Book reccomentations needed:)

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KimberlyAnn0218

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Hello!
I am looking for recommendatins for a good book to read. A little about me I am a 38 year-old, married, mother of 3 boys:) I am busy 🙂 I love to read–it helps me relax. I am a convert to the Catholic faith who never really practiced until about 8 months ago. I am finishing “Rediscovering Catholicism”–It was OK. I am having a hard time finishing it, he can be to overly wordy for a small point. I am looking for some inspirational, faith building type books. Can anyone recommened some titles for me?

Kim
 
“Mother Angelica’s Answers, Not Promises” is an excellent, uplifting book. I re-read it every so often!

If you want something in the line of fiction, Marcus Grodi’s novel, “How Firm a Foundation” is an excellent work… essentially a “novelization” of his conversion story. Catholic apologetics in an entertaining story!

Since you’re a busy mom, you might look into the “Surprised by Truth” series by Patrick Madrid… there are three volumes in the series, short stories about the faith journeys of several people (so you don’t have to worry about only being able to read in short spurts.) Very uplifting and enlightening!
 
Why not try some C.S. Lewis - very readable, brilliant, easily available used or from the library. Almost anything would do - Mere Christianity and Surprised by Joy are both good, or The Screwtape Letters or The Great Divorce. Or he even wrote some rather good science fiction novels.
 
KimberlyAnn0218 said:
Hello!
I am looking for recommendatins for a good book to read. A little about me I am a 38 year-old, married, mother of 3 boys:) I am busy 🙂 I love to read–it helps me relax. I am a convert to the Catholic faith who never really practiced until about 8 months ago. I am finishing “Rediscovering Catholicism”–It was OK. I am having a hard time finishing it, he can be to overly wordy for a small point. I am looking for some inspirational, faith building type books. Can anyone recommened some titles for me?

Kim
Click to expand...
“Where is That in the Bible " Patrick Madrid . “Where is that in tradition” Patrick Madrid
“Queen of heaven” Scott Haun .” Rome Sweet Home" Scott Haun eTc
 
Hi Kim,

I made it about half way through Rediscovering Catholicism myself recently and then set it aside. I find I get the most out of memoirs and biographies, I especially enjoy reading about the saints. I just picked up a copy of the recent book, Where There is Love, There is God: Mother Teresa, and am looking forward to reading it. I’m part way through “I Believe in Love”, which is a “personal retreat” based on the teaching of St. Therese of Lisieux. Other favorites of mine that I go back to again and again are “The Life of Teresa of Jesus” (St. Teresa of Avila), “The Story of a Soul” (St. Therese of Liseaux), “Something Beautiful for God” (Mother Teresa), and “The Long Loneliness” (Dorothy Day). I’ve also recently picked up “The Catholic Verses” by Dave Armstrong and am enjoying it. HTH!

Kim
 
I’m going to go on a different tack with this … Catholic Fiction. (Although if you are interested, I have around 60 other Catholic non-fiction books that I recommend)
I’m thinking about the time that a busy Catholic Mom has, and “lighter” (don’t count on it) reading.

Rachel’s Contrition:
Just read this a little while ago. I’m a voracious reader, and read it in a day.
Imagine a young mother, recently separated from her son and husband, severely depressed, not religious, picks up a holy card of St. Therese in a parking lot … and then things start to really happen…

catholicmediareview.blogspot.com/2010/10/book-review-rachels-contrition.html

Anything by Michael D. O’Brien:
But start with Father Elijah. I’ve read it five times. Yes. Five times. You will really miss the characters after you finish reading it. Eventually you will pick up the book and read it again. It’s that good.

Just read Fatherless and Motherless by Brian J Gail. He’s a new writer. When you begin to read Fatherless, you will wonder, “WHY did Marla suggest this book?” Then you will get to the Parish Pot Luck… Trust me, persevere until that time… Motherless is a sequel to Fatherless, with Childless coming out in the fall, I hope.

These are a few really good reads. They will keep you up at nights though. Sorry!

Blessings
 
try the biographies of St. Rita of Cascia and St. Gemma Galgani. very inspiring reading! I also just finished Fr. Mitch Pacwas new book and found it very good. for a quick read, i recommend anything by Archbishop Timothy Dolan. he writes as if he were speaking to you and always has a great message!
 
I would check out books by Danielle Bean, Susie Lloyd, Elizabeth Foss, Lisa Hendy… I really want to read “The Domestic Church: Room by Room” by Donna Marie Cooper O Boyle. I just haven’t gotten to it yet.
 
I haven’t read much Catholic fiction, but I agree with the recommendation for Father Elijah: it’s a powerful book that, although it looks humongous, actually reads quickly.

