In My Mailbox #11

It's Sunday and time for In My Mailbox, a weekly meme hosted by The Story Siren to show what books we got over the past week.

This week I got two books from the library:

A Year of Living Generously: Dispatches from the Frontlines of Philanthropy by Lawrence Scanlan (2010)

Can one person make a difference? When we write a cheque to a charity or volunteer at a food bank, we're part of the solution-aren't we? Author Lawrence Scanlan went looking for answers to those questions by selecting twelve different charitable organizations and spending a month in each. What he discovered during his year-long odyssey was the new face of philanthropy-its players, its politics, its undeniable satisfactions and its fundamental perils. This fresh and critical look at diverse approaches to the troubles of the world's less fortunate demonstrates the compelling need for greater commitment and real connection from us all-individuals, philanthropists of every stripe, and government.


The Bishop's Man by Linden MacIntyre (2009)
Known to fellow priests as the "Exorcist" because of his special role as clean-up man for the Bishop of Antigonish, Duncan has a talent for coolly reassigning deviant priests while ensuring minimal fuss from victims and their families. It has been a lonely vocation, but Duncan is generally satisfied that his work is a necessary defense of the church. All this changes when lawyers and a policeman snoop too close for the bishop's comfort. Duncan is assigned a parish in the remote Cape Breton community of Creignish and told to wait it out. Attempting to distract himself with parish work, Duncan takes an interest in troubled young Danny, whose good-hearted father sells Duncan a boat he names The Jacinta. To Duncan's alarm, he discovers that the boy once spent time with an errant priest who had been dispatched by Duncan himself to Port Hood. Duncan begins to ask questions, dreading the answers. When tragedy strikes, he knows that he must act. But will his actions be those of a good priest, or an all too flawed man?

Comments

  1. AnonymousJuly 25, 2010 at 10:01 AM

    The Bishop's Man sounds really good...will look forward to your review :-)

    ReplyDelete
  2. Missie, The Unread ReaderJuly 25, 2010 at 11:05 AM

    Hey Shan,
    These look like great library finds. The description of The Bishop's Man gave me the chills!

    FYI, I'm hosting my first giveaway. Check it out if you have a chance:
    The The New Me Giveaway!

    Happy Reading,
    The Unread Reader

    ReplyDelete
  3. Joy Tamsin DavidJuly 25, 2010 at 11:17 AM

    Hi Shan, I wanted to say thanks for the Sins of the Mother book. I received it this week and it's on my In My Mailbox list. :)

    Joy

    ReplyDelete
  4. ClaireJuly 25, 2010 at 6:02 PM

    Oooh, good books! You have inspired me to get reading again!

    Cxx

    ReplyDelete
  5. ShanJuly 26, 2010 at 7:49 AM

    Thanks for stopping by!

    I have been waiting on The Bishop's Man for a while now, I was around #1300 when I joined the queue at the library...that's what happens when a book is a Giller Prize winner.

    Claire - I'm so glad you're back into reading! I love seeing what you are reading on your blog.

    ReplyDelete

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