Hang Your Wraps in the Cloak Room! Growing up Catholic in the ‘Forties


Book Description

In l940, the nation hovers on the brink of World War II, and a small and fearful six-year-old trembles on the brink of first grade at St. Marys School, Elgin. He will find himself plunged into a world of mystery, guided by white-robed nuns who speak a mysterious language and live in a separate world from ordinary people. He will become steeped in the liturgy and language of the Catholic Church as it presented itself at the time, and come to feel set apart from the non-Catholics and special, but not always in a good way. Charging into adolescence cars and girls and algebra he joins the St. Edward High School Green Wave (if only as a manager,) develops attitudes and a kind of identity if only as a class clown,) sets his sights on Notre Dame University and thinks about the priesthood, but not yet. And he works at the Bordons Ice Cream Factory and the Elgin Daily Courier News and Barnetts Junior Miss store and Edwards Jewelers but none of these venues give him a clue as to his future.




Hang Your Wraps in the Cloak Room!


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Father O'Brien recounts his childhood and adolescence.







I Love Jesus, But I Want to Die


Book Description

A compassionate, shame-free guide for your darkest days “A one-of-a-kind book . . . to read for yourself or give to a struggling friend or loved one without the fear that depression and suicidal thoughts will be minimized, medicalized or over-spiritualized.”—Kay Warren, cofounder of Saddleback Church What happens when loving Jesus doesn’t cure you of depression, anxiety, or suicidal thoughts? You might be crushed by shame over your mental illness, only to be told by well-meaning Christians to “choose joy” and “pray more.” So you beg God to take away the pain, but nothing eases the ache inside. As darkness lingers and color drains from your world, you’re left wondering if God has abandoned you. You just want a way out. But there’s hope. In I Love Jesus, But I Want to Die, Sarah J. Robinson offers a healthy, practical, and shame-free guide for Christians struggling with mental illness. With unflinching honesty, Sarah shares her story of battling depression and fighting to stay alive despite toxic theology that made her afraid to seek help outside the church. Pairing her own story with scriptural insights, mental health research, and simple practices, Sarah helps you reconnect with the God who is present in our deepest anguish and discover that you are worth everything it takes to get better. Beautifully written and full of hard-won wisdom, I Love Jesus, But I Want to Die offers a path toward a rich, hope-filled life in Christ, even when healing doesn’t look like what you expect.




Harper's Weekly


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I Dared to Call Him Father


Book Description

The reissue of this bestseller by Bilquis Sheikh. It tells of the journey of discovery which began when a Muslim woman turned from the Qur'an and started reading the Bible. It is an enthralling story of faith and courage in the face of danger and difficul




Harper's Bazaar


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I See You Made an Effort


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“Annabelle Gurwitch is the child prodigy of the literature on aging. The only downside of this book is that it is bound to deepen your laugh lines.”—Barbara Ehrenreich, author of Nickel and Dimed Actor and humorist Annabelle Gurwitch returns with a wickedly funny book of essays about the indignities faced by femmes d’un certain âge. Whether she is falling in lust at the Genius Bar, coping with her best friend’s assisted suicide, or navigating the extensive—and treacherously expensive—anti-aging offerings at the beauty counter, Gurwitch confronts middle age with candor, wit, and a healthy dose of self-deprecation. Scorchingly honest, surreally and riotously funny, I See You Made an Effort is the ultimate coming-of-middle-age story and according to Bill Maher, "it should be required reading for anyone between the ages of 40 and death. Scratch that—even after death, it's a must read."







Down and Out in Paris and London


Book Description

There were eccentric characters in the hotel. The Paris slums are a gathering-place for eccentric people—people who have fallen into solitary, half-mad grooves of life and given up trying to be normal or decent. Poverty frees them from ordinary standards of behaviour, just as money frees people from work. Some of the lodgers in our hotel lived lives that were curious beyond words. There were the Rougiers, for instance, an old, ragged, dwarfish couple who plied an extraordinary trade. They used to sell postcards on the Boulevard St Michel. The curious thing was that the postcards were sold in sealed packets as pornographic ones, but were actually photographs of chateaux on the Loire; the buyers did not discover this till too late, and of course never complained. The Rougiers earned about a hundred francs a week, and by strict economy managed to be always half starved and half drunk. The filth of their room was such that one could smell it on the floor below. According to Madame F., neither of the Rougiers had taken off their clothes for four years.