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12 in 2025: A Year in Pictures
I'm going to honest, as I tried to compile (very much after the fact) my best photos from 2025, I had a very hard time. Some months had almost nothing to choose from, and others were so full of choices that it was painful to only use one. But those are the rules, even...
Favorite Reads from 2025
I read 97 books in 2025. That's an average of 8 per month, and it's close to the record (103 in 2023) since I started keeping track--a full 20 books more than I read the first year I set a reading goal. And now it's time to review that year of reading. Y'all know the...
What I Read in June
Toward the end of May, we went on a family vacation to Baltimore and Wildwood, New Jersey. Among its many other delights, Wildwood has a fantastic used bookstore and there was a ten-book special. So June was all about reading books from some favorite authors. Rage by...
What I Read in May
Like most folks these days, I do a lot of reading online. I keep many tabs open with stories that I like to read while eating breakfast or lunch in fron of my computer. Most of these stories are from The Atlantic, and I actually purchased a subscription because I felt...
What I Read in April
I started off April by continuing to consume my last McKay's haul and concluded by starting my birthday haul. And in the middle I ven grabbed one off that bedroom shelf! Perfect Match by Jodi Picoult Why do I keep reading Jodi Picoult books? I really don't know, and...
What I Read in March
Oh dear. It suddenly occurs to me tht the more books I read, the longer these posts become! And I read 14 books in March! About Time by David Duchovny This was the last of my Christmas books. It's poetry, whcih I had no idea Duchovny wrote. This book wasn't on my...
What I Read in February
In February, continued reading the books I received for Christmas and they were delightful. Jane and the Wandering Eye by Stephanie Barrom I've been reading this series for a while now. They are a series of murder mysteries, purported to be from Jane Austen's letters,...
What I Read in January
I started off January in a big way, reading not only five books from my Christmas haul but also some McKay's finds AND a free Kindle book for good measure. Keep the Memories, Lose the Stuff by Matt Paxton A very cool book by a guy who helps people minimize while...
What I Read in December
Yikes! I have not written anything down yet, and it is already almost the end of the month. Is it really possible that I have only read one book so far this month? I have been super busy this month with work and Christmas, so perhaps it is. The week between Christmas...
What I Read in November
I started off November with a trip to my big bedroom shelf and pulled out the book below. The Gabriel Hounds by Mary Stewart I first encountered Mary Stewart as a child when I read The Little Broomstick. I found out about her adult, gothic-type novels as a teenager...
What I Read in October
I started off this month just as I promised--I went to the giant shelf in my room and picked a book that had been sitting there for a long time. The Distant Hours by Kate Morton This was a fabulous book! I don't know why I waited so long to read it, especially since I...
What I Read in September
I turned over a new leaf this month, y'all. I have committed to raising the bar on my reading. From now on I am going to try to alternate escapist fiction from McKay's and Amazon Prime with the many other higher-brow tomes that fill my new bookcase! Yes, I have a new...
An Anniversary
One year ago today, my father died. But I didn't know it yet. One year ago, I didn't know I would never see Daddy in this life again, that I would never hear him say, "Hey girl," on the telephone, that I would never buy flowers and tomatoes for his windowbox and...
What I Read in August
I started off August still finishing up July's McKay's haul. I said plenty about Michael Connelly then, so we will pass over the first two books below. Fair Warning by Michael Connelly Blood Work by Michael Connelly I have my own sharing library in my front yard....
What I Read in July
I have done an inordinate amount of reading over the past several months. It's all I want to do with my free time (except for that one game I play on my phone!). This has something to do, I am sure, with my father's death at the end of March. Reading is comforting to...
What I Read in June
I did some rereading in June because I went to San Francisco in May, and that always makes me want to read books that are set in San Francisco. Belle-Mere by Kathleen Norris I found this book in a bag of old books in our garage when I was maybe ten years old. I read...
What I Read in May
I only read five books this month, at least partly because I traveled for several days visiting my middle son who has returned to San Francisco. I would love to tell you all about that and maybe I will get back to doing travel posts again too, although those are...
