Customer Reviews

Love in the Little Things: Tales of Family Life

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I love a great story.

The greatest storyteller was, of course, Jesus. He showed us how to live through parables, stories. Mike Aquilina follows in Jesus' footsteps.

In the spirit of full disclosure, I should let you all know the Aquilinas are friends. I've had the pleasure of personally hearing some of Mike's stories before he put them into a book for the rest of the world. Yet, there was a special pleasure in reading them. In fact, I read them aloud for my husband and children. They loved hearing Mike's stories before bedtime! They made us laugh, cry, and think seriously about how we are to live as Christians.

A good story goes beyond teaching, rather it "shows." It shows us how to live. It shows us the truth we should already know in our hearts (natural order, morality, respect, love) and brings those truths to the forefront of our minds. They show us so that we may imitate and live them out.

A good story is pleasing to the ear and to heart, just as Christ's parables are pleasing. They show us the path to eternal life in a way we never forget. They burn in our souls. Mike carries on this storytelling tradition with Love in the Little Things!

This is a "little book." You know what I mean: you take a look, think you can knock this book off by lunch time, and that'll be that.



But, Love in the Little Things is bigger than that. Yes, the reading is quick and easy, but the ideas loom larger than their appearance. Hmmm ... kind of like Jesus of Nazareth ... growing up in a non-descript way, living a quiet family life, full of hidden things beyond this earthly realm, beyond our imagining.



And that's what Mike Aquilina shows us: that family life is a very real reflection of the Trinity. It's the path to holiness for those of us who are called to this vocation.



But, these little vignettes aren't heavy-handed lectures. They are charming tales about Mike (often self-deprecating), his wife, Terri (adoring), and their delightful children (abundant fatherly love abounds.)



In "It's Verse than I Imagined" (and yes, many of the titles are punny, as are Mike's blog post titles), Mike takes a look at his daughter Mary Agnes's growing awareness of the unrelenting ways in which life will break our hearts. He inserts a line from one of my favorite Gerard Manley Hopkins poems at the perfect moment -- and every parent will face a version of this moment -- and in doing so, elevates this essay from sweet and charming to profound.



And, he keeps doing that. In short pieces about his wife, his children and his parents, he shows us, time and again, that family life is bursting with opportunities to grow in holiness. Bishop Thomas Tobin, of Providence, called this book "a domestic catechism for the domestic church," and it is that, indeed.



I'm starting to sound like a broken record -- every time I read a writer I love, I say I want that writer to live next door to me, and come over for copious amounts of coffee (I think Mike would approve the beverage choice ... one of the essays is entitled, "For the Love of Coffee" ....)



I'm afraid it's true again. It's no secret that I love Mike Aquilina, and I would love for Mike and Terri to move in next door. I'd love to meet their poetic Mary Agnes and their blunt Isabella (who, in "The Truth About Butterfly Princess" told her father, "That's OK, though. I'll bet you were really handsome back when Mommy married you.") I'd love to talk to Rosemary, the "great and cute saint," to meet sneaker-wearing Michael, who pays as much attention to what's on his feet as does my Anne-with-an-e, and to hug their little Gracie, whose encounter with beloved Papa John Paul II was as sweet as it was enviable.



In other words, I'd love to meet the whole crew. You will, too, after reading Love in the Little Things. And, while you're being charmed by these tales of family life, you just might pick up some tips and inspiration for that long and winding road to heaven along the way.

What a wonderful little book! It was truly a pleasure to read, laugh, and even shed a tear a time or two. More importantly this slim volume managed to really challenge me to look at where and how I can continue to work on my spiritual life in the midst of my own family.

Mike Aquilina talks about something we all can relate to -- how family life and marriage give us endless opportunities to live a holy life and see God's touch everywhere. These essays range from short two-page works beginning with a family story, usually humorous, and then go to a simple reflection about a needed grace or lesson learned that the incident illustrates or sparks. These are the sorts of examples many of us need to see God's hand in the everyday and to remind us that everything we do is an opportunity to grow in a holiness that needn't be stuffy or holier-than-thou. It is all very real and down-t0-earth.

Some chapters are longer essays that are packed full of good reflections, also stemming from family interactions, that take us to deeper reflective depths. A favorite of mine is about the "Spousal Secret." In other words, what is the secret to being a good husband (or wife). As you'd guess, it is self sacrifice but it is examined from every angle in a very readable way.

I have read LOVE IN THE LITTLE THINGS and gifted 40 or more copies of LOVE IN THE LITTLE THINGS - actually so many that the first time I sent them out to friends, from Amazon, Amazon had to cut me off of more orders because the publisher only allows a certain number to be sold to the same person. Don't ask me why, but it is true; I called in and asked. But the new year seems to have given me a new slate and I can buy LOVE IN THE LITTLE THINGS again and send it to friends.

Why have I NOT reviewed it? It is too good for me to review. Simple as that. I am SPEECHLESS - but I am going to review it and come in here and edit this post. I just have to say that it is a perfect book. I don't know what that means but it is a perfect book. The poems make me hug myself! The stories of the the Father of the Author, Mike Aquilina (who happens to be my favorite author) are wonderful stories. They make you lonely . . . and happy and sad. I think this book is REAL - about real people and real love and real memories.

The stories of Frostbite and Children and a, and a, and a . . . all the stories made me smile and cry at the same time.

I don't review any book or movie that I don't like - I am positive - but LOVE IN THE LITTLE THINGS is over the top Great.

If you are looking for a book that would be easy for a busy parent to read and yet still pack a spiritual punch, this is the book for you. The author is entertaining, funny, inspiring, and very insightful. This book will help you remember what is amazing about family life and it will help you refocus your spirituality [if you happen to have lost focus in the midst of the chaos that is child rearing!].

I found this book surprisingly helpful - it was a quick, easy read but full of insight and very deep [yet accessible] spiritual truth. And it had the added benefit of being very entertaining and interesting to read.

I recommend this book highly for any Catholic parent who wants to do better - both spiritually and as a parent and/or spouse.

Easy to read and easily digestible in short chapters. Often humorous and touching family tales that will help you see the big Church in your little church at home!

This book was a great and easy read. I loved the little chapters since I tend to fall asleep at night after only a few pages of a book (due to my tiredness not the quality of the book!). I really enjoyed Mike's stories and loved hearing about his family with lots of good messages and faith built in.

I read this book the night before giving birth to our third son, and have picked it up many times in the past three months while nursing the baby. The short, humor-filled chapters make it perfect middle-of-the-night reading for nursing moms... it is now my standard gift to expecting mothers. Aquilina's tales of his family's life have provided me with lots of great ideas to incorporate into our own family life -- making this book a fun read and a practical one too.

I got to know of Mike Aquilina's writing through his excellent blog "The Way of the Fathers"; if you haven't visited, go take a look! Mike has that rare talent of successfully expressing the significant or the complex in straightforward language. Here he turns that talent to "Tales of Family Life" and gives us forty miniatures in a hundred and thirty pages, none of which take more than a few minutes to read. All of them are enjoyable, some of them are profound; read and savour them!