, so I checked it out of the library and read it. I'm happy for her that she really liked it but it was a slog for me. I really wanted to like this book - it has a nun in it!, it's written by a fellow Catholic!, and it's about friendship. Rather than disliking the book, perhaps it's better to say I just didn't care for it. Only discipline got me through this book.
What didn't I like about it you ask? There are too many holes in the story. The book is memoir of the author's relationship with an elderly nun he meets running an errand with a friend and how it grew over a 5 year period. It bothered me that the author was stingy with information about the dates he knew Sister Augustine. The book's description of when the events take place is shallow. Oh, there are some dates mentioned, the Sister's year of birth, Christmas, certain weeks before or after Christmas. It just felt unnecessarily coy to me. Why not include the years this happened?
The cover of the book mentions answering Life's Greatest Questions. Well, Sister mentions she wasn't afraid to die as she viewed death as going to her reward. Love is important. God is in control. All of these are true and wonderful but the author's writing style doesn't present the answers in any coherent fashion. His description of his own education, family life, and faith makes him seem as if he is a well catechised individual. There is nothing in the book as to why these questions were such issues for him.
Memoirs ARE about the person writing them but this one left a lot of unanswered questions. Did John ever paint with Sister Augustine? What effect did the money from the ceramics sales have on the Benedictine convent? What was the name of his cookbook?
Enough complaining and now for the positives. I enjoyed getting to know Sister Augustine through the book. John Schlimm writes in a pleasant conversational style I'm glad to be returning the book to the library.
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