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One of my favorite things about the internet is having more people to talk about books with. And I love seeing reading challenges from my favorite writers and bloggers pop into my inbox this time of year.
I thought it would be fun (mostly to get some accountability for my own 2019 reading list!) to set up a reading challenge of 19 Catholic books for 2019 so we could all dive a little deeper into our faith and work our intellectual muscles a bit.
Enter CathLIT. Get it? Catholic literature? I asked Twitter for name ideas and there were some HILARIOUS ones like
- Waugh To Those Who Do Not Read
- Flanne-readers
- Pages for Papists
- Books for Catholics Who Are Still Avoiding Reading the Bible
- Summa READalogica
- Reading: No Longer Just for Prots!
But CathLIT is short, sweet, and easy to remember (and hashtag). So ta da!
Here’s how it works: Choose one book for each category below. You can choose from the suggestions listed in each category, or pick your own read that fits the bill (if you pick your own, please share what it is in the comments so other folks joining in have more suggestions at their fingertips!). If you want to share your Catholic reads on social media you can use #cathlit2019
If reading 19 books in a year is simply too much for your life right now (new baby, busy year at work, moving, illness, etc) just choose a book from half of the categories! You can do that, right?! Of course you can!
(Before we dive into the categories, here’s a few tips for reading more in the new year and my reasons for crafting a yearly reading list for myself and how to create your own.)
Caveat: I’ve read many of these but some were suggested by others and I haven’t read them yet. So…if you detest one of the suggested books, my apologies.
(Links to Amazon are affiliate links which manes if a purchase is made I will receive a small percentage of the sale–at no additional cost to you, of course.)
A Spiritual Memoir
Suggestions:
The Long Loneliness by Dorothy Day
The Seven Storey Mountain by Thomas Merton
My Sisters, the Saints by Colleen Carroll Campbell
A Classic Spiritual Work
Suggestions:
Introduction to the Devout Life by St. Francis de Sales
The Imitation of Christ by Thomas a Kempis
Interior Castle by St. Teresa of Avila
Story of a Soul by St. Therese of Lisieux
The Three Ages of the Interior Life by Rev. Reginald Garrigou-Lagrange
A Book about Mary
Suggestions:
Mary and the Fathers of the Church by Luigi Gambero
Jesus and the Jewish Roots of Mary by Brant Pitre
True Devotion to Mary by St. Louis de Montfort
Book by a Catholic Novelist
Suggestions:
The Power and the Glory by Graham Greene
Brideshead Revisited by Evelyn Waugh
Memento Mori by Muriel Spark
Silence by Shusaku Endo
The Violent Bear It Away by Flannery O’Connor
Love in the Ruins by Walker Percy
Diary of a Country Priest by George Bernanos
Lord of the World by Robert Hugh Benson
Book by a Pope
Suggestions:
Laudato Si by Pope Francis
Veratatis Splendor by Pope St. John Paul II
Jesus of Nazareth by Pope Benedict XVI
Book by a Catholic Woman
Suggestions:
The Reed of God by Caryll Houselander
Essential Writings by St Edith Stein
The Privilege of Being a Woman by Alice von Hildebrand
Revelations of Divine Love by Lady Julian of Norwich
A Book about the Liturgy
Suggestions:
The Spirit of the Liturgy by Pope Benedict XVI
The Biblical Roots of the Mass by Thomas J. Nash
Jesus and the Jewish Roots of the Eucharist by Brant Pitre
The Lamb’s Supper by Scott Hahn
Book by an Early Church Father
Suggestions:
The Letters of St Ignatius of Antioch
On Social Justice by St. Basil the Great
On Faith, Hope, and Love by St Augustine
A Conversion Story
Suggestions:
Something Other Than God by Jennifer Fulwiler
An Immovable Feast by Tyler Blanski
The Confessions by St. Augustine
A Book about Apologetics
Suggestions:
