Reviews: Simplifying the Soul

Paula Huston’s new book is very much like the author herself: wise, compassionate, friendly, inviting.  Her warm and personal series of meditations will surely draw you more deeply into the great mystery of Lent.  Too often thought of as simply a season of sacrifice, Lent is revealed here as something far richer--a privileged time to experience God in your everyday life, to open yourself to conversion, and to savor God’s transforming love.
(James Martin, S.J., author of the Jesuit Guide to (Almost) Everything)

This is the most moving, most appealing and, at the same time, most practical book I have ever seen on Lenten practices.  It is a verbal retreat that invites both the soul and the body to a holy retooling.
(Phyllis Tickle, author of The Great Emergence)

 Paula Huston takes a series of simple, ordinary acts--the first is to clean out a junk drawer--inserts it into a brief personal story, and turns it into a Lenten practice.  One act and story for each day of Lent.  She offers herself as a lively companion in a Lenten practice stripped of cliches.  Join her--it might be the simplest and liveliest Lent you have ever kept.
(Eugene Peterson, author of Pastor: A Memoir)

Paula Huston is one of my favorite guides to a fuller spiritual life.  She’s so sane, sympathetic, and practical, recognizing that the way to holiness need not be as daunting or difficult as we sometimes make it seem.  Simplifying the Soul draws on monastic wisdom and the inspiration of the desert fathers to emphasize again that easy, improving practices that give us greater calm and happiness may be exactly what God wishes for us in our Lenten season. 
(Ron Hansen, author of Mariette in Ecstasy)

Paula Huston, a natural story-teller, is also a woman of finely honed spiritual intelligence.  I love that the practices she recommends are eminently doable, rising out of the down-to-earth lifestyle she and her husband have chosen.  When I read her words I am galvanized and motivated toward greater simplicity.
(Luci Shaw, author of Water My Soul)

Simple, yet so profound!  Paula Huston provides spiritual seekers a fresh perspective on the opportunities opened to us during the season of Lent.  By pairing enlightened mediations with practical disciplines, Paula leads us to a renewed soul, a space for a deeper relationship with Christ, and an inner room to revel in the promise of Easter.  Simply beautiful!
(Lisa Hendey, author of The Handbook for Catholic Moms)