Shaw Books

How many Christians are willing to admit that they've been scared enough to pray for God to save their souls again, "just in case"? Jo Kadlecek is. In her memoir Fear: a Spiritual Navigation, she isn't afraid to "go there," exploring some dark moments she's had over the years. Kadlecek owns up to times she's been angry or felt prejudice, but in a light, relatable voice.
In sharing stories from her childhood, early and middle adult years, Kadlecek invites the reader along on her spiritual journey. The chronology isn't set in stone, allowing her to weave in and out of memories; this makes the memoir feel a bit like a stream of consciousness, but each story fits the overall theme. Fans of travel writing will enjoy reading about Kadlecek's experience as a suburban Colorado transplant in New York City, as well as her trips around the globe, from Ireland to Australia. Other highlights are narratives on her fear of water and lessons learned from near-death experiences.
Kadlecek's honest and entertaining voice is the best aspect of the memoir. The reader is with her the first time she swims in the deep end of her local swimming pool and stays with her as she navigates around her fear, observing her pitfalls and triumphs along the way.
Living in fear, Kadlecek writes, is "sort of like jumping into the sea though your stomach is as jittery as the boat, and you call on God out of sheer absolute desperation though you feel anything but spiritual."
As the reader dives in with Kadlecek, he can prepare to explore the depths of fear in his own life. Kadlecek jumps in zestfully, "like a child who's always wanted to swim [but] wasn't allowed to before now."

I found "Fear, a spiritual navitgation" to be an honest and at times, a stirring comentary on the author's collective social, emotional, physical and spiritual struggle from her suburban context as a transplant from the midwest to the Big Apple. It is worth reading if for nothing else for the soul stirring quotes ("There is no agony like bearing an untold story inside you."-- Zora Neal Hurston). Her ability to elicit visual images is quite effective.

I liked the fact that the author chose not to 'overwrite' her experiences and left the majority of the interpretation of her journey to the reader. I did not like the numerous references to being 'middle-aged' (early 40's isn't middle-aged anymore!!!) Certain portions also tended to contrive spirituality when it would have been better simply to let the experience speak for itself. While not fascinating, the book moved me as a African-American on my own pilgrimage for Truth. You go Jo!

No matter what style you prefer, this beautifully written story will draw you in. Excellent character development, hero is sexy and bold, heroine is feminine and yet thinks for herself. The mystery is well done and holds your attention. Any of Ms. Wittich's books are a joy to read. Her most recent, Family Matters, is the best yet .... each book is better than the one before. Enjoy!
An addicted reader: Jeanie

In 1885 Washington DC, a distraught Melanie Shaw informs her beloved stepdaughter Sierra that someone is trying to blackmail her with her past ruining her second husband, a US Senator. Not wanting to disturb her father who is working to keep his country from violating a treaty with the Indians, Sierra decides to travel to England in order to ferret out the source of the extortion. Both Shaw females wonder if Melanie's first husband, declared dead from a ship accident, actually survived.

In London, the wealthy Sierra announces that she plans to go home married to a title. Spymaster Fitz Kent refuses to accept Sierra's seemingly guileless answer as he feels she is too beautiful and rich to marry just a title. He begins trailing her rationalizing that he needs to learn what her agenda really is though deep in his gut he knows he is attracted to the American. While they fall in love she needs his skills just to stay one step ahead of a dangerous blackmailer.

THE SHOCKING MISS SHAW is similar to many of the recent bookstore invasion of wealthy Americans and English aristocrats falling in love. However, the investigation into who is the blackmailer adds mystery elements that freshen up the story line. Though Sierra seems a bit too foolhardy and brave, she and Fitz make for quite a couple starring in an irresistible Victorian romantic suspense novel.

Harriet Klausner

It's about a dozen years since I read Dr. Germain Grisez and Russel Shaw's class on fundamental moral theology. God wants our true happiness, the flourishing of the human community. Through the use of right reason, we can understand the moral law which will lead to this integral human fulfillment. Christ has given us His Church to guide us, and He protects His Church from error in Faith and Morals. God's Grace enables us in responding to our universal call to holiness.