Why I Am Catholic by Brandon Vogt
Orthodoxy by G.K. Chesterton
Handbook of Christian Apologetics by Peter Kreeft
Answering Atheism by Trent Horn
The Light of Christ by Thomas Joseph White
A Book by an Orthodox Christian
Suggestions:
Laurus by Eugene Vodolazkin
The Brothers Karamazov by Fyodor Dostoevsky
A Hagiography
Suggestions:
Catherine of Siena by Sigrid Undset
Black Elk: Holy Man of the Oglala by Michael Steltenkamp
St. Thomas Aquinas: The Dumb Ox by G.K. Chesterton
Magnus by George Mackay Brown
Helena by Evelyn Waugh
A LONG Catholic Book
Suggestions:
In This House of Brede by Rumer Godden
Kristin Lavransdatter by Sigrid Undset
Island of the World by Michael O’Brien
The Lord of the Rings by J.R.R. Tolkien
A Book by a Catholic Philosopher
Suggestions:
After Virtue by Alasdair MacIntyre
Leisure: the Basis of Culture by Josef Pieper
Aquinas’s Shorter Summa by St. Thomas Aquinas
A Catholic Classic
Suggestions:
The Divine Comedy by Dante Alighieri
The Canterbury Tales by Geoffrey Chaucer
Beowulf (don’t beef with me, this book is totally Catholic)
Book by a Saint
Suggestions:
Hildegard of Bingen: A Spiritual Reader by St. Hildegard von Bingen
On Loving God by St. Bernard of Clairvaux
The Scandal of Redemption by St. Oscar Romero
Life of Christ by Ven. Fulton Sheen
A Book by a Non-Catholic that All the Catholics are Reading
Suggestions:
Middlemarch by George Eliot
Mere Christianity by C.S. Lewis
Death Comes for the Archbishop by Willa Cather
Love in the Void by Simone Weil
Gilead by Marilynne Robinson
On Reading Well by Karen Swallow Prior
All the Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr
Book about a Catholic Monarch
Suggestions:
Mary, Queen of Scots by Antonia Fraser
The Once and Future King by T.H. White (a fictional monarch counts, right?)
Before Church and State by Anthony Willard Jones
A Recently Published Catholic Book
Suggestions:
The Power of Silence by Robert Cardinal Sarah
The Bloody Habit by Eleanor Bourg Nicholson
One Beautiful Dream by Jennifer Fulwiler
and ending this list with a shameless plug…
The Grace of Enough: Pursuing Less and Living More in a Throwaway Culture by Haley Stewart
Happy reading! And feel free to tag me (@haleycarrots on Instagram and Twitter) when you share your #cathlit2019 reads because I’d love to see what’s on your bookshelf this year!
Such a good list and idea! Many of these are already on my 2019 list. My goal for next year is 60 books, but many of the books I read every year are children’s/YA chapter books, and I count chapter books no matter how long they are.
Shared with my Catholic mom’s group.
I would love to see your YA chapter book ideas! As a convert, I wasn’t reading good lit when I was young and now I cannot keep up with my 10 and 12-year-old daughters’ desire to read!
YES!! Sign me up; not sure about all 19 ~ but excited to see how far I get.
Yay! I’m in. Probably for half…but I’ll give it a shot. Lots on the list I have meant to read.
I love this idea and your lists are thought provoking. So many of these books that I’m halfway through, so maybe this will be a good time to finish them! One suggestion for Church Fathers is Four Withesses by Rod Bennett. Bennett quotes extensively from the writings of Clement of Rome, Ignatius of Antioch, Justin Martyr, and Irenaeus of Lyons. We are reading it for our Catholic book group (chapter by chapter) and are really enjoying it. – nancyo
I love this book. I plan to read it once a year to strengthen faith in the Church.
Beowulf!!! YES!!!
This is a tremendous idea. I’ve got a patently unmanageable list/stack of books to read, but I love how this forces a spread of genres, styles, and centuries. I’ve gone off the list rather a lot, but love the suggestions above as well. I also stuck in a category for a book by an Anglican, because I just got the below-mentioned by Rowan Williams, and like a round 20.
