Category Archives: Spiritual

Conclave by Robert Harris

Posted on November 22, 2024 by bseat

While looking through all the books that Harris has written about Italy and Rome, I came across this book about the Vatican and the process for choosing a new Pope. I was intrigued because it was set not in the … Continue reading →

Posted in Fiction, Literary Fiction, Mystery, Spiritual | Tagged , , , , | 3 Comments

All Creation Waits by Gayle Boss

Posted on December 16, 2022 by bseat

It is almost Christmas now, and if you are following the church calendar we are in the third week of the four weeks of Advent. Advent is supposed to be a time of waiting, of reflection, and quietness, but in … Continue reading →

Posted in Christmas books, Non Fiction, Short Stories, Spiritual | Tagged | 1 Comment

Lightning Strike by William Kent Krueger

Posted on October 15, 2021 by bseat

I have really enjoyed reading novels by Krueger. His This Tender Land and Ordinary Grace are quite extraordinary and are on a par with Marilynne Robinson’s Gilead series in terms of the prose and their evocative characters and themes. But Krueger … Continue reading →

Posted in Detective novel, Fiction, Mystery, Series, Spiritual, Suspense | Tagged , | Leave a comment

Jack by Marilynne Robinson

Posted on October 8, 2021 by bseat

Marilynne Robinson revisits the characters she made famous in Gilead, Home and Lila, this time focusing on John Ames Broughton (Jack), the prodigal son of the Presbyterian minister in Gilead, Iowa. From the previous books we are aware of the story … Continue reading →

Posted in Fiction, Historical Fiction, Literary Fiction, Series, Spiritual | Tagged | 2 Comments

The King at the Edge of the World by Arthur Phillips (Books to Read During a Pandemic, Part 50)

Posted on March 5, 2021 by bseat

It is 1601, and Queen Elizabeth is dying. Childless, she has yet to designate an heir and King James VI of Scotland is the leading contender. However, there are suspicions that he is secretly a Catholic and might cause another … Continue reading →

Posted in Books to Read During a Pandemic, Fiction, Historical Fiction, Literary Fiction, Spiritual, Uncategorized | Tagged , , | Leave a comment

The Transcendent Kingdom by Yaa Gyasi (Books to Read During a Pandemic, Part 48)

Posted on February 19, 2021 by bseat

Are science and faith incompatible? That is the underlying question in Gyasi’s novel The Transcendent Kingdom, but she explores it as if using a kaleidoscope, twisting the picture so that new images and understandings emerge and we can see things … Continue reading →

Posted in An Antiracist Education, Books to Read During a Pandemic, Fiction, Literary Fiction, Spiritual | Tagged , , , | 1 Comment

Thirst by Mary Oliver (Books to Read During a Pandemic, Part 42)

Posted on January 8, 2021 by bseat

What better way to start the New Year then to settle in and read some poems by Mary Oliver! I have begun to appreciate her poetry more deeply as the years go by. She is a chronicler of the human … Continue reading →

Posted in Books to Read During a Pandemic, Poetry, Spiritual | 1 Comment

North of the Tension Line by J.F. Riordan (Books to Read During a Pandemic, Part 37)

Posted on December 4, 2020 by bseat

I’m not sure how I heard about this series of books by Riordan set in Wisconsin’s Door County, but on a whim I decided to try the first one. I think I was remembering the time, many years ago, when … Continue reading →

Posted in Books to Read During a Pandemic, Fiction, Literary Fiction, Prize Winner, Romance, Series, Spiritual | Tagged , , | Leave a comment

The Mirror and the Light by Hilary Mantel (Books to Read During a Pandemic, Part 19)

Posted on July 31, 2020 by bseat

Hilary Mantel is an impressive writer and she proves this again in The Mirror and the Light, the last book in her series on Thomas Cromwell. It was such a strange experience to move from a very negative and antagonistic … Continue reading →

Posted in Books to Read During a Pandemic, Fiction, Historical Fiction, Literary Fiction, Spiritual | Tagged , , | Leave a comment

A Rule Against Murder by Louise Penny

Posted on December 27, 2019 by bseat

Did you get some money for Christmas that you are not sure what spend on? ? A gift card from Amazon? Do you have some time now with family and friends gone, to curl up with a good book?  Well, … Continue reading →

Posted in Detective novel, Fiction, Mystery, Psychological Mystery, Series, Spiritual, Suspense | Tagged | Leave a comment