The Catholic Family Fun Book Tour Starts Next Week

April 7, 2012 By 3 Comments

You’ve maybe heard that I have a new book out?

Well, you’re about to hear A LOT MORE about it, because the Book Tour starts NEXT WEEK, on Friday, April 13. The Book Tour page has more information and will be updated with current links each day of the tour.

Would you like to win a copy of my new book? There are a few giveaways scheduled so far:

  • April 15-21 at Goodreads

 

Goodreads Book Giveaway

Catholic Family Fun by Sarah A. Reinhard

Catholic Family Fun

by Sarah A. Reinhard

Giveaway ends April 21, 2012.

See the giveaway details
at Goodreads.

Enter to win

  • May 1-11 at CatholicMom.com, where we’ll be giving away an electronic version on a nifty Kindle Touch (perfect for the mom in your life!)

A word of thanks to Amber Fabian, who is responsible for that beautiful Book Tour logo. She charged a very affordable price, and she does incredible work. I met her at CMN last year, and I was so impressed with her work that I kept her in mind for when I’d need this sort of thing. If you need something like this for your blog or website, keep her in mind.

Filed Under: blogging, Books, links Tagged With: , , , ,

Snowy Saturday Daybook

February 11, 2012 By 2 Comments

Outside my window: Snow! On the ground!

Around the house: There’s a pile of people–Daddy and girls–on my couch, watching a movie. The boy is dragging a stool around the kitchen counters, seeing what fun he can find.

What I’ve been writing: I’ve been treading water and keeping up with my weekly commitments. I have plans for a book proposal, though, and need to work on that soon. The idea is THERE, even sort of fleshed out, so it’s time to ACT.

In my thoughts: The HHS Mandate and the “compromise” that’s really a bait-and-switch. And Rick Santorum. And changing my blogging frequency.

In my plans: I have to get my PSR lesson done for next week. We have a few weeks off soon, and I’m hoping to get ahead, but no guarantees. There’s also rumor of a date sometime soon, and hey! Ministry scheduling next week should take some major time off my purgatory… :)

In thanksgiving: For the cuddles of children. For laughs with friends. For nieces who text me. For online games with extended family.

In my prayers: For a woman who’s expecting to deliver her encephalitic baby soon. For a woman whose five-month-old baby recently died. For some special intentions.

Nose inserted: I’m finishing Unbridled Grace: A True Story about the Power of Choice, by Michael Norman, this weekend. I’m debating which book is next. I’m trying valiantly to also read The End and the Beginning: Pope John Paul II–The Struggle for Freedom, the Last Years, the Legacy, by George Weigel, but I’m not doing so well. I’m still in the first chapter. I need to set a goal of one chapter every couple of days, I think.

Links I like: (You can find more in the sidebar or on my FriendFeed)

  • Canterbury Tales has a post that I used for an upcoming parish bulletin explaining the rules of fasting and abstinence. Now’s the time to brush up and get ready!
  • Suscipio is doing a “Moments of Grace” link-up every Friday, and I’m so inspired by it! I’m hoping to join in next week.
  • Karina Fabian shares five things writers shouldn’t do. Great advice and good reminders.
  • Melissa Wiley cracks me up…and so does her husband.
  • Brandon Vogt shares a video and considers what the most powerful tool for evangelization really is.
  • Darwin looks at the fallacy food stamps as living poor.

Pick of the week: Pat Gohn’s “A God with Toes” at Patheos this week.

Food for thought: In my inbox this morning, courtesy of BenedictEveryday.com:

It is certainly not by chance that people are nowadays turning again to Mary, in whom Christianity becomes loveable again and close to us, and we really do find the door again through the Mother.

–Pope Benedict XVI

Worth a thousand words: From Jon Fitz

Courtesy of Jon Fitz

Filed Under: Books, daybook, links, Quotes Tagged With: , , , , , , , , ,

This week in writing: Kindle and Fiction and Blogging

January 21, 2012 By 6 Comments

My writing elsewhere this week:

And because I can’t resist, here are a few things I loved reading this week:

  • Date Night Challenge – Our parish is actually going to do one of these. I need to get a babysitter lined up–what a great idea!
  • Moms of Young Children, The Time to Thrive is Now! – Jen Fulwiler with a timely reminder that we don’t have to be in hunker-down mode all the time when we have young children. Do read!
  • Catholic Blog Day – The first Catholic Blog Day is going to be on Ash Wednesday, February 22. Catholic bloggers are invited to write on a common theme for the day. Click through to read about the theme and the details. I’m excited!

Have a great weekend!