A Classic Spiritual Work: The Meditations – Guigo I
A Book about Mary: Homilies in Praise of the Blessed Virgin Mary – St. Bernard of Clairvaux
Book by a Pope: Journal of a Soul – St. John XXIII
Book by a Catholic Woman: Writings – Margaret of Oingt
A Book about the Liturgy: The Mystery of Christian Worship – Odo Casel
Book by an Early Church Father: Homilies on Luke – Origen
A Conversion Story: Apologia Pro Vita Sua – Bl. John Henry Newman (maybe to coincide with his canonization, if rumours are to be believed)
A Book about Apologetics: Letter on Apologetics – Maurice Blondel
A Book by an Anglican: Wound of Knowledge – Rowan Williams
A Book by an Orthodox Christian: Relics and Miracles: Two Theological Essays – Sergius Bulgakov
A Hagiography: The Life of St. Hugh of Lincoln – Adam of Eynsham
A Book by a Catholic Philosopher Finite and Eternal Being – St. Edith Stein
Book by a Saint: The Collected Works – St. John of the Cross
A Book by a Non-Catholic that All the Catholics are Reading: God, Sexuality, and the Self: An Essay ‘On the Trinity’ – Sarah Coakley (“all” might be a stretch here…)
Book about a Catholic Monarch: Le Morte D’Arthur – Thomas Malory (Fictoinal definitely counts!)
From the unlisted categories plugged in one from the suggestions. Very excited for Dorothy Day. Of course, I haven’t read any of these (or they wouldn’t go on the list!), so no endorsement implied beyond that I was interested enough to put them on the list I made this afternoon.
Holy smokes, what a fantastic list!! “Books for Catholics Who Are Still Avoiding Reading the Bible” made me laugh out loud.
A couple of extras that I have read and loved:
“Rome Sweet Home” – Scott and Kimberly Hahn’s conversion to Catholicism
“The Life You Save May Be Your Own: An American Pilgrimage” – follows the faith and writing lives of Thomas Merton, Dorothy Day, Flannery O’Connor, and Walker Percy
Mary, RSR totally came to mind for me, too, and I love the idea of The Life You Save…
Another book that changed my life (by bringing me back to the Church) was Confessions of a Mega-Church Pastor by Dr. Allen Hunt. Fits under Conversion Stories, I’d say.
Can’t wait to get started!
Chock full of great suggestions; thanks! May I suggest Ayako Sono’s “No Reason for Murder” either in the Catholic fiction or female author category. Also, Cardinal Basil Hume’s “Basil in Blunderland,”
a short and delightful read that I guess could fit into the “Spiritual Memoir” group, though it’s really more about spirituality in general and less about Cardinal Hume’s life. Happy reading!
We have a very small book club of 4 ladies. Your lists will give us lots of reading for this next year. Thanks
Oh, I LOVE this! A few of the books are already on my “to read” list–either for Well Read Mom or just my wish list in general. I’m going to reread The Brothers K, which I haven’t read in 15-20 years. Thank you! I’m definitely going to share this idea with my book group, too.
This is a great list! Do you have any book ideas by Catholic authors who are people of color or non-Western? I’m trying to read more diversely.
I’d also add Girl, Arise!: A Catholic Feminist’s Invitation to Live Boldly, Love Your Faith, and Change the World by Claire Swinarski of The Catholic Feminist podcast. The book comes out in February!
There are several on Haley’s list already. It’s a catholic Catholic list.
Have you read “Left to tell” by Immaculee Ilibagiza? it’s her story of surviving the Rwandan Holocaust
What a great idea! I have several of these sitting around unread. And how about the book about Scott Hahn’s conversion story….”Rome Sweet Home”?
I am totally saving this post.
Thanks so much.
