Each year, The Tablet polls its readership about the names of books they are planning to read over the summer months. Here is the first installment of the results:
“Hurting in the Church: A Way Forward for Wounded Catholics,” by Father Thomas Berg
“My Heart Will Triumph,” by Mirjana Soldo
“A Pope and a President: John Paul II, Ronald Reagan, and the Extraordinary Untold Story of the 20th Century,” by Paul Kengor
LINDA ADDONISIO
Our Lady of Perpetual Help, South Ozone Park
“Diary of Saint Maria Faustina Kowalska, by St. Faustina Kowalska
“The Power of Positive Thinking,” by Dr. Norman Vincent Peale
“The Story of My Life,” by Helen Keller
“Good-Bye, Mr. Chips,” by James Hilton
JANET BOGUCKI
College Point
“Kill Duck Before Serving: Red Faces at the New York Times: A Collection of the Newspaper’s Most Interesting, Embarrassing and Off-Beat Corrections,” edited by Linda Amster and Dylan Loeb McClain
JOE BROSTEK
St. Andrew Avellino, Flushing
“Street Lawyer,” by John Grisham
SISTER CAMILLE D’ARIENZO, R.S.M.
Commentator, WINS Radio
“Casey Stengel,” by Marty Appel
“The Black Hand,” by Stephan Talty
LARRY CELONA
Reporter, The New York Post
“John the Pupil” by David Flusfeder
“My Share of the Task” by General Stanley McChrystal
“Albert Einstein and His Times” by Ronald W. Clark
GLORIA CHAVEZ
“The Long Loneliness,” by Dorothy Day
“Operación Jesucristo,” by Og Mandino
“Where I Was From,” by Joan Didion
“Gabriela, Clove and Cinnamon,” by Jorge Amado
MARIA-PIA NEGRO CHIN
Maryknoll Magazine
“The Power of Silence: Against the Dictatorship of Noise,” by Robert Cardinal Sarah, with Nicolas Diat
“Mariette in Ecstasy,” by Ron Hansen
“Grace Notes: Poetry from the Pages of First Things,” edited by Paul Lake and Losana Boyd.
JOHN J. COX
Corpus Christi parish, Woodside
“Called to Holiness: On Love, Vocation, and Formation,” by Pope Benedict XVI, edited by Pietro Rossotti
“Nouvelle Theologie – New Theology: Inheritor of Modernism, Precursor to Vatican II,” by Jurgen Mettepenningen
“Disciples on the Road Together: Words of Pope Francis for Priests,” by Pope Francis
“The Dark Tower VI: Song of Susannah,” by Stephen King
FATHER JOHN CUSH
Pontifical North American College, Vatican City State
“The Gift of Peace,” by Joseph Cardinal Bernardin
“My Cousin the Saint,” by Justin Catanoso
“The Holy Souls: Viva Padre Pio,” by Father Alessio Parente
“The House of Wisdom,” by John Dunne
“Meet Solanus Casey,” by Leo Wollen Weber
DONNA CZAK
Sacred Heart, East Glendale
“Shattered: Inside Hillary Clinton’s Doomed Campaign,” by Jonathan Allen and Amie Parnes
DENNIS POUST
Director of Communications
NYS Catholic Conference
“33 Days to Morning Glory,” by Michael E. Gaitley
“Facing the Apostle Paul’s Image in Art,” by Armanda Santos
“Holy Mary” by Father C. J. O’Connell
GINA DESTAFANO
St. Mary’s, L.I.C.
