How to Be a Saint is hilarious but informative, and yes, even a tad sacreligious. It's definitely not going to be everyone's cup of tea, but I fully enjoyed it (I guess you know now that I will probably NOT be a saint!!).
From the forward by Stephen Colbert, to the layout of the book, to the quippy little jabs thrown in the midst of a sentence, to the random curse word, I fully enjoyed all of it!
I would also note that this is more for the adult Catholic (or looking into Catholicism crowd), simply based off the jokes and language used. I'd also let a teenager read.
Thank you NetGalley, Kate Sidley, and Sourcebooks for this ARC. All thoughts are my own.

How To Be A Saint by Kate Sibley, I listen to this audio book narrated by the author and I must admit I am kind of jealous. If Kate Sibley has the type of friends that love her so much they don’t want to criticize and inevitably allow her to put out the book with such low hanging fruit about how to be cantaanized by the Catholic Church I mean she either is a wonderful person or potentially explosive. I wasn’t raised Catholic the due to babysitting issues I did go to Catholic Church a lot and I’ve always thought due to it history and what I’ve witnessed firsthand that the Catholic Church was like how to be religious without really being religious type of religion. So whenever I see a book about the Catholic Church and its Saints I’m always down to read it I find them so very interesting and although this book was light on the Saints and there were so many jokes in the book unless you know you will find some of it hard to separate from the truth I still didn’t find this book that funny and I find the Catholic Church hilarious on its own. The head jokes such as when explaining to a non-Catholic about why we kneel it’s an honor of when Jesus injured his Achilles in the local football game so if you find this funny then this is the book for you I myself really didn’t chuckle at all. I do think there is an audience for this but I just don’t belong to it. #NetGalley, #TheBlindReviewer, #MyHonestReview, #KateSibley, #HowToBeASaint,

This was an insanely fun read. As a person who grew up catholic and not only did I learn a lot, I had a lot of fun in doing so! I really enjoyed reading this.

This is a hilarious guide to the canonisation process that is perfect for Catholics and non-catholics alike. Kate Sidley makes everything easy to understand, which would be perfect for non-Catholics looking for a fun but informative read, but If you grew up Catholic like me, there is an extra relatability in the humour that made this a book I couldn't stop listening to. The humour felt very camp, which is perfect for the most camp denomination of Christianity. This book wasn't trying to be anything other than what it was. It is not a history of the catholic church, it does exactly what it says on the tin, goes through each stage of the canonisation process and how that has changed over time, with examples and jokes galore. As a history buff I really enjoyed hearing about some saints I didn't know that much about, and I had a great time! Thank you to NetGalley and Tantor Audio for the advanced copy!

Absolutely hilarious, surprisingly informative, and just a great overall read! As a lapsed Catholic, this cracked me up and I have recommended it to many friends and family members. Sidley is a creative voice I hope carries on writing more! This was a riot and so well done.

Thank you to NetGalley and to the publisher for this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I just finished listening to How to Be a Saint by Kate Sidley, and I have to say, it was surprisingly fun! The book gives a witty take on the canonization process and saints, striking a perfect balance between humor and information. I loved how Sidley shares bizarre and curious stories about historical saints — some had me genuinely laughing!

The narration is really engaging and makes the audiobook easy to follow, with a pace that keeps you hooked from start to finish. I found it interesting to see how the canonization process actually works and how it often involves a mix of faith, politics, and tradition — things I’d never really thought about before.

If you’re looking for something different, blending humor, historical curiosities, and reflections on religion without being too heavy or academic, this audiobook is a solid pick. It’s light, fun, and surprisingly educational.

This was a really fun and informative look at the path to sainthood in the Catholic faith and I enjoyed it quite a bit. There were a lot of jokes thrown at the reader and not all of them landed, but I thought the overall tone was great and there was an awful lot of information here that was easily digestible. I had a great time with it and would definitely recommend.
I received a free copy of this book from the publisher in exchange for a fair and honest review.

So, let me preface this by saying that I was born, raised and still am a Catholic. While being entertaining, this book just didn't sit right with my spirit. It felt maybe a little blasphemous and for that reason I could not keep going. It wasn't quite what I was expecting.

The audio narration was excellent though and many people will likely enjoy and laugh at this book, I just can't feel good about being one of them.

This was a very educational and entertaining book about catholicism and various saints. The audiobook was well narrated and engaging.

