Dr. Lisa Theus

Historical Fiction Editor

Lisa Theus thinks one of the best ways to get to know somebody is their favorite books, and she credits Eiji Yoshikawa’s Musashi with helping her fall in love with her now husband. Her favorite works include (listed chronologically!): The Epic of Gilgamesh, Thucydides’ History of the Peloponnesian War, Ovid’s Metamorphoses, Thomas à Kempis’ Imitation of Mary, the poetry of John Donne, J.R.R. Tolkien’s Lord of the Rings, Robin McKinley’s The Blue Sword, and Pope Benedict XVI’s Jesus of Nazareth.

She has spent most of her life training herself how to think like an ancient Roman (she earned a PhD in Classics at Rutgers University and taught college courses for several years). Eventually, she left academia for something more stable–working first as a church secretary for her local Catholic parish and now as an assistant for a financial advisor. She can’t keep her head out of history or rich worlds, however, and she loves reading about noble heroes and the difficult pursuit of virtue–however that may manifest. Bonus points for an engaging cast of characters and strong worldbuilding.
When she isn’t working for her paycheck, she’s pursuing the life of a freelance writer and editor; building her own worlds; volunteering in her community; or playing video games with her husband.

Corinna Turner

Fantasy Editor

Carnegie Medal Award nominated author Corinna Turner has been writing since she was fourteen and likes strong protagonists with plenty of integrity. She has an MA in English from Oxford University, but has foolishly gone on to work with both children and animals! Juggling work with the disabled and being a midwife to sheep, she spends as much time as she can in a little hut at the bottom of the garden, writing.

She is a Catholic Christian with roots in the Methodist and Anglican churches. A keen cinema-goer, she lives in the UK. She used to have a Giant African Land Snail, Peter, with a six inch long shell and an even larger foot, but now makes do with a cactus and a campervan! 

Celtic Crossing by Len Mattano

Relic lost, and faith found.

Men at Arms by Evelyn Waugh

Evelyn Waugh’s great Catholic novel that is not Brideshead Revisited.

The Mystic Next Door and Triumph of the Cross by Edward Jozsa

What if your examination of conscience was a revelation from God about the state of your soul?

Fields of Prosperis By Claudia Leboeuf

A bingeable space opera with the best written complex villains out there.

Jesus By Paul Johnson

A biography of Jesus written by a noted Catholic journalist and historian.

On Heaven’s Doorstep by Andrea Jo Rodgers

When you’re on the front lines of life and death, it’s hard to avoid seeing real miracles.

Christmas Books to Curl up With

Get into the Advent spirit with stories that entertain and don’t water down the holiday.

Where to Begin with C.S. Lewis

When he was four years old, C. S. Lewis renamed himself Jack and refused to answer to Clive Staples. For the rest of his life, he was Jack to his friends.

Lily of the Mohawks By Voyage Comics

Will Tekakwitha obey her uncle and marry a warrior, or boldly live out her faith?

The Black Tulip by Alexandre Dumas

Would you die for a flower? Would you kill for one? Providence, romance, and danger rule in this tense, heart-warming prison romance.

Snares of the Nether World, by Mary C. Jones

A child and her guardian angel are sent out to rescue a man in danger.

Elfling by Corinna Turner

Serapia Ravena is on a mission to find and keep her father, but he has transgressed a boundary that no creature has the right to cross. Only the mercy of God can resolve this tension.

Why Flannery O’Connor is Too Dangerous for Catholic Book Stores (And why I love them both for it)

Why the promotion of religious fiction is just as important as the promotion of nonfiction and Apologetics.

Ascend to Your Father by John Hammes ph.d

This book brings us to a unity with the Triune God who loves us so much that he sent his Son to redeem the world and sanctify us through the Holy Spirit.

There Once Was a Penny by Mark Restaino, Illustrations by J.P. Alcomendas

This nursery rhyme teaches kids the value of faith and how it can help a person to love themselves according to standards not of this world.

The Fisherman’s Tomb; The Story of the Vatican’s Secret Search by John O’Neill

The untold true story of the greatest treasure hunt of the century, all done under the noses of the Nazi invasion.

Deus Vult By Declan Finn

Detective Nolan returns home for a well-deserved vacation only to find himself fighting hordes of gunmen, Lovecraftian monsters, and a demon straight from the pit.

Spooky Catholic Reads

Books with the themes of the All Hallows season grouped according to scariness level.

Do Carpenters Dream of Wooden Sheep? by Corinna Turner

A poignant retelling of the Holy Family in a cyberpunk universe.

Books To Pray With: Feb For the Terminally Ill

Every month in 2024 Pope Francis has a monthly prayer intention. Every month we will release a book list that will draw your heart and soul deeper into prayer on these topics.