Reading With Raymond

 
Stories of the Saints 
By Carey Wallace
Illustrated by Nick Thornborrow
Workman $24

This book will delight today’s young readers and adults as well, with 70 short stories of men and women who gained sainthood through miraculous and adventurous works. Stories range from one of the earliest saints, Lawrence, who, while being burned over hot coals said, “Turn me over. This side is done”; to the more well known, Francis Assisi, Aquinas, Bernadette, Teresa of Calcutta (Mother Teresa), and the two Popes prior to Pope Francis. Thornborrow’s colorful, fantastic illustrations will further excite children’s imagination.









Irving Berlin: New York Genius
By James Kaplan
Yale University Press $26

Don’t be surprised if you find yourself humming along as you read Kaplan’s delightful bio of the man whom Jerome Kern said, “He is American music.” You may know him best as the composer of “God Bless America” or “White Christmas,” but Berlin has composed more than 1,500 tunes, including, “Heat Wave,” “Alexander’s Ragtime Band,” and “Blue Skies.” He lived until 101.









The Ghost Army of World War II 
By Rick Beyer and Elizabeth Sayles
Princeton Architectural Press $40

See for yourself some of the actual inflatable armaments used in “the Ghost Army” on display at the World War II Museum in New Orleans. The “Army” described in this fascinating book includes inflatable tanks, trucks, jeeps, recorded sounds and 1,100 men pretending to be 30,000, which totally fooled the Germans into thinking Patton’s Sixth Armored Division was planning an attack far from the actual target. See an actual inflatable tank as well as other techniques used to deceive the German forces.







The Gospel of Matthew: A Spiritual and
Pastoral Reading
By Pope Francis
Orbis $22

This compilation of Pope Francis’ thoughts, reflections and meditations provide an illuminating guide to the treasures, some hidden, of Matthew’s words. The Pope’s prayerful comments on Matthew’s Gospels provide thoughtful incentives for personal reflection on the life of Jesus from his birth to his resurrection. As Father Daniel P. Horan, O.F.M., quotes Pope Francis in his foreword … “May looking at the Last Judgment never frighten us; rather, may it impel us to live the present better.”




 



Fair Warning
By Michael Connelly
Little, Brown $29

Reporter Jack McEvoy warns readers of fraud,
scams and unsuspected traps, then becomes the victim of one himself when he buys a strange woman a drink and she ends up murdered. Police make him the number one suspect and pursue him incessantly. Chilling.












Three Hours in Paris
By Cara Black
SOHO Crime $27.99

Timed to the second, Kate Rees, a young American markswoman, waits at a window for the only shot she’ll have to assassinate Hitler. Just as she pulls the trigger, the German monster unbelievably leans over to kiss a baby. Her shot misses and Kate’s on the run for her life. Suspenseful.






  By James Patterson and James O. Born
Little, Brown $28

Detective Michael Bennett, as regular readers know, has a son in prison and he’ll do anything to get him out. The Mayor of New York, not always Bennett’s best friend, also has a problem; his daughter is missing and he wants Michael to find her. Bennett accepts the quid-pro-quo and now anything goes. Patterson at his best.