book review – Page 18 – Kristin Houlihan, Writer

First book of 2017! Benedict XVI – Last Testament

Does that not sound ridiculous from a book blogger? It does explain my absence, however – it’s tough to blog about books when you’re not reading books… In all fairness, I have been reading a LOT with my kids, but not a lot for me. I suppose I could blog about the kids’ books (as I have in the past), but instead I’ve used that precious free time to try to actually read for myself. It barely worked – until we moved the baby (henceforth known as “A” – she is 7 months old and spectacular!) out of our room. Now I’m reinstating my read-in-bed time right before I go to sleep. I sooooo missed it!

So, on to the book! I received it as a gift for Christmas, and it took me from Christmas until Easter to read:

I was initially surprised to find that the book is essentially a transcript of interviews Peter Seewald did with Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI, but I quickly came to enjoy the format. As the title states, the book truly is “in his own words,” and that is my favorite thing about the book. I’ve read some of Benedict XVI’s writing in the past, both for personal reading and for research purposes during my stint in grad school, but I had not known much about him as a person. Reading this book allowed me to see the Pope Emeritus in much more human, personal light, as opposed to as…you know…Pope.

My least favorite thing about the book is how it makes so many references to previous interviews between the Pope Emeritus and journalist Peter Seewald. Along those lines, I would have understood a lot more of the book had I been more familiar with Pope Benedict’s life. There are a lot of references that I just didn’t understand.

Overall, I’m really glad I read the book. I learned a lot about Pope Benedict XVI that I didn’t know before, and I have a greater understanding of how and why he decided to take the unprecedented step of resigning from the Papacy.

As a standalone book I’d give it a pretty low rating of a 2 out of 5 stars, but as a Catholic seeking to learn and understand more about my Church and its leaders, it gets a solid 5.

Munchkin Monday Book Review, a day late: Oliver and Jumpy, Stories 43-45, by Werner Stejskal

Product Details

Is this your first encounter with Oliver and Jumpy? Yes? Then let me tell you about them. Oliver is an elegant tomcat, and Jumpy is his best friend. They are always on the lookout for new adventures together. Oliver lives in a treehouse on the mighty oak tree. He is the most famous cat in the country. Oliver and Jumpy have already been in many illustrated stories and new ones are being published all the time. (Author’s introduction to the series)

Author Werner Stejskal has written nearly 50 children’s stories about Oliver the tomcat and his best friend, Jumpy, all published as e-books. The book containing stories 43-45 was my first encounter with his work. As always with kids’ books, I read them aloud to my kids (2.5 and 5 next week!) because I feel like an adult-only review of a children’s book is just silly – of course, it matters what I think as a mother, but it’s essential to see a kid’s reaction to a book in order to really judge its worth. So, one day I sat down on my bed with my kids and my Kindle and we read the stories. Here’s a brief synopsis of each story:

Story #43, Flying Carpet: Oliver and Jumpy travel to Africa (probably Egypt, given the references to the pyramids and the sphinx) to rescue a princess in trouble. When they get there, they’re given a magic, flying carpet that takes them exactly where they need to go to help the princess meet her prince.

Story #44, Birthday Party: Oliver’s friends throw him a surprise birthday party, with paid singers, elephant rides, and a mud-ball fight. He thinks it’s the best birthday ever!

Story #45, Magic Berries: Jumpy eats magic berries that change his size. In order to change back to normal, he has to complete a quest without succumbing to any of the temptations along the way: free ice cream, hot dogs, and soft drinks.

All in all, I was underwhelmed by the books. They were fine – they’re short, and engaging enough, but I feel like (except for maybe #45) they generally lack a message. I like to learn from what I read, and I like the same for my kids. I also don’t particularly care for how often Oliver points out how well-known he is… sort of a “look how great I am!” attitude that I don’t particularly want my kids to adopt. On the plus side, the illustrations pair really well with the stories, which is really nice, and the stories are generally harmless entertainment.

What did the kids think? It’s hard to tell. Honestly, I think they were much more interested in getting to “turn the page” on my Kindle than they were in the stories. I’m not sure if that’s just because they’d never used a Kindle before (I never let them touch it!), but they also have never asked me about the stories again (not even to have a chance to touch the Kindle again). So, I’d say their verdict is pretty similar to mine.

So, three stars. Generally fine, nothing to rave about but not bad, either. That said, I don’t think I’m a fan of e-books for young kids. Maybe I’ll change my mind as my five-year-old gets older and reads more on her own, but for now…we’ll stick to paper.

*This book is currently available on Amazon for free. I obtained my free copy of the book for the purpose of reviewing, at the request of the author.

Get “The Fever” Free in July

Author Thomas Fenske is participating in a freebie at smashwords.com this month. For the month of July, all e-book versions of The Fever are free at Smashwords. Read my review from the end of May – it’s definitely worth giving it a read!

Details here. Use code “SFREE”

When you give it a read, please stop by and let me know what you think!

Enjoy!