“Honor at Stake,” by Declan Finn
“Murphy’s Law of Vampires,” by Declan Finn
“Live and Let Bite,” by Declan Finn
JOHN EMERY
“The Inner Presence: Recollections of My Spiritual Life,” by Francois Mauriac
“Interior Castle,” by St. Teresa of Avila
“Americanah,” by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
“Between the World and Me,” by Ta-Nehisi Coates
“You Shall Know Our Velocity,” by Dave Eggers
MELISSA ENAJE
Tablet Reporter/ Youth Editor
“Pope John Paul II: In My Own Words”
“Vigilance,” by Ray Kelly
“Wild Bill Donovan: The Spymaster Who Created The OSS and Modern American Espionage,” by Douglas Waller
“1864: Lincoln at the Gates of History,” by Charles Bracelen Flood
“All the Gallant Men: An American Sailor’s First Hand Account of Pearl Harbor,” by Donald Stratton
“The Rise of ISIS,” by Jay Sekulow
“Crime Scene: The Ultimate Guide to Forensic Science,” by Richard Platt
“A Good Month For Murder: The Inside Story of a Homicide Squad,” by Del Quentin Wilbur
“Arabic: A Complete Beginners Guide,” by J.R. Smart
BOB ESTEPA
St. Brendan, Midwood
“A Reliable Wife,” by Robert Goolrick
“The Shoemaker’s Wife,” by Adriana Trigiani
“The Antelope Wife,” by Louise Erdrich
“The Paris Wife,” by Paula McLain
“The Rector’s Wife,” by Joanna Trollope
MSGR. STEVEN FERRARI
Pastor
St. Teresa’s, Woodside
“Bresson on Bresson: Interviews 1943-1983”
“American Miracle,” by Michael Medved
“Einstein’s God,” by Krista Tippet
MSGR. FERNANDO FERRARESE
Pastor
Immaculate Conception, Astoria
“Amoris Laetitia,” by Pope Francis
“On Writing,” by Stephen King
“Living a Life that Matters,” by Harold S. Kushner
“The Wright Brothers,” by David McCullough
“Culture and Commitment a Study of the Generation Gap,” by Margaret Mead
JOHN FITZGERALD
St. Joan of Arc, Jackson Heights
“Then Everything Changed,” by Jeff Greenfield
“Fever,” by Mary Beth Keane
JOHN GALLO
Newtown Square, Pa.
“The Sun and Moon Over Assisi,” by Gerard Thomas Straub
“Being Mortal: Medicine and What Matters in the End,” by Atul Gawande
“The Great Reformer: Francis and the Making of a Radical Pope,” by Austen Ivereigh
“Why Homer Matters,” by Adam Nicolson
“The Manuscript Found in Saragossa,” by Jan Potocki
FATHER JOSEPH GIBINO
Pastor
Holy Trinity, Whitestone
“Bearing False Witness: Debunking Centuries of Anti-Catholic History,” by Rodney Stark
“The Betrothed,” by Alessandro Manzoni
ANGELO A. GIORDANO, Esq.
Brooklyn
“The Holy Longing,” by Ronald Rolheiser
“The Battle of Brooklyn 1776,” by John J. Gallagher
“Being Nixon: A Man Divided,” by Evan Thomas
BILL GORMAN
History teacher at Xaverian H.S. and Coordinator of Religious Education,
St. Paul and St. Agnes, Cobble Hill
“Baseball as a Road to God, Seeing Beyond the Game,” by John Sexton with Thomas Oliphant and Peter J. Schwartz
MARY GUADAGNI
“There Your Heart Lies,” by Mary Gordon
“Lincoln in the Bardo,” by George Saunders
“A Book of American Martyrs,” by Joyce Carol Oates
“The Kid,” by Ron Hansen
“The Guineveres,” by Sarah Oomet
MSGR. MICHAEL HARDIMAN
Pastor
St. Patrick’s, Bay Ridge
“The Seventh Function of Language,” by Laurent Binet
“The Benedict Option: A Strategy for Christians in a Post-Christian Nation,” by Rod Dreher
“Bryan: A Political Biography of William Jennings Bryan,” by Louis William Koenig
“Writing to Save a Life: The Louis Till File,” by John Edgar Wideman
JORGE DOMINGUEZ
Editor, Nuestra Voz
“And the Spirit Moved Them: The Lost Radical History of America’s First Feminists,” by Helen LaKelly Hunt
“Law & Disorder: The Chaotic Birth of the NYPD,” by Bruce Chadwick
“Illuminating Women in the Medieval World,” by Christine Sciacca
“Beren and Luthien,” by J.R.R. Tolkien
