We have a lot of November birthdays in our family, and between that and Christmas I tend to purchase a lot of books for people. This tends to bust my own book budget, because it becomes a "2 for you, 1 for me...3 for you, 1 for me" type of deal. "STET, Damnit!: The Misanthrope’s Corner, 1991 to 2002" by Florence King, "Amata Means Beloved" by Mary Catharine Perry are hovering as possible buys. Another is Joseph Pieper's Faith, Hope and Love. From an amazon.com reviewer:
This book really cannot be praised too highly. Pieper's discussion is more deep and insightful than any psychology text I've seen, and he's not even trying to do psychology.On the virtue of hope: a past Dominican friar used to emphasize the importance of realizing Jesus was fully human - in soul and body - because otherwise he ceases to be a model for us. If he is some sort of amalgaman of divine and human, some kind of 'superman' then it is hopeless to attempt to be like him.
He uses traditional and technical words (like "sloth"), but this is necessary to distinguish shades of moods, emotions, and actions. I used to think of "slothful" as synonymous with "laziness" -- but this book made me realize what a huge difference there was. You could work hard every day, but if deep inside you know you could do great things, and you simply don't bother to do them, then you are guilty of sloth. Many Christians (and non-Christians) that I know, including myself, will recognize this as a part of their lives.
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