Filed Under: links, writing Tagged With: , , , , , ,

Mid-January Takes: Lent on My Mind, Cool Video, & Pick of the Week

January 20, 2012 By 4 Comments

— 1 —

So last week, as I was jumping up and down about the cover of my newest book, I neglected to mention one key thing:

It’s not available for pre-order yet.

Don’t you worry. I will let you know when it is!

— 2 —

I have a whole pile of Lenten books to review, and the first of them, Simplifying the Soul: Lenten Practices to Renew Your Spirit, by Paula Huston, blew me away. (I reviewed it earlier this week.)

So if you can buy only one Lenten book, buy that one.

If you have room for another book or you’re looking for something for your family to use during Lent, could I suggest Welcome Risen Jesus?

It’s available at your local Catholic retailer or in a number of other places.

— 3 —

I’ve been thinking already about my Lenten plans. For whatever reason, my New Year didn’t ring in with any resolutions. I still feel sort of flat about it.

But Lent, LENT! I am formulating a plan.

(A plan, it should be noted, is almost always destined to fail. I know this. And yet I continue to persist, because it helps me to have a starting point, at least. Or that’s what I tell my planning-obsessive self.)

— 4 —

The crazy idea came to me to go offline during all of Lent.

It’s made even more crazy by the fact that the work I do means I have to be online at least some almost every day.

AND I have a book I’ll be promoting.

AND…well. You see where this is going, right?

Was that the still, small voice of the Holy Spirit?

So being a bit more conscious of my online time is definitely part of the plan.

— 5 —

Do you have Lent reflections to share? I was thinking of doing a series of guest posts here on my blog, and if you’re interested, feel free to email me your ideas at blog -a-t- snoringscholar .d.o.t. com.

— 6 —

In the “too cool not to share” category: My husband came home from work the other day and shared this with me. It’s a video of a baby’s reaction to hearing his mother’s voice for the first time. We watched it about four times in a row, and our almost 14-month-old just loved it. And so did I. (I’m going to go watch it just one more time…)

Click here to view embedded video.

— 7 —

Here’s my pick of the week (an idea shamelessly stolen from Catholic Weekend, where, rumor has it, I’ll be appearing tomorrow morning!): Catholic Family Night.com. The idea is that you spend some time each week with your family studying the upcoming Mass readings.

From their website:

Want a fun and simple way to bring the Sunday mass readings alive? With just a few minutes’ preparation, your family can enjoy fun activities, discussion time and even a creative snack, but best of all, your family will remember the time spent together learning more about God.

After hearing the interview with Jeff Cavins on The Catholics Next Door podcast for January 3, I think this is something my family can actually handle. Maybe we’ll start it during Lent…

Visit Conversion Diary for more Quick Takes!

Filed Under: Books, Quick Takes Tagged With: , , , , , , , ,

Saturday Fun

January 7, 2012 By 2 Comments

Are you a fan of resolutions?

I usually am, and I’m talking resolutions in my latest column at CatholicMom.com: To Resolve or Not to Resolve.

Intercessory Prayer: A Must-Read

What Would You Like Me to Pray For? Pat Gohn inspires and challenges me yet again. Here’s an excerpt:

The interior logic of intercession leads to love. For some people, that might be an unintended consequence, but the law of love is always within the will of God.

So, this is only advice I can give: When you choose to actively pray for someone, prepare yourself to love him or her. If you already love someone, prepare to love them even more. And if you pray for someone that you do not love or like—be it a difficult boss, an annoying relative, or someone who has trespassed against you—prepare to see signs of love or peace breaking through, even when you’d rather resist. You might not see changes in that person or their circumstances, but you will soon find that you cannot pray for someone in a detached way. It will move your heart in ways that might be surprising and sympathetic, especially if it leads to forgiveness, or freedom, or healing.

Don’t miss the whole thing. I found myself touched and moved to tears. I’m also looking at my own pull (dare I call it a “call”?) to intercessory prayer in a new light.

A Take on Priests: Highly Enjoyable

I’ve worked with a priest for eight years now, and I have a dedicated soft spot for priests in general. Simcha Fisher’s piece this week, Here Comes Fr. Everyone, caught my eye and moved me. She nails it. They’re men. That’s what’s to love (and what’s to grit your teeth about, sometimes, too).

Made Me Think: A Different Way to Look at Weight Challenges

I came across a link to Tara Parker-Pope’s article, The Fat Trap, in the December 28 New York Times thanks to Bearing. I read it, over the course of an afternoon and evening, in snippets. Unfortunately for me, it was late when I really got my mind sunk into it, and my husband was unable to discuss it and my friends were all asleep or offline and it was just me and my brain.