I've subsequently read volumes 2 & 3 of what's expected to be Grisez's four volumes on moral theology. Since 2004, I've been waiting for Volume 4 (Hint, hint, Dr. G!).

In the early 1960s, the Second Vatican Council called for a renewal of moral theology, integrating the fundamental principles of Catholic ethics with modern knowledge and applying them to contemporary issues. Perhaps the ablest thinker to answer the call was Germain Grisez (1929-), a modern Aquinas who responded with a three-volume, three-thousand-page treatise entitled « The Way of the Lord Jesus » (1983, 1993, 1997). This massive and brilliant work became the standard textbook in many Catholic seminaries in the USA, but its fine print and daunting scholarly apparatus severely restricted its potential audience. To make Grisez's thought accessible to the general public, therefore, Russell Shaw, a long-time associate of Grisez's, decided to publish « Fulfillment in Christ », which condenses the first volume of Grisez's trilogy into a much more digestible 430-page book.

Grisez's ethics starts by inductively identifying a certain number of basic human goods- « the goods which fulfill persons » or « components of human full being »- such as life (bodily well-being), knowledge, skillful performance, interpersonal harmony, self-integration, etc. These goods enable him to flesh out the first principle of morality, which states that « In voluntarily acting for human goods and avoiding what is opposed to them, one ought to choose and otherwise will those and only those possibilities whose willing is compatible with a will toward integral human fulfillment ». From this highly abstract principle, Grisez derives a set of eight « modes of responsibility », which are an intermediate step toward the development of concrete, applicable moral norms.

The first half of the book is devoted to the presentation of this theory of morality, brilliantly showing how the incommensurability of the basic human goods makes free-will possible and utilitarianism unworkable. It includes very cogent discussions of the Christian concept of sin (including original sin, which Grisez tries to integrate with evolution theory !), the distinction between venial and mortal sins and the concept of conscience, which is given a valid definition.

The second half, of much less relevance to non-Christians, deals with such issues as prayer, faith or the moral import of Catholic rituals, transforming the modes of responsibility into eight « modes of Christian responses » of a thoroughly theological and altruistic character.

Outside of Objectivism, I consider very few modern philosophers as actually worth reading, but Grisez is definitely one of them. If he failed to convert me to Catholicism (or, for that matter, Christianity), I will forever be grateful to him for enriching and fine-tuning my moral thinking, and for introducing me to the thought of one of mankind's most brilliant philosophers, Thomas Aquinas.

The prolific Irish author and playwright George Bernard Shaw lived from 1856 to 1950, and was vegetarian for the last seventy years of his life, living in England.

The recipes in this book are those devised for Shaw by his cook and housekeeper of the last seven years of his life, Mrs. Alice Laden, who worked for him during and after World War II. I was interested to see what sorts of vegetarian dishes were available and eaten at that time, and also to see if I could find some different dishes for use in my own kitchen.

I was not disappointed. Many of the dishes are delicious, and not something one finds in today's vegetarian cookbooks. Shaw ate for main courses potato nut patties, lentil rice roast, or pinto and cornbread pie. I had feared seeing nothing but variations on macaroni and cheese, but here are found lima bean shepherd's pie, cabbage au gratin, and almond-stuffed onions, main courses all. There are also numerous tasty sauces, side dishes, souffles, and desserts.

A caveat or two: If you are a visually oriented cook who likes to see photos of the finished product or steps in the making of a dish, you will not find that here. There are no pictures of the food. There are charming line drawings of a Shaw-looking character in various stages of dining. Another thing to note is that there seems herein a great deal of use of butter and white flour by today's health-conscious standards. I expect, however, that substitutions to olive oil and whole grain flours may be tried successfully if desired.

All in all, an interesting historical artifact in which delightful uncommon and useful recipes can be found.

I first got this book about 18 years ago, when I first became a vegetarian. I was overwhelmed by the modern books that have 20-30 items in a single recipe since vegetarian cooking was so new to me.

