Wishful Thinking of If I Had the Time This is What I Would be Reading

I wonder how many of you know about the Loyola Classics series of books?

Loyola Press has come out with reprints of some of the best in Catholic Fiction from the last century to which I can attest because I have read some of them.

In particular I can recommend The Devil's Advocate by Morris West a gripping tale of the process by which a person's life is placed under the scrutiny of the Church on the road to sainthood. I found this book to be filled with wonderfully real characters and infused with information on the cause for sainthood while still remaining a readable story that kept me guessing as to what was going to happen next. This was actually the first West novel I ever read, and had me hooked, I went on to read everything else he wrote and was a lifelong fan.

I would also like to recommend the John R Powers books The Last Catholic in America, Do Black Patten Leather Shoes Really Reflect Up, and The Unoriginal Sinner and the Ice Cream God. These are three stories in the life of a Catholic boy growing up in the United States. They made me laugh and they were filled with tenderness. When they were first published I remember I couldn't wait for the next book in the series to come out. Now you can read all three back to back.

I also love the Rumer Godden books.

There are others in the series that I haven't read yet, but you can bet, that when I get the time I know exactly what I will be doing with it. . . visiting Loyola Classics to find a new old favorite. Care to join me?

Pax