Each year, The Tablet polls people in the diocese about what books they are reading this summer. Here are some of the results:
Brother Michel Bettigole, O.S.F.
St. Francis Friary, Bay Ridge
“The Saint and the Sultan,” by Paul Moses
“The Troubled Man,” by Henning Mankell
Katie Breidenbach
Reporter, Currents
“Treasure Island,” by Robert Louis Stevenson
“Kidnapped,” by Robert Louis Stevenson
“Journey to the Center of the Earth,” by Jules Verne
Amanda Breir
Producer, NET-TV
“Lord of the World,” by Robert Hugh Benson
Mark Bristol
Fourth Year, St. Joseph’s Seminary, Dunwoodie
“My Battle Against Hitler: Faith, Truth, and Defiance in the Shadow of the Third Reich,” by Dietrich Von Hildebrand
“Catholic Perspective on Peace and War,” by Thomas J. Massaro. S.J. and Thomas A. Shannon
“Priesthood and Diaconate,” by Gerhard Ludwig Muller
“The Spirit of Celibacy,” by Johann Adam Mohler
Father Michael Bruno
Professor, St. Joseph’s Seminary, Dunwoodie
“Baseball as a Road to God: Seeing Beyond the Game,” by John Sexton
“John XXIII: The Medicine of Mercy,” by Massimo Faggioli
“The Road to Character,” by David Brooks
“Roman Political Thought,” by Dean Hammer
Msgr. Joseph Calise
Pastor, Our Lady of Mount Carmel, Williamsburg
“The Ear of the Heart,” by Mother Dolores Hart, O.S.B.
“The Seven Paths: Changing One’s Way of Walking in the World,” published by the Anasazi Foundation with foreword by Good Buffalo Eagle
Msgr. Thomas Caserta
Pastor, St. Bernadette’s, Dyker Heights
“Remembering,” by Wendell Berry
“Healing the Unaffirmed: Recognizing Emotional Deprivation Disorder,” by Conrad Baars and Anna Terruwe
“Return to Good and Evil: Flannery O’Connor’s Response to Nihilism,” by Henry Edmondson
“The Rule of Four,” by Ian Caldwell and Dustin Thomason
Larry Celona
Reporter, The New York Post
“Joe You Could Have Made Us Proud,” by Joe Pepitone and Berry Stainback
“James Gandolfini,” by Dan Bischoff
Dr. Thomas Chadzutko
Superintendent of Schools, Diocese of Brooklyn
“Pope Francis: Why He Leads the Way He Leads,” by Chris Lowney
“Learning from Lincoln: Leadership Practices for School Success,” by Harvey Alvy
“Killing Kennedy,” by Bill O’Reilly
“Beyond the RTI Pyramid,” by William Bender
Bishop Raymond Chappetto
Vicar General, Pastor of St. Kevin’s, Flushing
“Denial of the Soul,” by M. Scott Peck, M.D.
“The Great Reformer,” by Austen Ivereigh
“True Grit,” by Charles Portis
Father John Cush
Doctoral Student, Pontifical North American College
“The Servant and the Ladder: Cooperation with Evil in the 21st Century,” by Andrew McLean Cummings
“Speaking the Truth in Love: The Theology of Cardinal Walter Kasper,” edited by Kristin M. Colberg and Robert A. Krieg
“American on Purpose,” by Craig Ferguson
“Neverwhere,” by Neil Gaiman
Frank DeRosa
Retired Director of Public Information, Diocese of Brooklyn
“The Complete Stories,” by Flannery O’Connor
“Rebuilt: The Story of a Catholic Parish,” by Father Michael White and Tom Corcoran
“An Unlikely Union: The Love-Hate Story of New York’s Irish and Italians,” by Paul Moses
Jorge I. Domínguez-López
Editor, Nuestra Voz
“Submission,” by Michel Houellebecq
“The End of the Modern World,” by Romano Guardini
“The Book of Numbers,” by Joshua Cohen
Bill Donohue
Director, The Catholic League
“Hollywood Traitors: Blacklisted Screenwriters, Agents of Stalin, Allies of Hitler,” by Allan H. Ryskind
“Christian Persecutions in the Middle East,” by George J. Marlin
“Seeing Home: The Ed Lucas Story,” by Ed Lucas and Christopher Lucas
Msgr. Steven Ferrari
Pastor, St. Teresa’s, Woodside
“Reading Jesus,” by Mary Gordon
“Thin Air: A Shetland Mystery,” by Ann Cleeves
“The Life to Come and Other Stories,” by E.M. Forster
“Housekeeping,” by Marilynne Robinson
“Absolution by Murder,” by Peter Tremayne
“Mr. Lincoln’s Chair,” by Anita Sanchez
Father Joseph Fonti
Rector/President, Cathedral Prep and Seminary, Elmhurst
“The Road to Character,” by David Brooks
“Wait Till Next Year,” by Doris Kearns Goodwin
“The Italians,” by John Hooper
Deacon Philip Franco
Principal, St. Margaret’s School, Middle Village
“Love Awakened by Love: The Liberating Ascent of Saint John of the Cross,” by Mark O’Keefe, O.S.B.
