Mass with Bishop Schneider last year and it was beautiful.  He is a holy man.

#49. THE QUINTLAND SISTERS by Shelley Wood // ★★★☆☆
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This story was so infuriating, even more so because it was based on a true story!  Have you heard of the Dionne Quintuplets?  Five baby girls born in 1934 and taken from their parents by the Canadian government to become wards of the state.  They quickly became a tourist attraction and were paraded around like a circus.  I went down another rabbit hole and it appears that the rest of their lives didn’t get much better.  So so sad.  I’d be interested to read their autobiography someday.  (I picked this for my Reading the Alphabet Challenge.)

#50. ROOTS OF THE REFORMATION by Karl Adam // ★★★☆☆
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This slim little book was mentioned by someone as one that helped in their conversion to the Catholic Church, so I was intrigued.  At times an easy read and at times really dense, I found it very fair and thought provoking.

#51. THE RECKONING AT GOSSAMER POND by Jaime Jo Wright // ★★★☆☆
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This one is a Christian romance suspense novel…did you know that was even a thing?  I didn’t!  It had duel timelines and lots of secrets.  I appreciated the “clean” reading experience, but found the book pretty forgettable.  Good, but not great.

#52. INDESTRUCTIBLE: THE UNFORGETTABLE MEMOIR OF A MARINE HERO AT THE BATTLE OF IWO JIMA by Jack H. Lucas // ★★★☆☆
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The crazy true story of a teenage boy who fibbed his way to the front lines of WWII and the battle of Iwo Jima.  There, in an act of true heroism, he covered two grenades with his body to protect his fellow Marines…and survived!

#53. MOTHER DAUGHTER TRAITOR SPY by Susan Elia MacNeal // ★★☆☆☆
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This book is loosely based on a real life mother/daughter duo who became spies to foil Nazi plans within the United States during WWII.  Definitely well researched (the author cites all of her sources in the back), but I found the storyline itself slow and the characters one-dimensional.  There were also a few parts where I had to suspend my disbelief at the spy skills of two civilians – would Nazi sympathizers really be so trusting and gullible?  I don’t know…just an okay read for me.  (Thank you to Netgalley for the opportunity to read this book!  Mother Daughter Traitor Spy will be published on September 20, 2022.)

#54. WHEN I WAS YOU by Minka Kent // ★★★☆☆
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I was in the mood for a thriller so I chose one that’s been on my Kindle for ages.  I think I must have gotten it for free through Amazon?  It had plenty of twists that kept me guessing – just the book I was looking for.