A Continual Feast: Words of Comfort and Celebration, Collected by Father Tim » (Reprint)

If you have ever wanted to settle down in an idyllic small town and live a life focused on faith and family, Jan Karon's books are for you. Her Mitford series follows a rural town, its inhabitants and its rector with humor, sentiment and a foundation of Christian values that help characters overcome setbacks.

For years, Mitford's Father Tim Kavanagh has transcribed into his dog-eared journals words of wisdom, faith, and encouragement gleaned from favorite thinkers.

Indeed, A Continual Feast contains lively ideas, common sense, profound wisdom, and plain good humor from the likes of C. S. Lewis, Emily Dickinson, William Blake, Helen Keller, G. K. Chesterton, and Will Rogers. To name but a few.

Want to know a surefire way to read someone's true character?

Check out what Goethe has to say.

Strive to be that rare individual who labors to serve others, and what will you have? “Little competition,” according to Andrew Carnegie.

This entertaining and useful handbook is for all those who relish a good “Aha!,” including authors, clergy, speechmakers, dog lovers, and anyone who enjoys provocative insight into everything from the righteous to the ridiculous.

Together with its companion volume, Patches of Godlight, Father Tim's latest quote journal is sure proof of what Lord Byron once penned:

“A small drop of ink produces that which makes thousands think.”

Publishers Weekly

Hard-core fans of Karon's fictional Mitford will welcome her latest offering, a sequel of sorts to Patches of Godlight. Like Patches, this "commonplace book" collects favorite quotations of Karon's protagonist Father Tim on things quotidian and spiritual. Everything from John Wesley's "Direction for Singing" to witticisms by Lauren Bacall are here. Book lovers will delight in the musings about books, such as the Italian proverb "There is no worse robber than a bad book." There are reflections on aging, a few felicitous selections from Proverbs and some wise instructions about prayer. Father Tim (and Karon) are nothing if not well read: other sources of wisdom in this slender volume include Thomas Jefferson, George Herbert, Episcopal priest Barbara Brown Taylor, William Shakespeare, Dietrich Bonhoeffer, Billy Graham, Mother Teresa, St. Augustine, Epictetus and Dorothy Sayers. And, of course, there's a good dose of Oswald Chambers, one of Father Tim's favorite devotional writers (Chambers is often quoted in the Mitford novels, as well). The book's design is delightful; most of the quotations appear in a font meant to resemble Father Tim's hand (scrawling, yes, but not too hard to read), with the occasional quotation typed on his trusty Royal manual and faux-taped into this book. Even folks who have never journeyed to Mitford will enjoy Karon's enchanting collection of insightful quotations. (Mar.) Copyright 2005 Reed Business Information.