How to Be a Saint, Kate Sidley
How to Be a Saint, Kate Sidley
List: $15.99 | Sale: $11.20
Club: $7.99

How to Be a Saint
An Extremely Weird and Mildly Sacrilegious History of the Catholic Church’s Biggest Names

Author: Kate Sidley, Stephen Colbert

Narrator: Kate Sidley

Unabridged: 4 hr 13 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Publisher: Tantor Media

Published: 08/19/2025

Includes: Bonus Material Bonus Material Included


Synopsis

Part history lesson. Part sacrilege. An entirely good time.

Think you have what it takes to be a saint? Lucky for you, thousands of souls have paved the way to heaven—creating a clear formula for getting the job done while also leaving a rich, disturbing history behind them. And in just five easy-ish steps, you can learn how to secure your own halo!

But even if the whole "dying and becoming a saint" thing doesn't appeal to you, the bizarrely bureaucratic process of canonization is still guaranteed to delight and entertain. How to Be Saint is an endlessly entertaining ride through Catholicism for anyone who enjoys their history with a side of comedy. From flying friars to severed heads, this book explores the wild lives (and deaths) of saints and pulls the curtain back on the oddest quirks of religious doctrine.

Whether you're a lifelong Catholic or a weird-history enthusiast, How to Be a Saint is your ultimate guide to understanding the hilarious, fascinating, and shockingly true history of sainthood.

Reviews

Goodreads review by Brendan on May 09, 2025

I laughed a lot. Does this mean I am going to hell? While an extreme long shot to become a Saint, I found a lot to like about Kate Sidley's How to Be a Saint. Sidley looks at some of the most interesting people in the Catholic Church, and sometimes they are even real! Clearly, I should state who the......more

Goodreads review by Angie on January 26, 2025

A very funny and informative book about obscure Catholic history. When I requested this ARC, I thought it would be 75% humor and 25% learning, but this was pretty well researched and had a lot of solid information portrayed in a humorous manner. Kate Sidley is a great writer, having made her career......more

Goodreads review by Marl on August 03, 2025

[3.5 stars rounded up] It’s good to read just a fun walk through a short, comedic history book. How to Be a Saint by Kate Sidley is exactly that. An easy to follow book broken down into many short sections and interlaced with very abridged versions of many, many Saints. These sections are treated lik......more

Goodreads review by Emily on April 08, 2025

The blurb doesn't lie when it says Sidley's book is "part history lesson. Part sacrilege. An entirely good time." If the tone of the blurb doesn't do it for you, then you probably won't chuckle or smile to yourself while reading. While some of the jokes didn't land for me, felt somewhat juvenile,......more

Goodreads review by Kay on April 28, 2025

Very fun, very informative little book. I had a great time reading this, and I will say the humor the author added to the explanations made this infinitely more readable and finish-able than a lot of other informational books on different aspects of Catholicism (even if it was a bit blasphemous, but......more