The #CatholicFictionChallenge took place on Instagram (and to lesser degrees on Facebook and Twitter) during February 2020. With more than 150 posts, Catholic readers and authors shared their favorite selections from 29 categories. If your to-be-read pile wasn’t teetering before, it was after!
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Would a God who truly loves you allow things to get this bad?
Lapsed Catholic Erin Rafferty has the life she always wanted. Or at least she did, till the moment her fiancé of five years announces he’s leaving her for another woman. Heartbroken and humiliated, a further devastating development leaves her wondering if she can ever live a normal life again.
Mark Ashcroft is a devout Catholic looking for an equally devout Catholic wife. A chance encounter with Erin leaves Mark completely captivated, yet deeply unsettled, knowing Erin is not in a place to accept him, nor is she the model Christian woman he’d hoped to start a life with.
A tentative friendship begins, and Erin finds herself questioning her long-held rejection of her faith, while Mark finds himself healing from memories of his own wounded past.
But as love grows, further tragedy in Erin’s life threatens her burgeoning faith and her hope for a future with Mark.
What follows is a difficult journey of love, surrender, trust, and faith in the ultimate knowledge that Christ is always in the midst of our sufferings.
My husband recently listened to An Exorcist Explains the Demonic: The Antics of Satan and His Army of Fallen Angels by Fr. Gabriele Amorth (renowned exorcist of Rome). He found its insights into the evil forces in our world both enlightening and frightening at the same time.
You may see some repeated themes in the books my husband reads. (See above.) Another one of them is alcohol, though I promise no one here has a drinking problem! Last Call: The Rise and Fall of Prohibition by Daniel Okrent, however, is I book I first picked up many years ago and for some reason not related to the book’s quality, did not finish. But this book isn’t about alcohol. Not really. It’s about the culture and politics related to America’s failed experiment with prohibition. My husband walked away from it with a new understanding of the racist, anti-immigrant, and anti-Catholic motivations behind the temperance movement. A fascinating read.
Moonshine: The Celebration of America’s Original Rebel Spirit by John Schlimm is about alcohol. It tells the tale of moonshine’s origin in Appalachia on through prohibition to today. This book includes recipes too.
The Solid Grounds Coffee Company by Carla Laureano is the final book in the Saturday Night Supper Club series. The author does a great job uncovering the hero and heroine’s muddled pasts and fears and breaking open their hearts to foster healing and hope (even if I don’t totally dig the millennial hipster vibe in this series).
Courtney Walsh has become one of my favorite Christian contemporary romance authors. She excels at taking well-developed, complex characters through the paces of self-realization, making peace, and falling in love against a backdrop of interesting minor characters, and, in the case of If For Any Reason, a beautiful ocean side setting.
The Ring by Sarah Anne Carter is a sweet romance and an honest look at the challenges faced by military families. The reader glimpses everything from decisions about dating, marriage, and family to deployments, moves, benefits, practical support, and loss.
The second book in the Kaely Quinn Profiler Series, Fire Storm by Nancy Mehl, is a fast-paced contemporary suspense/mystery novel. Kaely Quinn is an intriguing, if somewhat self-absorbed character, but I still managed to like her. The mystery kept me guessing, and I only figured it out shortly before the big reveal. I was a little disappointed that Kaely’s FBI partner/love interest remained on the sidelines, but hopefully we’ll see more of him in the next novel.
The Dating Charade by Melissa Ferguson juxtaposes light humor and banter with the heavy issues of childhood neglect, abuse, and abandonment in a way that didn’t quite work for me. I like both Cassie and Jett though, and the humorous scenes of children’s antics are the best parts of the book.
My high school son is reading The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald, a book I haven’t read myself since high school. Maybe when he’s done we’ll watch the recent movie adaption. The only reactions I’ve gotten thus far are about it being about “a bunch of rich people.”
After reading Leslea Wahl’s The Perfect Blindside, my middle school daughter moved right on to Extreme Blindside, which we gave to her for her birthday. She zipped right through this teen mystery, coming to me occasionally with her suspicions as to whom was putting the extreme winter athletes in jeopardy. A fun book!
She’s also begun reading Little Women: The Original Classic Novel with Photos from the Major Motion Picture by Louisa May Alcott, another birthday gift. I took her and her little sister to see the movie adaption after Christmas, and it was time for her to read the source! I suspect a lot of irritation at Jo’s choices by the time she gets to the end.
My youngest daughter snapped up a copy of Saint John the Baptist: A Voice Crying Out in the Desert by Ezekiel Saucedo and quickly read this graphic novel from Pauline Kids. She lingered over the (very appropriate, discreet) illustrations of Herod being presented with the saint’s head on a platter. She gives this a thumbs up!
