Tuesday, 30 September 2025

Top Ten Fiction and Non-Fiction Books Third Quarter 2025

Top Ten Fiction and Non-Fiction Books Third Quarter 2025

Top Ten Fiction and Non-Fiction Books Third Quarter 2024 My Den 2024

It has been a good year for reading so far. I am averaging just over a book a day. It has been a great quarter with a large variety of genres and authors. 

In April of 2023 I wrote a piece called How I Read So Much? Because I get asked the question so often, read the piece linked above if you are looking for some ideas on ways to read more. But a lot of it goes back to my dyslexia, and once I learned to read there were all these worlds and all this knowledge out there. I have been addicted since then. I wrote about that in 2006 Confessions of a Bibliophile #5 - How I Became a Bibliophile, From Dyslexic to Addict. 

This quarter was very different. It was very fiction heavy. Typically I try and alternate fiction and nonfiction books. Yet this quarter I was pushing to finish all the book by Gordon Korman, I had set it as a goal a number of years ago, and was getting close. So I was trying to balance his volumes, with other fiction and non-fiction. This quarter I read 99 books, my second best second quarter since I started tracking, the comparison with the last 8 years:

     2025 - 99
     2024 - 87
     2023 – 102
     2022 – 87
     2022 – 79
     2021 – 79
     2020 – 61
     2019 – 89
     2018 – 91
     2017 – 64
     2016 – 94

But back to this quarter by the numbers:

Books Read: 99
First Time Reads: 88
Fiction: 55
Non-Fiction: 29
5/5 Stars: 84

A dip over the last year. I can state again that looking back 2016 is a bit of an outlier as late that year I switched jobs and have since had much better work – life balance. In the spring of 2016, I worked through Brandon Vogt’s course Read More Books Now (now available on ClaitasU). The year before that I removed all games from my phone and tablet and my reading had doubled.  

Here is my top ten fiction and non-fiction books of the second quarter of 2024.

Top Ten Non-Fiction Books:

3. Vision Books for Young Catholics
When Saints Were Young - Blanche Jennings Thompson and John Lawn
Bernadette, Our Lady's Little Servant - Hertha Pauli and Georges Vaux
Saint John Bosco and Saint Dominic Savio - Catherine Beebe and Robb Beebe
Irish Saints - Robert T. Reilly
4. When the White Smoke Clears: A Guide to the Early Days of Pope Leo XIV - Fr. Mike Schmitz, Jeff Cavins, Dr. Edward Sri, Fr. Josh Johnson, Dr. Marcellino D’Ambrosio, and other trusted Catholic Voices - Ascension 
5. Great Spiritual Teachers - Ave Maria Press
You Shall Not Want 30 Days with the Psalms - John Kirvan and Caroline Myss
Let There Be Light Hildegard von Bingen - John Kirvan
6. Columbanus - Desmond Forristal 
7. Pocket Guide Series - Our Sunday Visitor
A Pocket Guide to The Meaning of Life - Peter Kreeft 
8. CTS Deeper Christianity Books - Catholic Truth Society
Icons - Fr John Baggley
Faith, Hope and Love The Theological Virtues - Andrew Pinsent
9. Hope. Always Our Anchor in Life’s Storms - Kris Frank 
 
Bonus Books:
What Happened at Fatima - Leo Madigan - CTS Christian Shrines 
Our Life, Our Sweetness, and Our Hope! Jubilee Pilgrims of Hope with Mary - Donna-Marie Cooper O'Boyle

Note: Before getting to the fiction books I need to remind reader that I was focusing on books by Gordon Korman to finish working through his 109 published works. 37 of the 55 books were by Korman and books from series, So I only selected finalor penultimate volumes in series for the list below. 
  
