September Commonplace
BOOK REPORTS
AUDIOBOOK: Feh: A Memoir by Shalom Auslander You have to understand a bit of Jewish culture to truly appreciate this book. It is filled with horrific stories of emotional trauma, but the twist of humor will have you laughing until you cry. It is the sad and yet hilarious tale of how the stories we’re told shape us for better or worse. If you’re up for the challenge, I highly recommend this book.
BOOK: The House of My Mother by Shari Franke I read this book as a follow-up to the Hulu limited series, Devil in the Family: The Fall of Ruby Franke.It tells the story of a popular family YouTube influencer who subjected her family to cruel abuse. Ruby’s oldest child, Shari, writes this book and tells the story from her perspective. It is as heartbreaking as the TV series and a testament to the community’s failure. I’m not convinced this young woman has completely recovered from her ordeal. It was a sad amendment to a tragic story.
TV: Unknown Number: The High School Catfish on Netflix Once again, I watched another true-crime documentary that left me shaking my head and asking why. I won’t reveal the storyline, but it is almost unbelievable. It is alarming. And, just like the last few I’ve watched, there doesn’t seem to be a healthy outcome. I truly believe that there needs to be some form of therapeutic follow-up for the participants.
MOVIE: Resistance - Hulu This World War II movie tells the true-life story of the famous mime Marcel Marceau. His work with a group of Jewish scouts and later in the French Resistance saved the lives of thousands of children during the Nazi occupation of France. I loved it.
TV: Catch-22 on Hulu I am embarrassed to say that I have never read this book. But when I saw the reviews for this limited series (and realized the story is told from the World War II era, I couldn’t pass it up. The story is humorous, but at its core, it is a poignant tale of soldiers at war and the absurdity of bureaucracy, particularly in the military during times of conflict. Similar to the book “Feh,” for something to be funny, there must be an element of truth.
COMMONPLACE
"You drown not by falling into a river, but by staying submerged in it." — Paulo Coelho
“I write entirely to find out what I'm thinking, what I'm looking at, what I see and what it means. What I want and what I fear.” - Joan Didion
“I don't know what I think until I write it down.” ― Joan Didion
“I die with joy, for I desire to be united to my God. Live so as not to fear death.” — St. Rose of Viterbo
“The final forming of a person’s character lies in their own hands.” — Anne Frank
"Be at peace with your own soul, then heaven and earth will be at peace with you!" - St. Jerome
“Spiritual people may experience transcendence, but understand that for most people spirituality lasts and deepens only if it is lived out within that maddening community called institutionalized religion. Religions embed the love of God in holidays, practices, and rituals, and make them solid and enduring. As Rabbi David Wolpe once wrote, ‘Spirituality is an emotion. Religion is an obligation. Spirituality soothes. Religion mobilizes. Spirituality is satisfied with itself. Religion is dissatisfied with the world.’” — David Brooks, The Second Mountain
“Child trafficking in the United States generates more revenue than all pro sports combined.” — Craig Sawyer, Former Navy Seal and founder of Veterans for Child Rescue (Epoch Times, August 2025)
Bishop Robert Barron’s response to Senator Tim Kaine - September 2025)
Timothy Cardinal Dolan’s response to the assignation of Charlie Kirk - September 2025
