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976 ratings | 8 reviews | avg rating:3.74

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Christa Banister

Goodreads Author

Born

in Madison, Wisconsin, The United States

January 02

Website

http://www.christabanister.com

Genre

Fiction, Contemporary

Influences

Ashley Poston, Dev Sonali, Nora Ephron, Nick Hornby

Member Since

November 2007

URL

https://www.goodreads.com/chicnovelist

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While growing up in a no-stoplight town in a land of perpetual winter in northwest Wisconsin, books were author Christa Banister’s constant companion during hundreds of freezing days spent indoors.

Reading was Christa’s window to a world she was dying to explore. She didn’t travel much until after college, so those frequent trips to the library took on special meaning because it allowed her to escape to the English countryside. The bustling streets of New York City. Or the far-flung islands in Greece.

Surrounding by a veritable sea of books, Christa had an important epiphany as a pre-teen re-reading Judy Blume’s Tales of a Fourth Grade Nothing. When she figured out that Judy’s job—her actual paying gig—involved making up stories for a living While growing up in a no-stoplight town in a land of perpetual winter in northwest Wisconsin, books were author Christa Banister’s constant companion during hundreds of freezing days spent indoors.

Reading was Christa’s window to a world she was dying to explore. She didn’t travel much until after college, so those frequent trips to the library took on special meaning because it allowed her to escape to the English countryside. The bustling streets of New York City. Or the far-flung islands in Greece.

Surrounding by a veritable sea of books, Christa had an important epiphany as a pre-teen re-reading Judy Blume’s Tales of a Fourth Grade Nothing. When she figured out that Judy’s job—her actual paying gig—involved making up stories for a living (!!!), well, Christa knew that’s what she wanted to do.

Christa majored in journalism at North Central University in Minneapolis and worked as a reporter at a medium-sized newspaper an hour away during her junior year. After covering a couple of horrific events she couldn’t unsee, she realized that being His Girl Friday wasn’t in the cards. After graduation, she moved to Nashville where she wrote about singers because no one would ever mistake her for having musical talent.

Nashville is where Christa’s professional writing career took off. She wrote about music and books for a number of print and online publications. One of the best writing gigs she snagged involved reviewing movies for 15 years. Good, bad, really bad, and everything in between, she screened 60-70 films a year and acquired a PhD in the Marvel/DC universe. Celebrity profiles were also a favorite part of her job.

As much as Christa loved her work in the entertainment industry, writing a novel was never far from her mind. When one of her editors passed along a contact at a publishing house he wrote for in Colorado Springs, she pitched what became her first novel, Around the World in 80 Dates. A year later, Blessed Are the Meddlers followed, a modern take on Jane Austen’s Emma.

As her print clients dwindled with the changing of the guard and many online outlets no longer wanted to pay for content, her beat changed in 2018. The bulk of her freelance work centers around mental health, addiction, and recovery these days, which has been incredibly rewarding.

When Christa wasn’t ticking assignments off her to-do list, she wrote The Honorary Italians. The idea sparked by stirring a homemade Bolognese sauce with a complete stranger at a pasta-making class in St. Paul, she says she never had more fun writing and researching anything in my life.

“It’s the book I always wanted to write,” she says.

Christa is represented by Mark Gottlieb at Trident Media Group.

She and her husband Will ditched the snow for the blazing heat in DFW and love to travel, watch old movies, cheer for their respective NFL teams, and are always on the lookout for a new restaurant, bookstore, or watching their favorite bands when they come to town.
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Combine Editions
Christa Banister’s books

Average rating: 3.29 · 248 ratings · 47 reviews · 3 distinct works

	Around the World in 80 Dates: Confessions of a Christian Serial Dater (Sydney Alexander Series, Book 1) 3.21 avg rating — 202 ratings — published 2007 — 3 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Blessed are the Meddlers (Sydney Alexander Series, Book 2) 3.64 avg rating — 44 ratings — published 2008 — 4 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Hungry: An Ultra-Vertical Devotional Adventure really liked it 4.00 avg rating — 2 ratings — published 2003 — 2 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars

* Note: these are all the books on Goodreads for this author. To add more, click here.

218 posts
Christa Banister's Blog

Fall TBR Overfloweth

Considering how many books have made their way to my shelves recently, I should’ve written 10 novels by now.

