Malware Warning

It appears some browsers have been warning that this blog may contain Malware. They seem to have spotted a problem with the blogroll I used. So I removed it for now. I was unaware you could put malware in a blogroll but I guess it can be done.

Hopefully the warning should go away in a bit.

No More Chinese Commenters, Please

I am sick of having to sign in and delete fake Chinese comments, advertisers who "love" my blog and just want to share some website or cause they just founded, and other junk.

I may turn comment moderation back on. We'll see.

Pages Coming

I'm adding standalone pages to the top of the blog. You can see already I've made a list of some of my book reviews and added it to the bar. The list isn't complete but its a start. More pages and content coming soon.

My Top Ten Books for 2009

Book reviews have become the most popular feature of the blog. So here is a summary for 2009 of what I consider the my best Catholic book acquisitions of for 2009!

Scripture

The winner here is the Large Print Douay-Rheims with Ultrasoft cover from TAN/St. Benedict. Their other printings of Douays and RSVs come in a close second. But it is difficult to surpass the absolute beauty of the Large Print DR. For another thing, TAN/St. Benedict have served to present the Douay translation to a much broader audience which this venerable translation deserves.

I also picked up for Christmas the NRSV Notetakers Bible. Its a great book, even if there are problems with the translation itself. I haven't reviewed it here yet. But at the moment it is the only wide margin (ruled...) Catholic approved Bible. Can't wait to break this out for the Spring when our Bible study moves to the Apocalypse.

Another one I haven't reviewed but have come to love is the Ignatius Press RSV 2CE Pocket New Testament and Psalms. The cover is attractive and the typesetting is perfect for a compact edition. I use this on the go, usually during adoration.

Reviews: Douay Paperback - Large Print DR - RSV Catholic Edition

Music

I have to give props to Richard Rice's Communio which is available through Lulu.com and the Church Music Association of America. It has gotten be through quite a few communion times at the Novus Ordo parish and I am grateful. Recently I acquired the Communion with English Verses and received a compliment for using it.

The Parish Book of Chant which I just showed the blogosphere how to make ribbons for (thanks NLM readers!) comes in a close second. I use it pretty much every week and it has given me a fantastic resource that I can pick up and run out the door with - confident that there will be something in it I can use for any mass.

And the third time is a charm. The CMAA also republished Dom Johner's Chants of the Vatican Gradual which I have found to be a wonderful resource for learning the spirituality of Gregorian Chant.

Breviaries

The Diurnale Romanum from PCP gets the praise here. But I also made some other very useful purchases over the past year. One being my Roman Breviary in English from Benziger Bros. which is currently sent out for rebinding from McSpadden Book bindery. They are the company which rebound my Liber Usualis. I also purchased two out of four volumes of the Liturgia Horarum which have brought me a new perspective on the modern Divine Office that I am grateful for even if the editions themselves are somewhat lackluster.

A runner up would be the Anglican Breviary. But this has fallen into disuse in my devotional life but for very few exceptions.

Devotional

I have fallen in love with Baronius Press' Divine Intimacy. The review has yet to appear here but it will soon. The leather cover is not what it should be (its not that bad, really) but the typesetting inside is gorgeous. Plus the content, which is what really matters, is so deep and wonderful that no Catholic who takes the spiritual life seriously should be without a copy of Divine Intimacy. It is also published by TAN Books and is slightly less expensive.

So what will 2010 bring? We'll just have to wait and see!

Up and Coming

I had "one of those days" today, where the frustration level is high and nothing gets done. Most of it revolved around the new dog. Its adorable as long as it stays calm. Nevertheless, I am working on a few things for the blog here.

First off, I ordered a book today which I will be showing you in the near future and it will make a good addition to the reviews here. It is something we need to take a look at anyway - the Clementine Vulgate/Rheims New Testament by Loreto Press. The book is not a recent printing but its available all over the place.

I've been in contact with Derek from ChurchLatin.com about his reprinting of the original Douay-Rheims Bible. Go over and take a look at his website. He also did a nice write up about the Nova et Vetera Breviary.

I am visiting a Greek-Melkite Monastery for the Epiphany on Wednesday and they have a little gift shop with books, icons, and other items. I'm not going for the books, I'm going for Epiphany and I haven't been this excited for a Mass in a long time. But I do have my eyes on something I hope they carry.

Tonight I will be creating the instructions and taking photos on how to make your own book ribbons for the tomes that really should have them but unfortunately don't.

Hello to Newcomers

This is a few weeks late, but I want to give a word of welcome to all of the people who have recently been finding my blog. Traffic has tripled in the past month. I hope you stick around and invite some new folks. God bless you all!

You are in the right place, bear with me.

For a long time now I have desired to widen the page of this blog. For one, it will allow larger photos for book reviews but it will also make reading easier on the eyes. After all, if I am going to discuss typesetting on this blog I had better practice what I preach. Also, it is time for header change. I like the idea of a New Catholic Renaissance, but I am not sure if I like the look of everything here yet.

If you have any suggestions, let me know. Blogger/Google keeps crippling my higher resolution image in the header to a bunch of low resolution smudges, so I am working on that. Hopefully this freshens things up a bit.