The Catholic Book Club discussion

This thread is expressly for the purpose of allowing our members to tout their books, groups, achievements, etc. We do ask that you refrain from doing so elsewhere in the site, but this is the place.

Hi - My name is Anne Hendricks - convert and proud Catholic! I am still trying to find audiences for my debut, A Woman's Choice, for the pro-life community as well as reach out to Project Rachel and Rachel's Vineyard. I hope this is a good place to "tout." Thank you, Moderator. If I did wrong, please delete.

My novel is free at https://www.smashwords.com/books/view...

Banner hopes for her future, but will her past choices highjack her second chance at love?

“Cease your cries of mourning; wipe the tears from your eyes. The sorrow you have shown shall have its reward…There is hope for your future,” Jeremiah 31:15-17

Banner Atwood, a minister’s daughter, attends seminary and plans to marry her college sweetheart, Luke Jennings. Her dream was always to serve the Lord as a counselor. An unexpected pregnancy with birth defects ends her dream as her parents persuade her to have a second trimester abortion. This choice changes her future and the futures of those around her. Years pass as Banner battles depression, guilt, and, eventually, poor reproductive health only to learn she has PASS, also known as Post Abortion Stress Syndrome. A chance meeting with a Roman Catholic priest will change her life – and her faith – as she finds redemption through Christ and eventually helps other women suffering from PASS.

As the Great Recession hits, Banner tackles single motherhood, career challenges, and, most of all, finds a new love in Scott Rourke, a man who has to live with the choices of his own past.

For years, she has battled to keep her abortion and involvement in PASS support groups a secret. Will Scott be able to handle her past or will her choices, in the past and the present, highjack their future in faith, love, and life?

A Woman’s Choice brings awareness to the subject of how the Christian community handles women of faith suffering from Post Abortion Stress Syndrome and the need for Christian based programs to help abortion survivors find hope and healing in the aftermath of their abortion.

Hello! Glad to have found this group!

I'm giving away two copies of my Theology of the Body romance Stay With Me for Valentine's Day. There are two ways to win:

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/giveaway/en...

Rafflecopter: https://www.rafflecopter.com/rafl/dis...

Good luck!

I'm a YA author, and my name is Cynthia T. Toney. I use the middle initial in my pen name because someone else named Cynthia Toney was arrested. Yikes! But she doesn't write books. My first series is Bird Face, including the titles 8 Notes to a Nobody and 10 Steps to Girlfriend Status, published by Write Integrity Press, a Christian publisher that sometimes acquires Catholic fiction. I love reading YA and NA, particularly contemporary, and I'm a member of the Catholic Writers Guild.

Cynthia wrote: "I'm a YA author, and my name is Cynthia T. Toney. I use the middle initial in my pen name because someone else named Cynthia Toney was arrested. Yikes! But she doesn't write books. My first series ..."

I've read Cynthia's books and they'd make lovely gifts for young teen girls!

I write angelic fantasy and contemporary women's fiction (and one series that's a comedy mashup of the two genres.) You can find my books here: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show...

I write southern literary fiction from a Catholic perspective.
http://www.amazon.com/Kaye-Park-Hinck...
I write a daily blog www.aworldontheedge.com, and I am a Catholicmom.com contributor http://catholicmom.com/author/khinckley/. I'm frequently invited to speak about the Catholicism in my books. This month--Feb. 24-- I will be at Spring Hill College, Mobile, Alabama with fellow author Dr. Ron O'Gorman. Our topic is "The Literature of Belief."

Carolyn wrote: "Cynthia wrote: "I'm a YA author, and my name is Cynthia T. Toney. I use the middle initial in my pen name because someone else named Cynthia Toney was arrested. Yikes! But she doesn't write books. ..."
Thank you, Carolyn Astfalk! I nominated your novel, Stay With Me, in the 2016 Nominations discussion.

I write textbooks, popular science, science fiction, fantasy, historic novel, mysteries, and books for children and young adults. They have been published in Spanish, English, French and other languages. You can find all of them here:
http://www.ii.uam.es/~alfonsec/books....

Hello... My name is Karl Erickson, and I'm the author of two children's books ("Toupee Mice" and "Tristan's Travels") as well as a novel for older audiences entitled "The Blood Cries Out." My website is located at http://www.karlerickson.com . Look forward to great involvment with this new group!