“The Life of Harishchandra, by Raghavanka,” translated by Vanamala Viswanatha
“Isabella of Castile: Europe’s First Great Queen,” by Giles Tremlett
“The Networked Recluse: The Connected World of Emily Dickinson,” by Mike Kelly, Carolyn Vega, Marta Werner, Susan Howe, Richard Wilbur
“Lincoln and Kennedy: A Pair to Compare,” by Gene Barretta
“Gothic Stories,” by Arthur Conan Doyle
“Finding Charity’s Folk: Enslaved and Free Black Women in Maryland,” by Jessica Millward
“Jamestown, The Truth Revealed,” by James Kelso
“A Warrior of the People: How Susan La Flesche Overcame Racial and Gender Inequality to Become America’s First Indian Doctor,” by Joe Starita
ROSEMARY KELTY
St. Sebastian parish, Woodside
“Dinner with DiMaggio: Memories of An American Hero,” by Rock Positano, John Positano, Francis Ford Coppola
“The Name of God Is Mercy,” by Pope Francis
“Alexander Hamilton,” by Ron Chernow
FATHER JAMES KUROLY
Pastor
St. Rose of Lima, Rockaway Beach
“Silence,” by Shisaku Endo
“The Ninth Hour,” by Alice McDermott
“Charming Billy,” by Alice McDermott
“There Your Heart Lies,” by Mary Gordon
“The Signal Flame,” by Andrew Krivak
“Sacred Fire,” by Ronald Rolheiser
“Mr. Blue,” by Myles Connolly
“The Devil’s Advocate,” by Morris West
FATHER ROBERT LAUDER
Professor, St. John’s University
“All The Light We Cannot See,” by Anthony Doerr
“The Shack,” by William P. Young
“Liberty’s Last Stand,” by Stephen Coonts
LAURA DEPALMA
Producer, NET-TV
“The Ear of the Heart,” by Mother Dolores Hart and Richard De Neut
“The Tea Girl of Humming Bird Lane,” by Lisa See
“The Return of The Prodigal Son,” by Henri Nouwen
“A Gentleman in Moscow,” by Amor Towles
“Saints For All Occasions,” by Courtney Sullivan
MARY MACCHIAROLA
Assumption, Brooklyn Heights
“The Benedict Option,” by Rod Dreher
“The 13th Apostle,” by Dermot McEvoy
“The Handmaid’s Tale,” by Margaret Atwood
“Gun Street Girl” (A Det. Duffy novel), by Adrian McKinty
“A Angel of Darkness,” by Caleb Carr
DEACON KEVIN MCCORMACK
Principal, Xaverian H.S.
“When Shea Was Home: The Story of the 1975 Mets, Yankees, Giants, and Jets,” by Brett Topel
JIM MANCARI
Tablet Sports Columnist
“Lead With Humility, 12 Leadership Lessons from Pope Francis,” by Jeffrey Krames
“Walking With Jesus,” by Pope Francis
“The Joy of Discipleship: Reflections from Pope Francis on Walking with Christ,” by Cardinal Daniel Dinardo
“The Words of Mercy,” by Pope Francis
“Mother Mary: Inspiring Words from Pope Francis,” by Alicia Von Stamwitz
“Laudato Si’,” by Pope Francis
“Letter to Artists,” Pope John Paul II
FATHER FRANK MANN
“Pope Francis: Encountering Truth – The Morning Homilies from St. Martha’s Chapel”
“Jerusalem: The Biography,” by Simon Sebag Montefiore
“Dark Matter and the Dinosaurs,” by Lisa Randall
“Beyond the God Particle,” by Leon Lederman and Christopher Hill
“Inclusivity: A Gospel Mandate,” by Diarmuid O’Murchu, M.S.C.
MARGARET RICONDA
“Looking at a Masterpiece,” by Madeleine Stebbins
“Apologetics and the Christian Imagination: An Integrated Approach to Defending the Faith,” by Holly Ordway
“The Pride of the Yankees, Lou Gehrig, Gary Cooper, and the Making of a Classic, by Richard Sandomir
NEIDA C. MARTINEZ
Our Lady of Mount Carmel, Astoria
“The Benedict Option,” by Rod Dreher
“Culture and the Thomas Tradition: After Vatican II,” by Tracy Roland
“The Story of a Catholic Parish Rebuilt: Awakening the Faithful, Reaching the Lost, Making the Church Matter,” by Michael White and Tom Corcoran
BISHOP JAMES MASSA
Moderator of the Curia
Excellent suggestions – not sure if I’ll get time to read much but these are good recommendations.