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! 

Bonvida’s Awakening, by C.D. Smith

Can Atticus live up to the legacy of his birthright? An adventure fantasy novel for teens about good and evil, friendship, and identity.

For the Pastoral Care of the Sick: July Books to Pray with Reading List

Use your recreational reading to foster an empathetic and Catholic imagination. A reading list to reflect on the sacrament of anointing of the sick, for them and their caregivers.

Where to begin with J. R. R. Tolkien?

Beyond the adventure, the way to read The Lord of the Rings is not as an allegory but as a meditation on the human Story we are each caught up in, and in which we each have our part to play, our temptations to resist, and our task to accomplish.

God’s Sparrows By Kathleen Vincenz

Rose didn’t expect to babysit six children, but God had other plans.

A Fisher of Women: The Tale of the Forgotten Healer of Galilee by Catherine Magia

Before she and husband were Saints, Peter and his wife struggled just to heal themselves

Milestone to Manhood: A Christian Rite of Passage to Help Your 13-Year-Old Son Make the Leap from Boyhood to Manhood by David Arms and Steven Arms

One father’s quest to help his sons learn what it means to be a man – and how you can start your own tradition.

I am Margaret by Corinna Turner

A dystopian nightmare that asks what you really believe and how far will you go to defend it.

Arrow in Flight by Jane Lebak

If you want a gorgeous read delving into the world of angels that reflects actual accepted beliefs about them then this is the book for you.

Comet Dust by C.D. Verhoff

A Catholic end-of days inspired by the private revelations of the saints.

Somewhither by John C. Wright An Unwhithering Realm

What if the Multi-verse were not a theory to disprove God? What if he created it, and all humanity must unite to fight the powers of Babel?

The Other Side of Freedom by Cynthia Toney

A Catholic “To Kill a Mockingbird” if there ever was one.

Love, Treachery, and Other Terrors by Katharine Campbell

This quirky, fairytale fantasy is a fun and amusing read with a serious moral backbone.

Sister Aloysius Comes to Mercyville By Linda Etchison, Illustrated by Denise Plumlee-Tadlock

A young nun teaches children how to offer up their daily irritations to God.

Unlikely Witnesses by Leslea Wahl

When four boys glimpse a crime in their Colorado town they end up in an interrogation cell of the FBI.

Angel of Death by Brian O’Hare

A murdered archbishop launches DCI Sheehan on the track of a sectarian serial killer, as well as on a journey back to the faith of his childhood.

Falling Into Place by Susan Brinkmann

She’s New Age; he’s Catholic—can their romance survive? And can she survive their investigation into their city’s Satanic hate crimes?

I Hope You Find Joy By Eliza Mae Albano

Can Emma find joy with the man who hurt her?

2021 Summer Reading List for Preteens

Six series that are a must-have for your Preteen’s library ages 8-13

The Exorcist by William Peter Blatty

I knew this book was going to be scary. What I did NOT expect was to be left with a deep feeling of peace and comfort.