BOOKS

There is a close relationship between charitable action and philanthropy on the part of religious organizations, according to Thomas J. Davis, editor of "Religion in Philanthropic Organizations: Family, Friend, Foe?" But the philanthropy his book focuses upon aims principally at alleviating society's ills and making the world a better place. This might be done through caring for the sick, feeding and educating the poor, disaster relief, counseling families that suffer or aid for immigrants.

Chapels at Princeton, Harvard, Yale and the University of Chicago are explored in Margaret M. Grubiak's "White Elephants on Campus," which provides readers with two history lessons. One is about religion's role on campuses of private, nondenominational U.S. universities; the other is about the architecture of these chapels.

“Rekindling the Christic Imagination: Theological Meditations for the New Evangelization” is a book that takes us to a place where we should be and where we should have been all along.

In the opening line of her new book, “Non-negotiable: Essential Principles of a Just Society and Humane Culture,” Sheila Liaugminas writes, “We the people are losing our ability to think clearly or reason well.”

Jennifer Fulwiler had no faith with which to take a leap. The big questions of life always nagged her and as she grew, she began to understand that her father’s science did not explain all things.

Mark Hart of Life Teen wastes no time getting to the heart of the matter in his new book, “Behold the Mystery: A Deeper Understanding of the Catholic Mass,” when he illustrates the lengths to which people will go to obtain something upon which they place great value — camping out for days for movie tickets, new products, lotteries, silly game shows, etc.

A Maryland-based catechist and writer reviews a book by a professor emeritus at Arizona State University and twice a Fulbright fellow, who begins "The Catholic Labyrinth" with these words, "The argument of this book is not that Catholicism changes ... the story concerns how the church changes and by how much, and the direction of the change as well."

When local author Sherry Boas decided to branch off into children’s books, she didn’t have to go too far for inspiration.

If we’ve been paying attention as Catholics, we’ve heard or read the figures: Catholicism is bleeding like a ripe tomato in a meat grinder;...

These two slim paperbacks serve up substantial food for thought about the sacredness of the family dinner table: "Table of Plenty: Good Food for Body and Spirit" and "Epic Food Fight"