Top Ten Fiction Books:
1. The Higher We Go: Pier Giorgio Frassati - Corinna Turner - Friends in High Places Book 5 
2. Light’s Camera, Disaster - Gordon Korman - Macdonald Hall Book 6 
3. Fly, Sparrow, Fly - A.K. Frailey - Oldtown Book 1 
4. Jackpot - Gordon Korman - Swindle Book 6 
5. Murder Bot Diaries - Martha Wells 
Fugitive Telemetry Book 6
System Collapse Book 7
6. Hunting the Hunter - Gordon Korman - On the Run Book 6 
7. Hairballs, Hiccups and Hope - edited by Amanda Montandon - Raconteur Press Anthology
8. The Summit- Gordon Korman - Everest Book 3 
9. Alien Family Traditions - edited by Sandra L. Medlock - Raconteur Press Anthologies Book 58 
10. The Rescue - Gordon Korman - Kidnapped Book 3

Bonus Books:
Any volume from Gordon Korman.
A Hero Such as Heaven Intended - Amanda Lauer - Heaven Intended Book 6 
Dark Day, Bright Hour - Julie Frost
Moon of the Crusted Snow - Waubgeshig Rice - Moon Book 1

My reading has been staying pretty consistent at about a book a day over the last several years. I attribute in part to Brandon Vogt’s course Read More Books Now, removing all games but 1 brain game from my devices. And I was commuting to work on a bus and read on the bus every day. Working from home reading took a little more discipline, and we are now back to a hybrid model with 5 days a month in the office, so things have changed again.   

Note: I do not include books that have been read in previous years and were reread this year in my top ten lists, they are sometimes in the bonus section. But if you want more options check out my favourite books year by year list. Or this year not to flood the list with one specific author.   


Relates Posts: 
Top 10 Fiction Books 1st Quarter 2010
Top 10 Fiction Books 2nd Quarter 2010
Top 10 Reading Goals for 2010
Top 10 Fiction Books 3rd Quarter 2010
Top 10 Fiction Books 4th Quarter 2010
Top Ten Reading Goals For 2010 - Recap
Top 10 Fiction Books 2010
Top 10 Picture Books of 2010
Top 10 Non-Fiction Books of 2010
Top 10 Graphic Novels for 2010
Top Ten Reading Goals For 2011 
Top Ten Fiction Books 1st Quarter 2011
Top Ten Fiction Books 2nd Quarter 2011
Top Ten Reading Goals for 2011 Update 
Top Ten Fiction Books 3rd Quarter 2011 
Top Ten Fictions Books 4th Quarter 2011
Top Ten Fiction Books 2011
Top Ten Reading Goals 2011 - Recap
Top Ten Reading Goals 2012
Top Ten Fiction Books 1st Quarter 2012
Top Ten Fiction Books 2nd Quarter 2012
Top Ten Fiction Books 3rd Quarter 2012
Top Ten Fiction Books  4th Quarter 2012
Top Ten Fiction Books 2012
Top Ten Non-Fiction Books 2012
Top Ten Reading Goals 2012 - Recap
Top Ten Reading Goals 2013
Top 10 Fiction Books 1st Quarter 2013
Top 10 Fiction Books 2nd Quarter 2013
Top 10 Books Second Half 2013
Top Ten Fiction Books 2013
Top Ten Non-Fiction Books 2013 
Top Ten Books First Quarter 2014
Top Ten Books Second Quarter 2014
Top Ten Books Third Quarter 2014
Top Ten Books Fourth Quarter 2014
Top Ten Fiction Books 2014
Top Ten Non-Fiction Books 2014
Top Ten Books First Quarter 2015
Top Ten Books Second Quarter 2015
Top Ten Books Third Quarter 2015
Top Ten Books Fourth Quarter 2015
Top Ten Fiction Books 2015
Top Ten Non-Fiction Books 2015
Top Ten Books First Quarter 2016
Top Ten Books Second Quarter 2016
Top Ten Books Third Quarter 2016
Top Ten Books Fourth Quarter 2016
Top Ten Non- Fiction Books 2016
Top Ten Fiction Books 2016
Top Ten Catholic Books
Top Ten Books First Quarter 2017
Top Ten Books Second Quarter 2017
Top Ten Books Third Quarter 2017
Top Ten Books Fourth Quarter 2017
Top Ten Non-Fiction Books 2017
Top Ten Fiction Books 2017
Top Ten Books First Quarter 2018
Top Ten Books Second Quarter 2018
Top Ten Books Third Quarter 2018
Top Ten Books Fourth Quarter 2018
Top Ten Non-Fiction Books 2018
Top Ten Fiction Books 2018
Top Ten Books First Quarter 2019
Top Ten Books Second Quarter 2019
Top Ten Books Third Quarter 2019
Top Ten Books Fourth Quarter 2019
Top Ten Non-Fiction Books 2019
Top Ten Fiction Books 2019
Top Ten Books First Quarter 2020
Top Ten Books Second Quarter 2020
Top Ten Books Third Quarter 2020
Top Ten Books Fourth Quarter 2020 
All Top Ten Lists on Book Reviews and More

