An Open Book – February’s Best Catholic Reads from a Catholic Author

Welcome to February’s #OpenBook. I’m joining up with host Carolyn Astfalk on CatholicMom.com to share my favorite recent reads by Catholic authors. Have you read any of the books below? Let me know what you thought!

(Note: I receive no compensation for recommending these books.)

Humility Rules: Saint Benedict’s Twelve-Step Guide to Genuine Self-Esteem by J. Augustine Wetta was one of the books I wanted to read for my chosen word of the year: Humility. (Ok, I didn’t choose it; God definitely picked this word for me.) With its humorous graphics and quippy writing, this short book is meant for teens, but I found it insightful for adults as well. Instead of reading the entire book in one sitting, which would have been easy to do, I read each of the 12 steps on different days. This allowed me time to contemplate each lesson, rather than rushing through it. On a side note, while I don’t know the author personally, I discovered that he lives in my hometown of St. Louis and teaches at one of our local Catholic high schools.

I don’t typically read vampire stories, but I would give Sister Allison Regina Gliot’s In Aeternum series all the stars if I could. I loved the way the author framed vampire Christopher’s complicated being, a creature trapped between past, present, and future, between what he desires and what he feels he deserves. Faith and fiction fit together in a way that seems absolutely logical and emotions run high throughout. I wish all vampire novels were like this one. Actually, I wish all Catholic Christian Fiction proclaimed our faith so beautifully as this one does. It’s like a love note to the Eucharist and the belief that no one is too far gone to come home again. The final book releases in July and I am eagerly waiting to pre-order.

Ongoing Reads

These are the books I’ve been slowly reading in between everything else:

• The Confessions by Saint Augustine – I’m listening to Hallow’s audiobook version, translated by Maria Boulding.
• A Year with the Eucharist: Daily Meditations on the Blessed Sacrament compiled by Paul Jerome Keller, OP – I’m reading a few reflections before Sunday Mass each week.

Want to know what I’m reading as I’m reading it? Follow me on GoodReads.

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