Definition: Liberty

Fig Leaves Are Not Enough: Open Letters On Modesty In Dress by Dom Pius Mary Noonan, OSB

About the book: A young woman in her early twenties, Amanda discovers the importance of modesty in a somewhat unexpected way, thanks to an experience that transforms her life.

In a world that seemingly does not understand her quest for peace, she finds support in a priest, her spiritual father, from whom she learns much more than what it means to dress modestly.

In the spiritual correspondence that ensues, of which Fig Leaves are Not Enough: Open Letters on Modesty in Dress (2024) consists, true feminine dignity, the meaning of human love, the complementary roles of man and woman, and the ongoing spiritual combat that is required for the peace and salvation of the soul are the major themes that emerge and that make these letters a must read for any soul that longs for God over and above the ephemeral flattering of the senses.

This book is reverently and gratefully dedicated to all those women who, now or in the future, glorify God and edify the world by the beauty and dignity of their dress.

About the author: Dom Pius Mary Noonan is a Benedictine Monk and Priest. Born in Kentucky (USA), he became a professed monk at Abbaye Saint Joseph in Flavigny-sur-Ozerain (France). Since 2017, he has been the Prior of a Benedictine Foundation called Notre Dame Priory in Colebrook, Tasmania. Dom Pius holds a doctorate in Sacred Theology from the Institut Saint Thomas d'Aquin (Institut Catholique of Toulouse, France), and before leaving France was Director of Studies at the Abbey of Flavigny. As part of his community's apostolate, Dom Pius conducts spiritual retreats in various places around Australia and in the United States. 

Other works by Dom Pius Mary Noonan are The Grace to Desire It, Whilst It Is Day and Divine Providence and Human Freedom. To order these titles or to see more of the titles published by Cana Press, go to notredamemonastery.org/product-category/cana-press/ 

All titles are available on Amazon and other major book sellers or ask your local bookstore to order in a copy from their distributor.

When You’re Stirring The Jam

Murder In Canaryville (True Crime) by Jeff Coen

About the book: The grandson and great-grandson of Chicago police officers, Chicago Police Detective James Sherlock was CPD through-and-through. 

His career had seen its share of twists and turns, but on this day, he was at the records center to see the case file for the murder of John Hughes, who was seventeen years old when he was gunned down in a park on Chicago’s Southwest Side on 15 May 1976. 

The case had haunted many in the department for years and its threads led everywhere. 

More than forty years after the Hughes killing, he was hopeful he could finally put the case to rest. 

Then the records clerk handed Sherlock a thin manila folder. 

Sherlock could have left the records center without the folder and cruised into retirement, and no one would have noticed. 

Instead, he tucked the envelope under his arm and carried it outside.

Murder in Canaryville: The True Story Behind a Cold Case and a Chicago Cover-Up (2021) is about a murder case gone cold, with the son of a Chicago Outfit member suspected of pulling the trigger, and the efforts of a determined detective to unravel a cover-up.

About the author: Jeff Coen is the Chicago Tribune crime and justice editor. He is the author of Family Secrets: The Case That Crippled the Chicago Mob and the coauthor of Golden: How Rod Blagojevich Talked Himself Out of the Governor's office and into Prison.

Owned 50,000 Books

Camino Ghosts (Camino Island Series) by John Grisham

About the book: #1 New York Times bestselling author John Grisham takes you back to Camino Island where bookseller Bruce Cable and novelist Mercer Mann always manage to find trouble in paradise.

In this new thriller on Camino Island, popular bookseller Bruce Cable tells Mercer Mann an irresistible tale that might be her next novel. 

A giant resort developer is using its political muscle and deep pockets to claim ownership of a deserted island between Florida and Georgia. 

Only the last living inhabitant of the island, Lovely Jackson, stands in its way. 

What the developer does not know is that the island has a remarkable history, and locals believe it is cursed…and the past is never the past.

Camino Ghosts (2024) is the third book in the compelling Camino Island series. Its publication date is 28 May 2024 and is available to pre-order now.

About the author: John Grisham is an expert storyteller, whose unforgettable characters fight for justice in a world that is not always fair.

John Grisham is the author of forty-nine consecutive #1 bestsellers, which have been translated into nearly fifty languages. His recent books include The Judge’s List, Sooley, and his third Jake Brigance novel, A Time for Mercy, which is being developed by HBO as a limited series.

Grisham is a two-time winner of the Harper Lee Prize for Legal Fiction and was honoured with the Library of Congress Creative Achievement Award for Fiction.

When he is not writing, Grisham serves on the board of directors of the Innocence Project and of Centurion Ministries, two national organizations dedicated to exonerating those who have been wrongfully convicted. Much of his fiction explores deep-seated problems in our criminal justice system.

John lives on a farm in central Virginia.

Rating: 5/5

Lies & Weddings by Kevin Kwan

About the book: Lies & Weddings (2024) is the hottest book of the summer!

Rufus Leung Gresham, future Earl of Greshamsbury and son of a former Hong Kong supermodel, is drowning in debt. The only solution, according to his mother, is for him to attend his sister’s wedding and seduce a woman with money.

Will it be the French hotel heiress with a royal bloodline? The venture capital genius who passes out billions like lollipops? Or will Rufus betray his family and confess his love for his best friend and ‘girl next door’ Eden? 

But when a volcanic eruption burns through the nuptials and a hot mic exposes a secret tryst, the Gresham family plans – and their reputation – go up in flames, making Rufus’ choice all the more impossible.