This book is fun, sweet, and has absolutely delicious (as wierd as the ingredients sound) recipes! They are also great for anyone on a budget!

The layout is so wonderful and the drawings great! Few recipes have more than 4-5 items in them - easy to follow, fun to make, and delicious to eat!

Connie

George Muller was a sometime missionary and longtime pastor of a church in Bristol, England, in the middle of the nineteenth century.
At that time, the plight of orphans in the country was despicable and hopeless. It is the plight of these orphans that inspired so much of Charles Dickens' writing during the same period. Orphanages were of a vastly different nature than we are used to thinking. Unless a child was an orphan of a rich or well-established family, there were few options for them. Some orphanages accepted children according to recommendations; ie, if the child or some advocate could gather enough signatures affirming his character, behavior, etc., then they would accept this child. If an orphaned child had the strength and presence of mind to collect such signatures. But mostly, poor children had no option but homelessness and a rough street-life.
Muller set about to do something about that: he resolved to open and run Christian orphanages that accepted children simply on the basis of need. Indeed, he turned away any child who could be accepted at one of the more traditional orphanages.
In addition, Muller set out, through the direction of the orphanages, to prove the existence and good faithfulness of God in a way that I can only compare to Elijah on Mt Carmel. He decided to rely solely and completely on God to provide the means and funds needed to run this orphanage. He did no fundraising whatsoever; moreover, he would not even make his financial needs known even to those who inquired and wished to help. He was steadfast in his determination to rely solely on God to supply His needs, and would not taint such a testimony to a doubtful world with any kind of profession of need or request for help -- not even from his own congregation in Bristol.
And God came through. Again and again, God answered George Muller's prayers, and never once was the orphanage in need. More than that, Muller was able to expand his efforts at an amazing rate: it wasn't long before four major houses were built for orphanages, housing, educating, feeding, and job-training as many as 10,000 orphans at a time. In addition, there were scripture training schools, a publishing house sending out Bibles and scriptural tracts at a very high volume (for little or no money) and heavy financial support of missionaries in other countries. All of this, all of it, without ever letting a single person know of the financial needs of all the work. All told, nearly 1,500,000 pounds were received during George Muller's lifetime from the hands of God.
There were certainly trying days. The book chronicles time and again, at times for months on end, when the orphanages ran on a shoestring budget, at times receiving the money needed to but lunch only at breakfast time. Nonetheless, there was never a single incident when they did not have what they needed.
Muller spent his latter days traveling the world, preaching in as diverse places as Israel, Russia and California(in the 1800's, still a remote corner of the earth.) Instead of boasting of the deeds he had accomplished, the expounded scripture, called on people to recognize the goodness and faithfulness of God, and to rely on Him to supply for them. He insisted that his faith, which was so renowned and talked about, was no extraordinary thing; it was simply the result of years of experiencing God's ability and willingness to meet His needs.
I do not think that Muller had any kind of doctrinal belief that fundraising was a bad thing, and so it would be a twisting of his testimony to use it against missionaries and organizations that fundraise. He simply desired to show that God is faithful and able to meet our needs -- and He did so. It was intended, by this ordinary man, to strengthen the faith of people around the world. I know that reading it has strengthened my faith, while both convicting me and giving me confidence to trust God with my needs. George Muller is an example to me, and a hero of the faith. I would encourage anyone to read more about his life and work -- and the work God did through him and for him.
That said, I must say a word about the shortcomings of this particular biography. It is incredibly tedious at times in its attention to detail. In the times of near-shortage in the orphanages, it does paint the picture well to see how sixpence came in at this hour and two pounds the next day, then three months of relative abundance, then a week in which only eight pence came in and then the day before money was needed to repair the furnace so-and-so wrote a letter including ten pounds. To some extent this is indeed helpful. But when George and wife are touring the country, I don't feel like I need to know about every train and every hotel and house and congregation they preached to. The attention to detail, though it certainly honors Muller's spirit (who was gifted with incredible attention to detail, which doubtless helped him run the houses as he did) is very tedious to read. Some sections are definitely best simply skimmed...

