Walking With Mary

Book Source: Blogging For Books

Whoops! It took me a little too long to write this review, but here goes nothing.
Walking with Mary is the latest book I got to review from Blogging For Books. I'm personally very interested in "unknown history" of the Bible. For most Christians the truth is hidden right in front of them, so the "unknown" is actually embarrassingly poorly disguised - if truth be told. But I'm fascinated with the quirks of history - such as why early Christians held women to a much higher value than we do now, because of Mary. (So put that in your juice box and suck on it!)
The Virgin Mary - so adored by Catholics throughout the world and history - is kind of a mystery. She only appears a few times in the New Testament, though she plays such an important role. This book uses her scant appearances to explain what we can't decipher on our own. And thankfully, he does it in very clear, lay-man's terms.

This did not prevent me, however, from shutting my brain down in boredom while reading this. It's a very slim volume, so it isn't tediously long, and the language isn't over-complicated. Yet still, Sri didn't any emphasize new information for me. He does frame Mary in a very interesting, honest, and realistic way. He made me reconsider what I thought I knew about The Holy Mother. Mary (though by unconventional means) is a mother first and foremost - which many women can relate to - and somehow I've never thought of it that way.

On Heaven and Earth

This is the first book I've received and reviewed from the program "Blogging for Books."

Published in English for the first time since it's initial publication in 2010, this is the new Pope Francis' book before-he-was-Pope. As one of my aunts said, "it's a big job to review the Pope!" But be that as it may, I have nothing negative to say about it.
First, I have to explain that while this book was written before Pope Francis was Pope (so I except many people will be interested in reading it) it is actually a transcript of a conversation between he and his friend, the Jewish Rabbi, Abraham Skorka. Readers might be caught off guard by that. It isn't a book of essays written by Pope Francis on every hot button political and moral issue of the modern world. Instead, it's a conversation about every political and moral issue. Both are men are religious leaders, but besides this they are also men of the sciences (Skorka is a Doctor of Chemistry, Bergoglio a chemical engineer). As such, their insights are more three dimensional than some would expect.
What did I think? I thought it was amazing - it should be on every Catholics shelf. Read it and re-read it. Think of it as a sampler book of the brain-pickin's of Pope Francis. An "FAQ," to use internet lingo. Since most of us will never get to sit down with the Pope and ask him questions personally, reading this book will give you an idea of what he would say to you if you could. I can imagine going back to this book over and over again and finding something different.

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