Though he wasn’t Catholic, I second the recommendation for C.S. Lewis as well: The Screwtape Letters is an amazing work of fiction, and Mere Christianity is a great primer on…well…mere Christianity. If you like symbolic science fiction, the Space Trilogy is also a good read (I particularly enjoy the second volume, Perelandra).

For faith-enriching reading, I highly, highly recommend Blessed John Paul II’s last encyclical, Ecclesia de Eucharistia. It is a fantastic work about the Eucharist and the Church’s connection to it. Another great work by the beatified, from before he became pope, is the play The Jeweler’s Shop.

And finally, a classic: St. Augustine’s Confessions. I’d skip the last few books unless you’re incredibly philosophically minded and don’t mind reading dozens of pages about the nature of time.

Hope that helped! God bless!
 
marlap2 said:
Just read Fatherless and Motherless by Brian J Gail. He’s a new writer. When you begin to read Fatherless, you will wonder, “WHY did Marla suggest this book?” Then you will get to the Parish Pot Luck… Trust me, persevere until that time… Motherless is a sequel to Fatherless, with Childless coming out in the fall, I hope.

Blessings
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I forgot! I have Fatherless at home! That’s another stop-start book for me. Where I left off it was too mcuh into the cable netwook story. I more interetsed in the family issues. Thanks for the info!
 
JohnnyK said:
try the biographies of St. Rita of Cascia and St. Gemma Galgani. very inspiring reading! I also just finished Fr. Mitch Pacwas new book and found it very good. for a quick read, i recommend anything by Archbishop Timothy Dolan. he writes as if he were speaking to you and always has a great message!
Click to expand...
Thanks…twice!
 
Calcutta49 said:
Hi Kim,

I made it about half way through Rediscovering Catholicism myself recently and then set it aside. I find I get the most out of memoirs and biographies, I especially enjoy reading about the saints. I just picked up a copy of the recent book, Where There is Love, There is God: Mother Teresa, and am looking forward to reading it. I’m part way through “I Believe in Love”, which is a “personal retreat” based on the teaching of St. Therese of Lisieux. Other favorites of mine that I go back to again and again are “The Life of Teresa of Jesus” (St. Teresa of Avila), “The Story of a Soul” (St. Therese of Liseaux), “Something Beautiful for God” (Mother Teresa), and “The Long Loneliness” (Dorothy Day). I’ve also recently picked up “The Catholic Verses” by Dave Armstrong and am enjoying it. HTH!

Kim
Click to expand...
hi Kim!
Thanks…I think the Rediscovering Catholicism book has really good parts to it. The parts on the mass and prayer were awesome, otherwise it was a little heavy on the “waht has happened to the Catholic church” part.
 
Defender1 said:
“Where is That in the Bible " Patrick Madrid . “Where is that in tradition” Patrick Madrid
“Queen of heaven” Scott Haun .” Rome Sweet Home" Scott Haun eTc
Click to expand...
Thanks! I have heard Scott Hahn books are really good:)
 
I don’t read much non-fiction, and when I do, it’s not really religious.

Probably the best religious non-fiction book I read cover to cover was Greg Laurie’s Lost Boy. Greg is a protestant pastor who was into the whole drugs, sex, rock n’ roll of the 60’s and 70’s and then became a Christian. He’s been called the next Billy Graham for having Graham-like crusades. A good book about a prodigal son.

I also read Mitch Albom’s Have a Little Faith. Albom is my favorite author. Albom’s Rabbi comes up to him and asks him to deliver his eulogy. Is the Rabbi dying? No. But he says that when the time comes, he wants Albom to deliver the eulogy. So, Albom spends time with his Rabbi, to really get to know him as a person. Think of it as spending time with your priest to get to know him as a person. At the same time, Albom is working with a local charity to repair the roof of a local Detroit church. While working on the church, he meets the pastor, a former drug dealer turned addict turned Christian pastor. As Albom gets to know his rabbi and this pastor, he starts to better appreciate the differences and the similarities between the two faiths. The message of the book is how religion is a driving force for good and central to people’s lives and how God can affect the lives of others.

As far as fiction…
May I suggest reading Cormac McCarthy’s play, The Sunset Limited. It’s a conversation between a poor devout Christian (Black) and a suicidal atheist professor (White). Black saves White from jumping in front of an oncoming train, the Sunset Limited. Black then takes White (who doesn’t appreciate being saved) to his apartment and they discuss life, faith, and death. It does a very good job with these subjects from a Christian perspective of hope and atheistic nihilism. When asked about faith, McCarthy says it’s a struggle for him and it depends on which day you ask him. I believe you can see that in this book.
 
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