Thomas is an insightful gospel scholar, but also a lyrical writer. I found her book a delight to read. Thomas earned a Ph.D in early Christian history and was a professor of ancient scripture at BYU until a calling to serve in Argentina with her husband as a Mission President. Reviews have been especially strong. A reviewer for the Association of Mormon Letters wrote: "I expected a sort of schmaltzy, feel-good women's book . . . However, I found this book to be completely different from my expectations -- it is thoughtfully written and gives many new doctrinal insights. Thomas uses wonderful quotes from church authorities to substantiate her ideas, and offers many fresh perspectives into frequently discussed topics. . .
I definitely recommend this book -- I didn't find it to be the "light" reading that I expected, but instead discovered that it was "heavy" with insightful ideas for coping with the struggles of temporal life." (Jana Remy). BYU English Professor Richard Cracroft calls it a soul-satisfying book, adding: "Reminding us in skillful prose "that we came down to a fallen world to experience deliverance from it," she points out that our many mortal burdens may be lightened by faith in a God who is in charge and "will bring to our attention that which it is necessary for us to know when we need to know it."("'High Time to Awake': LDS Books That Awaken the Soul," Brigham Young Magazine, Fall 1997).
Chapters include: The Veil of Unbelief, Spiritual Lightening,
"The Doer of Our Deeds,"
Premortal Election and Grace,
Women, Priesthood, and the At-One-Ment,
Enduring Marriage,
Love and Fear,
Living the Spirit of At-One-Ment,
"For Their Sakes I Sanctify Myself,"
Spiritual Discouragement,
Healing Through Repentance,
Agents of Healing,
Filling the Empty Cup

Saint Catherine of Siena wanted too be a hermiet at the age of six! This book is a book you should read before reading Saint Rose. I,ve read both and they should be bought together.

This book has to be the best of its kind. The information is enough to give you a basic understanding of each saint listed in this book. Very good book for preachers and history majors to have handy.

Of the three dictionaries of saints that I use (Delaney's Pocket Dictionary of Saints and the Oxford Dictionary of Saints are the others), this possesses the most benefits. It not only includes the usual capsule biographies (don't expect any book of saints to include the same information) and appendices about Patron saints and symbols, but also a glossary of terms used in hagiography (the study of saints), something which neither Delaney nor Stone offer. If the book has any weakness, it is that the list of patron saints is too brief and incomplete. (Delaney's appendix is the best of the three, but his work has other faults.) Attwater and daughter also do not treat us to discussions of saintly relics (one of the joys of Stone's excellent work). Despite these minor flaws, I would choose this volume over the other two were I able only to own one of the books. (It is better, still, to own all three.)

This book is a great addition to the library of anyone who wants to know more about the lives of the great men and women of the Christian Faith. It includes Saints from the New Testament/Apostolic Age until the modern day. Each entry gives an excellent description of each Saint's life and work. It also has the reason for canonization (martyr, bishop, etc.) and the date it occurred, the date of birth and death, and the person's feast day in the Church (usually in the western calendar). Although the entries usually include only the basic information (about half a page on average), at the end of each entry the authors have added a reading list for those who wish to learn more about each Saint. The book also has an introduction that addresses such issues as sources, confessors, martyrs, and canonization. A glossary of terms is present, which includes a basic definition of words that may be difficult for some (e.g. Monothelism and Cenobite). The Dictionary has a useful appendix that contains a list of patron Saints, emblems, and a calendar of the feast days of the Saints listed. Although The Penguin Dictionary of Saints is very useful, I should mention that it includes mainly Roman Catholic Saints. Many of those canonized only (or deemed more important) in the Eastern Orthodox and Anglican Churches are not present, although the authors have included most of the universally accepted Saints (and even many minor ones) from both the East and Great Britain. Overall, this is an excellent resource that no Christian should be without; I use it all the time.

The text is sometimes a little dull and difficult to follow but the scope of the information presented is wide ranging and concise enough to keep you going. It was very enjoyable to learn about stuctures that you don't often see mentioned in other works. This is a very good addition to a library. I think that sometimes the text drifts from its intended purpose but the drifts are all pleasant.

