Staff Picks
#BroaderBookshelf 2020 - Occupation Books about Clergy
- Sara M.
- Wednesday, February 05, 2020
Collection
Fulfill the "Read a Book About a Protagonist That Has Your Occupation" prompt by finding a book about somebody in your line of work. Of course we can't provide a list for every imaginable kind of job, so if you don't see anything close to what you do drop us a line and we'll try to find you one!
Clergy in books are detectives, spiritual advisors, diarists, and persuaders - enjoy this list of books about priests, nuns, ministers, monks, rabbis, and other people with religious callings.
This list is part of the #BroaderBookshelf 2020 reading challenge. Find more lists here.
Death Comes for the Archbishop
Published in 1990
The story of a French priest who goes to New Mexico and with another priest win the southwest for the Catholic Church. After forty years, he dies--the archbishop of Santa Fe.
The Name of the Rose
Published in 2014
In 1327, finding his sensitive mission at an Italian abbey further complicated by seven bizarre deaths, Brother William of Baskerville turns detective.
The Rabbi
Published in 2012
A father; a husband; a lover; a friend; a rabbi. This is the story about the making of a modern rabbi, his coming of age, and how he finds his place in in a confused and confusing world. Michael Kind is raised in the Jewish cauldron of 1920s New York, familiar with the stresses and materialism of metropolitan life. Turning to the ancient set of ethics of his Orthodox grandfather, with a modern twist, he becomes a Reform rabbi. As insecure and sexually needy as any other young male, he serves as a circuit-rider rabbi in the Ozarks, and then as a temple rabbi in the racially ugly South, in a San Francisco suburb, in a Pennsylvania college town, and finally, in a New England community west of Boston. Along the way he falls deeply in love with and marries the daughter of a Congregational minister; she converts to Judaism and they have two complex, interesting children. Noah Gordon's picture of a brilliant and talented religious counselor, who at times is as bereft and uncertain as any of his congregants, is a deeply moving and very satisfying novel.
Friday the Rabbi Slept Late
Published in 2015
Winner of the Edgar Award: Rabbi Small investigates a murder in which he's the prime subject David Small is the new rabbi in the small Massachusetts town of Barnard's Crossing. Although he'd rather spend his days engaged in Torah study and theological debate, the daily chores of synagogue life are all-consuming-that is, until the day a nanny's body is found on the rain-soaked asphalt of the temple's parking lot. When the young woman's purse is discovered in Rabbi Small's car, he will have to use his scholarly skills and Talmudic wisdom to exonerate himself and find the real killer. Blending this unorthodox sleuth's quick intellect with thrilling action, Friday the Rabbi Slept Late is the exciting first installment of the bestselling Rabbi Small Mysteries.
Together at the Table
A Novel of Lost Love and Second Helpings
Published in 2016
"Three months ago, Juliette D'Alisa's world changed. In a bittersweet series of events, her mother's health took a turn for the worse. Juliette and her brother opened their restaurant together to rave reviews, but her romance with Memphis immunologist Neil McLaren ended in anger and tears. As autumn sweeps into the Pacific Northwest, Juliette feels that she's finally on the cusp of equilibrium. The restaurant continues to thrive, and her family is closer than ever. She and sous-chef Adrien are seeing each other, both in and out of the kitchen. Just when she thinks her world might stop spinning, a trip to the waterfront lands a familiar face into her path. Rather than dwell on her personal life, Juliette throws herself into work and research. After reading her grandmother's letters from war-torn Paris, she still wants to know the full story and she'll travel across countries and oceans to find it. But even Juliette can't outrun the man who stole her heart. As she finally uncovers the truth about her family history, what will it mean for her own chances at lasting love?"-- Provided by publisher.
A Morbid Taste for Bones
The First Chronicle of Brother Cadfael of the Benedictine Abbey of Saint Peter and Saint Paul, at Shrewsbury
Published in 2014
It is 1137, and the ambitious head of Shrewsbury Abbey wishes to acquire the remains of Saint Winifred for the glory of his Benedictine order. Brother Cadfael is part of the expedition sent to the saint's final resting place in Wales, where he finds the villagers divided over the Benedictines' quest. When the leading opponent to moving the grave is shot dead with a mysterious arrow, some believe Winifred herself delivered the blow. Brother Cadfael knows that an earthly hand did the killing. But he doesn't know that his plan to root out a murderer may dig up a case of love and justice, where the waves of sin may be scandal--or his own ruin.
In the Bleak Midwinter
Published in 2007
It's a cold, snowy December in the upstate New York town of Millers Kill, and newly ordained Clare Fergusson is on thin ice as the first female priest of its small Episcopal church. The ancient regime running the parish covertly demands that she prove herself as a leader. However, her blunt manner, honed by years as an army pilot, is meeting with a chilly reception from some members of her congregation and Chief of Police Russ Van Alystyne, in particular, doesn't know what to make of her, or how to address "a lady priest" for that matter. The last thing she needs is trouble, but that is exactly what she finds. When a newborn baby is abandoned on the church stairs and a young mother is brutally murdered, Clare has to pick her way through the secrets and silence that shadow that town like the ever-present Adirondack mountains. As the days dwindle down and the attraction between the avowed priest and the married police chief grows, Clare will need all her faith, tenacity, and courage to stand fast against a killer's icy heart. In the Bleak Midwinter is one of the most outstanding Malice Domestic winners the contest has seen. The compelling atmosphere-the kind of very cold and snowy winter that is typical of upstate New York-will make you reach for another sweater. The characters are fully and believably drawn and you will feel like they are your old friends and find yourself rooting for them every step of the way.