I should have maybe added that I'm taking a fiction break (writing and reading for the most part) in order to return to school to complete my English degree, which was begun...a while ago. :)

Manuel wrote: "I write textbooks, popular science, science fiction, fantasy, historic novel, mysteries, and books for children and young adults. They have been published in Spanish, English, French and other lang..."
Very Impressive, Manuel!

My book "Return To Paradise" has been nominated for a CSPA Book Of The Year Award in the Romance catagory. Fellow member Cynthia T. Toney has also had her book "10 Steps To Girlfriend Status" nominated in the YA category. You can vote for these at
http://www.christianpublishers.net/16...

I write dystopian with a strong "faith, family, and freedom" theme. Check it out here: http://www.theresalinden.com
I also write Catholic teen fiction. I am actually looking for people to read an advanced copy of a book I plan to release this May.

Here's the blurb: Caitlyn Summer, soon to be fifteen, must practice old-fashioned courtship with high parental involvement, but she has a terrible crush on shy Roland West and she has competition from a girl with no restrictions. As Caitlyn struggles to remain faithful to God, her parents, and herself, her best friend gets pregnant and might get an abortion. When Caitlyn discovers her mother's past mistakes, she begins to resent all the guidelines her parents expect her to follow. The characters in Life-Changing Love face the questions: Who am I? Where am I headed? How am I going to get there?

If you would be willing to read and post a review on release date, please let me know and I'll send you an eBook in the format of your choice. Thanks!

My novel The Boys Upstairs is free on Kindle this weekend at http://amzn.to/1RdJQQS

Father Jay is a disabled priest who’s begun housing homeless children in the rectory. When his estranged brother Kevin, a cop, brings him three more children out of the bitter cold, it’s going to take both of them working together to save the kids. But first they’ll have to mend the breach between them.

I am always looking for good reading material, so I picked up your novel and the first one in the series, as well. I'm looking forward to reading them.

God bless...

Thank you, Marlicia!

You're very welcome, Jane. :)

God bless...

I am not very good at promotion but I am an Anglo-Maltese Catholic writer published by Ignatius Press. My latest book made it onto IP's Top Selling Novels of 2015 list :-)

http://www.ipnovels.com/novels/well-n...

Happy reading everyone.
Fiorella

Fiorella wrote: "I am not very good at promotion but I am an Anglo-Maltese Catholic writer published by Ignatius Press. My latest book made it onto IP's Top Selling Novels of 2015 list :-)

http://www.ipnovels.com..."
Hello i am only a reader that i search book catholic novels. Of course i reply to the writer Fiorella di Maria Nash, although this reply could be for everybody. Do not worry Fiorella i have been following Ignatius Press. For me it is one of the best catholic publishing of United States (question of tastes). Of course i follow your career. I regret that you novels Poor banished Girl, No harm and others were not translated to spanish, because i am totally sure that they are excellent. Besides i am very proud in a time where in England otherwise it is very difficult to publish catholic novels nowadays and i cheer up that you, Lucy Beckett, Joanna Bogle, Corinna Turner and my favorite Piers Paul Read (my friend the spanish writer Manuel Alfonseca that he wrote his introduction is a witness the praise i dedicate to the few novels that i could read of this writer) of course Piers Paul Read is my favorite with the permison of the big Joseph Pearce the spiritual writer that all catholic novelist should read. I am very proud that catholic novelist of different countries had the chance to keep in contact in this group. I think that it is a big chance that writers of different countries can discover that they are not alone. I do not agree with the Duke of Guisa but in one thing i agree the catholics have a strong bond between us. I quote a sentence of the blessed Cardinal John Henry Newman Let the heart speak the heart. Iam persuade that in this groups you could obtain new ideas your novels improve. Also there are a disbalance between America and Europe but i am very happy that in this group the difference can reduce because all of them share an objective we did for God. Before to finish i want o send a big hug to my american writers and i expect that they narrow their arms with the european writers. I recomend this book was written by the italian jornalist Lorenzo Fazzini called the New christians of Europe. I want to dedicate good words for the catholic novelist of my country i am very happy to recomend to my friends Manuel Alfonseca a good writer, good scientist, and the best a man who stand with envily patient of my letters, i say the same to the writer Jorge Saez Criado, who is starting. I want to tribute other catholic spanish writers that there are not in Goodreads but i want that you know them María Vallejo Najera, Olaizola, Pablo D`Ors, José Javier Esparza, Enrique García Maíquez, Dolores Redondo, Reyes Calderon, and my favorite a person very controversial but in words of Mercedes Salisachs He is a man brave as a lion. It is posible he was critic with United States (defalt who was the own Graham Greene), and Europe but he is in my opinion not the best catholic writer. He is the best spanish writer. Well i conclude my intervention wish the best result to the lectures of Catholic Writers Guild, and i expect that they tell the result of these lecture. At finally i apologize for my intervention and i apologize sincerely a John for this message. Yours sincerely Fonch.