One of her favorite books, one that is toted all over the house all the time, is National Geographic Kids Dog Breed Guide: A Complete Reference to Your Best Friend Fur-ever by T.J. Resler and Gary Weitznman. This girl wants a puppy, and she is the most puppy-educated kid I know! Every day she shows me pictures of this or that breed, sharing details about its grooming needs or intelligence. Worth every penny she spent on it!
With the littlest boy in the house, we’ve been reading God the Father and the Best Day Ever by Gracie Jagla. It’s an Easter book with a twist. Instead of focusing on the earthly events following the crucifixion, this fun rhyming book follows those souls awaiting the opening of the gates of Heaven and their joyful reception following Jesus’s resurrection.
Milk Goes to School by Terry Border has come home from the school library a couple of times now. On first read, I didn’t care much for this one, but as we read it again, I got a few smiles out of the anthropomorphic foods and beverages in the classroom, including milk. (She’s spoiled.) A cute read aloud picture book.
What are you reading? Share it at An Open Book and find new book recommendations too! #openbook Share on XWant more details on An Open Book? You can also sign up for An Open Book reminder email, which goes out one week before the link-up. No blog? That’s okay. Just tell us what you’re reading in the comment box.
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Writing Catholic fiction feels simultaneously universal and narrow. Universal because, well, “catholic,” with common themes of finding freedom, mercy, conversion, etc. within romance conventions, yet very much a niche interest being that relatively few Catholics are aware of or seek out Catholic fiction.
Thanks so much to the readers/authors/bloggers hosting me on this short virtual book tour! Each of these women has supported my writing by critiquing, editing, reading, reviewing, and promoting. I’m so grateful for your support.
And to Ellen Gable, my sincerest thank you for all you have done to shepherd me along the way. I can’t help but think how pleased God is at the efforts you and your husband have made in helping to spread the Good News especially as it pertains to love and human sexuality through all of your undertakings, all conducted with integrity and professionalism.
God bless each of you!
Monday, February 24 – Sarah Reinhard, Snoring Scholar
Tuesday, February 25 – Barb Szyszkiewicz, FranciscanMom
Wednesday, February 26 – Ellen Gable, Plot Line and Sinker
Thursday, February 27 – Patrice MacArthur, Spiritual Woman
Friday, February 28 – Theresa Linden, Things Visible & Invisible
Saturday, February 29 – Ellen Gable, Plot Line and Sinker: author interview
THANKS FOR STOPPING BY! STAY A WHILE AND LOOK AROUND. LEAVE A COMMENT. SHARE WITH A FRIEND. IF YOU LIKE WHAT YOU SEE, PLEASE SIGN UP FOR MY AUTHOR NEWSLETTER TO KEEP UP-TO-DATE ON NEW RELEASES, EXTRAS, AND HOT DEALS!
There’s nothing quite like unrequited love. It’s a different kind of heartbreak than that from a breakup, I think. I know of what I speak, starting with my one-sided affair with Speed Racer.
One of my one-sided loves had a strength and staying power I’d not anticipated.
In a move totally out of character, fueled by I don’t know what–desperation?– I confessed my feelings. In writing, of course, not in person. I said “out of character,” not momentary insanity.
Of course, the verbal insanity confession would have at least produced instant results. In the days when remote communication happened via either written word or the family landline telephone, response time lagged.
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Once Christmas Day passed, I had an opportunity to do a bit more reading, including reading Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol for the first time. From there I dove into a variety of books, including an advance copy of Danielle Bean’s Giving Thanks and Letting Go: Reflections on the Gift of Motherhood, which releases this week. In her usual personal style, the author provides encouragement to mothers embarking on a different but equally-challenging stage of life in their vocations as mother and wife. A quick read filled with hope.
The Bright Unknown by Elizabeth Byler Younts is a beautifully written, thought-provoking novel set in an early 20th century mental institution (though Brighton, the protagonist, is not mentally ill and neither are some others forcibly committed to the institution where she resides.) Stellar fiction that is imaginative, multi-layered, and marked by persistent hope amid suffering.
The Last Shot by Amy Matayo is the third book in her Love in Chaos series, each book being set amid a calamity: lost at sea, a tornado, and now an active shooter during a country musician’s concert. I’ve enjoyed each book so far, and this one didn’t disappoint. I love how deeply the author gets into each character’s head. Lots of chemistry in this one and some heated kisses.
Jeff Goins’ The Art of Work: A Proven Path to Discovering What You Were Meant to Do was a short listen in the car. His advice for discovering what you’re called to do rang true with my own experience in discovering what to pursue in college and in life. I like that the stories shared incorporate faith and that his approach includes a well-balanced life that is about much more than work but faith, family, and service as well.