What I Read in April
On March 31, 2025, my father died. On April 1, 2025, I was the one who found him. Maybe I will write more about that later, maybe not. But one thing is for sure, I was profoundly affected by it. And the month of April was profoundly affected too, with all the...
What I Read in March
Goodness! I read 12 books in March. I think I have read 12 books two times before since I started keeping track again. (When I was a child I averaged a book a day!) In Any Lifetime by Marc Guggenheim It's a time travel book, which is fun. Or maybe it's more like a...
What I Read in February
Do you know that there is really nothing I would rather do than read? Maybe that's obvious, I don't know, but I was imagining what I would do it I were retired, if I could do whatever I wanted, and what I pictured was old me sitting on a front porch of an old house...
What I Read in January
I did not set a reading goal for 2025, partly because I have successfully achieved the goal behind the goal: I added dedicated daily reading time to my schedule and I don't see any circumstance that would change that. Be that as it may, January started off with a...
Favorite Books from 2024
Y'all. you know what's exciting? At the end of this year, I will have been writing these book posts regularly for five years. And that means that in January 2026 I am going to write a best of, best of post--that is to say that I will do a top-ten post out of the past...
What I Read in December
I'm more than a little surprised by how few books I read in December. Usually, it's a big reading month for me, what with getting books for Christmas and that lovely empty week between Christmas and New Year's. However, my mother-in-law and John's stepsister were...
What I Read in November
I just want to say that I am fairly certain that WordPress does not do the best job of saving my drafts, and between that and my own occasional lapses, I am sure that some books I read never make it into these posts. Oh well. Sense and Sensibility by Jane Austen...
What I Read in October
Some books have a certain feeling to them, don't they? The first book in this list always has an autumnal feel to me; I am not sure why as it spans every season, but nevertheless I like to read it in the fall. The Witch of Blackbird Pond by Elizabeth George Speare...
What I Read in September
Oh dear, I don't even want to write this post because it means I will have to talk about . . . Cades Cove: The Curse of Allie Mae by Aiden James We read this for book club, I don't remember why. It was one of those books that you read because you want to know what...
What I Read in August
I read ten books in August 2024 and this month was quite a mixture. We'll start with an old friend. A Woman of Substance by Barbara Taylor Bradford I've read this very long book several times, starting with my grandmother's copy when I was a teenager. It's a long book...
What I Read in July
I can see just with a quick look at this list that the kids and I went to McKay's, our local used bookstore, in July of 2024. There are certain authors whose books I always gravitate to when we go there. That's because the place is huge and it gives me anxiety to just...
What I Read in June
Oh dear. It looks like I got on some kind of Kindle app reading jag in June of 2024. These all sound like those kinds of books. This may be a short post. Someone Else's Life: A Thriller by Lyn Butler The main character thinks she is going crazy, and you will start to...
What I Read in May
I read a lot of books in May 2024, but all but one of them were the free books I get from Amazon each month and read on my phone's Kindle app. I almost always choose thrillers and after this long I am going to have a hard time remembering anything about them. The...
What I Read in April
Apparently in April of 2024 I was on a classics kick that started at the end of the month before. I was reading things that I could get for free on my phone because they were so old. I commenced with three old favorites by Frances Hodgson Burnett. Fun fact: she lived...
What I Read in March
Hello, Dear Readers--if any of you are still here! I've taken a weekend away to write, and find my self absolutely astonished to discover that it has been well over a year since I published anything at all. Yes, this post is about what I read in March of 2024!!! I'm...
12 in 2024: A Year in Pictures
For over ten years now, I have published a photo essay at the beginning of each year, highlighting photos I've taken in the prior year. Sometimes i choose the best picture, sometimes I choose the most meaningful, but every picture has a story. This year was harder....
What I Read in February
I managed to read eight books in February, so still above my goal. Two Kinds of Truth by Michael Connelly Once again, Harry Bosch is too damn decent for words. He's been more or less kicked out of the LAPD so he's working cold cases in another jurisdiction for free...
