Learning to Bend Ben Sollee Singer-songwriter-cellist Ben Sollee, 24, is at the beginning of what promises to be a very interesting American roots music career. Yes, you read that right—“cellist” and “roots music” in the same sentence. You hear “cello” and you think chamber music?

Then She Found Me (THINKFilm, 2008) Are we born into families, or do we fashion them by forging bonds with strangers?

Bread Body SpiritEdited and with introductions by Alice Peck (Skylights Path Publishing, 2008) This is a book that will make you hungry. You’ll be hungry for the rich curried vegetable soup in the chapter entitled “The Parable of the Squash,” and you’ll be hungry to take a new, more meaningful look at the meals you serve and eat.

Render Unto Caesar, Archbishop Charles J. Chaput (Doubleday, 2008)

Life Death Love and Freedom, John Mellencamp (Hear Music, 2008)

The Wire, created by David Simon (HBO, 2002-2008)

Don’t listen to those New Atheists, says this Vatican astronomer. You shouldn’t have to choose between science and faith.

There is no particular person author Ann Patchett has looked to for inspiration. Instead, she credits her Catholic faith for teaching her a boundless capacity for creativity and appreciation for metaphor. Patchett has harnessed that power to her audience: She is the recipient of the PEN/Faulkner Award and the Orange Prize (2002) and a finalist for the National Book Critics Circle Award for her novel Bel Canto, which sold more than 1 million copies in the United States and has been translated into 30 languages.

A U.S. Catholic baker's dozen

Here are a few books U.S. Catholic editors think are worth adding to your reading list this month