Statistics Books Read By Year:
352 - 2025 January - September
363 - 2024
455 - 2023
438 - 2022
365 - 2021
317 - 2020 
392 - 2019
359 - 2018
380 - 2017 
272 - 2016 
177 - 2015 
130 - 2014 
88 -  2013
176 - 2012 
163 - 2011
302 - 2010
142 - 2009
98 - 2008
83 - 2007
191 - 2006
151 - 2005
60 - 2004
52 - 2003
97 - 2002
50 - 2001
41 - 2000
71 - 1999
73 - 1998
131 - 1997
101 - 1996


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Monday, 29 September 2025

Mensa, Magic, and Mayhem - Karina Fabian - DragonEye PI Book 10

Mensa, Magic, and Mayhem
A DragonEye, PI Book 10
Karina Fabian
Laser Cow Press
ISBN 9781956489248
ASIN B0FHFDWKY4

Mensa, Magic, and Mayhem - Karina Fabian - DragonEye PI Book 10

TWow what an amazing story in an excellent series. I read the first edition of this volume that was originally published 16 years ago. I loved the first edition of this story, but this revised edition fit in with the other stories in the series is masterfully rewritten. Every time I read a book by Fabian, no matter the series, I think ‘it can’t get better than this’ and yet somehow it almost always does. It is an amazing read in a excellent series. But I will get back to that in a minute.

I read this volume over a few days during a very busy time at work and home, otherwise it would have been devoured in a single day. I had a hard time putting it down. It is such a fun story. The way Fabian pulled it off was wonderfully executed. 

I believe that with each new book I read from Karina Fabian’s masterful pen I am more and more impressed with her writing. To date, I have loved all the books and all the series I have read by her. And this marks the 44th time I have read a book by her. This new version of this story is another excellent offering. And the cover is an excellent hat tip to the original cover.

I have been reading stories from Karina Fabian since 2008. But in the last three years I have read or reread over 44 books and stories published by her. In that time I have read stories across most of her series, some a few times. I usually read her books and then often listen to them a second time using adaptive technology. My understanding is that this is the order of the series at least at the time of writing this review:

9.0 Gapman
10.0 Magic, Mensa and Mayhem (Revised edition)
11.0 Live and Let Fly (Revised edition forthcoming)

And as announced at the end of this volume Fabian is circling back and rewriting Live and Let Fly as her next offering in this series. There are a couple of other short stories published in this universe as well:


And yes, with my dyslexia every time I read the title of that second last one I think A Wrinkle in Time, but that is another author and universe. But back to this story. The description of this book is:

“It should have been a cushy job: Vern and Sister Grace are given an all-expense-paid trip to Florida to chaperone a group of Magicals at a Mensa convention. Leaving Gapman to take care of Los Lagos, they set off anticipating sunny skies and interesting conversation.

Then the pixies start pranking, the Valkyrie starts vamping, and a dwarf goes to Fanny Flamingo's Fantasyland hoping to be "discovered." Environmentalists protest Vern's "disrupting the ecosystem," while clueless tourists think he's animatronic. Not to mention, Gapman’s desperate calls as he deals with hobgoblins and Moles of Unusual Size.

When the elves get high on artificial flavorings and declare war on Florida, it turns into the toughest case they aren’t getting paid for.”

The chapter tiles in Fabians books are often very important, the chapters in this volume are:

The Trouble with Hobgoblins
A Conventional Calling
Pixies in the Program
Extra-Curricular Assignments
For Your Safety and the Sanity of the Dragon…
High Flight
Flight High
The Bottom Two Percent
Dis-Orientation
Mensa and Mayhem
Bedlam and Brownies
Food Fight in the Con Café
Hobgoblin Havok
Good Nun/Bad Dragon
Cowbell In A Gadda Da Vida
An A-Musing Incident
Pucking Pixies
Dashed Hopes and “Loverly” Dreams
Creatures of Action, Ja?
Spirits and Stegosauruses
No One’s Pathologically Anything
Danger, Danger, Danger!
Siegfried Snaps
The Seductiveness of Modesty
Do Quantum Brownies Go with Diet Cola?
Pickaxes and MOUS Ranches
Steak and Brownies
Best Laid Plans of Elves and Dwarves
How Do You Hide a Papal Bull?
Another Fine Mensa

This revised edition has nine more chapters then where this was book 1 in this series. There are 15 chapters titles that overlap exactly, 1 that is pretty close. Leaving 15 new chapters interspersed throughout the story.  