I think I’ll be considering this for, oh, the rest of my life. Weight issues surround me in many ways, and I feel so unequipped to face them. This article really made me consider the challenges of weight loss in a new way, especially with the biological findings and other factors that are discussed. It’s a long piece, but well worth reading, especially if you have any interest in the topic.

I agree with Bearing that it seems a bit depressing and frightening–the conclusion is that you’re stuck, in some ways, if you ever lose your will to keep working on it. On the other hand, that could be a big motivator (if you knew you could fight off some deadly disease, would you keep fighting? or give up?).

Filed Under: links, writing Tagged With: , , , , , , ,

The Back Online Daybook

January 2, 2012 By 4 Comments

Outside my window: Snow! Snow! Snow!

Around the house: Kids in the front room, scuffling around on the last day of vacation. Husband, on the couch behind me, snoozing on the last day of vacation. Me, at the kitchen table, pecking away at a keyboard and sipping coffee.

What I’ve been writing: Nothing. Not a thing.

In my thoughts: Ringing in the New Year with Mary, the Mother of God, and what our very wise priest had to say about it in this weekend’s homily.

In my plans: A whole list of things, from taking in the mountains of recycling to picking up the house to getting back in the work groove.

In thanksgiving: For family. For a newly-minted seven-year-old. For a week offline.

In my prayers: Those who grieve in a special way right now and who feel the pain and the blessing at the same time.

Nose inserted: Oh joy: Darkling Fields of Arvon, by James Anderson and Marc Sebanc. It’s the second in the Legacy of the Stone Harp series, and I’m SO enjoying it. I reviewed the first book, The Stoneholding, a while back.

Recent reads: I’m going to do a post this week with summaries of my recent reading, but here are some short excerpted thoughts from last week’s binge of reading:

  • Mind Over Mind, by Karina Fabian – Wow. Wow. WOW. So good I suspect I’ll be rereading it when the sequel comes out. Not because I’ll need to, but because I’ll want to.
  • Maximum Ride: The Angel Experiment, by James Patterson – Read at the behest of young people in my life. Bottom line: I didn’t like it.
  • Little Women, by Louisa May Alcott – I started this because it was on my list for 2012 and because I was disliking the aforementioned Patterson book so much. It was just as wonderful as I remembered from the four or five times I read it in my youth.
  • Women, Sex, and the Church: A Case for Catholic Teaching, Edited by Erika Bachiochi – A book I’d love for every Catholic to read. It will get its own post, either here or at CatholicMom.com.

Links I like: 

A favorite thing: New-fallen snow.

Food for thought: “Christmas helps us understand that God never abandons us and always comes to meet our needs. He protects us and is concerned with each one.” – Benedict XVI, January 4, 2008 (via BenedictEveryday.com)


Filed Under: Books, daybook Tagged With: , , ,

My Highest Recommendation for Jeff Young

December 21, 2011 By 3 Comments

See this face? This is the face of a trustworthy man who has become like a brother to me.

[He is not, in fact, my brother, except through baptism. :) ]

You might know Jeff Young better as the Catholic Foodie. He and I have worked together for some time in that space (Mary in the Kitchen anyone?).

Well, he does far more than just cook. In fact, cooking might be more of the back burner of who Jeff is.

Recently, I asked him if he would help me with a project that (a) I was kind of lazy to attempt and (b) I thought would be pretty easy.

As it turns out, it was not an easy project. In fact, I might have broken my site if I had attempted it alone. (I don’t think I’m exaggerating here.)

(In the interest of full disclosure, this was the SECOND TIME I had asked Jeff to help me with something that meets both of those qualifications. I can’t believe he continues to act nice to me and even remain in contact with me. I owe him. BIG TIME. Times two.)

I write this as an all-out endorsement for Jeff and his work. I highly recommend him!

He’s professional and timely. Not too long ago, he helped me make some major changes to my email with very little stress and hassle on my end. Then he took on this other project, that involved nearly a full weekend, some prayer, and a bunch of technical mumbo-jumbo PHP and DNS and errors and server stuff.

Jeff’s the kind of guy who will have you smiling when the work is done, not only because of how well it was completed, but also because southern hospitality is just part of how Jeff does business.

Learn more about Jeff Young and his work at his site. He writes, he designs, he does media work. Oh, and he cooks. (But I don’t know how you get that without having him come to your actual house. If you figure that out, though, I am interested. VeryVERY interested.)

Thanks, Jeff, for saving the day. Again. :)

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