Reading this year has been…complicated. See, this year I have been deep in preparing for comprehensive exams, which means most of my reading has names like “A History of Catholic Theological Ethics” or “Vision and Character: A Christian Educator’s Alternative to Kohlberg” or “The Jesuit Ratio Studiorum of 1599: 400th Anniversary Perspectives.” While these all interest me, they’re not exactly ‘pleasure reading;’ I’ll share some of the books that might appeal to a broader audience (i.e. YOU) along with some of the highlights of my scholarly and musical activity this year. Please reach out in the comments or elsewhere to let me know what YOU read, wrote, sang or otherwise loved this year!
Books
Non-fiction always calls to me from the BPL shelves. This year I was interested, unsurprisingly, in religion, picking up titles like:
The Violent Take it By Force: the Christian Movement that is Threatening our Democracy
Jesus Wept: Seven Popes and the Battle for the Soul of the Catholic Church
Branching out beyond religion, I also read The Ten Year War: Obamacare and the Unfinished Crusade for Universal Coverage and Algospeak: How Social Media is Transforming the Future of Language.
I read a dash of memoir:
Hope by Pope Francis
Good for a Girl by Lauren Fleshman
Simply More by Cynthia Erivo
Hindu and Catholic, Priest and Scholar by Francis X. Clooney
While working on a project about saints I read plenty but a few stood out as transcending hagiography: Mohawk Saint: Catherine Tekakwitha and the Jesuits, and Lourdes: Body and Spirit in the Secular Age.
Novels ran the gamut. Food Person didn’t leave much of an impression. Three Days in June and Small Great Things left me cold. The Bean Trees, a classic and an airport purchase, ably accompanied me through a travel fiasco. The Dark Maestro was thrilling but it turned so deeply dark at the end I almost regretted having recommended it to people before I finished it. Maine captured New England, as J. Courtney Sullivan always does.
Publications and Presentations
As for writing, I end another year regretful that I didn’t’ share more short-form work here, thought I’m happy to have written on Christian nationalism, Pope Francis’ legacy, and the potential of this Leonine papacy, among other things.
I published Saints Like Us with Twenty-Third Publications, and was delighted when a friend reached out recently with photos of a confirmation class using the book on a group project.
I also published a few articles: “The Examen and Ignatian Imagination” in The Way and “The Hopeful Vision of Jesuit Education” in the Jesuit Education Quarterly.
This year I spoke and presented in a variety of capacities, including paper presentations at the American Academy of Religion Annual Meeting in Boston, the Fifteenth Annual Conference on Religion and Spirituality in Society in Rome, and the Global Researchers Advancing Catholic Education Colloquium in London. I continued my work with educators by presenting at the Lexington (KY) Catechists Conference and piloting my course on Liturgy in Catholic Schools for Notre Dame’s STEP program. And I continued working in retreat settings with presentations at the Hearts on Fire retreat for young adults and the Ever to Excel program for high school students.
Music
All of this, and making time to vocalize for at least ten minutes a day! A lot of my singing this year was practical: on retreats, at parishes, for weddings and funerals. At the end of 2025 I returned to the Reagle Music Theatre stage as part of their ChristmasTime extravaganza. I also gave a recital during Holy Week with my dear friend Chris Holownia, singing a song cycle by another friend, local composer Delvyn Case III. Darkness from which I come is a striking cycle setting poetry of Rilke, and it made a fitting addition to my Holy Week ministry. Here’s a taste.
I share all my best wishes for a blessed, beautiful new year!
Most of the links here are Amazon Affiliate links, which send a little change to my piggy bank if you make purchases through them. But go to a local bookstore instead. Or a public library. Happy reading!