It is 30 chapters of fun, adventure, and an Vern the Dragon and Sister Grace trying to stave off epic battles. Something is brewing and bubbling to the surface. Vern is picking up clues but it is not clear yet and there are so many small fires to put out (figurative and almost literally); humans to surprise and shock, and events at the convention going on that he almost misses the connection. But to figure out the mystery and join in the fun, read this excellent story.
  
This book is another terribly entertaining read, in an excellent series. It is a great offering from Fabian’s pen. Even if you have not read any of the other DragonEye PI stories I can easily recommend this book to you. I have said it before, and I say it again in many ways it reads like a catholic version of Robert Apsrin’s MYTH series and his Phule’s Company and also the works of Tom Holt, especially Holt’s Nothing but Blue Skies. Give this book or the series a try; I am certain you will be entertained. A fantastic read in a great series that I can easily recommend.   

Note: This book is part of a series of reviews: 2025 Catholic Reading Plan!


Dex Hollister Series:
The Old Man and the Void
Dex's Way
...

Neeta Lyffe, Zombie Exterminator Series :
Neeta Lyffe, Zombie Exterminator
I Left My Brains in San Francisco
Shambling in a Winter Wonderland
…

DragonEye PI Series:
DragonEye PI Novels:
9.0 Gapman
10.0 Magic, Mensa and Mayhem (Revised edition)
11.0 Live and Let Fly (Revised edition forthcoming)
... 

DragonEye PI Short Stories:

DragonEye PI Original First Editions:
...

Space Traipse Series:
Space Traipse: Hold My Beer, Season 1
Space Traipse: Hold My Beer, Season 2
Space Traipse: Hold My Beer, Season 3
Space Traipse Stories
…

Madness of Kanaan Series:
(formerly The Mind Over Series)

Edited by: Karina Fabian:
Infinite Space, Infinite God I
Leaps of Faith
Infinite Space, Infinite God II
...


Contributed to:
Firestorm of Dragons
The Zombie Cookbook
The Book of Tentacles
Twisted Fayrie Tales
FRIGHTLINER: And Other Tales of the Undead
Mother Goose is Dead
Word by Word: Slowing Down with the Hail Mary
Image and Likeness Literary Reflections on the Theology of the Body
Corrupts Absolutely? Dark Metahuman Fiction
Weird Noir
The Complete Guide to Writing Paranormal Novels
Manifesto UF
Avenir Eclectia
Planetary Anthology: Jupiter
Planetary Anthology: Pluto
Planetary Anthology: Luna
Planetary Anthology: Uranus
FlagShip Science Fiction and Fantasy v2i5
My Little Book of Headdesks
To Be Men: Stories Celebrating Masculinity
...









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Sunday, 28 September 2025

SOS - Gordon Korman - Titanic Book 3

S.O.S. 
Titanic Series Book 3
Gordon Korman
ISBN 9780545123334
eISBN 9780545388474
ASIN B005HE2QUG

S.O.S. - Gordon Korman - Titanic Book 3

Wow! What a thrilling conclusion to this series. This book was originally published in 2011, and the most recent edition in 2016. According to Goodreads there are 25 editions of the third volume in this series, including editions in English and French listed. My introduction to Korman’s works was the 39 Clues back in 2009. Since then I have read 105 of his books including this volume, a few of them more than once. I set the goal of reading all his books about 2020. I now have 4 books from series to go, the final book in each of 4 different series. Not counting omnibus editions I believe that as of the summer of 2025 Korman has published 109 books. With each that I read I am entertained and often challenged. My son, who is 17 often, reads these books to me or with me, and he still loves them. And my 14 year old daughter has enjoyed a number of them

The description of this volume states:

“From bestselling author Gordon Korman, the thrilling conclusion to the adventure aboard the unluckiest ship of all. 

The Titanic was supposed to be unsinkable - the largest passenger steamship in the world, one of the biggest and most luxurious ships ever to operate. 

