Pro-life; young-adult; sometimes RCIA and other catechesis; writer; Lay members of the Order of Preachers, with temporary (3-year) commitment.

Tenmile, Oregon

I've read a lot of books. The more memorable ones are:

G.K. Chesterton; his best, in my humble opinion, are "Orthodoxy" and "The Everlasting Man," but also "Heretics," his biographies of Saint Francis of Assisi and Saint Thomas Aquinas; "What's Wrong with the World;" and "The Ball and the Cross."

J.R.R. Tolkien's "Lord of the Rings" trilogy; The Silmarillion is also good, and I enjoyed "The Children of Hurin."

Michael Flynn's "Eiffelheim" and Walter M Miller's "A Canticle for Leibowitz" are both great science fiction works.

Though he wasn't technically Catholic, C.S. Lewis certainly helped many other people to convert to Catholicism, so he gets a place here, too. "Miracles," "The Abolition of Man," "The Chronicles of Narnia," "The Problem of Pain," and "The Screwtape Letters" are probably his best.

My first survey of Catholicism, when I started to become serious about being a Catholics, came in George Weigel's "Letters to a Young Catholic."

I have read a number of Pope Benedict's books, and am impressed by how scholarly he is. My favorite is his book about creation, and I would like to revisit "Jesus of Nazareth," "Truth and Tolerance," and "Introduction to Christianity."

The late Fr Stanley L Jaki is also one of my favorites, since my educational background is in physics. I especially liked "The Limits of a Limitless Science."

Professor J Budziszewski is another great writer, though he's only written one book since converting to Catholicism, 'The Line Through the Heart." "Revenge of Conscience" and "What We Can't Not Know" were also quite good.

Pope John Paul the Great's "Man and Woman He Created Them" and "Love and Responsibility" are both excellent, and Christopher West's interpretation of it can be most helpful. I also enjoyed Bishop Fulton Sheen's "Three to Get Married."

Peter Kreeft's "Three Approaches to Abortion" included one of the most moving arguments against abortion I have ever encountered; alas, I have not had a chance to read any of his other works, bu only to listen to some of his publicly available talks.

Saint Louis King of France (Austin, TX)

Just my blogs. My first blog is Equus Nom Veritas, and it's just me. I started a second one with some friends, The Nicene Guys. And I'm a contributor to the new "young adult" Catholic blog Ignitum Today. I also post on the Christian.com blogs, occasionally on the Catholic Answers forums, and now here. I think this all qualifies me as a "B Team" Amateur Catholic (I don't write books or do speaking tours, heck I barely do my job!).

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I am working towards a doctorate in physics. I've never formally studied philosophy or theology--I took only three philosophy classes in college, two of which were taught by physicists--but I do enjoy reading books about those subjects. I suppose the main thrusts of my work are 1) Catechesis, where I can offer it; 2) reunion between the Church and our separated brethren, be they Protestant, Orthodox, lapsed Catholics, or even non-Christians--I mostly write for mixed Catholic-Protestant audiences, though-- and 3) evangelization. I think that these three things fit together, though.