This book provides many excellent stories from the life of Muller. The stories are not only insightful, but also include actual diary entries from the period. If you're looking for a book about George Muller, this is the one to get.

"God in the Dark" was given to me 3 weeks after the death of my husband by a grief counselor. For 3 days I immersed myself in its contents and cried many tears on every page since it mirrored what my husband and I had experienced.The author is a superb writer. However, it was not until the second reading (several months later) that I found great value in the spiritual elements of this book. Her ability to see God at work in nature, and her expressive selections of poetry, spoke clearly to me that God continues to love and care for his children in all situations, even death of a loved one.

Luci's generosity in sharing the process of her grieving during the terminal illness and after the death of her husband can be a source of inspiration and encouragement, particularly for Christian people, who have experiences losses of their own. I would recommend it wholeheartedly, and I fervently hope that Zondervan will reprint it....It is definitely needed.

this is a story about the real life of a person, seen through the persons own eyes, with his own words

The Jack-Roller is one of the most famous studies carried out by the Chicago School of Sociology. It's a personal account by a young deliquent about the reasons for his criminality. The study brings us close to the motivations and the reasoning of a criminal and also paints a striking portrait of life in the inner city and the social inequalities present in the 1930's which are still persist nowdays.

History, a great story and an authentic historical craft! Not only that, but just the right size for girl-sized hands. A+++++++ Cannot be beat!

This is another in the American Girls Short Stories series about Kirsten Larson, a nine-year-old girl from Sweden, whose family has moved to frontier Minnesota of 1854. It is winter, and the men of the Larson household are off earning extra money logging. When a group of Chippewa (Ojibwa) warriors arrive, wearing war paint, Kirsten is deeply afraid. However, working with these new strangers, Kirsten learns that they are not as fierce as they look.

The final chapter of this book really makes it something special, covering the Chippewa (Ojibwa) Indians, and then giving directions for making a delicious Birds' Nest Pudding. This is a good story, with Renee Graef's usual excellent illustrations. My favorite part, though, was when my daughter insisted on making the Birds' Nest Pudding.

History, a great story and an authentic historical craft! Not only that, but just the right size for girl-sized hands. A+++++++ Cannot be beat!

This is another in the American Girls Short Stories series about Kirsten Larson, a nine-year-old girl from Sweden, whose family has moved to frontier Minnesota of 1854. In this book, Kirsten finds a young boy living amongst the debris of an overturned wagon. The boy forces Kirsten to promise to not tell anyone about him, but with winter coming on, Kirsten is torn between wanting to help the boy and wanting to be the sort of person who keeps her word.

The final chapter of this book is very nice; telling of wagon trains in 1854, and has direction for making flower crown (which I always thought was called a daisy chain). This is a very nice story, with Renee Graef's usual excellent illustrations. My twelve-year-old daughter and I are both long running fans of the Kirsten stories, and we both enjoyed this book.

This book was purchased for my partner who is extremely interested in the American Civil War & having seen the film Glory was interested in the first regiment of black soldiers in the war. He tells me that it was very informative together with excellent photographs and very much a 'coffee table' book and not one to hide away in our bookcase! I have visited Boston but do not recall having seen this memorial and this has inspired us both to consider another visit in the near future.

Generally hailed as America's finest Civil War memorial--maybe the most powerful memorial to any American war--the St. Gaudens masterpiece on Boston Common has inspired poetry, music, and probably a movie, "Glory." Lincoln Kirstein has written a stirring essay on the subjects: Colonel Shaw and his Massachusetts 54th Regiment (black), what they meant to their contemporaries, and their message for today. Although the photographs were taken in a bleak period for the Memorial (it badly needed restoration, which it received shortly after this book came out), Richard Benson's photographs are still powerful,able to transmit with finesse the messages of Shaw, his black comrades, St. Gaudens, and Lincoln Kirstein. It's a beautiful book, a labor of love.