In 2015, my husband and I watched the film Julie and Julia. I thought that “Julie” was whiny and unlikable. Despite all of Amy Adams’s efforts to make Julie adorable, I thought that the real life character being portrayed on the screen was dull and forgettable. But, I loved her concept. I thought that her…
Author: Sara Masarik
Curators of things Good, True, and Beautiful
Great Courses: Watercolor
Work In Progress This post is a work in progress. I am posting now, rather than waiting until I have more things to report, because I have gotten three questions about this course in the last week. I thought that it might make sense to put something quick and dirty up now and then plan…
The Catholic Table
I want to tell you about a book I am reading, The Catholic Table, by Emily Stimpson Chapman. This book is fortifying me in an interesting way right now. I have really loathed my body this year. It is rare for me to mention that out loud. Typically I don’t talk about my body or…
The Blueberry Pie Elf
When the delicious smell of the baking blueberry pie stole out from the oven, the little elf sniffed. He wanted that blueberry pie so much that he almost got his nose caught in the oven door. Elmer is a house elf after my own heart! I too truly love blueberry pie, dear Elmer. I understand….
The Great Train Robbery
On May 15, 1855, the crime of the century was perpetrated by turning lead into gold. Enacting a highly sophisticated bait and switch, Edward Agar, William Pierce, Jeremy Forsyth, and James Burgess were able to steal £12,000 in gold which was being transported from London to Paris. This highly publicized crime, the Great Gold Robbery,…
The Practical Princess
The Practical Princess by Jay Williams surprised me. Before reading it, I assumed that it was going to be yet another addition to the current craze of feminist reimaginings of fairy tales. I wasn’t entirely wrong about that, however, I was wrong about how I would feel about that. The other day in our book…
Tumtum and Nutmeg
“Once there were two married mice called Mr. and Mrs. Nutmouse, and they lived in great style.” That is a great opening line for a children’s book! Children immediately know who and what the main characters are – married mice, that they live in such a way that we might be interested in knowing more…
The Library Lion
I cannot remember where I discovered this perfectly sweet picture book. I am sure that someone in my book group suggested it, and I regret that I cannot give them credit for the excellent recommendation. Alas, the best I can do is share this with as many others as I can so that the recommendation…
Will Wilder: The Relic of Perilous Falls
Darn it. Double darn. Will Wilder: The Relic of Perilous Falls by Raymond Arroyo has me so frustrated! So much creativity. Such an interesting concept. Such a great infusion of Catholic traditions into the spiritually diverse genre of fantasy. Such a great opportunity to do what N.D. Wilson does so brilliantly: reveal how all good…
Cicero’s On Duties
“Cicero, like thoughtful men of every age, knew that the reason vicious leaders like Caesar could rise to power was because the Roman population itself had been corrupted and no longer pursued the old virtues; a leader is, after all, a mirror of the people who choose him or at least allow him to retain…
A Tree for Peter
“…Some of you have steady jobs now. Most of you work off and on…there is not one among you who is not a man after me own heart. Kicked around by life you were, sure. Only, I am the cop on the beat and I know that there is not one among you who has…
Virtue Book Club – September
The first meeting of my “in real life” Tending the Heart of Virtue book club was last night and I am positively glowing this morning. For a year I prayed about this idea. I knew that I wanted a local book club that would celebrate the role that books have in our quest for holiness…
Little Britches in Hardbound
In our online Facebook group, Potato Peel Pie Book Community, we often bemoan the loss of good and great books which fall out of publication and quietly disappear while people forget about them. In fact, many of us have become vintage book hunters who are trying to build up our personal libraries with these kinds…
Tending the Heart of Virtue
“Becoming a responsible human being is a path filled with potholes and visited constantly by temptations. Children need guidance and moral road maps and they benefit immensely with the example of adults who speak truthfully and act from moral strength.” – Tending the Heart of Virtue by Vigen Guroian In Diane’s review of The Pleasures…
Book Club: The Princess and the Goblin
“Reminding ourselves that Beauty is one in being with the Good and the True, we should remember that the beautiful always leads us back to love and reason. The lifting up of the heart in the presence of beauty enables us to give our hearts in love and to raise our heads in contemplation. This…