Denise Hunter’s contemporary Christian romances are consistently well-done, and Lake Season is no exception. This story’s hero, Adam, stands out as the nerdy love interest – something we see little of in romance. I say, give us more real men that have a variety of interests, aren’t perfect-looking, and don’t play sports or have six-pack abs.
I completed the final read-through of my own novel coming out next week: Come Back to Me. It’s a sequel of sorts to Stay With Me, but can stand alone. This one is a little different for me. It’s shorter than any novel I’ve written (less than half the size of all but Rightfully Ours), and not a conventional romance. This one falls more readily into the general Christian fiction category, though a marriage is at the center of the story. Come Back to Me shares the point of Chris’s older brother Alan, who is separated from his wife, and Megan, another minor character from Stay With Me who, like Alan, is forced to re-think her approach to life.
My oldest son found Seneca’s Letters from a Stoic boxed with my old college books and has been reading a letter here and there. Seneca was one of my favorite Roman writers (along with Cicero), and I’m so glad that I hung onto this book (in English, not Latin), and it’s getting some use!
With Christmas cash, he also picked up the Star Wars The Rise of Skywalker: The Visual Dictionary by Pablo Hidalgo, which is fun for the whole family to flip through, looking up races or characters here and there, especially as some have resurfaced in Disney’s The Mandalorian.
My tween went on a reading binge starting with Cynthia Toney’s 8 Notes to a Nobody, a story well-suited to her age. Wendy, on the verge of starting high school, deals with changing friendships and interests, a blended family, and some not-so-nice classmates. Oh, and she loves puppies! Great start to the Birdface series.
From there my daughter launched into Raymond Arroyo’s Will Wilder series starting with The Relic of Perilous Falls, and read the three books in the series very quickly! It sounds as if it’s set up for four additional books, but I couldn’t find any indication that more are in production. She’s encouraged me to read these stories of a boy battling demons in his town.
I had to keeping digging new books out for this child and finally handed her Leslea Wahl’s debut novel, The Perfect Blindside. She really loved this story of a cocky snowboarder and a high school photographer who team up to solve a mystery in their Colorado town. Mystery, adventure, faith, and a little romance – a perfect combination for my young lady!
Somewhere in there, she also read It Happened in the White House: Extraordinary Tales from America’s Most Famous Home by Kathleen Karr. As you might expect, it includes ghost sightings and a variety of interesting tales gathered over the centuries. Her favorite story was of newly inaugurated Ronald Reagan wanting to ride his horse back to the White House. For protection, a steel-lined hat and bullet proof long johns were provided to him only for him to change his mind about the horseback ride.
My second grader hops from book to book and back again, and Sisters of the Last Straw’s The Case of the Christmas Tree Capers by Karen Kelly Boyce has been carted around the house with her. These are cute chapter books with an endearing cast of imperfect religious sisters who solve a little mystery. I see there is an Easter-themed book on the way too!
True to her puppy-loving self, she also has been reading The Adventures of Wishbone book The Mutt in the Iron Muzzle by Michael Jan Friedman. (It’s a retelling of The Man in the Iron Mask by Alexandre Dumas, in case you didn’t guess.) This takes me back decades to my nephew, who loved watching Wishbone after school. A cute series whether in books or on TV.
My little boy read Tornado by Betsy Byars at home and with his class. This simple chapter book is a story within a story as the tale of discovering a lost dog during a tornado is retold from inside a storm shelter.
What are you reading? Share it at An Open Book and find new book recommendations too! #openbook Share on XWant more details on An Open Book? You can also sign up for An Open Book reminder email, which goes out one week before the link-up. No blog? That’s okay. Just tell us what you’re reading in the comment box.
THANKS FOR STOPPING BY! STAY A WHILE AND LOOK AROUND. LEAVE A COMMENT. SHARE WITH A FRIEND. IF YOU LIKE WHAT YOU SEE, PLEASE SIGN UP FOR MY AUTHOR NEWSLETTER TO KEEP UP-TO-DATE ON NEW RELEASES, EXTRAS, AND HOT DEALS!
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A Single Bead really drives home the power of prayer in such a compelling way, one that is entertaining and organic to the story and gives us that big-picture glimpse of what many of us know intellectually about the efficacy of prayer but rarely recognize in daily life. Did you know from the start how that theme would permeate the book or did it develop as you wrote?
To really answer that question, I have to share the story of how I came to write A Single Bead in the first place. Having consecrated myself to Jesus through Mary in early October of 2013, I found myself feeling renewed conviction to write a Bible study on the Rosary. By mid-October, I was researching publishers and came across Pauline Books & Media, who said they were specifically seeking Catholic young adult fiction. That single sentence set bells ringing in my head, as if the Holy Spirit were saying, Stephanie, pay attention to this! I had never even considered writing fiction, though, so I said out loud, “God, if you want me to write Catholic young adult fiction, you’re going to have to
give me the idea. Because I’ve got nothing!”