For Paddy, Sophie, Juliana, and Alfie, the Titanic is full of mysteries - whether they're to be found in the opulent first-class cabins and promenade decks or the shadows in the underbelly of the ship. Secrets and plans are about to be revealed - only now disaster looms, and time is running out. The four of them need to find the truth, unmask the killer...and try not to go down with the ship.”

About the author at the back of this volume we are informed:

“GORDON KORMAN started writing novels when he was about the same age as the characters in this book, with his first novel, This Can’t Be Happening at Macdonald Hall!, published when he was fourteen. Since then, his novels have sold millions of copies around the world. Most recently, he is the author of Swindle, Zoobreak, and Framed, the trilogies Island, Everest, Dive, and Kidnapped, and the series On the Run. His other novels include No More Dead Dogs and Son of the Mob. He lives in New York with his family, and can be found on the web at his website.”

I do not think there is anyone not familiar with the story of the Titanic, this version of historical fiction by Korman helps us experience the events through several different sets of eyes, mostly youth; youth from a wide range of backgrounds and life experiences. From a street urchin in Dublin, to an aristocrats daughter, to a young man who faked his age to serve on the ship with his father, to a girl who constantly seems embarrassed by her mother’s political activism. The events in this instalment of this series take place between, Monday, April 15, 1912, 12:15 A.M. and Tuesday, May 14, 1912, 10:45 A.M.. The youths have had a few run-ns with the Ripper and have a few more during this adventure. The way Korman wrote about the sinking, and the aftermath was masterfully done. It was not too gruesome, but it was realistic and riveting.   

I admit I have never been much into the story of the Titanic, I have never seen the movie, and it is on my all-time list to never see, but this book and series are excellent, and it were do but put to film, I would go to see it with no hesitation.

This book and series is historical fiction at its best. Coming from a long line of Irish men, the Irish thugs presented here seem very familiar, as does the scrappy Irish street urchin. The numerous historical figures that are actually part of these events are well written. It is masterfully written historical fiction, sure to be enjoyed by young and old alike! 
 
Books by Gordon Korman:
MacDonald Hall Series:
         (formerly The War With Mr. Wizzle)
          (aka Macdonald Hall Goes Hollywood)
          (formerly Something Fishy at Macdonald Hall)
…

Bugs Potter Series:
…

Jeremy Bloom Series:
…

Monday Night Football Series:
…

Masterminds Series:
Masterminds (2015)
…

Slapshots Series:
Cup Crazy (2000)
…
4-in-1 Slapshots: The Complete Collection (2008)
…

Nose Pickers Series:
…
4-in-1 The Ultimate Nose-Picker Collection (2006)
…

Island Series:
Shipwreck (2001)
Survival (2001)
Escape (2001)
…
3-in-1 Island Trilogy Collection (2006)
…

Son of the Mob Series:
…

Everest Series:
The Contest (2002)
The Climb (2002)
The Summit (2002)
…
Everest Trilogy Box Set (2002)

Dive Series:
The Deep (2003)
The Danger (2003)
…

On the Run Series:
…

Kidnapped Series:
The Search (2006)
The Rescue (2006)
…

Swindle Series:
Swindle (2008)
Zoobreak (2009)
Framed (2010)
Showoff (2012)
Hideout (2013)
Jackpot (2014)
Unleashed (2015)
Jingle (2016)
…

Titanic Series:
Unsinkable (2011)
S.O.S (2011)
…

The 39 Clues Series:
Flashpoint (2014)
…

Hypnotists Series:
Memory Maze (2014)
…

Ungifted Series:
Ungifted (2012)
Supergifted (2018)
Hypergifted (2026)
…

Slacker Series:
Slacker (2016)
Level 13 (2019)
...

Non Series Books:
Born To Rock (2006)
Schooled (2007)
Pop (2009)
Restart (2017)
Notorious (2019)
War Stories (2020)
Game On (contains The Chicken Doesn’t Skate and The Toilet Paper Tigers (2021)
Unplugged (2021)
Linked (2021)
The Fort (2022)
...
 
