HNP Today occasionally provides suggestions of publications that may be of interest to friars and their partners-in-ministry.
Below are three brief book descriptions provided by various sources.
Full Body Burden: Growing Up in the Nuclear Shadow of Rocky Flats (Random House Digital, 2012) by Kristen Iversen, is the book selected by the All Bonaventure Reads program at St. Bonaventure University in Allegany, N.Y. The book is a memoir of Iversen, who grew up in a small Colorado town close to Rocky Flats, a secret nuclear weapons plant once designated “the most contaminated site in America.” Iversen’s family and most of her blue-collar neighbors thought Rocky Flats made household cleaning supplies. Under the backdrop of the Cold War, Rocky Flats spent more than 30 years secretly producing plutonium triggers for nuclear bombs.
Lights Along My Path: A Friar’s Journey in the Footsteps of St. Francis (Tau Publishing, 2012) by Fr. Jack Wintz, OFM, of St. John the Baptist Province, is recommended by William Bried, OFM, of St. Stephen of Hungary Parish in New York City. In a recent parish bulletin, William said he keeps this book on his reading list, and recommends it “for those of you who work and travel the bus and subway, you can always read these on the way to work while those at home can read them in the morning so you have something to reflect upon during the day.” In his devotional, Fr. Jack gives reflections, scripture verses, and prayers. Actor Martin Sheen wrote the book’s foreword.
Midnight in Peking: How the Murder of a Young Englishwoman Haunted the Last Days of Old China (Penguin Books, 2012) by Paul French is recommended by the book club of Sacred Heart Parish in Tampa, Fla. The book is described in the parish bulletin as “a heady mix of privilege and scandal, opulence and opium dens, rumors and superstition.” Historian and China expert French uncovers the truth behind a notorious murder, and offers a rare glimpse of the last days of colonial Peking.
The HNP Communications Office welcomes emails from readers who would like to suggest a book or periodical. Themes that are relevant to friars and partners-in-ministry — in addition to spirituality and news of the Catholic Church — include topics affiliated with Holy Name Province committees and directorates: evangelization, vocations, justice and peace, wellness, African-American and Hispanic ministries, and young adults.
— Compiled by Wendy Healy