While he’s preparing for Marian consecration, my husband has been listening to/reading Jesus and the Jewish Roots of Mary: Unveiling the Mother of the Messiah by Brant Pitre. Part history, part Catholic apologetics, the Old Testament Marian typology presented in this book has been fascinating to him. I’ve seen some accolades for this book on social media too, and I’m looking forward to reading this one myself.
I’ve been reading Dracula by Bram Stoker for a long, long time. In fact, my daughter recently asked why I was reading a “Halloween book” at Christmas! I’ll finish it soon, I promise. In the meantime, I’ve been listening to several books as well. The Thorn Keeper by Pepper Basham, while being the second book in her Penned in Time series, is the first historical novel of hers that I’ve read. This World War I novel has the feel of a dramatic saga akin to a soap opera in parts. The characters are lively and engaging, and its redemptive message is a good reminder to try to see others as Christ sees them, as they are, not as they were. Change happens.
Maybe the final days of Christmas preparations made me a bit Grinchy, but I wasn’t feeling A Christmas by the Sea by Melody Carlson. The contrived contemporary Christmas romance novella is akin to a Hallmark movie in print form, but the romance was so abrupt, it ruined the story for me. Being sensitive to authors’ feelings, I think this may be the first time in years of reviewing that I’ve used the work “schlock.”
Kill Shot by Anne Patrick is a Christian romantic suspense novel teaming a Maine sheriff with a combat veteran to discover who wants to see the former Army medic dead. I’m only a few chapters in, but I see some chemistry brewing between this pair, and the story is moving at a nice clip.
For Christmas, my sixteen-year-old received Drive! by Corinna Turner. This dystopian dinosaur adventure is sure to please Jurassic Park fans. I quite easily bought the dinosaur-inhabited world with secured city dwellers separated from hunters and farmers living beyond the safety fence. Somehow, the author nicely adds a bit of faith as well, even ascribing a patron saint to these rugged adventurers.
My sixth grader recently read a book her older brother and I both loved: Treachery and Truth by Katy Huth Jones. This is the fictionalized story of Good King Wenceslas of the famed carol told from the point of view of his servant Poidevin. This is a great one to re-read at Christmas time—or anytime.
In class, my daughter is also reading Number the Stars by Lois Lowry, a Holocaust book set in Denmark. I’d love to see how it compares to Bright Candles by Nathaniel Benchley, which is similarly set. (More about that book in Sabbath Rest Book Talk from July 2017.)
In her big ol’ heap of chapter books lying around here, the eight-year-old found The Ember Stone: A Branches Book by Katrina Charman, the first book in The Last Firehawk series. I asked for a summary and got a laundry list of animals on some kind of adventure that included a barn owl and a squirrel. And an egg that might have combusted. She seems to be enjoying it.
She’s also begun Lisa Hendey’s Chime Travelers series. I thought being the Christmas season, she’d like to read The Strangers at the Manger, but she wanted to start at the beginning, so she read The Secret of the Shamrock, a story involving Saint Patrick, first. Her sister also enjoyed these books that I’d describe as a Catholic Magic Treehouse series with a brother-sister pair traveling through time to experience the lives of the saints.
Being Christmas, one of our favorites resurfaced. My husband picked up Jolly Old Santa Claus by Mary Jane Tonn years ago because it reminded him of the Christmas Little Golden Books from our childhoods. This is a cute story about Santa Claus’s Christmas workshop preparations with the help, of course, of his elves (called brownies here). For extra fun, you can find Santa’s cat, Lady Whiskers, on most pages.
One Winter’s Day by M. Christina Butler came home from school with my youngest son, but I think we have our own copy on a shelf here somewhere. (Shows you how well organized our books are.) No matter which copy we read, it’s a cute tale of a hedgehog who generously gives away his warm scarf, mittens, etc. to friends in need.
What are you reading? Share it at An Open Book and find new book recommendations too! #openbook Share on XWant more details on An Open Book? You can also sign up for An Open Book reminder email, which goes out one week before the link-up. No blog? That’s okay. Just tell us what you’re reading in the comment box.
THANKS FOR STOPPING BY! STAY A WHILE AND LOOK AROUND. LEAVE A COMMENT. SHARE WITH A FRIEND. IF YOU LIKE WHAT YOU SEE, PLEASE SIGN UP FOR MY AUTHOR NEWSLETTER TO KEEP UP-TO-DATE ON NEW RELEASES, EXTRAS, AND HOT DEALS!
As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases.