Book Reviews

Sr. Sandra Smithson, a School Sister of St. Francis (School Sisters of St. Francis)

New book explores life of Sr. Sandra Smithson, pioneering Black Catholic nun in Tennessee

The new text from journalist Theresa Laurence covers a woman who battled racism and educational neglect in Nashville for more than four decades.

Pedestrians walk past the emergency entrance at St. Vincent's Hospital in New York, March 16, 2010. The 160-year-old hospital closed the following month. (AP/Kathy Willens)

How a long-closed NYC Catholic hospital still provides lessons for the church

By Michael J. O'Loughlin

From left: Sr. Helen Prejean, Dead Man Walking author; Catherine Anyango Grünewald, illustrator for the new graphic edition; actress Susan Sarandon, who portrayed Prejean in the 1996 film; and Rose Vines, who adapted the text for the graphic novel, pose Nov. 6, 2025, at the book launch in Manhattan. (Fordham University/Leo Sorel)

Graphic novel of 'Dead Man Walking' retains memoir's moral core

By Chris Herlinger

An empty room in a convent (Unsplash/Mario La Pergola)

'Stone Yard Devotional' sets forgiveness, empathy and death in an Australian convent

By

IN CASE YOU MISSED IT

Historian sets his eyes on levitating saints in book 'They Flew'

Sister Jean's book, 'Wake Up With Purpose!', is a slam dunk

Sr. Sandra Smithson, a School Sister of St. Francis (School Sisters of St. Francis)

New book explores life of Sr. Sandra Smithson, pioneering Black Catholic nun in Tennessee

The new text from journalist Theresa Laurence covers a woman who battled racism and educational neglect in Nashville for more than four decades.

Pedestrians walk past the emergency entrance at St. Vincent's Hospital in New York, March 16, 2010. The 160-year-old hospital closed the following month. (AP/Kathy Willens)

How a long-closed NYC Catholic hospital still provides lessons for the church

By Michael J. O'Loughlin

From left: Sr. Helen Prejean, Dead Man Walking author; Catherine Anyango Grünewald, illustrator for the new graphic edition; actress Susan Sarandon, who portrayed Prejean in the 1996 film; and Rose Vines, who adapted the text for the graphic novel, pose Nov. 6, 2025, at the book launch in Manhattan. (Fordham University/Leo Sorel)

Graphic novel of 'Dead Man Walking' retains memoir's moral core

By Chris Herlinger

An empty room in a convent (Unsplash/Mario La Pergola)

'Stone Yard Devotional' sets forgiveness, empathy and death in an Australian convent

By

IN CASE YOU MISSED IT

Historian sets his eyes on levitating saints in book 'They Flew'

Sister Jean's book, 'Wake Up With Purpose!', is a slam dunk