What I Read in January
Twelve Books! This is five books over my new monthly foal and almost a record. A trip to the used book store, a sudden desire to re-read a favorite childhood series, and extra time available due to the holidays made this feat possible. The Fifth Witness by Michael...
2023 in Review: Your Favorites, My Favorites
Another annual tradition, which I sometimes think I ought to retire, is this post in which I highlight my readers' five favorite posts of the prior year (measured by clicks), followed by my own five favorites. The reason wonder if I should retire it is that the...
Ten Great Reads from 2023
In both 2022 and 2021 when I started these monthly book posts, I read 76 books. In 2023, I read 103! I have a feeling I neglected other areas of my life to read that much. I had set a reading goal of six books per month. Although I missed that goal two times, I...
12 in 2023: A Year in Pictures
Welcome to my yearly roundup of my favorite/best/most meaningful photos from the year gone by, something I've been doing for over ten years now. I'll explain my rationale for choosing each photo as we go. I hope you enjoy seeing them as much as I enjoyed choosing...
What I Read in December
Eight books this month--not bad with Christmas in the mix! I finished my Patricia Cornwell re-read when I received her latest for Christmas and I will recap those below. She has another book due out in October but I will content myself with maybe re-reading just her...
On the Feast of Stephen
This was my last post for the Diocesan.com Inspire Daily feature of the MyParish app. I appreciated the opportunity but ultimately had to cut back on some commitments because life is hard, y'all. You can find all my Inspire Daily posts here. Yesterday was a joyful...
What I Read in November
I read 11 books this month but I was rather single-minded in my choices so this will be a short review! As I did last time I will sum up some thought on the TEN Patricia Cornwell books I re-read after I list them all. Predator by Patricia Cornwell Book of the Dead by...
What Dreams May Come
Modern dream interpretation is based on psychology and our understanding of the unconscious mind. If I were going to take a shot at interpreting Nebuchadnezzar’s dream as Daniel does in today’s first reading, I would suggest that he fears the loss of his power, that...
What I Read in October
FIFTEEN BOOKS! Now that indeed is a record and demands an explanation. I learned last month that Patricia Cornwell would be releasing a new book in November. So I thought it would be fun to re-read all her books in order. Yes, I own them (many soot-stained) and yes...
Spirit-Led Sabbath
When I was a little girl I read all the Little House on the Prairie books over and over. I remember being deeply impressed by the rules for Sabbath behavior back in those days. Not only was nonessential work forbidden, any sort of fun was too. Children who resisted...
What I Read in September
Deep into dealing with William's first semester at the University of Tennessee, I would not have made my goal if my choices had been more ambitious! But I managed seven this month. Fat Luther, Slim Pickin's by Marcia Lane-McGee and Shannon Wimp Schmidt The...
Preparing the Way
God delights in us because He loves us. We do not need to do anything to earn His love—in fact, there is nothing we COULD do to earn it. But how can we thank him? How can we praise Him? How can we share this gift of love with others? Read the rest at the link below or...
What I Read in August
This month's nine-book total is brought to you courtesy of a trip to McKay's to pick up quick reads from my favorite authors and an extended trip to Nashville to drop my baby off for her first year at Belmont University! Original Sin by JT Dwyer This is the second...
A Life Ruled by Fear
I first encountered the story of the Passion of St. John the Baptist in the Bible I received from my godparents when I made my First Holy Communion. I sometimes think I am remembering wrong because the horrifying picture of his head on a platter seems like an image...
What I Read in July
I exceeded my goal for July, partly because the reads I chose were quicker and partly because I had a weekend "away" (that means alone in a hotel downtown) which gave me some extra time! Blink and We'll Miss It by Ginny Kochis This is a YA novel, the author's first,...
Promises To Keep
I like to think that Martha and Mary are modeling different spiritualities, both equally valid: Mary is contemplative, Martha is active, but both are faithful. Both believe in Jesus as the fulfillment of God’s covenant. Read the rest at the link below or on your...
What I Read in June
This has not been the summer I had hoped it would be. It's been busy and stressful instead of relaxing, which is why I only have five books to share for June. Pleading Guilty by Scott Turow I hate to say it but I really did not care for this book. Especially I hated...
