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! 

Gapman by Karina Fabian

Earth has its first superhero—and a dragon’s taking him under his wing.

Ornamental Graces by Carolyn Astfalk

A great romantic drama about how authentic love can restore life to two people who have been hurt in the past.

Bread from Home by Fr. Stephen Siniari

We all hunger for the same food from heaven. A collection of short stories exploring an Albanian Orthodox church community, their Catholic and Evangelical neighbors, and the hunger for heaven that unites them all.

Most Highly Favored Daughter by Janice Palko

Her perfect life hides her city’s darkest secrets. Can Cara face the light of truth and come to understand real love?

The 1st Catholic Reads Readers Choice Award

The list of books that won by popular vote for 2024, with a Honorary Mention section for notable past year’s books.

Pink Noise by Leonid Korogodski

A classic Martian adventure that plumbs the spiritual life of a future humanity.

Live and Let Bite Review by Declan Finn

The battle with the demons of San Francisco left Marco broken and now Amanda isn’t answering his messages.

My Name is Saul by Lin Wilder

How does a man become a monster? How does a monster become a saint?

Dex’s Way by Karina Fabian

Surviving the Black Hole was only the first part, now Dex will have to survive the far future and reunite with Santiago.

Sisters of the Last Straw Book 1, 2 & 3: by Karen Kelly Boyce

Exploding kitchens, runaway goats, and ghosts in the chapel. Life in the Little Sisters of the Last Straw is never boring.

Announcing Our New Historical Fiction Editor

Meet Our New Historical Fiction Editor!

Sunrise on the Icewolf by Colleen Drippe

Helen grew up on a world ruled by women where showing interest in your father is taboo, but she will journey across planets to save him.

The Pre Persons by Phillip K. Dick

The pro-life Phillip K. Dick story so prophetic it was buried.

Hold Fast By Spencer K.M. Brown

Will a small rowboat on Lake Superior awaken the stalled lives of a father and son?

Leaf by Niggle…by J.R.R. Tolkien

Leaf by Niggle isn’t nearly as well-known as LOTR and The Hobbit, but it is as beautiful and moving in its own way.

Zeal & Zest: Where to Begin with Hillaire Belloc

Belloc was known as a Catholic polemicist with a vicious talent for skewering his opponents. Anyone struggling to persevere as a Christian in the fields of journalism or media should read him. His children’s books have an acerbic humor that will appeal to bored veterans of political correctness, especially teens.

The Doha Experiment by Gary Wasserman

For a Catholic reader, the Doha Experiment offers a unique opportunity to understand both the Jewish mind and the Qatari culture.

Sydney and Calvin Have a Baby by Adrienne Thorn

Sydney writes romances but living her own romance will require more courage than anything yet required of her.

Treelight by Colleen Drippe

When the planet of Treelight’s contract changes hands the Star Brothers send an agent to discover the corporation’s plans for the sleepy little space colony.

Brother Wolf by Eleanor Bourg Nicholson

Swept into a werewolf hunt with two nuns, a dashing guardian and a jolly priest, Athene Howard applies her intellectual skills to unravel this mysterious new Papist world.