But in all seriousness, fall is truly an embarrassment of riches for book (and cookbook) lovers like me. With the changing of the seasons comes so much tantalizing options from the coziest of mysteries, to charming rom-coms and romance, and, of course, fast-paced thrillers with the twist yo

Christa is Currently Reading

Christa is currently reading

Hollywood, Ending

by John Green (Goodreads Author)

bookshelves: currently-reading

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Oct 27, 2026 02:20PM

Christa’s Recent Updates

Christa is currently reading Hollywood, Ending by John Green (Goodreads Author)	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
Oct 27, 2026 02:20PM · like
Christa rated a book really liked it Book Club Confidential by Julie Hatcher (Goodreads Author)	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
Oct 20, 2026 04:50PM · 1 like · like · preview book See a Problem? We’d love your help. Let us know what’s wrong with this preview of Book Club Confidential by Julie Hatcher. Problem: Details (if other): Thanks for telling us about the problem. Not the book you’re looking for? Preview — Book Club Confidential by Julie Hatcher <iframe sandbox id="wrongBookKindlePreviewScreen">
Christa rated a book Amsterdam by Ian McEwan (Goodreads Author)	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
Oct 10, 2026 03:12PM · like · preview book See a Problem? We’d love your help. Let us know what’s wrong with this preview of Amsterdam by Ian McEwan. Problem: Details (if other): Thanks for telling us about the problem. Not the book you’re looking for? Preview — Amsterdam by Ian McEwan <iframe sandbox id="wrongBookKindlePreviewScreen">
Christa rated a book liked it Girl Dinner by Olivie Blake (Goodreads Author)	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
Sep 29, 2026 03:42AM · 1 like · like · preview book See a Problem? We’d love your help. Let us know what’s wrong with this preview of Girl Dinner by Olivie Blake. Problem: Details (if other): Thanks for telling us about the problem. Not the book you’re looking for? Preview — Girl Dinner by Olivie Blake <iframe sandbox id="wrongBookKindlePreviewScreen">
Christa rated a book really liked it When Lemons Give You Life: A Novel by Anna Johnston (Goodreads Author)	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
Sep 15, 2026 02:42AM · like
Christa rated a book really liked it The Mysterious Bakery on Rue de Paris by Evie Woods (Goodreads Author)	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
Sep 04, 2026 05:55AM · like · preview book See a Problem? We’d love your help. Let us know what’s wrong with this preview of The Mysterious Bakery on Rue de Paris by Evie Woods. Problem: Details (if other): Thanks for telling us about the problem. Not the book you’re looking for? Preview — The Mysterious Bakery on Rue de Paris by Evie Woods <iframe sandbox id="wrongBookKindlePreviewScreen">
Christa rated a book liked it Cold Kitchen: A Year of Culinary Travels by Caroline Eden	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
Aug 23, 2026 05:17PM · like · preview book See a Problem? We’d love your help. Let us know what’s wrong with this preview of Cold Kitchen by Caroline Eden. Problem: Details (if other): Thanks for telling us about the problem. Not the book you’re looking for? Preview — Cold Kitchen by Caroline Eden <iframe sandbox id="wrongBookKindlePreviewScreen">
Christa rated a book really liked it Promise Me Never by Liv Constantine (Goodreads Author)	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
Aug 22, 2026 08:34PM · like
Christa rated a book liked it Villa Coco by Andrew Sean Greer	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
Aug 21, 2026 04:37PM · like · preview book See a Problem? We’d love your help. Let us know what’s wrong with this preview of Villa Coco by Andrew Sean Greer. Problem: Details (if other): Thanks for telling us about the problem. Not the book you’re looking for? Preview — Villa Coco by Andrew Sean Greer <iframe sandbox id="wrongBookKindlePreviewScreen">
Christa rated a book really liked it I See You've Called in Dead by John Kenney	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
Aug 19, 2026 04:39PM · 1 like · like · preview book See a Problem? We’d love your help. Let us know what’s wrong with this preview of I See You've Called in Dead by John Kenney. Problem: Details (if other): Thanks for telling us about the problem. Not the book you’re looking for? Preview — I See You've Called in Dead by John Kenney <iframe sandbox id="wrongBookKindlePreviewScreen">

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