Unsinkable - Gordon Korman - Titanic Book 1

Collision Course - Gordon Korman - Titanic Book 2

S.O.S. - Gordon Korman - Titanic Book 3


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Saturday, 27 September 2025

Draw Ever Closer 30 days with Henri J.M. Nouwen - Robert M. Hamma - Great Spiritual Teachers

Draw Ever Closer 30 Days with Henri J.M. Nouwen
Great Spiritual Teachers
Robert M. Hamma (Editor)
ISBN 9781594719639
eISBN 9781594719646
ASIN B082YN3RBG

Draw Ever Closer 30 days with Henri J.M. Nouwen - Robert M. Hamma - Great Spiritual Teachers Rebranded

This is the ninth volume in the Great Spiritual Teachers series I have read over the last year. This one was originally released in 200, and this book has been through a rebranding in 2025, though the eBook has not been updated as of the writing of this review. Last year the first I read in the series was Born to Do This: 30 Days with Joan of Arc by Jaymie Stuart Wolfe, and loved it and the concept of the series. First some background between 2001 and 2006 I read about a dozen volumes by Henri Nouwen. My Mentor at the time was a huge fan, and have a large print of the Rembrandt print from The Prodigal Son in his office and spoke on the volume and parable often. When I returned to the Catholic Church, I went on a retreat and the spiritual director advised against reading any Nouwen or Merton. 19 years later on retreat at the same retreat house a different priest recommend a Nouwen volume. Earlier this year I read my first volume from Nouwen in 19 years and this seemed like a next logical volume in this series to be worked through. 

The description of this volume states:

“Draw Ever Closer is an easy-to-use devotional for all who seek both intimacy with God and relationship with other people. This book offers you a personal, thirty-day retreat based on the most popular works of modern spiritual writer Henri J. M. Nouwen, a priest, psychologist, and lifelong seeker whose books include Out of Solitude and With Open Hands. Requiring only a few minutes each day, Draw Ever Closer allows you to reflect deeply on the fundamental longings for meaning, belonging, and intimacy as well as the call to service and social justice in each person’s life.

Henri Nouwen—renowned Dutch priest, teacher, and spiritual leader—explored the depths of human experience as a meeting place with God in his spiritual writings for popular audiences. Trained as a psychologist, he was keenly aware of the inner movements of the psyche: the search for authentic self-awareness, the longing for human intimacy, and the desire to draw ever closer to the fullness of union with God.

All titles in the 30 Days with a Great Spiritual Teacher series contain a brief morning meditation, a mantra for use throughout the day, and a night prayer to focus your thoughts as the day ends. This simple book is the perfect prayer companion for busy people who want to root their spiritual practice in Nouwen’s timeless, and timely, teachings on relationship. Reflecting perceptively on the words and deeds of Jesus, Nouwen shares his own relationship with Christ in a way that leads readers to Christ and teaches them to follow his example.”

About the series we are informed:

“Each book in the Great Spiritual Teachers series provides a month of daily readings from one of Christianity's most beloved spiritual guides. For each day there is a brief and accessible morning meditation drawn from the mystic's writings, a simple mantra for use throughout the day, and a night prayer to focus one's thoughts as the day ends. These easy-to-use books are the perfect prayer companion for busy people who want to root their spiritual practice in the solid ground of these great spiritual teachers.”

I believe there are 16 volumes in this series currently in print, including the first I read last year that was new and another new release this year. There are a few that are currently out of print, The oldest I have seen are from the mid 90’s and it looks like they went through a rebranding and format change in the mid 00’s, and they have undergone yet another rebranding in the 2020’s including some new titles available in the series. And the current rebranding in 2024-2025. I must admit I do not recall running across this series prior to that first volume on Joan. I have however added all of them to my ‘to be read list’; and have been able to track down all but one. I plan to do about 1 a month till I have completed the series. I love the most recent rebranding, and hope Ave Maria completes the rebranding across all volumes, and brings back into print some of the volumes currently not available; specifically the volumes on John of the Cross, Evelyn Underhill, Mother Theresa and others. But back to this specific volume.

The sections in this volume are:

Henri Nouwen
How To Pray This Book
Thirty Days With Henri Nouwen
One Final Word
Notes

While reading this I highlighted a several passages, some of them are:

“Henri J. M. Nouwen was one of the leading Catholic spiritual writers of the later part of the twentieth century. He was the author of thirty-nine books that sold millions of copies both in the United States and around the world. Nouwen had an exceptional ability to articulate his own inner experience of faith in an unreserved way and was thus able to give voice to the spiritual strivings of not only Catholics but also spiritual seekers of many diverse backgrounds.”

