The Catholic Book Club discussion

It is time to vote for our June 2025 BOTM. You may vote for up to 2 of the books listed below. You should vote by adding a comment here. If you vote in any other way, your votes may not be counted.

The book(s) with the most votes will be our BOTM. If there is a tie, the moderator uses a random list generator to determine the order and they are all read over however many months. Books that receive fewer than 2 votes will be removed from the Voting List, with those that receive 1 vote being placed at the end of the Nominations List.

Voting will end at approximately 11:00 AM Eastern Time on Good Friday, April 18.

The Voting List for June is:

Bakhita: A Novel of the Saint of Sudan by Véronique Olmi, nominated by Don Mario
Inspired by the true story of a former slave who became a saint, this poignant novel explores how a human being can survive the obliteration of her identity, and how kindness and generosity can be born out of profound trauma.
Voting History: NONE

The Burning Bush by Sigrid Undset, nominated by Fonch
Second part to The Wild Orchid: A Retelling of The Ballad of Mulan, which we read in the club on December 2021. This was the discussion: https://www.goodreads.com/topic/group...
Voting History: NONE

Centurion's Daughter, by Justin Swanton, nominated by Fonch
Her Frankish mother dead, 17-year-old Aemilia arrives at Soissons in Roman Gaul in search of her Roman father whom she has never met. She knows only that his name is Tarunculus and that he is a former centurion. She finds a firebrand, derided by the townsfolk, trying vainly to ignite a spark of patriotism in his fellow Romans.
Voting History: NONE

Champions of the Rosary by Donald H. Calloway, nominated by Ann
From the best-selling author of the classic Catholic conversion story, No Turning Back: A Witness to Mercy by Fr. Donald H. Calloway, comes a powerful and comprehensive history of a spiritual weapon: the rosary.
Voting History: April 2025: 3

The Cypresses Believe in God: Spain on the Eve of Civil War - A Novel (Los cipreses creen en Dios) by José María Gironella, nominated by Susan
Considered by many critics to be the greatest novel about the Spanish Civil War, this classic work by Spaniard Jose Maria Gironella is an unbiased account of the complicated events, movements and personalities that led up to the war. Beginning in 1931, Cypresses covers the next five years of political unrest, culminating in the explosion of the brutal war that wreaked such great havoc on Spain and its citizens. In his epic novel, both gripping and suspenseful, Gironella deftly portrays the human conflict, both internal and external. The most influential philosophical movements of the 20th century are embodied in various characters. Through them, the reader is introduced to every faction involved--ancharist, communist, Catholic, royalist, existentialist, and others.
Voting History: NONE

The Fifth Level of Evolution by Manuel Alfonseca, nominated by Manuel
The theory of evolution is well established by scientific evidence, but it is far from explaining everything. Some puzzles are still pending, whose resolution does not seem to be immediate. Does evolution have a direction? Many biologists deny it, but reality is different. If we measure the amount of information available to each living being throughout the history of life, we can see a steady increase. Human society seems to be building, since a few decades, a new super-organism, in which the role of the nervous system is represented by the Internet. However, that nervous system has no head. Does that mean we are going towards the fifth level of evolution? This book attempts to answer this question and argues that the fifth level is not a modern idea, but has somehow been known for two thousand years.
Voting History: April 2025: 3

Invasion '14, by Maxence Van der Meersch, nominated by John
Novel about the effects of the War on the French families behind the German lines.
Voting History: NONE

The Last Ugly Person: And Other Stories, by Roger Thomas, nominated by Steven R.
What would happen if … a society ever actually succeeded in eliminating its undesirable members? … a man was asked to travel through a land he did not know to bring a prisoner before a king he had never seen? The tales in The Last Ugly Person and Other Stories explore these and other themes using a variety of mythological settings. Both entertaining and thought provoking, these short stories are novellas written from an unapologetically Christian viewpoint. Awash in hope, yet fully recognizing the agony of sin and destruction, these stories avoid both sugary unreality and bleak pessimism, weaving instead a rich and intricate tapestry that reflects the complex ways in which man responds to the call of Christ.
Voting History: April 2025: 3

The Mango Murders, by Mara Campos, nominated by Madeleine
All is not what it seems in Old San Juan, in the Pio Nono home for boys, in the life of the island's most famous artist, or in the memories of his models. Detective Sergeant Julio Ramos and gringo FBI agent Steve Halloran work in uneasy alliance to catch a serial killer with a penchant for mangoes and a need to avenge lost love and innocence lost to corrupt priests. A shadowy puppet master lies behind it all. To come to truth, the investigators have to face their own painful issues, and even their targets must choose between light or darkness. In language, memory, race, and blood, the novel tells the story of the burden and the promise of recovered identity.
Voting History: November 2024: 2; March 2025: 2; April 2025: 3