By Their Fruits
“By their fruits you will know them,” we read in the Gospel. “ . . .[E]very good tree bears good fruit, and a rotten tree bears bad fruit. A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, nor can a rotten tree bear good fruit.” Is a faith nurtured primarily by media slanted in one...
What I Read in May
May was a mostly easy reading month. We took a trip to the local used book store and I grabbed a few books from my favorite authors. As you may know by now, I enjoy thrillers that I don't want to put down and can read in a day or two. Motive by Jonathan Kellerman...
A Tale of Three Evangelists
I have mentioned before that my favorite Gospel stories involve Peter, my favorite saint. I love Peter because he is relatable. He is human and makes mistakes, some bigger than others. Yet Jesus chose him to lead the Church, because of his great faith. That gives me...
What I Read in April
Oh, dear. How embarrassing. Can you believe I only read THREE books in April? Emma by Jane Austen I'd never read this although Lorelei had been begging me to for years. Then I found out that Haley Stewart was running a Jane Austen book club, so now I will be reading...
Hearing God’s Voice
In the stories of Adam and Eve, Cain and Abel, Noah, Abraham, Esau and Jacob, Moses and others God was always talking to His people. Right out loud! I was fascinated. Why did God talk to them? I wondered. When did He stop talking to people? And especially, why...
What I Read in March
As I mentioned in my last post, I am writing this months after I read these books (but editing the publishing dates), and I find myself surprised at how well I was keeping to my goal. Probably the fact that Spring Break fell in March accounts for my having had enough...
Hope in the Desert
He tells them he will be leaving, and he says no one can follow him. To those who had left everything to follow him already, and who loved him, those statements would surely have occasioned great distress. And then he adds that not only can they not follow, but rather...
What I Read in February
It's been (and remains) a very busy year. A lot has fallen by the wayside, especially my blogging. I am writing this in July (although I am editing the publishing date to keep things neat), where I am currently ensconced in a downtown hotel attempting to catch up....
Celebrate Life: Charlie Fien-Emlen
In many ways, Charlotte Fien-Emlen is a typical young woman. When I first spoke with her, she was planning her wedding, and in our last email exchange she was worried about taking her college exams. But most young women have not given speeches about abortion before...
What I Read in January
SIXTEEN BOOKS! Is that even possible? What on earth have I NOT been doing so that I could spend that time reading? There was a time in my life where I routinely read a book every day or two. But that's been a long time ago. Granted, January is always a great month for...
A Cloud of Witnesses
I first encountered St. John Bosco as a second- or third-grader, in one of the old Catholic readers that even then were going out of fashion. We read that he used juggling and acrobatic feats as a way to attract the attention of street children so that he could share...
2022 in Review: Your Favorites, My Favorites
I present to you an annual tradition that is happening later and later: the best/favorite posts from the prior year, as picked by you (my readers) and me. YOUR favorites are simply the posts that got the most clicks, no matter when I originally posted them; MY...
Ten Good Books: My Best Reads of 2022
In 2022, I read 76 books! Weirdly, I read 76 books in 2021 as well! I had set a reading goal of six books per month. Although I missed that goal four times, I averaged slightly higher over the course of the year. Therefore, I am going to keep the same goal for 2023....
12 in 2022: A Year in Pictures
Ten years ago, I joined a link up to post 12 pictures, one for each month of the previous year. When that link up ended, I found another one. Now that one no longer exists, but I'm still doing this annual post. It's a fun way for me to look back over the year. For...
What I Read in December
As usual, I got a fair amount of reading time in December and completed eight interesting books. My family and finished watching Poldark, a Masterpiece Theatre series based on a book series, in mid-December. We were enthralled, and to ease the withdrawal, I am now...
Darkness and Light
Lully, lullah, thou little tiny child, Bye bye, lully, lullay. Thou little tiny child, Bye bye, lully, lullay. Herod the king in his raging Set forth upon this day By his decree, no life spare thee All children young to slay All children young to slay The above...