Fonch, can you recommend a book or two in English this group might want to consider reading together?

Clear i am enchanted to share with you my readings. This the first is a book that all catholic writer would have to read https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/1... Literary Converts: Spiritual Inspiration in an Age of Unbelief was written by Joseph Pearce. One of the United State a fiction novel of the first years of the Catholic Church in the twentieth century the people said is based in the life of the Cardinal Spellman https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/1... The cardinal was written by Henry Morton Robinson. The novel who won my my quiz the previous year "The Upstart" was written by Piers Paul Read https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/1...
One very classic "Brideshead Revisited was written by Evelyn Waugh https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/3...
Other writer unfairly forgotten in my opinion Daphne Adeane
by Maurice Baring (at this moment is my favorite novel) https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/2...
Other novel of this writer who cause me a strong impression The Coat Without Seam by Maurice Baring https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/1... . One novel who loves the recent Pope Francis Lord of the World by Robert Hugh Benson https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/2...
I recomend other similar is one of the favorites novel of my friend Manuel Alfonseca the author give up being catholic but it is a novel that you have to read. I try to get it but i could not read A Canticle for Leibowitz (St. Leibowitz #1) by Walter M. Miller Jr. https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/1...
Of this writers all they have written https://www.goodreads.com/author/show... G.K. Chesterton, https://www.goodreads.com/author/show...
Louis de Wohl. One novel that i have not read however i have heard praises about her A Postcard from the Volcano: A Novel About Pre-war Germany by Lucy Beckett (Joseph Pearce recomend enthusiastically). And the last at least today anovel that unfortunatelly you will not be able to read in English but it is necesary that you. You will be able to find in French, Spanish the title is Corps et âmes was written by Maxence van der Meersch in my opinion is the best catholic novel that i have read in all my life with the permisson of Quo Vadis was written by Henryk Sienkiewicz.
Other day i will recomend more novel this are enough today :-).

PD. My friend Manuel Alfonseca https://store.kobobooks.com/en-US/sea... my favorites are "The Jacob ladder" and "Under and orange sky" he translated to English to their own novels :-).

You can also find the two books Fonch has mentioned, with several more of my English books, here:
http://arantxa.ii.uam.es/~alfonsec/fo...
where you can download them freely in most of the typical ebook formats:

This is my debut, in all its Catholic-themed horror novel strangeness. It's not for the squeamish. http://www.amazon.com/Jennifer-Damned...
I also blog for the beautiful Catholic journal Dappled Things, which I would recommend to everyone even if I had no affiliation there: www.dappledthings.org

Fonch wrote: "At finally i apologize for my intervention and i apologize sincerely a John for this message. Yours sincerely Fonch. "

De nada. There is nothing to apologize for.

I agree with you about Quo Vadis, most excellent. I have read A Canticle for Leibowitz - it is pretty hard to follow for native speakers.

I haven't read the others you recommend, but with your permission I will copy your suggestions and add them to our nominations folder - at least the one's available in English. :-)

John wrote: "Fonch wrote: "At finally i apologize for my intervention and i apologize sincerely a John for this message. Yours sincerely Fonch. "

De nada. There is nothing to apologize for.

I agree with you ..."

