This n' that

...In case you're wondering, the USCCB is in the process of preparing a DVD on the Divinity of Christ to be released and distributed next spring in anticipation of The da Vinci Code movie. It's my understanding that they'll be using academics for face time and not mere popularizers. Harrumph. Well, at least the work is being done!

...I spent last week revising a chapter to be published in a book on the theme of what the secular press doesn't get about religion. My chapter was on what the MSM missed in their coverage of the death of John Paul II and the election of Benedict XVI. It's not horrible, I hope. Who knows.

...Two new volumes in the Loyola Classics series are now available - Vipers' Tangle by Francois Mauriac and The Last Catholic in America by John Powers. Coming later this fall will be The Edge of Sadness by Edwin O'Connor and The Devil's Advocate by Morris West. I'll be blogging on these at greater length over the next week or so.

...The Anchoress has an appreciative post on a new book by David Scott, The Catholic Passion. I concur - the book is really excellent. I'll tell you a little bit of backstory on this - the book had its origins 8 years ago - it was going to be a sort of coffee-table book intro to Catholicism, with David (the former editor of the OSV paper) doing text and me doing sidebars. It was going to be my first chance to do something that involved a real book with covers and everything. Well, over time, the project transformed, and the judgment was made that David's text was so unique and of such depth that it really deserved to stand alone - and so here's the final product. No sidebars were written, but soon after that Loyola asked me to do the Kids' Book of Saints, so here we are.

...My Catholic Woman's Book of Days - a 365 daily devotional, is now available, as well.