some catholic authors

Myles Connolly: Mr. Blue

Rumer Godden: In This House of Brede

Graham Greene: The Power and the Glory, Our Man in Havana, many others

Louis Hemon: Maria Chapdelaine

Bruce Marshall: The World, the Flesh, and Father Smith

Edwin O'Connor: The Edge of Sadness

Flannery O'Connor: various titles

Walker Percy: various titles

Sigrid Undset: Kristin Lavransdatter trilogy, Master of Hestviken series

Evelyn Waugh: Brideshead Revisited, The Sword of Honour Trilogy

middlemarch

by George Eliot

This is very slow going. I've slogged my way to p. 118. Only 500+ to go. Jane Austen it ain't.

hold on to your kids

Why Parents Need to Matter More than Peers

by Gordon Neufeld and Gabor Mate

A must-read for all parents.

Neufeld explains how and why our culture no longer supports the strong connection between parents and children, and why we must maintain a strong attachment to our children until they grow up. Without an attachment to us (think of it is a figurative umbilical cord between us), our children will not be able to receive the love and guidance they need from us.

Much discussion about peer orientation, which our culture sees as normal, but which is unnatural and a fairly recent phenomenon, historically. How peer-obsessed children will not get the parenting they need from each other, or from their parents. How to avoid this and communicate our unconditional love to our children, which we may take for granted, but many children will not.

curly girl

by Lorraine Massey

Find your inner curl!

This is a great how-to book for anyone with wavy, frizzy, or curly hair. Learn how to enhance your waves and curls instead of fighting with them.

more on ramage

Have read 4 Ramage books. The fourth was the worst, contained a treasure hunt worthy of Frank and Joe Hardy. (Not that there's anything wrong with The Hardy Boys.) I won't bother with any more of these for the time being, though I will probably read the rest of the series eventually. The series is a couple of notches below Hornblower, its obvious influence.

ramage

by Dudley Pope

Hard to avoid comparison to the Hornblower books. "That Hornblower fellow" is even mentioned twice as an acquaintance of Ramage.

I liked this. It's more like Hornblower than POB. I've only read the first book. So far, lots of action, the hero is not as flawed as HH, but perhaps a little bland. The romance is handled a bit awkwardly. But there are 17 more books - maybe they improve? They might be just right for summer, when I like to read a series, or lots of books by one author.

anna's book

by Ruth Rendell as Barbara Vine

I guess it's just a coincidence that this, like the Elizabeth Ironside books mentioned earlier, is a mystery that jumps back and forth between the past and the present. The modern characters learn of, and solve, a mystery that originated in the past. This was fairly compelling reading, but for some reason felt like a longer book than it was - not a plus. Maybe the tedium arose from the diary format that part of the book is written in. Again, I felt less than totally involved with the characters, but still it wasn't bad.