"Just Another Catholic Mom", a blog for Catholics, has posted a review of God, Help Me: How to Grow in Prayer, by Jim Beckman :

"I was hooked from the introduction. Beckman nailed all the internal longings I had been feeling and laid them all out. He writes, "Prayer...provides the experience of deep intimacy that our human hearts crave. Through prayer, and only through prayer, we come to a full understanding of who we are and why we are here." He goes on to say that "whether you realize it or acknowledge it, there is something deep inside you longing to be reconnected with the very source of life that gave rise to your existence in the first place. It's in you, you can't silence it." I hadn't articulated these things, but reading them, I knew instantly their veracity."

Read the complete review here.

"Catholic Foodie," a blog for Catholics, has posted a video review of God, Help Me: How to Grow in Prayer by Jim Beckman. "We have to understand how prayer works," says Jeff Young. He then proceeds to explain why. See the video review here.

Catholic Voice, a newspaper published by the Archdiocese of Canberra and Goulburn, Australia, published the following review of Surprised by Canon Law, Volume II:

"Most people probably missed Surprised by Canon Law Volume I so Volume II retains the element of surprise. This book of only 142 pages consists of 13 chapters relating to different areas of Church life.

Each chapter has a question-answer format. Each question is answered by exploring the law of the Church with some 100 questions considered. The questions refer to many current issues in the life of the Church, eg, How long are priests assigned to a parish? Who owns Church property? What is a diocesan ecumenical commission? What is an association of the faithful?

Such questions are not merely of passing interest but touch on the rights and responsibilities of individuals and groups in the Church and the ordering of ecclesial life. This work makes a positive contribution to understanding the law of the Church. It is written in simple, straight-forward English for laity and clergy alike."

See the original review here.

Catholic Weekly, a newspaper published in Australia, recently reviewed God's Doorkeepers.

"God’s Doorkeepers focuses on the lives of three holy men of our times: Blessed Brother Andre (1845–1937; Venerable Solanus Casey (1870–1957) and Padre Pio (1887–1968).

The author presents each of the three and explores the similarities between them.

Who were they?

Padre Pio is a well-loved saint with whom we are all familiar, but Father Solanus and Brother Andre are less well-known.

Yet, they had so much in common.

First of all their deep faith and love of God, their prayerfulness and compassion."

Read the complete review here.

Catholic Weekly, a Catholic newspaper published in Australia, reviewed Hungry for God: Practical Help in Personal Prayer:

"[Martin's] advice is aimed at the beginner wanting to pray and reveal their own intimate relationship with God.

It covers finding a regular time and place for prayer and spiritual reading, the types of distractions in prayer, and how to pray. His advice on overcoming anxiety, guilt, preoccupation, fatigue and ‘wrong’ relationships, all of which can interfere with our prayer life, reminds us that praying well is so closely tied (indeed crucial) to living well more generally.

He also writes of the centrality of the Mass, the need to belong to a Christian community, and of finding a sympathetic spiritual director."

Read the complete review here.

Catholic Weekly, published out of Sydney, Australia, recently reviewed Mike Aquilina's Love in the Little Things:

"Grace, gratitude and sacrifice are recurring themes binding the short, uplifting stories in this book about finding God’s love through everyday family life.

Aquilina draws lessons and inspiration out of tales of the courtship of his wife Terri, of pregnancies, kidney stones and kindly neighbours; even a conversation with a Muslim taxi driver.

With gentle humour and humility he encourages readers to exercise their faith and make their family an 'outpost of his paradise, havens of charity and happiness.'"

Read the complete review here.

"Salvation Is an Adventure," a blog for Catholics, recently reviewed God, Help Me: How to Grow in Prayer: "I have mentioned in a couple of my recent blogs the importance of prayer. Prayer and Sacrifice discusses the need to sacrifice ourselves in prayer and force ourselves to do it even in the midst of feeling spiritually desolate. Beckman addresses this issue that we all face in our prayer and encourages his readers to be consistent in prayer despite how we feel. I make specific reference to Beckman's book in Honesty and Consistency, which are two main themes of prayer in his work." Read the complete review here.