Hello John the first thing that i have to do it is thanks for your sympathetic with a poor foreign (Queen Catherine in Henry VIII). About Quo Vadis is my third favorite book that i have ever read. In Europe this kind of novels we called Peplum (about all the movies), although my friend Julie Davis https://www.goodreads.com/author/show... said to me that in United States this kind of genre was well know with the name of Sword and sandal. Other sword and sandal who likes to me a part the Spear was written by Louis the Wohl. It is Fabiola was written by the Cardinal Nicholas Wiseman .https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/1... In a a few days i am going to read The Martyrs similar to Jerusalem Delivered was written by Torquatto Tasso, and Odissey was written by Homer. The Martyrs told the story of the pursuuit who suffered the Christians in the age of the Emperor Diocletian, during the fourth century. This book the Martyrs was written by Chateabriand (it is not a writer who does not like to me very much, because he hate my country Spain, but i have to read it). https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/6...
About "A canticle for Saint Leibowitz" was written by Walter Miller Jr. i try to got it, but i could not it. I trust totally in the criterion of my friend Manuel Alfonseca, besides he does not the unique person who spoke rather well of "A canticle for Saint Leibowitz" there are more voices.
The rest of the books that i recommend to Jill except "Corps et Ames" was written by Maxence van der Meersch (unfortunatelly was not translated to English but you have to know it because it is the best french writer of the twentieth century much better than Bernanos, Mauriac, and my beloved Paul Claudel). The rest of the novels are really easy to find. I advise the first Literary Converts: Spiritual Inspiration in an Age of Unbelief https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/1... Because Joseph Pearce let you know more writers to include in your futures readings.

Hi All -- My name is Ray Schneider and I'm a cradle Catholic product of parochial grade schools, Jesuit High School, Jesuit College and a long life of reflection.
EDUCATION: B.S. Physics, most of M.S. Physics, M.S. Engineering Technology, Ph.D. Information Technology, Professional Engineer, state of Virginia.
SHROUD OF TURIN EXPERT: See https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9LqQV...

Favorite Authors: G.K. Chesterton, C.S. Lewis, John Henry Cardinal Newman and lots of others.

An anthology I'm part of is about to go live, so you can preorder it now for free from Kindle and pretty much every other ebook platform. :-)


I've got a Lee & Bucky novelette in there, and the rest of the stories are pretty neat too. It's a collection across genres to give new readers a sense of the breadth of Christian fiction available.

Did I mention it's free? :-) Here's the Amazon link. http://www.amazon.com/Where-Light-Lea...

My theology of the body romance Stay With Me is available on Kindle for only 99 cents today (6/15/16) through Sunday (6/19/16). You can also purchase the audiobook for only an additional $1.99. (At least that's how Amazon priced it this morning.)

bit.ly/staywithmenovel

Rebecca Rhodes struggles to free herself from her overbearing dad and a painful past. Chris Reynolds is feeling his way through a life directed by his newfound faith. Together they discover the freedom to find authentic love, lose it, and reclaim it despite their mistakes.

The Chicago Public Library has added my novel The Gift Counselor to their catalog...just in time for Christmas in July! This hometown author says: Hooray!

Sheila wrote: "The Chicago Public Library has added my novel The Gift Counselor to their catalog...just in time for Christmas in July! This hometown author says: Hooray!"

Great news, Sheila!

Sheila wrote: "The Chicago Public Library has added my novel The Gift Counselor to their catalog...just in time for Christmas in July! This hometown author says: Hooray!"
Congratulations. I am very happy that there was other catholic fiction in the merchant :-).

Thanks for the good wishes, Carolyn and Fonch!

Sheila wrote: "Thanks for the good wishes, Carolyn and Fonch!"

Congrats, Sheila. Very nice.

Thanks, John. Two public libraries and a Fort Myers bookstore for self-published authors. I'm feeling grateful these days!

Hi. My name is Kathleen Hart. I would like to humbly "tout" my collection of poems, A Cut-and-Paste Country. It is published by Franciscan University Press, and is the winner of the Jacopone da Todi Poetry Prize. Many poems, in their gratitude for, and praise of the natural world, praise God. The poems explore the contours of our faith, and our desire to be whole.
Thank you

Kathleen wrote: "Hi. My name is Kathleen Hart. I would like to humbly "tout" my collection of poems, A Cut-and-Paste Country. It is published by Franciscan University Press, and is the winner of the Jacopone da Tod..."

About the Franciscan university i am very interested in Steunbenville. I had heard rumors thay are doing a lot to promote catholic literature, but i do not know that my informations are right :-).

