Full of Grace by Christine Watkins (Ave Maria Press, 2010)Christine Watkins grew up without religion and without a belief in God. Her parents had told her that Jesus was a fairytale and that when you died you became part of the dirt and helped nourish plants. As an adult, she searched in vain for some shred of hope and direction.

Finding My Voice By Beth Knobbe (St. Anthony Messenger, 2009) Are the young adult years simply an extended adolescence? When do we become real adults?

Dorothea Lange: A Life Beyond Limits By Linda Gordon (W. W. Norton & Company, 2009) In the 1930s President Franklin D. Roosevelt’s Farm Security Administration wanted to show America the faces of millions of farmworkers devastated by the Great Depression.

The Difference God Makes By Cardinal Francis George, O.M.I. (Herder and Herder, 2009) Chicago’s Cardinal Francis George has a knack for delivering off-the-cuff comments that generate controversy. Once asked why the church will not ordain women as priests, he responded, “Have you ever seen a male prima ballerina?

The Future Church By John L. Allen Jr. (Doubleday, 2009)  There are few Catholic journalists as well-known and quoted as the National Catholic Reporter’s John Allen. As NCR’s Vatican correspondent for the better part of a decade, his access to Catholic figures of international significance is unparalleled.

While We Wait: Spiritual and Practical Advice for Those Trying to Adopt By Heidi Schlumpf (ACTA, 2009)Wherever you are in your process of waiting to adopt a child-the paperwork stage, the home study stage, or "the unexpected delay" stage-Heidi Schlumpf's book, subtitled Spiritual and Practical Advice for Those Trying to Adopt, has something to offer.

Holiness and the Feminine Spirit: The Art of Janet McKenzie Edited by Susan Perry (Orbis Books, 2009) Early disciples never said how Jesus looked, so the image of Christ that leaps to mind does not derive from gospel or creed, pope or theologian. Artists gave us Jesus as we know him. Guessing, they gave us the fish and other symbols, then the Good Shepherd.

By Mary Gordon (Pantheon, 2009)

By Timothy Beal (HarperOne, 2009)

By Jason Berggren (X Media, 2009) So much for Paul's assertion to the Corinthians that "the greatest of these is love." Jason Berggren openly admits in his debut book, subtitled "Working Through the Frustrations of Faith," that hate isn't what you're supposed to feel, but he's an angry young man and he does anyway.