Reading or browsing "The Empress and Architect" is a thrilling experience. Along with the great reproductions of Cameron's works, the Author of the book offers insightful and precise vision of syncretic relations between Russian and British culture. Unfortunately for Russia, the momentum of these cultural relatiions was abruptly ended after Bolshevik revolution of 1917. "The Empress and Architect" is truly one of the best books on Russian Classical Architecture published in English.

I travelled to St. Petersburg in November 2002 and found this guide to be of great assistance in planning what I wanted to see, getting background information and in follow-up reading after I returned. The pictures are beautiful, and the background information is extensive and helpful in understanding what you are going to see. There are extensive maps and diagrams to sites such as the Hermitage Museum and background information that was very helpful. For example, I read about the top sights in the Hermitage so I could be sure to look for them in my quick guided three hour tour. I also knew something about the murder of Rasputin before I toured the Yusupov Palace where the murder took place.

The one drawback is that the 1998 publication date makes this book not very useful in information on new hotels, restaurants or prices. For example, there was nothing about the relatively new "Vodka Museum" which is near St. Isaac's cathedral, where my friends and I had a fun visit.

Compare guidebooks and I think you will see that this one is by far the best for detail, pictures and general information.

Highly recommended.

If I was taking just one guide, 'Eyewitness Travel Guide to St. Petersburg' would be my first choice. Although it is starting to age (published in 1998) it is a good visual and historic guide to St Petersburg, with enough color photographs to both inspire and guide you.

As other reviewers have noted, this book is ideal to use to review with a tour guide the sights and areas that you want to see because of its diagrams, pictures and suggested itineraries.

It is also ideal for the cruise ship visitors who will be in St. Petersburg for less than three days, as the photos give a good appreciation to the visitor of what there is to see, especially in a limited amount of time.

The history and art sections are reasonably good for a guide book.

The restaurant and hotel suggestions are a bit stale, and the pricing is out of date (although the range of pricing is still reasonably accurate).

I just returned from three months in St. Petersburg, and I found this book to be mostly useful. The maps and descriptions of museums and major historical sites are quite good. The sections on food, drink and gifts are well done, but very brief. The recommendations for travel outside of St. Petersburg are also good, Repina is particularly beautiful in the summer. As a student, one major problem I had with this book was the restaurant section. For the most part, the establishments recommended were either foreign run or clearly catering to foreigners, and rather pricy for a student on a budget. I could have found phoney western food on my own, I would have appreciated more native choices in town. I found it worthwhile to combine this book with the Lonely Planet travel guide, as that book gave more complete background information on more varied places, including better places to eat. In short, this is an excellent book for a casual traveler, but it needs a suppliment for a longer stay.

As a fan of great historical fiction (e.g. anything by Dorothy Dunnett, Eco, Anya Seton), I had high hopes for this book. Alas. The writing here, while noble for a first effort, is ultimately mediocre, the plot obvious and distasteful.

This is the story of Felix Fabri, a Dominican from Ulm in Swabia, daring a 1483 pilgrimage to the obscure tomb of Ste. Katherine of Alexandria somewhere in the wilderness of the Sinai Peninsula. He imagined himself betrothed to the saint and it is this spiritual marriage that drives him to find her earthly remains. Lugubrious Felix was an actual historical figure (1441-1502) whose compulsive yearning was recorded in Aubrey Stewart's The Wanderings of Felix Fabri (1896; reprinted AMS Press 1971). It would have helped the reader to discover the historical orientation at the very beginning of the book instead of hidden away in the "Author's Note" on p.341. But Holman prefers to startle the reader by beginning in midst of one of the dreadful days of the journey and then feeds bits of information until the reader gets the idea. Alas, this is not a mystery novel where you would expect an unravelling of "who did it?". Instead the story moves exceedingly slowly through a world of superstition and religious mania with few noteworthy events. Felix narrates on several levels: with his fellow pilgrims, with the imaginary presence of Ste. Katherine, but mostly ghostlike with his confratres back in the Ulm monastery. It's likely that most readers will initially experience confusion and wonder who is talking to whom. There is a gimmicky element in Homan's style, as if she intends to vex, even confuse, the reader. Perhaps her acrobatic narrative skill tries to conceal the fact that there isn't really much of a story. And fickle Felix isn't much of a protagonist - there are no conflicts to be solved, no values to be defended. In short, there's no hero with whom the reader can sympathize or identify. Uncanningly clever metaphors and similes try to make up for this lacuna. Unfortunately, the effort stuffs the story so chockful of deliria and hallucinations and obscure metamorphoses that its pace slows to murky meanderings. When Felix finally says, "I can play this game no longer, brethren," many a reader might concur and seek a quick end to the book. Nonetheless, Holman's talents as a writer cannot be dismissed. Language's malleability achieves genius in her narration and her stunning vocabulary. She is an obedient follower of writers' workshops that insist on casting exposition into lively dialogues and even clever word games (the pilgrims associated saints with spices: St. Dominic = hot pepper; St. Anthony of the Desert = oregano). Holman's surrealistic scenes are interesting; for example she juggles metamorphoses of the woman Arsinoe into her own husband, into Ste. Katherine, and into a number of other vague entities. It is apparent that Holman thoroughly researched the physical and cultural conditions of the Middle Ages. (Among tidbits: In 1969 the Catholic Church annulled Friar Felix's spiritual marriage and Ste. Katherine was removed from Catholic canon). This is a difficult book to review as it mingles genius with gimmickry and leaves important dimensions unfulfilled.

