Review of Simple Abundance: A Daybook of Comfort and Joy (Hardcover)

Looked at one way, this is a collection of cheerful essays with homespun spiritual wisdom and housekeeping advice that satisfies our appetite for the nostalgic. Looked at another way, it's a terrifying reflection of asociety of souls so sterile that we take comfort in being told it's okay touse scented bath products and buy flowers. Still, thousands of women havefound meaning in the book, and they can't be all wrong.

This book is moreabout abundance than simplicity. In places Ms. Breathnach does extol thevirtues of simplicity and has you clearing clutter; in others she has youbuying and hoarding and collecting everything, from fabric remnants, justin case some day you get the urge to staple lace to the pantry shelves, toautumn leaves for exuberant Victorian tableaus, (aka dust-collectors).These things are much more fun to read about than to actually do. I don'twant to tie little circles of fabric to the tops of jam jars; even whenthey're bought that way, I'm the one who gets to cut them off and throwthem in the garbage. Nor do I want to replace the buttons on all my clotheswith cute ones, I curse enough if I have to replace one where themanufacturer did a shoddy job. I don't want to know what decoupage is; andmost especially, I really, really, don't want to buy a hat to cheer myselfup. Having hot mulled cider after raking leaves sounds charming (and Iloathe cider), but the reality is that after raking leaves my back hurts,I'm exhausted and can barely crawl to the shower to wash the sweat and deadbugs off, and if I had to search for a hot mulled cider recipe I'd whackthe nearest bystander with a poker.

Since books are for reading andpondering, the pleasure in this one is in doing exactly that, and it doesprovide a lot of it. The problem I had with it was its overall freneticbusyness, which is in sharp contrast to its meditative advice. If youhaven't already read it, go ahead, you know you want to, and somewhere inall its generosity and abundance you'll find ideas that appeal to you andthat you can realistically use. But remember, if you can't keep up with thesuggestions and images given for creating a perfect home, don't feelguilty. If you can, you're either a Stepford Wife or have a seriousamphetamine problem.



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Review of Sense of the Faithful: How American Catholics Live Their Faith (Hardcover)

I think this is a fantastic book on American Catholics.First of all, it's beautifully written; I'm not used to sociology books being such a page-turner.Second, the author actually listened to real-life Catholics -- liberal and conservative, gay and straight, afluent and poor, people of different races and ethnicities -- and is very nuanced in his teasing out the trends in their thinking and ways of being religious.Finally, Baggett uses sociological theory to make some very sophisticated observations about how the people in the pews draw upon Catholic (and other) symbols and narratives to provide a sense of meaning to their lives.Honestly, I think as many Catholics as possible (as well as other people interested in the important changes in American religion more generally) should read this book in order to get beyond the stereotypes that keep people from really understanding one another.This is a wonderful book.



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