NOVALIS SUMMER READING RECOMMENDATIONS

Ah, summertime… Time to kick back and relax, spend time with friends and family outdoors, take a break from the usual routine, and of course catch up on your reading!

Here are a few great reads from Novalis for the pilgrim, the activist, the politico, the environmentalist, and more. Happy reading!

• Camino Close to Home: How to Plan and Thrive on Pilgrimages, by Rob Fennell – Not all of us can make the trip to Spain to walk the Camino de Santiago. Local pilgrimages are a fantastic alternative! A route close to home but away from our daily concerns is an opportunity to experience the physical challenges of walking, the joys of community, spiritual growth, and our relationship with God’s creation. This hands-on guide is an essential tool for anyone planning or participating in a local pilgrimage.
• Come Dance with Me: A Medicine Wheel Practice of Anishinaabe Catholic Interculturation of Faith, by Eva Solomon CSJ, ssm – This book explores interculturation of Anishinaabe Roman Catholic faith through a mutually respectful and culturally appropriate dialogue process. It is an invitation: an invitation to dance across the circular plane of the medicine wheel, a framework for Anishinaabe Catholic interculturation of faith. This rhythm of the dance is a means of healing, integrity, transformation and reconciliation. The invitation, “Come dance with me,” reflects the invitation of the Cosmic Christ to all creation.
• Faith as Protest: Answering the Call to Mend the World, compiled and edited by Karen A. Hamilton – Is faith still relevant in today’s world? Amid polarization, war, a refugee crisis, a pandemic and environmental devastation, it’s easy to feel that faith no longer has a role to play. This book is evidence that nothing could be further from the truth. As you listen to voices from a range of religious traditions, you will see that faith – and the actions that arise from it – truly can mend the world.
• Faith, Love and Loss: Sustaining Hope amid Memory Loss and the Storms of Life, by Harry and Jennifer McAvoy – This is a real-life story with big scary dragons like memory loss, diminished ability, the unravelling of a career and loss of income. The authors provide a compelling glimpse into a five-year health crisis where there has been no diagnosis and hence no prognosis for getting better. They share memorable moments, lessons learned, and the faith and love that have sustained them. An inspiring read!
• Generation Laudato Si’: Catholic Youth on Living Out an Ecological Spirituality, edited by Rebecca Rathbone and Simon Appolloni – Written entirely by youth (aged 17 to 35) from 20 countries, this book comprises the thoughts, wisdom, dreams and aspirations of a generation that wants to change how we run the economy, foster community, lead and govern, facilitate education, use and apply technology, and live among the rest of creation. But it is more than just a book; through multimedia including a website, Instagram, Twitter and videos, it is a call to a global conversation to foster ecological conversion – and an antidote to all the doom and gloom we hear on the news.
• Pairings: The Bible and Booze, by Matthew R. Anderson – From apple cider (Genesis) to bloody Caesars (Revelation), this offering of vintage biblical texts paired with alcoholic and alcohol-free drinks reveals a rich complexity of scholarship while remaining satisfyingly easy on the palate. Pairings opens up generous undertones of prophetic justice and plush and full-bodied humour. “Imbibe” it on your own or as part of a group Bible study or book club. Drink recipes are matched to each of the ten chosen biblical texts. Whether you’re a connoisseur or just in it for the tasting, there’s something in this BYOBible for you!
• Politics and Faith in a Polarized World: A Challenge for Catholics, by John Milloy – Can faith and politics ever mix? Should our political leaders, particularly Catholic ones, limit their religion to Sunday mornings? As Canadians come to terms with our broken post-pandemic world, many believe that the last thing we need is religion. John Milloy, a former political advisor and Ontario Cabinet minister, argues that Catholicism can make an important contribution to society’s healing as well as addressing the deep polarization that is gripping our nation. This book is a call to forge a new path.
• Amazing Friendships between Animals and Saints, by Greg Kennedy, with illustrations by Kerry Lyn Wilson – Children and adults alike will be delighted by this beautifully illustrated book about friendships that holy women and men have made with animals. Fable-like in tone, these friendships have much to teach us about how to care for our common home, Earth, and live kindly with all her children. Today, given the Catholic Church’s insistence that the ecological crisis is essentially a spiritual one, the moral of these often ancient stories offers us guidance, hope and instruction.

Anne Louise Mahoney is managing editor of Novalis. She is the editor of Looking to the Laity: Reflections on Where the Church Can Go from Here and the author of I Hope, a book for young children.