FREE today 10/19/16 only! Short story, 2000 words. "Wheat or Chaff." http://www.traitorstavern.com/wheat-o...

A timely tale of good and evil by the award winning author of The Gift Counselor. Enjoy now or download for later!

$0.99 on Kindle (Reg. $3.99).

Modern fantasy with holiday spirit that stays with you long after the last page. A teenage caving enthusiast battles mystical forces in her search for the mother lode.

https://www.amazon.com/Wish-Thief-C-D...

To be a Christian fiction author can sometimes be a real struggle. For the Canadian Michael D. O’Brien, who wrote his first novel in 1978, it would take twenty years of rejections before Ignatius Press published his apocalyptic thriller Father Elijah. It became an instant success and O´Brien has since then published novels at a steady pace in English and in translations.

In 2011, I began to do studies on his work, and wrote some articles on themes in his novels, but the more I learned about his fascinating life, the more I thought that also this was a story worth telling. Michael is not only a writer but also a painter of Christian themes, an essayist, former editor of a family magazine, and father of six children. So, I began to do interviews with him, his family, friends and other people; going through old newspaper articles, photos etc.

The biography has just been published by Justin press (justinpress.ca) and it contains besides his life story many thoughts and discussions on Christian life in a secular society, the role of the arts, and his mystical life. If anyone of you read the biography, I would love to hear from you. It will probably appear in a French translation, and I am in discussions about a Croatian and Polish translation, but that is not settled.

Also an interesting thing is that I used some fictional techniques in telling his life story to enable the reader to come close and not just view him from a distance, but be drawn into the story. A great help here were the dialogues recorded in his diary, and that he is still alive so we could do interviews. For me it was a great experience to in a sense become part of the story and not only reconstruct it from textual fragments.

The direct link to the book is: https://justinpress.ca/book/on-the-ed...

Clemens Cavallin
http://clemenscavallin.se/

Can we put this book on our to-read list, please?!

Jill wrote: "Can we put this book on our to-read list, please?!"

Anyone can nominate it. :-)

consider it nominated then
I'm going to skip May, disliking anything close to science fiction.

My book 'Poesía en el desierto' is available free at https://www.amazon.es/Poes%C3%ADa-des... until next friday. Thanks!

Resist the Machine (Avant Nation, Book #1)

A genetically engineered young woman teams up with a rugged soldier to resist the high-tech regime controlling their lives. Spine-tingling adventure for fans of 1984, Person of Interest, and Divergent.



https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00UVRQ5JW

Dystopian Sci-Fi

This isn't a religious novel like Comet Dust (The Catholic Book Club's choice for last May), but I want to let you know that it's FREE on Amazon until September 22nd.

C.D. wrote: "Resist the Machine (Avant Nation, Book #1)

A genetically engineered young woman teams up with a rugged soldier to resist the high-tech regime controlling their lives. Spine-tingling adventure for ..."

Got it! Thanks.

An Angel of the Beatitudes:
An Angel of the Beatitudes: Finding Faith After the Loss of a Child
Carrying the imprimatur of Bishop Gregory Parks of the Catholic Diocese of Pensacola-Tallahassee, An Angel of the Beatitudes is a refreshingly honest and beautifully written book that chronicles one mother’s heart-wrenching journey through the darkest of times…through what Emily Ketring calls her “great loss”: the death of her youngest daughter, Angel.

Full of thoughts on love, faith, and a Catholic theology of suffering, this collection of reflections will resonate with the entire communion of saints. For those seeking spiritual direction while lost in a sea of despair, this book promises consolation during grief and leads readers toward the eternal and matchless love of God.

Emily, I hope you have a chance to get to know your new Bishop, Bill Wack, C.S.C. I go to daily Mass with his parents, and he is top-notch, loves being a priest.

I have heard nothing, but very good things about him. I hope to have the pleasure of meeting him soon.

Peace and All Good,

I have written a non-fiction work of mediations on the canticles of the Bible , "Canticle Reflections", which is available on Amazon, here :
https://www.amazon.com/Canticle-Refle...

The book also has an Imprimatur from my Bishop emeritus and was reviewed by the head of the Theology Dept at St, Leo University, I hope you enjoy it !

Sounds good; can I nominate it?