Some Catholic writers “of colour” might be St. Augustine of Hippo, Cardinal Sarah (already on the list) or the man who wrote A Song for Nagasaki (Google it. I forget his name, but the book was lovely), Edward Sri, or Immaculée Illibigaza. I know there are many others.
I’m going to also suggest “I Burned for Your Peace” (Peter Kreeft), as one by a Catholic philosopher. It’s one I plan on reading, mostly because Augustine’s “Confessions” intimidates me. I haven’t read it yet, but I really enjoy Kreeft’s writing!
I just finished reading Gaudete Et Exsultate by Pope Francis for “a book by a Pope.” It’s a truly inspiring view of what true holiness means.
I also liked Gay and Catholic by Eve Tushnet, which would fit in the memoir, Catholic woman or conversion story categories. It’s a very positive story about her decision to live the Church’s teaching on homosexuality and what it has meant for her. It also deals with her recovery from alcoholism.
Sorry, that was meant to be a reply in the main thread!
If anyone is looking for something by a novelist who’s not dead yet, I’ve got a starter list – including YA – over at bit.ly/CatholicFiction. They’d fit a lot of these diverse categories.
Under Conversion Stories – Rome Sweet Home by Scott Hahn!
I am happy to say I’ve read all three of the Catholic classics already, Why I Am Catholic, and The Grace of Enough. I highly recommend all of those.
Now for some of the rest …
The World’s First Love by Fulton Sheen
Yes, Carolyn Asftalk’s Bitly.com/CatholicFiction site is a great resource for finding all sorts of Catholic fiction. I also encourage you to see the list of winners of the Catholic Arts and Letters Award at https://catholicwritersguild.org/catholic-arts-and-letters-award .
I was honored that my historical romance, Playing by Heart, won in 2018, especially because the other finalists were all great books, too.
I love this list! I am so grateful you compiled it as many of the titles are new to me. Is there any plan for a type of discussion? I just finished a Flannery O’Connor story and I so wish I had someone to talk with about it!
If anyone out there can’t find books at their library and is short on funds, I have a copy for “my sisters, the saints” and “the imitation of Christ”. I will be more than happy to send one (or both) to you.
Count me in!
Funny how the only New Year’s resolution I’ve ever kept was to read more, after realizing in 2014 that I’d hardly read anything for years. I read 36 books in 2015 and have tried to keep up with frequent reading since then. The biggest helps for me were audio books and Kindle versions with text to speech. That got me through a lot of books and got me to clean the kitchen when I’d get to listen and clean at the same time!
A few suggestions, some I’ve read and some I’d like to:
In your “Books by a Pope” category, where you have some encyclicals rather than books, I will put Pascendi Gregis by Pope Pius X, with the bonus that you can find this recorded on YouTube!
I might add the category Catholic Parenting books, and my vote for that one would be Raising Chaste Catholic Men by Leila Miller. A wonderful resource for young parents, especially since I think it’s true that temptations against the 6th Commandment are a big reason that young adults leave the Church.
I’m not sure what category these would go under. Maybe a category for Learning About the Faith, where I would put A Map of Life by Frank Sheed. A Spiritual Classic on my list for ’19 is This Tremendous Lover by Dom Eugene Boylan. For Catholic Fiction, I’m going to read Marcus Grodi’s book How Firm a Foundation.
For books on Mary, I just started the hefty book Mystical City of God. It’s just beautiful and I plan to use it for my First Saturday devotional reading.
For a book by a non-Catholic, I’ll finally read The Four Loves by C.S. Lewis. I also have a book of fiction by a non-Catholic written about the non-Catholic wife of CS Lewis, Becoming Mrs. Lewis. It looks quite good!
For another category, Books for Adoration, I have In Sinu Jesu on my Kindle. It is geared toward encouraging priests to spend time in Adoration, but I find it very beautiful myself.
I would recommend Left to Tell as someone else did, but since I’ve read that I think I should try to get to Obianuju Ekeocha’s book, Target Africa, a very timely work about the push to force the abortion/contraception mindset on African Nations written by a woman who is doing great work trying to fight those efforts.
