I would love to hear your thoughts about Michael O'Brien...he has such a following in my Catholic world, but I have always had an aversion to his books. I would love to hear a more thoughtful analysis of his work but someone like you who is Catholic and has good book taste.
Oh I'm secretly thrilled to find other people unenthused about Michael O'Brien. That's a terrible thing to say, but honestly the blurbs on the back of my copy are wild. Peter Kreeft, Thomas Howard, and other luminaries comparing his writing to Dickens, Austen, and Dostoevsky. I made it to page fifty and couldn't go any further.
Thank you so much for the shout out :)
Also, puzzles are the best. Have you seen the Laurence King series of literary puzzles? There's a World of Agatha Christie, World of Shakespeare, and so on. We got a couple last year and they made the holiday season so cozy.
Ugh! Michael O’Brien. Our Well Read Mom book group met this weekend. I was about 20% of the way in and another member was 100 pages from the end. She also hated it but was finishing it should she could justify her dislike of it. I read Father Elijah several years ago for WRM and did not like it. But enough people were intrigued by our disdain for it that I am sure several of them will finish it. So even though I’m the leader, this will be my DNF for the year. I just cannot do it. I finished the Father Brown stories last night and would rather spend my time catching up on mysteries. Life is too short to read bad books. Oh, and yes, the audio is awful! That was my plan too until I listened to a sample. Just ugh!
Recommendation: Not a show, but a Christmas movie, or just a good movie period: The Holdovers (2023) with Paul Giamatti if you haven't seen it already. I think most contemporary movies are trash, but this one was great! As far as shows go, I've heard good things about Severance on Apple TV, but have yet to watch it.
I despise The Father’s Tale. I’m 70% complete with it and every moment is painful. But I’m the leader of our Well Read Mom book club so I feel obliged to finish it. On the bright side, maybe it will get me time off of purgatory?
Also if you need a little period drama in your life, The Hardcastles was decently entertaining.
I haven't watched much TV in ages, but late Dec- Jan sickness + need for distraction had me searching out fun things to watch! The latest season of All Creatures Great and Small has also been released in the UK if you have a VPN.
If you've got Apple TV, "Fly Me to the Moon" was a fun little rom-com, reminiscent of 90s rom-coms where there's nothing really gratuitous. I loved the '60s costumes as well.
Omg just thank you for mentioning how horrific the audiobook version of Father's Tale is!! 🤣 I was truly aghast at the voice acting and immediately texted my WRM group members in distress. Oddly, I think it was because it was so bad that I was motivated to just get it over with at 1.75x speed or something. But wow, where are his editors?? I also don’t get the Michael O’Brien obsession amongst Catholics. If you’re gonna get stuck into a huge tome, make it worth your time!
Oh man, I did the audio for Strangers and Sojourners and the narrator was so over-the-top. It kinda ruined my experience of that book, even though I didn’t mind the actual story. If O’Brien had an editor that made him cut his books by at least 25% or more, I think I would enjoy his books more.
I really enjoyed Resident Alien (even though I don't care for sci-fi or aliens). The writing is just so good, I love the characters and I laugh out loud every time I watch it.
I’m also trudging through “ A Father’s Tale”...I wasn’t familiar with O’Brien previously but the book feels unnecessarily long. Usually I’m pretty enthusiastic about the “long” title of the year for WRM, but it’s so much more enticing when it’s a bona fide classic vs. some Catholic novelist I had never heard of.
I would love to hear your thoughts about Michael O'Brien...he has such a following in my Catholic world, but I have always had an aversion to his books. I would love to hear a more thoughtful analysis of his work but someone like you who is Catholic and has good book taste.
Same! I've had Island of the World on my mental list for forever and am now so curious!
Oh I'm secretly thrilled to find other people unenthused about Michael O'Brien. That's a terrible thing to say, but honestly the blurbs on the back of my copy are wild. Peter Kreeft, Thomas Howard, and other luminaries comparing his writing to Dickens, Austen, and Dostoevsky. I made it to page fifty and couldn't go any further.
Thank you so much for the shout out :)
Also, puzzles are the best. Have you seen the Laurence King series of literary puzzles? There's a World of Agatha Christie, World of Shakespeare, and so on. We got a couple last year and they made the holiday season so cozy.
LOL, yes, I had the exact same thought! “How is he getting these shout outs ??!! Did they really read it?”
Ugh! Michael O’Brien. Our Well Read Mom book group met this weekend. I was about 20% of the way in and another member was 100 pages from the end. She also hated it but was finishing it should she could justify her dislike of it. I read Father Elijah several years ago for WRM and did not like it. But enough people were intrigued by our disdain for it that I am sure several of them will finish it. So even though I’m the leader, this will be my DNF for the year. I just cannot do it. I finished the Father Brown stories last night and would rather spend my time catching up on mysteries. Life is too short to read bad books. Oh, and yes, the audio is awful! That was my plan too until I listened to a sample. Just ugh!
Recommendation: Not a show, but a Christmas movie, or just a good movie period: The Holdovers (2023) with Paul Giamatti if you haven't seen it already. I think most contemporary movies are trash, but this one was great! As far as shows go, I've heard good things about Severance on Apple TV, but have yet to watch it.
Agree with The Holdovers, and I have watched Severance also- it’s dark but so original and gripping, I think Christy could handle it!
I despise The Father’s Tale. I’m 70% complete with it and every moment is painful. But I’m the leader of our Well Read Mom book club so I feel obliged to finish it. On the bright side, maybe it will get me time off of purgatory?
Also if you need a little period drama in your life, The Hardcastles was decently entertaining.
I haven't watched much TV in ages, but late Dec- Jan sickness + need for distraction had me searching out fun things to watch! The latest season of All Creatures Great and Small has also been released in the UK if you have a VPN.
If you've got Apple TV, "Fly Me to the Moon" was a fun little rom-com, reminiscent of 90s rom-coms where there's nothing really gratuitous. I loved the '60s costumes as well.
Omg just thank you for mentioning how horrific the audiobook version of Father's Tale is!! 🤣 I was truly aghast at the voice acting and immediately texted my WRM group members in distress. Oddly, I think it was because it was so bad that I was motivated to just get it over with at 1.75x speed or something. But wow, where are his editors?? I also don’t get the Michael O’Brien obsession amongst Catholics. If you’re gonna get stuck into a huge tome, make it worth your time!
Oh man, I did the audio for Strangers and Sojourners and the narrator was so over-the-top. It kinda ruined my experience of that book, even though I didn’t mind the actual story. If O’Brien had an editor that made him cut his books by at least 25% or more, I think I would enjoy his books more.
I really enjoyed Resident Alien (even though I don't care for sci-fi or aliens). The writing is just so good, I love the characters and I laugh out loud every time I watch it.
I’m also trudging through “ A Father’s Tale”...I wasn’t familiar with O’Brien previously but the book feels unnecessarily long. Usually I’m pretty enthusiastic about the “long” title of the year for WRM, but it’s so much more enticing when it’s a bona fide classic vs. some Catholic novelist I had never heard of.
I enjoy your newsletters so much! And I would be tickled pink for reviews of royal biographies. 😊
show me your favorite puzzles!