I really wanted to enjoy this book. But I didn’t. Long and overly preachy, The Jesuit Guide to (Almost) Everything: A Spirituality for Real Life by James Martin is filled with good insights and helpful examples, but it is entirely too long and comes across as preachy in almost every chapter.

No doubt that St. Ignatius would approve; he was notoriously wordy and long winded in his writing. But he was also deep and creative in his writing. Martin writes well but his stories often come across as trite or simplistic. The information is solid and helpful to somebody new to Ignatian Spirituality. But it’s not good enough to justify the weak points. I prefer Martin’s earlier work Between Heaven and Mirth.

Spiritual formation is a field of real interest to me, and I’ve enjoyed learning from the great writers and thinkers in that field no matter their spiritual heritage. So I will continue to appreciate Ignatian Spirituality. I just didn’t get anything out of this particular book.