The 3 B’s of Catholic Womanhood

I can tell you already that one of the books on my “Best of 2013” list is the newly released brilliance in B by Pat Gohn, Blessed, Beautiful, and Bodacious: Celebrating the Gift of Catholic Womanhood.

For one thing, there’s the title. 

Pat has a streak of sassy New England, and she also has a swash of practical Midwestern. She’s studied and she’s lived. And it’s all there, in a title that makes me smile every time I see it.

For another thing, there’s the content. 

This book makes a big promise: it has a sort of all-encompassing premise that could really fall flat. I mean, how many of us celebrate cramps or hot flashes or pains in various parts of our bodies? And put the word Catholic in there and there’s a whole separate set of gripes I could point out.

I’m a biiiiig fan of Pat (her velvet-voiced Among Women podcast is one of my favorites), but even I wondered if a book with “bodacious” in the title could be for real.

In a word: Y!E!S!

Modern thinking meets Church teaching, written by the woman who’s pouring you coffee and pulling out her stash of chocolate to share. Pat doesn’t shy away from the tough issues: she faces them squarely and just takes ’em on.

And then there’s Mary. 

I’m pretty sure it was Pat Gohn who first introduced me to referring to the Blessed Virgin Mary as “Mama.” And at the end of each chapter, in a way that’s so approachable and real that even I couldn’t roll my eyes, Pat gives the world an inside look at her devotion.

And it’s blessed, beautiful, and bodacious.

Truly, the title of this book doesn’t just describe Pat’s vision of what Catholic womanhood is and should be—Blessed, Beautiful, and Bodacious describes the book itself. It’s a blessing to read, beautifully executed, and bodacious all around. I won’t be surprised when it becomes a Catholic bestseller for the way it so easily shares so much information so well. I won’t be surprised when I give it as a gift to people who already have it, because it’s that good. If you don’t have a copy, don’t wait.

Think of it this way: you’ll read it and love it and leave notes in the margins. Then you’ll share it with your best friend, who won’t be able to give it back because her sister will need to read it.

So highly recommended I’ve already gifted a few copies of it.

But wait, there’s more: there’s the swag. Some of us have degrees in marketing and don’t think of swag like this:

or this:

or even this:

Are you still here? Well, I obviously haven’t done my job, so let me point you to the first installment of the book’s audio blog tour, hosted by none other than Lisa Hendey at CatholicMom.com.

For more about the book, be sure to visit the Patheos Book Club, including excerpts and more.