Paul: A Biography, by N.T. Wright, nominated by Jill
In this definitive biography, renowned Bible scholar, Anglican bishop, and bestselling author N. T. Wright offers a radical look at the apostle Paul, illuminating the humanity and remarkable achievements of this intellectual who invented Christian theology—transforming a faith and changing the world.
Voting History: NONE

Race with the Devil, by Joseph Pearce, nominated by Fonch.
Growing up on the rough streets of Dagenham, England, Joseph Pearce was thrown into a life that led anywhere but to God and salvation. A world of hate and violence was all he knew, until one day he picked up the writings of G.K Chesterton and everything changed. "In Race With the Devil: My Journey from Racial Hatred to Rational Love" take a journey through the peaks and valleys of one of the most fascinating conversion stories of our time, written first-hand by Pearce himself.
Voting History: NONE

The Spirit of the Liturgy by Joseph Ratzinger nominated by John
Considered by Ratzinger devotees as his greatest work on the Liturgy, this profound and beautifully written treatment of the great prayer of the Church will help readers rediscover the Liturgy in all its hidden spiritual wealth and transcendent grandeur as the very center of our Christian life. In his own foreward to the book, Cardinal Ratzinger compares this work to a much earlier classic of the same title by Romano Guardini because Ratzinger feels that his insights here are similar with what Guardini achieved in his time regarding a renewed understanding of the Liturgy.
Voting History: April 2025: 3

This Thing of Darkness by K.V. Turley and Fiorella De Maria, nominated by Emmy
Hollywood, 1956. Journalist and war widow Evangeline Kilhooley is assigned to write a "star profile" of the fading actor Bela Lugosi, made famous by his role as Count Dracula. During a series of interviews, Lugosi draws Evi into his curious Eastern European background, gradually revealing the link between Old World shadows and the twilight realm of modern horror films.
Voting History: NONE

Vipers' Tangle by François Mauriac, nominated by Susan
Vipers’ Tangle tells the story of Monsieur Louis, an embittered aging lawyer who has spread his misery to his entire estranged family. Louis writes a journal to explain to them—and to himself—why his soul has been deformed, why his heart seems like a foul nest of twisted serpents. Mauriac’s novel masterfully explores the corruption caused by pride, avarice, and hatred, and its opposite—the divine grace that remains available to each of us until the very moment of our deaths.
Voting History: March 2024: 3; March 2024: 3; June 2024: 3; August 2024: 2; October 2024: 3; November 2024: 4; March 2025: 2; April 2025: 4

With Two Eyes Into Gehenna, by Jane Lebak, nominated by Steven R.
Rome, 1562. It’s the era of the Index of Banned Books and the Roman Inquisition. Kings still burn heretics. The worst threats come from within the Church itself. Only seventeen, Magdalena killed a priest who tried to rape her within the walls of her convent. His powerful family will see her executed, and then they’ll destroy her mother and young sister. Instead, the pope makes an offer. To save her life and protect her family, Magdalena can disappear into a secret religious order, one with a demanding physical regimen to go along with the prayers. She’ll pray the psalms and learn to climb walls. She’ll sharpen her mind and fine-tune her body. Perfected, she’ll infiltrate the Council of Trent.
Voting History: March 2025: 3; April 2025: 2


Dilexit nos - He loved us: Encyclical letter about the human and divine love of the Heart of Jesus-Christ by Pope Francis, nominated by Manuel, from the Current Interest List

The Last Ugly Person: And Other Stories, by Roger Thomas

The Spirit of the Liturgy
and
Dilexit nos

The Spirit of the Liturgy

The Last Ugly Person: And Other Stories, by Roger Thomas
This Thing of Darkness by K.V. Turley and Fiorella De Maria

This Thing of Darkness
The Last Ugly Person

(Thanks!!)

Race with the Devil

With Two Eyes; and
Last Ugly Person.

GBY, Manuel!

Spirit of the liturgy and Dilexit nos

I confirm my proposal of Bakhita.
As second option Race with the Devil.

The Burning Bush
The Last Ugly Person

The Thing of Darkness

And

Mango Murders

Invasion 14

Paul: A biography

The fifth level of evolution
The cypresses believe in God

I vote for "The fifth level of Evolution " by Manuel Alfonseca and "The thing of darkness" by Fiorella de Maria.

Champions of the Rosary and Dilexit Nos

Champions of the Rosary

Vipers' tangle
The fifth level of evolution

Voting is ended. Results are here: https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/...