Looking for a list of Catholic books worth reading

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How could nobody mention Jesus of Nazareth by Pope Benedict XVI? šŸ˜› Part II is coming soon!

ā€œCatholic booksā€ is such a large category that I have difficulty mentioning just a few. You probably donā€™t want me to inundate you with a list of hundreds of books. šŸ˜‰ If you have any particular area of interest, I can be more helpful. :o
 
Dorothy said:
And, if you like novels, any book by Michael D. Oā€™Brien is excellent. (Ignatius Press)

Some of them are:

ā€œIsland of the Worldā€

ā€œA Cry of Stoneā€

ā€œStrangers and Sojournersā€

ā€œFather Elijahā€

there are many moreā€¦

I am fortunate to have a friend who has all his books and am almost finished with ā€œStrangers and Sojournersā€. In my opinion his books are beautifully written and very spiritually enlightening. I donā€™t like to ā€œspeed readā€ his books, because I would miss something.
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I second this list - have read them all except the latest one.

Mimi
 
Just about anything by Hilaire Belloc and Regine Pernoud, and Warren H. Carrollā€™s *The History of Christendom *series.
 
I have found that quite a few of Scott Hahnā€™s (sp?) are very good. Easily read and very informative. There was also Why Catholics do that, but Iā€™m sorry I cannot remember the author.
 
GreggAlvarez said:
In addition to those great books and authors that the other people recommended (which I too am going to check those out and add to my little library):
The Spiritual Combat - Dom Lorenzo Scupoli
Deep Conversion/Deep Prayer - Fr. Thomas Dubay
7 Secrets of the Eucharist - Flynn (great book on the center of Christianity)
Heaven: The Hearts Deepest Longing - Peter Kreeft
Catholic Christianity - Peter Kreeft
God and the World - Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger (Pope Benedict XVI)
The Joy of Knowing Christ - Pope Benedict XVI (his homilies on most Gospel readings)
The Dogma of Hell - Fr. Schouppe (that one gave me goosebumps! But it is real.)
The Lambā€™s Supper - Scott Hahn
Butlerā€™s Lives of the Saints - (short biographies of the saint of the day for the year)
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Nice List Gregg !
Yes, Hahn is great.
Here are two other easy reads, my all-time favorites on the Eucharist & The Mass:

PLEASEā€“have you parish get some copies of 2 books . These should be required reading for every Catholic. PLEASE, if you want to help people know what the Mass is about, get these into their hands. If they wonā€™t read them, them You read it to themā€“set up a ā€˜Eucharist discussion nightā€™ or something like that.

Here are the titles (both have imprimatur) :

1ā€“Seven Secrets Of The Eucharist
Vince Flynn
two-hour read-Most excellent modern book on the Holy Euchaist in print

2ā€“The Holy Mass
Catalina Rivas
ā€“revelation to Catalina from Jesus & Our Ladyā€“small bookletā€“20 minute readā€“if you can get people to read this, it WILL change the way they see the Holy Mass.
I can email this to anyone who wants a copy, as a pdf file. PM me with your email address if you want it, or go to loveandmercy.org/2/ to view it. They sell the booklet for 75 cents in 100 qtys, my parish is on our 5th order of 100.
Yes, it is personal revelation, but it does have an imprimatur.
 
Catholic Mattersā€“John Richard Neuhaus
Living Water and Heavenly Man ā€“ Brother Yun
and for entertainment, about anything by Michael Oā€™Brien
 
Why Do Catholics Do That? is by Kevin Orlin Johnson. I have it buried in a bookcase somewhere but I remember it being quite good. I bought it for 50 cents at St. Vincent de Paul, and as I was standing in line to pay for it I noticed this heavily tattoed and pierced woman standing behind me buying an armful of feminist literature. She looked at the title my book, scowled and said ā€œYeah, those ******* Catholics sure are weird.ā€ I just smiled and left with my book.

Another one that no one has mentioned is This Tremendous Lover by Dom Eugene Boylan. Amazing clear and helpful on the spiritual life.
 
Anything by Patrick Madrid or Matthew Kelly. Iā€™m currently reading Matthew Kellyā€™s The Rythm of Life and itā€™s pretty good so far. šŸ™‚
 
Attam said:
Yes. Oh and besides the Bible thank you lol.

Just wondering if there were any Catholic related books worth reading or is a must read that gives insight to our faith. Thanks.
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I have reread the following book many times. Perhaps every couple of years.

ā€œCHRISTIAN CLASSICSā€ IN MODERN ENGLISH

It contains:

Practicing the Presence of God
Author: Brother Lawrence

The Imitation of Christ
Author: Thomas A Kempis

The Confessions of St. Augustine
Author: St Augustine

Mahree šŸ‘
 
Louis De Whol - writes about Saint livesā€¦ Amazing.
Any C. S. Lewis, Iā€™ve heard.
 
Attam said:
Yes. Oh and besides the Bible thank you lol.

Just wondering if there were any Catholic related books worth reading or is a must read that gives insight to our faith. Thanks.
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Poem of the Man God by Maria Valtorte is definitely worth reading. Best book I have ever read
 
Some of my favorites are the Shorter Summa of Saint Thomas Aquinas, the Collected Works of Saint John of the Cross, Transformation in Christ by Dietrich von Hildebrand, Preparation for Death by Saint Alphonsus Ligouri, Introduction to Christianity by Papa Benedict XVI, Introduction to the Devout Life by Saint Francis de Sales, Quantum Enigma by Wolfgang Smith (every Catholic scientist should give it a read, itā€™s short), and The Last Superstition: A Refutation of the New Atheism by Edward Feser.

-Ryan Vilbig
 
PadraigPearce said:
Ah yes, Bart Ehrman, the History Channelā€™s in-house theologian. Didnā€™t the poster ask for Catholic books?
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The OP asked for Catholic related books. I would think that anyone interested in Catholicism would be interested in the scholarly consensus on the scriptures and how they were assembled and what we know about them based on the ancient manuscripts available to us. Perhaps there is another biblical scholar youā€™d recommend? Iā€™ve only ever read non-Catholic academics such as Erhman, Marcus Borg, and E.P. Sanders.
 
Leela said:
The OP asked for Catholic related books. I would think that anyone interested in Catholicism would be interested in the scholarly consensus on the scriptures and how they were assembled and what we know about them based on the ancient manuscripts available to us. Perhaps there is another biblical scholar youā€™d recommend? Iā€™ve only ever read non-Catholic academics such as Erhman, Marcus Borg, and E.P. Sanders.
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There are Catholic biblical scholars, you know. šŸ˜› šŸ˜‰

First, Iā€™d go with the Church documents on the subject, like the ones from the Pontifical Biblical Commission. Next, Iā€™d personally go with someone like Cardinal Ratzinger in this area. šŸ™‚

If one was looking solely for a Catholic biblical scholar that encapsulated the prevalent spirit of modern Catholic biblical criticism, they should probably look at Raymond Brown or Joseph Fitzmyer. I would recommend someone like Francis Martin over those two, though. And letā€™s not forget Scott Hahn. šŸ™‚ Most of his books are geared towards a popular audience, but he is a legitimate biblical scholar.

Of course, if someone is just starting out, I would never point them to the biblical scholars first (unless, perhaps, that person is a passionate academic who enjoys such things). One would be totally lost.
 
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