10 Contemporary Novels Every Catholic Feminist Should Read
Part of our bookish series! 📚
I abhor literary snobbery.
I mean, is there anything more obnoxious than someone who loves to read claiming they only like books written before 1942? That nothing good has been written since we had working telephones? As if many great classics weren’t seen as scandalous or tawdry for their time, too.
There is a lot of trash on the bookshelves in the Year of Our Lord 2023. There’s also still amazing books being written. And if you’re going to be hoity-toity about it and refuse to read anything that isn’t a ~ClAsSiC~, I feel bad for you, because there are contemporary novels that will deliver an excellent reading experience.
You can use anything to think, and I can talk Les Miserables as well as Jessica Simpson’s memoir without a trace of irony because I think they both have interesting things to offer the reader.
What do I consider contemporary? Anything you’d find on Oprah’s book club these days, I guess. I know some people think anything written after the Middle Ages is “contemporary” but I’m talking about books you’d find right now on BookTok or the Staff Selections shelf at Barnes and Noble.
A big ole disclaimer that makes me feel itchy to make clear: some of these books have sin in them. Like, duh. Brideshead Revisited, the epitome of Catholic classics for many of the above-mentioned literary snobs (which I also love, to be clear) is positively rife with affairs and lust and betrayal. Some of these books have the “f” word. Some of them have sex that the church would not vibe with. Some of them have characters that are anything but redeemed. But that doesn’t take away from the fact that these books, in my opinion, point a person towards truth, beauty, and goodness. And also just provide for delightful reading experiences.
And as a reminder, I’m not going to use affiliate links on these bookish posts because I think the best way to support the literary world is to purchase from your own local, independent bookstore. ThriftBooks or the library are other great options! If you prefer audiobooks, Libro.fm connects with your local indie and has great prices.
Without further ado: 10 Contemporary Novels That Every Catholic Feminist Should Read, According to Claire Swinarski, Who Is 140% Not a Literary Expert But Just a Girl who Reads More Than Your Average Human And Has Opinions.