{mosimage}John Paul II: Man of History, by Edward Stourton (Hodder and Stoughton, 344 pages, hardcover, $42.99).

A recent search of chapters.ca uncovered 81 titles listed as biographies of Pope John Paul II. It makes you wonder what a new book would have to say to merit its price. After reading Edward Stourton’s John Paul II: Man of History, you would still be wondering.

{mosimage}It’s Not My Fault, by Dr. Henry Cloud and Dr. John Townsend (Integrity Publishers, 241 pages, softcover $19.13).

TORONTO - It’s Not My Fault is a book for those who are seeking goals they cannot seem to reach, but goals they still would like to achieve. Authors Dr. Henry Cloud and Dr. John Townsend say the problem doesn’t stem from circumstances around a person, but from within themselves.

{mosimage}God’s Continent: Christianity, Islam and Europe’s Religious Crisis by Philip Jenkins (Oxford University Press, 340 pages, hardcover $31.95).

They thought he was a cranky crackpot in his time, but Hillaire Belloc’s 1938 prophecy has come back to haunt Europe today: “Anyone with a knowledge of history is bound to ask himself whether we shall not see in the future a revival of Mohammedan political power, and the renewal of the old pressure of Islam upon Christendom.”

{mosimage}The Lost Massey Lectures: Recovered Classics from Five Great Thinkers, introduction by Bernie Lucht (Anansi, 399 pages, $24.95 softcover).

In 1965 a single computer filled the space of a commodious living room. In 1966 we had not yet landed on the moon, let alone invented the Internet. In 1967 rock icons Janis Joplin, Jimi Hendrix and Jim Morrison were still alive, though not for much longer. In 1979 reality TV was the evening news. In 1983 there was such a thing as a Cold War and we were still fighting it.

{mosimage}Hans Kung: Disputed Truth, Memoirs II, by Hans Kung (Novalis, 556 pages, $37.95 hardcover).

After his highly publicized dinner meeting with Pope Benedict XVI on Sept. 24, 2005, the world wondered whether a “tamer” Hans Kung — a more benign, less pugnacious public theologian — would emerge. And, in fact, all was smiles and mutual compliments afterwards.

Bartlomiej Palczewski, 32, was born and raised in Poland, where he graduated from the University of Technology in electrical engineering, before working as a computer programmer.

He was in Grade 7 when he first heard the call to the priesthood.

“I remember I was 14, I went for my first pilgrimage ever, and on this pilgrimage something happened,” he said.

Christopher Sherren, 25, was born and lived in Charlottetown until 2003 when he came to Toronto to attend St. Augustine’s Seminary and discern his call to the priesthood.

Having grown up in what he would call a culturally Catholic family, Sherren spent most of his senior high school years associated with a Baptist congregation.

Jerry Tavares, 28, son of Portuguese immigrant parents, was born in Toronto, raised in Hamilton and moved to Peterborough to attend Trent University where he studied history, French and political science in hopes of becoming a high school teacher some day, getting married and raising a family.

While he felt the Lord’s call all along, he pressed the mute button on God for many years, but the more he pressed the button, the louder God’s call became.

Henry Smolenaars, 40, was born and raised in Nova Scotia on a dairy farm. He loved working with his hands, so after high school he became an industrial electrician.

As a teen, thoughts of being a priest had come to him. But it took some time to make the call.

“I ran from the call as long as I could,” he said.

Editor’s note: This is one in our series of profiles on the men who will graduate from St. Augustine’s Seminary this spring and be ordained to the priesthood for various dioceses.

Jeffery Oehring, 25, was born and raised in Walkerton, Ont. It was during his high school years that he began to wrestle with some of the big mysteries in life with the “God Question” being at the heart of it all.

“During my years in high school, one of the most important things for me was to try to figure out, ‘Why am I here? What’s the meaning of my life?’ ” he said. “One of the most frustrating things for me was when teachers and friends would come up to you and say, ‘So what are you going to do with your life? What do you want to be? What university are you going to? And what program are you going to study?’ ”