As a half-Italian, saints are less “abstract religious figures” and more like extended family. There’s a saint for everything: St. Anthony when a sock goes missing, St. Jude when your life falls into chaos, St. Expeditus when your to-do list gathers cobwebs. So it was rather delightful to stumble upon Kate Sidley’s How to be a Saint, which peels back the curtain on the labyrinthine process of canonization.
It’s short, sharp, and brimming with odd, illuminating trivia,, exactly the sort of book you could polish off in an afternoon and then trot out its best facts at a dinner party to impress (or perplex) your friends. Sidley’s writing strikes the right balance between tongue-in-cheek humour and genuine curiosity, making what could’ve been a dry topic surprisingly fun.
Think of it as a holy cocktail: one part quirky history, one part witty asides, shaken with obscure details you never knew you needed about saints, miracles, and the bureaucracy of getting your halo officially stamped.
If you’ve ever wondered what actually goes into sainthood (or simply enjoy a clever exploration of the bizarre corners of history) this little gem offers both saintly wisdom and wicked laughs in equal measure.

As a non-religious person, I saw the title of this book and was like yes, tell me more. I found the book to be fun and easy to listen to. Kate Sidley did a great job putting together the book and narrating the story.

She did a lot of research and was able to deliver some fast facts about sainthood that some practicing Catholics may not even know. The book is funny and hopefully anyone who reads it can take the tongue in cheek delivery in stride. It makes the insight into the practice and history accessible and suitable to a wide range of readers. I could see non-believers, non-Catholics, and Catholics all enjoying a story like this. It's a quick read/listen, and I'd recommend it to anyone.

I’ve had very big expectations for this book, and I must say it was more or less than what I expected. Growing up Catholic, I was hoping for a well researched book that’ll teach me some new things, all packaged in a funny narrative. I like how much information and background was given for each step, with a very good explanation of terms that may not be understood by layman, and I felt like I actually did learn a lot. Not everything was new to me, but the things that were, were presented in a coherent, simple way.

The only issue I had, which is this is not a 5/5 banger for me, is the humour. The very beginning was actually quite painful to get through, it felt like jokes were crammed in forcefully, and I actually had to put the book down for a week, before coming back to it. When author was not trying crack jokes, but was “herself”, that’s when the book got great for me - the humour was so natural, that even the few forced jokes didn’t make me want to stop reading.

All in all it’s a great book, and if you like funny takes on history, I cannot recommend it enough.

This book is a riot. The humor is really spot on. I listened to the audiobook which is narrated by the author. She really does a great job at bringing out the humor in the book. She definitely recognized how ridiculous some of the saints’ stories are, and leaned into that for the humor of it. I will say that it is also highly informative, the entire process of canonization is detailed throughout the book, as well as many other Catholic rites. So there is a bit of education with the humor. I had a special appreciation for this book. I’m currently in graduate school studying medieval literature- I specialize in saints’ lives. So I had a unique appreciation for this book because of that. I do think that anyone who has an interest in religious history, religious tradition, saints and their lives, or anyone that can appreciate someone poking a bit of fun at religion.

Do you want a hilarious guide to becoming a saint and earning your own halo? Well, Kate Sidley gives us the 5-ish steps that one might be able to take to try and make that happen. One way you could go about it, is apparently be part of a village that gets completely wiped out. But, if that doesn't sound like your cup of tea then you might want to start mocking up some baseball cards to hand out to your friends with all your specs so they can pray to you after you pass and maybe get some miracles attributed to you.

This book was fun. I'm not religious but I did grow up in a church before deciding it wasn't resonating with me. I am also not Catholic, so I guess that takes me out of the running for that halo in the afterlife. I feel as though I learned a great deal about some of the Saints who have been canonized and some of the things they did in order to gain their status as an official saint of the Catholic church.

I do understand some people can feel strongly about religions being talked about in a satirical sort of way, I hope they are also able to see there is no malice written within the text of this book. It seems as though the author is Catholic herself and is able to find humor in some of their practices. If you pick up this book, I hope, you too, can find a bit of humor in a world that is already far too serious and potentially on fire. Let's find a bit of levity where we can and I found some within the pages of this book. I do wish I had the physical copy so I could see all of the art and pictures throughout.

