Like so many others, I’ve been really taken (smitten?) with Pope Francis. Maybe it’s that I’ve become more and more of a Catholic Geek since 2001. Maybe it’s that my addictive nature needs something to glom onto. Maybe it’s that I’m avoiding cooking.

I have a shelf filling quickly with Pope Francis books: books by him, books about him, books that are inspired by him. I haven’t been reading them all at once, so it’s going to take me a while to get them all read, much less reviewed.

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My most recent read, Francis: Man of Prayer, by Mario Escobar (Thomas Nelson, 2013), was a dose of Francis that was right in line with the release of his first encyclical, Lumen Fidei. It was a quick read and a fairly good look at our new pontiff.

I appreciated the inclusion of information about Argentine history and the Jesuits was included: this background helped me get a better feel for Pope Francis’s background and what helped form his as a man, a priest, and a bishop.

I felt that this book definitely helped me respect and know our pope better. As a biography, I can say that it felt like something was lacking, and I can’t put my finger on just what it was.

I have the Patheos Book Club to thank for this book. I probably wouldn’t have picked it up (Pope Francis near-obsession or not) without their encouragement.