What I Read in November
I am back on track this month with seven books read--though a couple of them were pretty quick reads. I can't wait to dive into all the books I expect to get for Christmas! First up is Black Beauty by Anna Sewell. I picked up this copy at a flea market. It's the very...
Let Us Go Rejoicing
Weeks are long and weekends are short. Life is hard and we are so busy, so tired. Catching up on household chores, sleeping in, trying to have a little fun with family or friends—for many of us there is so much we want to do or need to do that a weekend never seems...
Let’s Talk about Thanksgiving
You know the story of the first Thanksgiving. You probably acted it out in school--maybe more than once--complete with Pilgrim hats and feathered headdresses. It is immortalized on your serving plates, your seasonal decorations, and your holiday sale catalogs....
What I Read in October
Remember how sulky I was last month about having only read three books? Well, I made up for it this month! A major reason for this is that my daughter and I went to a Friends of the Library book sale and I bought so many books at rock bottom prices that I needed a...
Our Patient Father
People love to make fun of the songs we sang at church in the early 1970s, but I was a little girl then and I remember many of them fondly. Today’s Gospel took me back to that time instantly, to the refrain of a song written by Medical Mission Sister Miriam Therese...
Pro-life Profile: Juan Tello
Pro-life Profile is a new series I am publishing regularly. These brief interviews highlight pro-life leaders in order to dispel the preconceptions that predominate in the mainstream press and the minds of pro-choice people. I’ll begin with my Vita...
What I Read in September
Y'all, I am so late with this post that I missed the linkup! But I'm posting anyway because I want to remember what books I read and I am sure you were all waiting breathlessly to read about them. 😉 And the reason I am late is SO LAME. My post was erased, and I...
In the Sight of the Angels
I remain a parishioner at the church where I was baptized 55 years ago, meaning I have spent well over 2,000 Sunday mornings there. As a child, my mind and my eyes tended to wander, and the stained glass windows provided both entertainment and enlightenment, as they...
What I Read in August
August was NOT a reading month, y'all. Among other things (and aren't there always other things?), Lorelei started her Senior year of high school, William started his fifth semester of college, and we moved my father across town. Lorelei now has a 7 a.m. class (AP...
Seeking Humility
In a world obsessed with social media, many of us judge our worth by how often our posts are liked or shared by others, hoping to go viral, obsessively checking our phones throughout the day when we think we have shared something exceptionally profound or amusing....
What I Read in July
I finished my sixth book with just a day to spare and made my six book goal for July. You would think I would have an easier time meeting my goals in the summer but that has not seemed to be the case. Master of Middle-Earth by Paul H. Kocher I picked this up on...
Potter and Clay
Abba, Abba Father. You are the potter; we are the clay, the Work of Your hands . . . That is the beginning of a song I remember singing often at morning Mass when I was an 8th grader in parochial school. You probably recall the hymnal; it was ubiquitous in the early...
Vita Institute Recap
I promised to tell you more about the Vita Institute, and this post will be a start. I planned to write everything up as soon as I came home, but as I came down with COVID almost as soon as I returned, I did not have the energy for anything extra. I'm going to go...
Pro-Life Profile: Gwendolyn Loop
Pro-life Profile is a new series I will be publishing regularly. These brief interviews will highlight pro-life leaders in order to dispel the preconceptions that predominate in the mainstream press and the minds of pro-choice people. I’ll begin with my Vita...
Pro-life Profile: Herb Geraghty
Pro-life Profile is a new series I plan to publish regularly. These brief interviews will highlight pro-life leaders in order to dispel the preconceptions that predominate in the mainstream press and the minds of pro-choice people. I'll begin with my Vita Institute...
What I Read in June
I really thought I had completed six books this month. But unless I completely forgot one, it looks like I missed my goal. To be fair, it's been a crazy month! My first read was completed at the tail end of our vacation, after I picked it up at a cool used bookstore...
What Are Your Idols?
We may not be worshipping golden statues or sacrificing people to Baal nowadays, but don’t we let attractive worldly things come between us and God? Perhaps it’s money, or power, or romance, or status, or even being right instead of being kind. You alone know what...