After finishing Brigid of Kildare by Marie Benedict, I thought I’d keep the theme going and learn a bit more about sainthood. When How to Be a Saint popped up, I expected something educational, maybe even reverent. What I did not expect with this audiobook was literally laughing out loud on a plane so much so that my husband kept elbowing me!

As a Catholic school grad turned weddings-funerals-and-holidays Catholic, I found this absolutely hysterical. Kate Sidley narrates the audiobook herself, and her comedic timing and delivery is absolutely perfect, I think this is one of those cases where the audiobook actually tops the print version. She really makes so much funnier!

What impressed me most was how much research Sidley put into this. Between all the jokes, I actually learned a ton about the often ridiculous, sometimes bizarre, and occasionally nauseating paths to sainthood. She pokes fun at the Catholic Church: at the money, the misogyny, and some of the traditions that just don’t hold up in modern light, but never in a cruel or sacrilegious way. The tone stays witty and sharp without being offensive.

I’ve already recommended this to several friends looking for road trip audiobooks and I’m planning to listen again on the next family ski trip (perfect for teens and adults, maybe skip it for the younger kids). Steven Colbert’s intro was the cherry on top of an already LOL experience.

I desperately wanted to love this book. It appeals directly to my niche interests. Perhaps that is the problem. Maybe the humor and intriguing facts might land for a general reader. As someone already invested in the quirky facts & fiction of saints, this was a miss for me. It was fun. It was entertaining. The narration was like grabbing drinks with a girlfriend who info dumps her latest hyper-focus. Thank you to Kate Sidley, Tantor Audio, and NetGalley for the audioARC.

I rated this 4.5 out of 5.

This book was such a joy to read. I was laughing and smiling through the whole thing. Sidley's writing not only kept me entertained, but it was also so informative about the canonization of saints. I love history books, and I enjoy learning about the most random of topics, which is what drew me to this book. Before reading this, I knew that there were several steps of how a person became a saint and that it usually took a very long time, but Sidley's checklists of steps made it clear how the complicated process works.

I also really enjoyed how Sidley mixed in the history of both popular and lesser-known beatified saints throughout. I appreciated that Sidley mixed in the church history, the mythology, and humor into these stories.

Although this book pokes fun at some of the Catholic Church's list of saints, it also shows a great deal of reverence for the process and history of these important church figures. I truly think that Sidley's approach to sainthood will help a wider audience learn about the Catholic Church and may even set a few readers on the path to sainthood.

I highly recommend this book. For those who enjoy laughing and learning, this book checks both boxes.

I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.
Content Warnings
Minor: Adult/minor relationship, Animal death, Child death, Chronic illness, Cursing, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Rape, Religious bigotry, Murder, Pregnancy, Gaslighting, Alcohol, Colonisation, Injury/Injury detail, Classism, Pandemic/Epidemic

There were funny moments in this book, but I didn’t think it quite landed as intended. The book feels like it is trying to include some education, and did have some interesting informative parts, but even having just finished the book I have forgotten it all. Some of the jokes were funny, and you can tell that the author writes for a late night show, as it felt quite quippy, rather than longer thought out jokes.
Overall it was a funny and mildly enjoyable listen, but I think it has missed its mark somewhat.

I'm a huge fan of pretty much anything on the dark and very unholy history of the Catholic Church, and when I saw this audiobook on NetGallery (thnak you for provding the ARC, you're the best as always!), I requested it pretty much immediatelly.
Kate Sidley weaves together a hialrious, mildly outrageous and incredibly interesting account of what it take to become an official Christian Saint, and it is so much more complicated than one would think. Personally, I had no idea about most of it, and now that I do, I will absolutely add it to my ever-growing arsenal of "fun facts" that I enjoy sharing with anyone that would and would not listen whenever we pass by a church.
I feel like it's not an easy feat to pull off -- making a book both entertaining and educating, but this one definitely hits the mark. While the humour was a bit too American for my taste from time to time, there were multiple times when I actully snorted out loud, earning myself sidelong glances.
The book is packed with stories from the lives of Saints, and each is stranger than the last. I'd definitely recommend it to anyone interested in the topic, though probably not to die-hard Christians, because they notoriously possess no sense of humour.
A great read!

This book is hilarious! I would definitely recommend this book to people with a good sense of humor. It really could get some people upset because it is very silly and some people take religion very serious. I thought this book teaches a lot and does it in a fun way. I never knew so much about how to be a saint.

Thanks NetGalley for the advanced copy of this book.