For Spiritual Guidance I’d recommend Searching for and Maintaining Peace by Jacques Phillipe. It has excellent advice.
A wonderful conversion story is Race with the Devil by Joseph Pearce. What a story!
For a very short but wonderful hagiography, I highly recommend Go to Joseph by Fr. Richard Gilsdorf, although it must be out of print because this tiny book is going for $24 on Amazon. I’d recommend scooping up a used copy while you still can! It’s not an old book. I bought mine just a couple of years ago.
Thanks for the encouragement to read excellent Catholic works this coming year!
An absolutely wonderful list of books! Every year, I am for 30 books. This year, I did 33. I’ve been wanting to read so many of the books on this list. I’m going to use this as my reading list for 2019. Thank you, Dappled Things!
Cathy
Wonderful idea! Count me in at least for half
As a protestant, I can’t say I’ve even heard of most of these books. But I do love reading and book lists. The Imitation of Christ is a great book for Christians of any denomination, imo. I’m actually reading it aloud to my kids for devotions this year. I’ve also read Confessions, Beowulf, The Brothers Karamazov, and Mere Christianity.
Thank you for posting. This is awesome.
I just finished reading the biography of George Mueller of Bristol, and I would recommend it. Maybe in the spiritual memoir category. It’s chock full of insight on prayer and spiritual life.
Excellent list! I’m looking forward to expanding my horizons a little this year! I’ll be reading at least 15 or so from the above categories!
This is great! I can’t wait to start reading! Thank you and Merry Christmas!
FANTASTIC LIST…….ty ty ty…..How about adding under religious biography———-Kristin Lavransdatter…….an amazing book that will leave a life time hangover…..so so so good. A tomb but what a tomb…..
On the 3rd day of Christmas my true love sent to meeeeee…..a wonder—ful list of
This is a great idea, Haley! I read a lot, but always wish I made Catholic books more of a priority, so this is perfect for me!
https://faithehough.blogspot.com/2018/12/catholic-reading-challenge-cathlit2019.html
Because I’m a list fanatic, I made a little checklist printable for this challenge–if anyone wants to use it, you can download it from my blog and print it out.
I think this is an awesome idea. I was able to pull all but two categories from my bookshelf although I might have stretched a few categories some. I haven’t read almost all of them and have finished none of them. I’m not sure I’ll get to them all but I do want to read more this year so I like the idea of having a list.
A Spiritual Memoir – Acedia & me : a marriage, monks, and a writer’s life by Kathleen Norris
A Classic Spiritual Work – Imitation of Christ by Thomas a Kempis
A Book about Mary – Mary of Nazareth : history, archaeology, legends by Michael Hesemann
Book by a Catholic Novelist – We’ll never tell them by Fiorella De Maria
Book by a Pope – Jesus of Nazareth by Pope Benedict XVI
Book by a Catholic Woman – Strange gods by Elizabeth Scalia
A Book about the Liturgy – God is near us : the Eucharist, the heart of life by Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger
Book by an Early Church Father – not on my bookshelf, if I finish everything else I’ll find one
A Conversion Story – Surprised by joy : the shape of my early life by C.S. Lewis
A Book about Apologetics – Orthodoxy by G.K. Chesterton
A Book by an Orthodox Christian – not on my bookshelf, if I finish everything else I’ll find one
A Hagiography – Martin of Tours : soldier, bishop, saint by Regine Pernoud
A LONG Catholic Book – The father’s tale by Michael D. O’Brien, I’m about a third of the way through it and I’d like to pick it up again and finish it.