“As early as age six he wanted to be a priest as his uncle Toon was. His grandmother even had little vestments made for him so he could conduct play Masses with his friends.”

“Among the many things that can be said about Henri Nouwen, perhaps one of the most important is that he was a person of prayer who modeled his life on Jesus. Almost all of his books deal with prayer in some way. Because he recognized himself as often distracted, restless, and self-preoccupied, his reflections on prayer speak to the struggles of so many.”

“The purpose of this book is to open a gate for you, to make accessible the spiritual experience and wisdom of one of our time’s most important spiritual teachers, Henri J. M. Nouwen.”

“But most of all the purpose of the passage is to remind you that at this moment and at every moment during the day you will be living and acting in the presence of a God who invites you continually but quietly to live in and through him.”

“Remind me that, if I want to find you in the midst of my haste and activity, I must first remember that you are already here within me. Thank you, Lord, for your loving patience and your tender care.”

“My soul is indeed restless, O Lord, yearning for a peace that only you can give. You are, in truth, my heart’s deepest desire, though I continually seek fulfillment elsewhere.”

“It is the place within me where God has chosen to dwell. It is the place where I am held safe in the embrace of an all-loving Father who calls me by name and says, “You are my beloved son, on you my favor rests.” It is the place where I can taste the joy and the peace that are not of this world.”

“DAY 7 MY DAY BEGINS I am the prodigal son every time I search for unconditional love where it cannot be found. Why do I keep ignoring the place of true love and persist in looking for it elsewhere? Why do I keep leaving home where I am called to be a child of God, the beloved of my Father? I am constantly surprised by how I keep taking the gifts that God has given me—my health, my intellectual and emotional gifts—and keep using them to impress people, receive affirmations and praise, and compete for rewards, instead of developing them for the glory of God. Yes, I often carry them off to a “distant country” and put them in the service of an exploiting world that does not know their true value. It’s almost as if I want to prove to myself and to my world.

“To live in the world without belonging to the world summarizes the essence of the spiritual life.”

“Help me, Lord, to make my house a house of love, and not a house of fear.”

“I will hold joy and sadness gently, together.”

“In solitude we become aware that our worth is not the same as our usefulness.”

“When we live with hope we do not get tangled up with concerns for how our wishes will be fulfilled. So, too, our prayers are not directed toward the gift, but toward the one who gives it.”

“What we see, and like to see, is cure and change. But what we do not see and do not want to see is care: the participation in the pain, the solidarity in suffering, the sharing in the experience of brokenness. And still, cure without care is as dehumanizing as a gift given with a cold heart.”

“Gracious God, I thank you for your servant Henri Nouwen, and for these thirty days when you have used his words to teach and guide me. Help me to imitate his fidelity to you and his faithfulness. Help me, as he did, to encourage others in their spiritual lives by learning to share my own joys and struggles. You have been with me Lord, each day of my past, you will stay with me every day of the future, you are with me here, and you are with me now. Amen.”

A sample day is:

“DAY 13
MY DAY BEGINS

Praying is no easy matter.
It demands a relationship in which you allow
someone other than yourself to enter
into the very center of your person,
to see what you would rather leave in darkness,
and to touch there
what you would rather leave untouched.
Why would you really want to do that?
Perhaps you would let the other cross your threshold
to see something or to touch something,
but to allow the other into that place
where your most intimate life is shaped—
that is dangerous and calls for defense.
The resistance to praying
is like the resistance of a tightly clenched fist. . . .
When you want to pray, then,
the first question is:
How do I open my closed hands? . . .
Don’t be afraid of the One
who wants to enter your most intimate space
and invites you to let go of
what you are clinging to so anxiously.
Each time you dare to let go
and to surrender one of those many fears,
your hand opens a little
and your palms spread out in a gesture of receiving.
(With Open Hands, pp. 19–20, 24–25)

ALL THROUGH THE DAY

I stand before you with empty, open hands.

