Oh, the fun of being a bookaholic and getting fresh new books. I especially enjoy the chance to review books from small and indie authors, which is a little taste of what I’m sharing with you today. Anything But Groovy, by Amanda Lauer, is a YA novel that has me flashing back to the approximately 500 times I remember watching Freaky Friday. If you never watched Freaky Friday, it’s a 2003 movie starring Jamie Lee Curtis and Lindsey Lohan. It’s memorable in many ways, but to be honest, I’m not sure if, watching it now, I would laugh as hard or enjoy it as much. But in 2003, when it was in the m ..read more

Well hey there! Among the reading I’ve done this year (strange year that it has been), I’ve done far less reading that I intended. I credit the grumpy 2020 mindset and the bungled 2020 distractedness for that, though I could lay the blame more squarely on my own shoulders for downloading Blockdoku and Numberzilla. But, let’s be honest: Sometimes it’s easier to play a puzzle game than to read a book, no matter how good. But I have been reading. And I’ve been sharing about the books in super-short-form on book booksandsarah Instagram account (not preferable, and 2020 can’t be held accountable fo ..read more

Yes, you read that right: Catholic vampire romance. Who says there’s nothing good to read? (Not me. Not ever me.) Admittedly, I’ll read anything. Years ago, I even picked up Twilight. That’s as far as I got in the popular vampire genre. My girls have never shown interest in it, and…I’m grateful. So what was in store with Moonchild Rising, by Mina Ambrose, the first in what will be a series of Catholic vampire novels? A lot, as it turns out. It was a story with promise, and solidly Catholic. It packed a lot of action and a lot of Church teaching. There was an exploration of love and sin and et ..read more

Years ago, I started reading a blog of someone I found linked through one of my other favorite bloggers (thanks, Julie!). And…I just never stopped. That turned into a book, and then another book. Last year, during the Christmas and New Year break, I read Girl, Wash Your Face in a sitting or two. And then, much to my delight, I read that second book. In the office, a colleague at the time asked me about Girl, Wash Your Face. I responded with a recommendation that, if you can read one book, read this blogger’s book instead. For my birthday, and my best friend’s birthday, we went to see this blog ..read more

Lent is the season I love to hate (or hate to love?). The idea, therefore, of spending Lent with Mary has a lot of appeal, though it’s probably what I’m already doing (although probably not well). How could I resist, then, a book so enticingly titled A Lenten Journey with Mother Mary, by none other than Fr. Edward Looney, author of one of my favorite devotionals, A Rosary Litany? I couldn’t. And rather than read it before Lent, as I would normally do for a review, I’m sharing about it now as an invitation to you to join me. I’m ready for Lent, or as ready as I ever am for a seaso ..read more

What is it with us, ladies? We’re overextended and overenoughed. I only have to search the word “enough” in book reviews on my own site. And the book I was looking for didn’t show even up (though this other great book did). Now WHERE did I write my review of that book by one of my favorite authors? Turns out it was on Instagram. So, speaking of enough…I’m not. Or I sure don’t feel like I am. I don’t have enough time, enough money, enough motivation, enough of me to go around. Everyone wants a piece of me and I am not just persuaded to give more, I want to give more; I not only feel like ..read more

Ah, hello, New Year. It’s so great to see you. And I’m already battling the feeling that I’ve failed you. But, if you’re like any other year, that’s just going to be how we get on together. It’s not you; it’s me. And yet, looking at my word of the year, I can’t help but chuckle. Acceptance? Really? That can be sliced and diced so many different ways. Am I to accept the changes I can’t change? Am I to accept that it’s a time of transition? Am I to accept that I’m just who I am? Well, New Year, if we’re going to be all Acceptance together, let’s talk about the newest member ..read more

Find me on Goodreads What it means when I give a book 5 stars My book posts here at Snoring Scholar Currently Reading Live Big, Love Bigger: Getting Real with BBQ, Sweet Tea, and a Whole Lotta Jesus, by Kathryn Whitaker Living Memento Mori: My Journey through the Stations of the Cross, by Emily DeArdo Manalive, by G.K. Chesterton (fiction) The Case for Catholicism: Answers to Classic and Contemporary Protestant Objections, by Trent Horn A Lenten Journey with Mother Mary, by Fr. Edward Looney 33 Days to Greater Glory: A Total Consecration to the Father Through Jesus Based on the Gosp ..read more

I wrote this back in 2009, when I had a four-year-old and a two-year-old. I came across it recently and thought I’d share it with you here. Enjoy and happy feast day of Our Lady of Loreto! There’s nothing like a good story. In my current state of motherhood, with young children in tow and a life that moves at the stop-and-start speed of diaper changes and involves a juggling act between professional and personal, the good stories I find myself curling up and enjoying are often within the pages of my daughters’ bedtime stories. We’ll snuggle together, and sometimes my four-year-old will ..read more

Lent is the season I love to hate (or hate to love?). The idea, therefore, of spending Lent with Mary has a lot of appeal, though it’s probably what I’m already doing (although probably not well). How could I resist, then, a book so enticingly titled A Lenten Journey with Mother Mary, by none other than Fr. Edward Looney, author of one of my favorite devotionals, A Rosary Litany? I couldn’t. And rather than read it before Lent, as I would normally do for a review, I’m sharing about it now as an invitation to you to join me. I’m ready for Lent, or as ready as I ever am for a seaso ..read more