A Book by a Catholic Philosopher – Because God is real : sixteen questions, one answer by Peter J. Kreeft
A Catholic Classic – The spiritual exercises of Saint Ignatius
Book by a Saint – The jeweler’s shop by Karol Wojtyla
A Book by a Non-Catholic that All the Catholics are Reading – The four loves by C.S. Lewis
Book about a Catholic Monarch – The Spanish match : a novel of catholic Spain by Brennan Pursell
A Recently Published Catholic Book – Strangers in a strange land : living the catholic faith in a post-christian world by Charles J. Chaput
Love this idea!! Here’s my list:
1) Spiritual Memoir – The Seven Storey Mountain by Thomas Merton
2) A Classic Spiritual Work – The Imitation of Christ by Thomas Kempis
3) Book about Mary – The World’s First Love by Venerable Fulton John Sheen
4) Book by a Catholic Novelist – Silence by Shusaku Endo
5) Book by a Pope – Jesus of Nazareth by Pope Benedict XVI
6) Book by a Catholic Woman – Left to Tell by Immaculee Ilibagiza
7) Book about the Liturgy – A Biblical Walk through the Mass by Edward Sri
8) Book by an Early Church Father – Four Witnesses by Rod Bennett
9) Conversion Story – From Islam to Christ by Derya Little
10) Apologetics – Forty Reasons I’m Catholic by Peter Kreeft
11) Book by an Orthodox Christian – On Wealth and Poverty by St. John Chrysostom
12) Hagiography – St. Monica and the Power of Persistent Prayer by Mike Aquilina and Mark W. Sullivan
13) A LONG Catholic book – Kristin Lavransdatter by Sigrid Undset
14) Book by a Catholic Philosopher – Leisure: The Basis of Culture by Josef Pieper
15) Catholic Classic – The Bible (Bible-in-a-Year from Lighthouse Catholic Media/Augustine Institute)
16) Book by a Saint – The Scandal of Redemption by St Oscar Romero
17) Book by a Non-Catholic that all the Catholics are Reading – All the Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr
18) Book about a Catholic Monarch – Mary, Queen of Scots by Antonia Fraser
19) A Recently Published Catholic Book – The Grace of Enough: Pursuing Less and Living More in a Throwaway Culture by Haley Stewart
Yay to seeing more people willing to take a look at Kristen Lavrandatter….yes it’s a ‘tomb’ of a book, but oh oh so good. She examines her Catholic faith and it runs the gamut of her life in medieval Norway.
Count me in!! I’m partway through Power of Silence (*love* Cardinal Sarah) and, like many of you, already had a lot of these on my bookshelf / Kindle just waiting for me to get going! Looking forward to hearing your experiences and “checking in” from time to time on our collective progress! Thanks so much for organizing this – it’s a wonderful way to start the new year.
Excited for this! Here’s my list:
1. A Spiritual Memoir: The Long Loneliness by Dorothy Day
2. A Classic Spiritual Work: Interior Castle by St. Teresa of Avila
3. A Book about Mary: The World’s First Love by Fulton Sheen
4. Book by a Catholic Novelist: The Violent Bear It Away by Flannery O’Connor
5. Book by a Pope: Jesus of Nazareth by Pope Benedict XVI; Humanae Vitae by Pope Paul VI for extra credit (short)
6. Book by a Catholic Woman: The Privilege of Being a Woman by Alice von Hildebrand
7. A Book about the Liturgy: The Biblical Roots of the Mass by Thomas J. Nash
8. Book by an Early Church Father: On Faith, Hope, and Love by St Augustine
9. A Conversion Story: Something Other Than God by Jennifer Fulwiler
10. A Book about Apologetics: Why I Am Catholic by Brandon Vogt
11. A Book by an Orthodox Christian: On Wealth and Poverty by Saint John Chrysostom
12. A Hagiography: St. Thomas Aquinas: The Dumb Ox by G.K. Chesterton
13. A LONG Catholic Book: Kristin Lavransdatter by Sigrid Undset
14. A Book by a Catholic Philosopher: Summa of the Summa by Peter Kreeft
15. A Catholic Classic: Beowulf (don’t beef with me, this book is totally Catholic)
16. Book by a Saint: Hildegard of Bingen: A Spiritual Reader by St. Hildegard von Bingen
17. A Book by a Non-Catholic that All the Catholics are Reading: On Reading Well by Karen Swallow Prior
18. Book about a Catholic Monarch: Mary, Queen of Scots by Antonia Fraser
19. A Recently Published Catholic Book: The Grace of Enough: Pursuing Less and Living More in a Throwaway Culture by Haley Stewart
I love this challenge! I will be tackling it, though probably over more than a year since I also do Well-Read Mom locally and Circe’s Close Reads podcasts. I think this would be a wonderful “perpetual” challenge anyway…
Quick question, for the Orthodox Christian category, do you mean a member of the Orthodox Church or just that the author isn’t beyond the pale of orthodoxy?
