The Catholics Next Door

The Catholics Next Door was written by an ordinary husband and wife; it's about their Adventures in Imperfect Living.  Greg and Jennifer Willits are the parents of five children and in addition to having written this book they host a daily radio show on The Catholic Channel and founded several apostolates.  I first heard of the Willits a few years ago when my eldest daughter got a new car with Sirius radio; she fell in love with them and so I jumped at the chance to read and review their book.

The Willits write about ordinary life as a Catholic family living in suburbia. They write about the good times and the bad; they write about their strengths and their struggles with ordinary life and issues of faith. I was amazed that despite the age difference, I have struggled with  many of the same issues of which they write although we did follow different paths to the truth of our Faith.

The Catholics Next Door is a book that can be enjoyed by a wide variety of readers; my nearly 21 year old daughter (of whom I spoke earlier) enjoyed it as much as I did although I imagine we took away different gems from the book. Readers will enjoy that the Willets truly are an ordinary Catholic family; they are not the magazine cover family with home sewn matching outfits and meals prepared from scratch with ingredients grown in the backyard who beautifully pray the rosary each evening. Nothing wrong with that ideal but sometimes books can make one feel lacking in too many ways and despair instead of striving for better. I'm happy that the Willets found the right balance in their book.

This review was written as part of the Catholic book reviewer program from The Catholic Company. Visit The Catholic Company to find more information on The Catholics Next Door. The Catholic Company is also a great online store for all your Catholic gift needs, such as baby baptism and christening gifts. You can also find a wide selection of Catholic Bible Studies for both parish groups and individuals, as well as a variety of other Catholic Bible study resources.