MY DAY IS ENDING

Dear God,
I am so afraid to open my clenched fists!
Who will I be when I have nothing to hold on to?
Who will I be when I stand before you
with empty hands?
Please help me to gradually open my hands
to discover that I am not my own,
but what you want to give me.
And what you want to give me is love—
unconditional, everlasting love.
(With Open Hands, p. 27)”

I hope those quotes and the sample day give you a feel for this excellent volume.  I have now read 9 volumes in this series, and currently working on a tenth, and I can state this is a great offering. I find that some speak to me more than others. With one almost every day was like an ‘aha’ moment, others are more work and fewer moments. This one is in the former category, as evidenced by highlights on nearly every day. This one almost every day was a great experience. I can state I benefited from the month with Nouwen. And if I went back and did a volume again at a different point or season in life I might interact with it differently. I already plan to circle back to a few volumes to reread them once I have completed the series, this is one of them.

This was a volume I really connected with. It was a wonderful read, it is one I really enjoyed reading. I can easily recommend this volume and the series as a whole, and I look forward to reading others in the series. If you have not given any in this series a try this would be a great place to begin.

Note: This book is part of a series of reviews: 2025 Catholic Reading Plan! 

Great Spiritual Teachers Series from Ave Maria Press

Draw Ever Closer 30 days with Henri J.M. Nouwen - Robert M. Hamma - Great Spiritual Teachers Original Cover

Books in the Great Spiritual Teachers Series:
Abide in love: the Gospel spirituality of John the Evangelist – John Kirvan 
Fear Not the Night - John of the Cross and John Kirvan 
God Awaits You Based on the Classic Spirituality of Meister - Richard Chilson 
Grace Through Simplicity - Evelyn Underhill and John Kirvan 
Living in the Presence of God - Brother Lawrence and John Kirvan 
Love Without Measure - Mother Teresa and John Kirvan 
Rejoice in the Lord - Augustine of Hippo and Trenton Mattingly  
Set Aside Every Fear - Catherine of Siena and John Kirvan  
That you may have life: let the mystics be your guide for Lent - John Kirvan 
True Serenity - Thomas a Kempis and John Kirvan 
We Are Beloved - Thea Bowman and Karianna Frey MS 
Where Only Love Can Go - The Cloud of Unknowing and John Kirvan  

Books by Henri J.M. Nouwen:
Intimacy 
Creative Ministry 
With Open Hands 
Pray to live: Thomas Merton: a contemplative critic 
Out of Solitude: Three Meditations on the Christian Life 
Aging: The Fulfillment of Life 
Reaching Out: The Three Movements of the Spiritual Life 
The Genesee Diary 
The Wounded Healer: Ministry in Contemporary Society 
Clowning in Rome: Reflections on Solitude, Celibacy, Prayer, and Contemplation 
In Memoriam 
The Way of the Heart 
A Cry for Mercy: Prayers from the Genesee 
Compassion: A Reflection on the Christian Life 
Making All Things New: An Invitation to the Spiritual Life 
A Letter of Consolation 
Gracias: A Latin American Journal 
The Living Reminder: Service and Prayer in Memory of Jesus Christ 
Lifesigns: Intimacy, Fecundity, and Ecstasy in Christian Perspective 
Behold the Beauty of the Lord 
Letters to Marc About Jesus 
The Road to Daybreak: A Spiritual Journey 
Henri Nouwen (Modern Spiritual Masters): Writings Selected With an Introduction by Robert A. Jonas 
In the Name of Jesus: Reflections on Christian Leadership 
Seeds of Hope: A Henri Nouwen Reader 
Beyond the Mirror: Reflections on Death and Life 
The Return of the Prodigal Son: A Story of Homecoming 
Life of the Beloved: Spiritual Living in a Secular World 
Show Me the Way: Daily Lenten Readings 
Here and Now: Living in the Spirit 
Our Greatest Gift: A Meditation on Dying and Caring 
The Inner Voice of Love: A Journey Through Anguish to Freedom 
Can You Drink the Cup? 
Bread for the Journey: A Daybook of Wisdom and Faith 
Adam: God's Beloved 
Sabbatical Journey: The Diary of His Final Year 
The Only Necessary Thing: Living a Prayerful Life 
A Spirituality of Fundraising (Henri Nouwen Spirituality) 
Turn My Mourning into Dancing 
Spiritual Direction: Wisdom for the Long Walk of Faith 
Spiritual Formation: Following the Movements of the Spirit 
Discernment: Reading the Signs of Daily Life 
…

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