“The Ascent of Mount Carmel: Reflections,” by Marc Foley
“The Italians,” by John Hooper
Wendy Galgan, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor, Department of English
Chair, Department of English, St. Francis College, Brooklyn
“Finders, Keepers,” by Stephen King
“Muse,” by Jonathan Galassi
“On the Move: A Life,” by Oliver Sacks
“Women of Will: Following the Feminine in Shakespeare’s Plays,” by Tina Packer
“The World Beyond Your Head: Becoming an Individual in an Age of Distraction,” by Matthew Crawford
“Disclaimer,” by Renée Knight
Grant Gallicho
Associate Editor, Commonweal
“Words Without Music,” by Philip Glass
“American Catholics in Transition,” by William V. D’Antonio, Michele Dillon, and Mary L. Gautier
“The Green Road,” by Anne Enright
Marie Elena Giossi
Reporter, The Tablet
“The Buried Giant: A Novel” by Kazuo Ishiguro
Stefanie Gutierrez
Press Secretary, Diocese of Brooklyn
“Go Set a Watchman,” by Harper Lee
“Infinite Home,” by Kathleen Alcott
Msgr. Michael Hardiman
Pastor, St. Patrick’s, Bay Ridge
“A History of Loneliness: A Novel,” by John Boyne
“Mortal Blessings,” by Angela Alaimo O’Donnell
“The Fifth Gospel,” by Ian Caldwell
“Maximus,” by Richard Black
“Nora Webster,” by Colm Toibin
“Potiphar’s Wife,” by Kieran Tapsell
“Small Mercies,” by Eddie Joyce
“Dare We Hope,” by Hans Urs von Balthasar
Father James Kuroly
Spiritual Director, Cathedral Prep and Seminary, Elmhurst
“Washington’s Revolution: The Making of America’s First Leader,” by Robert Middlekauff,
“The Journey Home: My Life in Pinstripes,” by Jorge Posada
“Broken Gods: Hope, Healing, and the Seven Longings of the Human Heart,” by Dr. Greg K. Popcak, Ph.D.
Father Robert Lauder
Professor, St. John’s University, Jamaica
“Abounding in Kindness,” by Elizabeth Johnson, C.S.J.
“Pope Francis’ Revolution of Tenderness and Love,” by Walter Cardinal Kasper
“The Best American Catholic Short Stories,” edited by Daniel McVeigh and Patrician Schnapp
“Sacred Fire,” by Ronald Rolheiser
Msgr. Thomas Machalski
Rector, SS Cyril and Methodius Seminary, Orchard Lake, Mich.
“The Priest As Beloved Son,” edited by Deacon James Keating
“Like the First Morning: The Morning Offering as a Daily Renewal,” by Michael J. Ortiz
“Proof of Heaven: A Neurosurgeon’s Journey into the Afterlife,” by Eben Alexander, M.D.
“Mercy,” by Walter Cardinal Kasper
Deacon Kevin McCormack
Principal, Xaverian H.S., Bay Ridge
“Catch 22,” by Joseph Heller
“Plum Island,” by Nelson DeMille
“The Most Dangerous Book,” by Kevin Birmingham
“The Irony of American History,” by Reinhold Niebuhr
Anything by Tom Clancy
Ian S. Maloney
Associate Professor, St. Francis College, Brooklyn
“A Song of Ice and Fire,” by George R.R. Martin
“Redeployment,” by Phil Klay
“All the Light We Cannot See,” by Anthony Doerr
“The Man Who Walked Away,” by Maud Casey
“The Celestials,” by Karen Shepard
“The Moor’s Account,” by Laila Lalami
“Friendswood,” by Rene Steinke
“Paper Lantern,” by Stuart Dybek
“The Laughing Monsters,” by Denis Johnson
Jim Mancari
Tablet Sports Columnist
“Killing Patton,” by Bill O’Reilly
“Pedro,” by Pedro Martinez
Dr. Patrick McNamara
Author, “New York Catholics”
“Pope Francis, Life and Revolution: A Biography of Jorge Bergoglio,” by Elisabetta Pique
“The Song of Bernadette,” by Franz Werfel
“Napoleon: A Life,” by Andrew Roberts
“Rome: A Cultural, Visual, and Personal History,” by Robert Hughes
“Mornings on Horseback: The Story of an Extraordinary Family, a Vanished Way of Life and the Unique Child Who Became Theodore Roosevelt,” by David McCullough
Father Joseph Mulqueen
St. Mary’s, Long Island City
“To Kill a Mockingbird,” by Harper Lee
Maria-Pia Negro Chin
Reporter, The Tablet
“Between Heaven and Mirth: Why Joy, Humor, and Laughter Are at the Hearts of the Spiritual Life,” by Father James Martin, S.J.