I've read some wonderful books this year, but the one which sticks in my mind is The Stolen Tongue. Friar Felix is one of the most finely etched characters in historical fiction. And wow!--what a journey he goes on. Felix is on a pilgrimage to the Sinai desert to meet with his spiritual wife, Saint Katherine. Along the way, we have relics, lots of relics, lice, mad men and women, devotion, love, prayer, and of course, death-- all written in fine detailed language! It's one journey I won't easily forget and Sheri Holman writes it with great skill. She is easily one of the best writers I have read. Don't miss this book. It's a great story.

This book is simply written for people of all ages to enjoy. This book shows the life of St. Faustina and devotion to the Divine Mercy in a very spirited way. A must read for any one interested in the lives of the Saints or the Divine Mercy.

Catherine Beebe has been given a gift that is truly unique and extroadanary! She has written in detail the lives of 2 very important and spiritual people.

I like St. Dominic and the Rosary because it highlights the major events in St. Dominic's life in a way that is colorful and interesting. Incidents described in the book, whether about St. Dominic being accosted by bandits eager to murder him or his attempt to move a picture that would return to its place, are not covered in a dry historical manner but in a lively fashion which make for it being a page-turner book. Altogether, the book is a delightful one to read and I recommend it to anyone wanting to get better acquainted with St. Dominic's character.

I got this book because as a post-Vatican II Catholic, I wanted to know what type of life nuns had. I never went to Catholic school and my parish really never had any nuns present. To date, I still don't know! This title is very misleading. The author did not chronicle a year in the life; she took anecdotes from various nuns of their personal experience with their vocation. Also, one should be warned that the author is a lapsed Catholic with some bitter feelings toward the male hierarchy of the Catholic church that she has not resolved. Most of the anecdotes in this book are by women who left their orders because they were dissatisfied. Overall, the book was well-written and kept me very interested, but I believe the title is completely misleading and will cause more people to buy the book than normally would have, myself included.

I was almost through the book when I realized the author really thought she was writing about calling (newfangled version of "vocation") in a general way. She or her editor just didn't get it done. Little cries about a "different" sort of book - just go where it leads you, etc., can't defend jumping around from anecdote to anecdote and then measuring EVERYTHING by herself and her shutdown life. All that glory and all she can do is go over and over how she was "rejected." I really enjoyed the stories of the nuns, though. Staying or leaving, they gave us glimpses of women of depth and wonder. I've never been a Roman Catholic but I'm a Christian. I'm glad I read this and in the words of people lots younger than old me, the author needs to "get a life."

This book evoked a number of emotions as I read it. There were times I laughed aloud, remembering my own Catholic school days. Many times books of this type resort to veiled "nun bashing". We tend to focus on Sister Matilda, the drill sergeant, who rapped our knuckles with the ruler! Ms Whitney, however, portrays these Nuns as real, human women who are continually growing and rededicating themselves. Though their numbers are fewer at this time, they are reaching out to others in more diverse ways. Many of the women who left the Convent seem to still have a bond with the Nuns. This speaks well for Religious life! The author's own spiritual journey, woven throughout the story, was thought provoking and touching. I found her characters, as well as the message of the book ,very believable.