It’s summertime, and many of us are looking for something to read. The following choices – less for the beach than for the porch or study – range from a Hollywood memoir (with a Catholic twist) to a hefty biography of the first American-born saint.
Grateful American: A Journey from Self to Service by Gary Sinise (HarperCollins) The renowned actor and convert to Catholicism recounts his ca-reer and the spiritual transformation that led to his work on behalf of soldiers, sailors and veterans.
On Thomas Merton by Mary Gordon (Penguin) One of America’s foremost Catholic novelists takes a fierce and admiring look at the writings of the American Trappist monk and author of The Seven Storey Mountain, known as “a modern-day Confessions of St. Augustine.”
How Catholic Art Saved the Faith: The Triumph of Beauty and Truth in Counter-Reformation Art
by Elizabeth Lev (Sophia Institute Press) In the century after Martin Luther, the Church was in crisis. A leading art historian tells how Catholic leaders turned to artists to instruct and inspire the faithful – leaving a legacy of masterpieces.
The Missionary of Wall Street: From Managing Money to Saving Souls on the Streets of New York
by Stephen Auth (Sophia Institute Press) Adventures and misadventures of a highly successful money manager moonlighting as a missionary on the streets of New York.
Elizabeth Seton: American Saint by Catherine O’Donnell (Cornell University Press) This in-depth biography places the extraordinary life of Elizabeth Ann Seton in the context of her turbulent times.