Good Morning Everyone,
This morning someone posted about the book list…in their comments they mentioned a reading podcast–my ears/eyes perked. I checked out the site ‘Circe’s Close Reads podcasts.’ Amazzzzzzing. So…I ran back here to say, check it out! If you picked “Brideshead Revisited” they have it done…broken into increments of a few chapters at a time.
If you were the woman who posted this podcast…..my heart thanks you. (I often face a three hour car drive….hence my excitement)
I love this!! With baby #2 due in early February I’m going to go for the half! My list:
1. Story of a Soul
2. Laudato si
3. The Lamb’s Supper
4. Why I am Catholic
5. St. Thomas Aquinas: the dumb ox
6. Lord of the Rings (cheating here, I got a head start in 2018 so just Return of the King is left)
7. Aquinas’ shorter summa
8. Life of Christ
9. Mere Christianity
10. The grace of enough
Thank you for this great list of ideas!!!
These categories are great, Haley! I’ve hosted #thecatholicreadingchallenge for the last two years, which just became a podcast in 2019, and our categories for this year have some similarities to your challenge. For example, January’s category is “a faith memoir.” I love your suggestions for “a spiritual memoir,” going for the same thing. I really enjoyed reading The Long Loneliness last year.
Happy reading to everyone!
I read the both books listed by Pope Benedict XVl, in fact we have a large collection of books by Pope Benedict XVl. I have also read all of Pope Benedict XVl’s Encyclicals. I have read “Mary Queen of Scots” by Antonia Fraser. I have read many books about the saints, too. “The Divine Comedy” I read in High School. It was a homework assignment and we had to interpret the book into Italian. I read “Confessions ” by St. Augustine. Thank You for the list. Wishing you and yours a blessed and happy 2019. Enjoy your books.
Marilyn
Just finished the conversion story “From Islam to Christ” by Derya Little. Highly recommend!!
Love this list and idea so much! I’m excited by how many I recognized on this list and how many I have read in the past! I’m joining a bit late but I’m finishing up a fantastic Catholic novel called The Thorn of Arimathea by Frank G. Slaughter. It’s not on the list so I thought I would share, I can’t recommend it enough! Such a good read.
Great recommendations! One of my resolutions this year is to read as much book as possible, and I hope that happens lol as I have a toddler and struggling to squeeze in some personal me time, with the baby, work and just life in general..
Late to the party….I would love if this could be available in a PDF form, or something easy to print? I really like to check boxes…:) I have a lot of these books on my shelf, but due to OCD never know where to “start” so I just don’t. Ugh! This list is perfect to get me started!
Agree! I would love to have this in a format to print!
I’ll be teaching four Catholic novels plus a novel that all Catholics are reading (Gilead) this summer for the University of St Thomas is you want to join our discussions and watch some fun video lectures. https://www.stthomas.edu/catholicstudies/masters/admission/ You don’t have to be a student to register for the course.
I’m late to the party, but this is great. I’m an Anglican with Catholic leanings, and this challenge looks like the perfect accompaniment to my discernment.
For “book by a Catholic woman” or “book by a Catholic novelist”, might I suggest Heretics Anonymous by Katie Henry? It’s a YA novel about a teenage atheist finds himself in a Catholic high school and discovers it’s rather different than he thought.
Will there be a challenge for 2020?
Working on it!