Three Things I Learned at the Vita Institute
I had quite an adventure last week. Four flights. An unprecedented heat wave. Almost 133,000 steps. Close to 20 lectures by experts in their fields. About 50 new friends. And last but not least, a Covid infection! Thankfully, I picked up a lot more than Covid at the...
What I Read in May
This month's reads are primarily fiction, as befits the beginning of summer! I just made it to my goal, finishing book six while visiting my husband's family in Baltimore. A couple of these books were provided to me for free in exchange for my honest review--I will...
My Favorite Reads of 2021
Since I had a reading goal for the entirety of 2021, I thought it would be fun to do a round up post of the top ten books out of the 76 books I finished. For the most part, I am excluding old favorites which I re-read from the list. The inclusion of a book on this...
What I Read in April
Did I meet my reading goal? Yes, I did! Tiny Hot Dogs by Mary Giulani This is a memoir by a Georgetown alumna who wanted to be a star and ended up as caterer to the stars instead. It's a fun read that unexpectedly turns serious near the end, and it's interspersed with...
A Short Manifesto on the Sanctity of Human Life
In June, I will be attending the Vita Institute at the University of Notre Dame, "an intensive intellectual formation program for leaders in the national and international pro-life movement." I had to apply for this opportunity, and I thought my readers might be...
2021 in Review: Your Favorites, My Favorites
So here I am with a yearly ritual, which is usually a beginning of the year ritual, but better late than never, am I right? The first five posts were the most popular with readers last year, and the second five are my own favorites. Readers' favorites can be from any...
Imagine You Walked with Jesus: Book Review
I received a copy of this book in exchange for my honest review. As the graduate of a Jesuit university, I love all things Ignatian. Pray As You Go, one of my favorite Catholic apps, often asks listeners to engage in the what the Jesuits call contemplative...
Printique Canvas Review: Honoring a Furry Friend (SPONSORED)
This is a sponsored post. I received the product in exchange for my honest review. I have mentioned before that the Shollys are Cat People. When our house burned down over ten years ago, our two cats disappeared (into the surrounding woods, we hoped). That a mother...
What I Read in March
Well, this will be a short post! I completed only four books in March, and if Emily hadn't made a trip to the library the last week of the month, it would have been two. We visited Boulder this month, which meant four days in the car, but that does not really seem...
Pope’s Worldwide Prayer Network – April Reflection
I was honored to be given the opportunity to write a prayer and reflection for the Pope's Worldwide Prayer Network, an "Apostleship of Prayer [that] addresses the challenges facing humanity and assists the mission of the Church [by praying and working] to meet the...
What I Read in February
So, I just barely made my six book goal this month, and that's only because the first book I read was a picture book! But John Ronald's Dragons by Carolyn McAlister is truly a superior picture book. It's a great introduction to Tolkien for pre-readers but there's also...
Heavenly Treasures
Basil the Great once said: “When someone steals another’s clothes, we call them a thief. Should we not give the same name to one who could clothe the naked and does not? The bread in your cupboard belongs to the hungry; the coat unused in your closet belongs to the...
12 in 2021: A Year in Pictures
I am very late with my annual picture essay, which I've been doing every year since 2013. It was originally part of a linkup, but now I just do it because I like to! It's fun to reflect on the year that has gone by. JANUARY If the above picture is not our life in a...
What I Read in January
What with Christmas Break and snow days and Covid cancellations and William's semester starting midway through the month, I had another fruitful reading month! The Grey King by Susan Cooper I continued reading this series that I began re-reading in December. This one...
What Is Love? Wisdom From Fr. Spitzer
Well over 30 years ago, when I was a Sophomore at Georgetown University, a group of us gathered to explore ways we could deepen our commitment to our faith outside of weekly Mass attendance. We called our group "Beyond Dahlgren," Dahlgren Chapel being the university's...
God’s Mysterious Mercy
“With many such parables he spoke the word to them as they were able to understand it. Without parables he did not speak to them, but to his own disciples he explained everything in private” (Mark 4:33-34). When I read these words from today’s Gospel, I found myself...
