How to Be a Saint: An Extremely Weird and Mildly Sacrilegious History of The Catholic Church's Biggest Names

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher, Sourcebooks, for this DRC in exchange for a fair and honest review. The thoughts and opinions expressed here are my own.

The strange, sometimes straight-up confusing and ultimately enlightening process to achieving sainthood are the focus of this book. Author Kate Sidley takes both the semi-knowledgable and the uninitiated through the journey to becoming a Catholic saint and includes the steps from beginning to finish, with extra tips and asides for reaching that sweet, sweet top tier of sainthood. The book alternates between the wacky and the serious from the outset. It's structured as a three-part, do-it-yourself guide for those interested in a career change and pivot towards sainthood, yet show more also includes information about Catholic Church history and how the canonization process has changed over time.

I really liked the text's quirky and offbeat tone. Sidley leans into the aforementioned weirdness rather than shy away from it, which contributes to the book's humor and makes it easy to read. Learning that she's a writer on Stephen Colbert's show doesn't surprise me, as the humor style is similar to his. The book is never boring or uncomfortably dry, even when breaking down timelines and different historical outlines. Sidley does a very good job of demystifying the motivations behind practices and the definitions of certain terms, such as the difference between worship and veneration, or beautification and direct canonization. The extensive bibliography at the end was also a welcome surprise, as it shows the depth of research that went into the book's creation. I also appreciated the random trivia and the attention paid to the minutiae of saint iconography. One of my favorite such sections was the part about different halo shapes and what they mean; I had no idea that square halos were actually a trend once and now will look more closely at paintings to spot any variations.

The snarky asides and pop culture references made me chuckle while reading. Some of the funniest sections of the book included the saints speaking in their own voices about their backstories (along with some of their obvious regrets) and the patron saints chapter, including some creative patronage openings that still haven't been filled. The interactive parts of the book were also fun, such as the make-you-own-holy-card activity. Even though it's presented in tongue-in-cheek fashion, it would have been nice if this and the canonization certificate were included as actual full-sized, perforated pages towards the back for readers to tear out, make copies of and share, either in activity groups or by themselves. Readers familiar with Catholic hagiographies will appreciate Sidley's insights on noticeable trends, such as the facts that many female saints died young, tortured for refusing bad marriages or other salacious situations. I also found the notes interesting about how the push for certain saints' canonization has often correlated with agendas and ideals that the Church overall has wanted to push. I would have liked to see more information about Black saints and saints of other ethnicities and races within the mix of stories, too.

Writing religious satire books are always difficult because there's that thin line between well-constructed humor and poking gentle fun at one's traditions, and crossing the line into the disrespectful. "Mildly sacrilegious" was a good choice for the book's subtitle. There are moments when the commentary teeters on the edge of potentially crossing the line (speaking in God's voice, even humorously, is just something I don't and never will care for, period) but it never goes all the way over to the book being unacceptable. Now granted, Catholicism is not my denomination, so there may be certain nuances that I'm missing out on. But even after a few reads, I didn't get the impression that Sidley set out with the intention to eviscerate the Church, but rather to take an entertaining look at the intricacies of a tradition that she also grew up with. And it works.

As a final note, there seems to be a slight text orientation issue on page 89, next to the section about St. Olga. The words are a little out of sequence in that first paragraph so it's a little confusing, but I was still able to understand it. show less

I read the description and was excited to read this book because it sounded like it would be filled with humor and a bit of an irreverent look at the process of canonization and the lives of some saints. I didn't find this book "mildly sacrilegious" as the title stated, I think it was immensely sacrilegious throughout and downright blasphemous at times. I didn't find the jokes to be very funny; some were mildly amusing and most were juvenile humor, at best. The funniest line in the book was, "Purgatory is a temporary hell, much like flying out of Newark." (I would venture to say that Purgatory likely smells better and is more enjoyable than flying out of Newark.) I gave the book three stars for the historical research and knowledge show more about saints and Catholicism and am disappointed that I couldn't rate it higher. I received an arc digital book from NetGalley in exchange for my honest review. show less

This book is completely hilarious, mildly offensive and somewhat sacrilegious. However, it was a fun read that would appeal to those readers who were raised on stories of the saints. I laughed out loud while reading this book. The chapters include the canonization process and stories of the saints, as well as a checklist to guide readers along the path to sainthood.

I received this book from the publisher and from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. The opinions expressed here are my own.

If you ever thought about wanting to become a saint, then this is the book for you! You don’t have to be Catholic to enjoy it. In fact, if you aren’t Catholic you will likely enjoy it more, because all the pressure is off! For the rest of you would-be saints, the path to sainthood is rugged, but not impossible. In fact, in just several not-so-easy-steps, it is all explained here in this humorous and somewhat sacrilegious book. And, in case you want to cut to the chase, (but please don’t or you will miss the funny stuff), it’s all neatly summarized at the end. So, good luck to all you wannabe saints - you’ll need it!