Taking us from the sand beaches of Hawaii to the skies of Marrakech, from the glitzy bachelor pads of Beverly Hills to the inner sanctums of England’s oldest family estates, Kevin Kwan has written a juicy, hilarious and sophisticated tale of love, money, murder, sex, and the lies we tell about them all.

Lies & Weddings is expected to be released in the UK on 20 June 2024. It is available to pre-order now.

About the author: Kevin Kwan is the author of Crazy Rich Asians, the international bestselling novel that has been translated into more than 30 languages. Its sequel, China Rich Girlfriend, was released in 2015, and Rich People Problems, the final book in the trilogy, followed in 2017. For several weeks in 2018, the Crazy Rich Asians trilogy commanded the top three positions of the New York Times bestseller list - an almost unprecedented single-author trifecta, and the film adaptation of Crazy Rich Asians became Hollywood's highest grossing romantic comedy in over a decade. In 2018, Kevin was named by Time Magazine as one of the 100 Most Influential People in the World.

Rating: 5/5 

Think On This

Settles Down With A Good Book

The Dubrovnik Book Club by Eva Glyn

About the book: In a tiny bookshop in Dubrovnik’s historic Old Town, a book club begins.

Newly arrived on the sun-drenched shores of Croatia, Claire Thomson’s life is about to change forever when she starts working at a local bookshop. 

With her cousin Vedran, employee Luna and Karmela, a professor, they form an unlikely book club.

But when their first book club pick – an engrossing cosy crime – inspires them to embark upon an investigation that is close to the group’s heart, they quickly learn the value of keeping their new-found friends close as lives and stories begin to entwine.

According to USA Today bestselling author Faith Hogan, The Dubrovnik Book Club (2024) is 'the perfect summer escape, I adored it!’

Enjoy! 

About the author: Eva Glyn fell in love with Croatia during her first holiday there in 2019; the incredible scenery, the delicious food, the country’s dramatic twentieth century history all played their part, but most of all it was the friendliness of the people.

One of these was tour director Darko Barisic, who told an incredible story about growing up in underground shelters during the war in the 1990s, and she knew she had to write a book around his experiences. This became her first Croatian novel, The Olive Grove (2021), and she and Darko have become good friends and he continues to advise her on all aspects of Croatia. Her other books are The Missing Pieces of Us (2021), An Island of Secrets (2022) and The Collaborator's Daughter (2023).

Eva delves into Croatian history and everyday life for her inspiration, and visits the country as often as she can, having uncovered so many stories by talking to local people. Travel in general is her passion, followed closely by food and wine, which also find their way between her pages.

Although Welsh by birth she now lives in Cornwall with the man she met and fell in love with almost thirty years ago. She also writes as Jane Cable. She can also be found on Facebook (EvaGlynAuthor), Instagram (evaglynauthor) and Bookbub (authors/eva-glyn).

Rating: 3/5

Saint Athanasius of Alexandria (d 373 AD), Theologian

For It Is Only When He Is Alone

The Life Of Christina Of Markyate (Oxford World's Classics)

About the book: The Life of Christina of Markyate (2008) is the remarkable story of the twelfth-century recluse Christina, who became prioress of Markyate, near St Albans in Hertfordshire. 

Determined to devote her life to God and to remain a virgin, Christina repulses the sexual advances of the bishop of Durham. In revenge, he arranges her betrothal to a young nobleman but Christina steadfastly refuses to consummate the marriage and defies her parents' cruel coercion.

Sustained by visions, she finds refuge with the hermit Roger, and lives concealed at Markyate for four years, enduring terrible physical and emotional torment. Although Christina is supported by the abbot of St Albans, she never achieves the recognition that he intended for her.

Written with striking candour by Christina's anonymous biographer, the vividness and compelling detail of this account make it a social document as much as a religious one. 

Christina's trials of the flesh and spirit exist against a backdrop of scheming and corruption and all-too-human greed.

The Life of Christina of Markyate is translated from the Latin by C H Talbot in 1959 and revised with an Introduction and Notes by Samuel Fanous and Henrietta Leyser.

The Fourth Secret Of Fatima by Antonio Socci

About the book: On 26 June 2000, Vatican officials (including Cardinal Bertone) released what they claim was the Third Secret of Fatima. They further said that it was a prediction of the attempted assassination of Pope John Paul II in 1981. 

Antonio Socci, an acclaimed Italian journalist and television personality, originally sided with the Vatican's interpretation of the Third Secret.

Upon closer investigation of this matter, the evidence led him to the conclusion that there is another document of the Third Secret containing the actual words of Our Lady. 

So far, the Vatican is still hiding this text while claiming that all is released.

Antonio Socci, for the first time, in this book produces the testimony of a still-living witness from the inner circle of Pope John XXIII, to prove his point. 

This book - The Fourth Secret of Fatima (2006), Il quarto segreto di Fatima (Italian) - is a fascinating inquiry into the theories and the truths of the most disconcerting mystery of the twentieth century. It has caused a public sensation and debate. 

Far from being a dead issue, the urgent message of Our Lady to the shepherd children of Fatima is now being more critically discussed and examined than ever before.

About the author: Journalist and essayist, Anthony Socci was a correspondent for the weekly Il Sabato and directed the international review 30 Giorni. He was vice-director of Rai Due, for which he conceived and hosted the program "Excalibur." Currently, for Rai, he directs the School of Radio-Television Journalism in Perugia. He is also a contributor to the journals Libero and Il Foglio. He has published, among other works, I nuovi perseguitati (The New Victims of Persecution), Uno strano cristiano (A Strange Christian), Il segreto di Padre Pio (The Secret of Padre Pio) and also Indagine su Gesù (A Study of Jesus).