“Paula,” by Isabel Allende
“Lila,” by Marilynne Robinson
“The Namesake,” by Jhumpa Lahiri
Margaret Riconda
Sacred Heart parish, Bayside
“Zoom: How Everything Moves – From Atoms and Galaxies to Blizzards and Bees,” by Bob Berman
“Headstrong: 52 Women Who Changed Science – and the World,” by Rachel Swaby
“Is God a Mathematician?” by Mario Livio
“Heirs to Forgotten Kingdoms: Journeys into the Disappearing Religions of the Middle East,” by Gerard Russell
“The Lagoon: How Aristotle Invented Science,” by Armand Marie Leroi
Mike Rizzo
Professor of Journalism, St. John’s University
“Men In Green,” by Michael Bamberger
“Before Amen: The Power Of A Simple Prayer,” by Max Lucado
“Work Rules!: Insights From Inside Google That Will Transform How You Live And Lead,” by Laszlo Bock
“The News: A User’s Manual,” by Alain De Botton
Father Ray Roden
Pastor, Our Lady of Sorrows, Corona
“Bergoglio’s List,” by Nello Scavo
“Aparecida: Quo Vadis?” by Robert Pelton
“Excellent Sheep: The Miseducation of the American Elite,” by William Deresiewicz
“The Life of St. Aloysius Gonzaga of the Company of Jesus,” by Virgilio Cepari
“Broken Music: A Memoir,” by Sting
Tony Rossi
Director of Communications, The Christophers
“Five Years in Heaven: The Unlikely Friendship That Answered Life’s Greatest Questions.” by John Schlimm
“Saint Odd,” by Dean Koontz
“Seeds of the Word: Finding God in the Culture,” by Father Robert Barron
“The Silencing: How the Left is Killing Free Speech,” by Kirsten Powers
Bishop Paul Sanchez
Pastor, Our Lady Queen of Martyrs, Forest Hills
“The Franciscan Heart of Thomas Merton: A New Look at the Spiritual Inspiration of His Life, Thought, and Writing,” by Daniel P. Horan, O.F.M.
“Sacred Fire: A Vision For a Deeper Human and Christian Maturity,” by Ronald Rolheiser
“New York Catholics: Faith Attitude & the Works!” by Patrick McNamara
Matthew Schiller
Business Manager, Catholic New York
“The Francis Miracle: Inside the Transformation of the Pope and the Church,” by John L. Allen
“The Unquiet Monk: Thomas Merton’s Questing Faith,” by Michael W. Higgins
“The War That Forged a Nation: Why the Civil War Still Matters,” by James M. McPherson
Father Peter Schineller, S.J.
Archivist, Society of Jesus
“Galileo’s Telescope,” by Massimo Bucciantini, Michele Camerota, and Franco Giudice
“The Great Reforme: Francis and the Making of a Radical Pope,” by Austen Ivereigh
Msgr. John J. Strynkowski
Retired rector of St. James Cathedral-Basilica, Downtown Brooklyn
“Eucharist as Meaning,” by Joseph C. Mudd
“The Fifth Gospel,” by Ian Caldwell
“Political Augustinianism,” by Michael Bruno
Msgr. Perfecto Vazquez
Chaplain, Cursillo Movement
“The Spirit of St. Francis: Inspiring Words from Pope Francis,” Edited by Alicia Von Stamwitz
“St. Francis and Pope Francis, Poverty, Prayer and Joy in Jesus,” by Alan Schreck
“Pope Francis, Only Love Can Save Us,” Letters, Homilies and Talks of Cardinal Jorge Bergoglio
“Meeting Jesus in the Sacraments,” by Pope Francis
“Pope Francis, Tradition in Transition,” by Massimo Faggioli
“My Vocation Is Love: Saint Therese’s Way to Total Trust,” by Jean LaFrance
Brother Edward Wesley, O.S.F.
Professor of English, St. Francis College, Brooklyn
“There’s Something I Want You to Do: Stories,” by Charles Baxter
“The Ransom of the Soul: Afterlife and Wealth in Early Western Christianity,” by Peter Brown
“War and The Iliad,” by Simone Weil and Rachel Bespaloff
“The Shepherd’s Life,” by James Rebanks
“The Last Asylum: A Memoir of Madness in Our Times,” by Barbara Taylor
To participate in The Tablet’s summer reading poll, send us your list of books and authors you plan to read this summer. Simply compile your selections and email to ewilkinson@desalesmedia.org or mail to Ed Wilkinson, The Tablet, 1712 Tenth Ave., Brooklyn, N.Y. 11215.