What books should I read?

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skyrain30

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I am just now starting to go to Mass and am trying to get into the RCIA classes. I have been baptized before but it was in the LDS religion so I believe I will have to get baptized again. So far the only books I have read are Life in Christ, A Catechism for Adults. My local library also has Catholism but that is it. We live in a very small town. I would love to read more, are there any other books you can recommend that I could order from Amazon?
 
Thomas a Kempis’s ‘Imitation of Christ’
Ludwig Ott’s ‘Fundamentals of Catholic Dogma’
St. Francis de Sales’ ‘Introduction to the Devout Life’
F.X. Schouppe’s ‘Purgatory’.

Are all good for starters. 🙂

Anything by St. Alphonsus Maria de Liguori is good. And St. John of the Cross is very intriguing.

Otherwise… some other recommendations and Saints’ Books…
 
The Bible is a given, using a website like www.usccb.org will give you the daily readings. The great works suggested above should be read, but, further in your journey.

A couple of books - Catholicism for Dummies. Do not let the title put you off, it is written by very orthodox authors and put together in an easy to read style.

There is the Didache Series, it is written as a high school text and would be good for someone just learning about the Faith, in particular “Introduction to Catholicism” from that series.

The Compendium of the Catechism of the Catholic Church is available online to read for free! vatican.va/archive/compendium_ccc/documents/archive_2005_compendium-ccc_en.html

Conversion stories are great, they help you connect to others who have made this journey. The “Supriesed by Truth” series is good. You can also read many testimonies online here on the main page and at the “stories” link: catholic-convert.com/Default.aspx
 
Thanks for the recomendations. So far I have picked up the Catechism and Catholics for Dummies.
 
One of my favorite books is “On Being Catholic” by Thomas Howard. It is all really good, but has some of the best descriptions of the Mass, it is worth it even for just those chapters.
 
“The Faith Explained” by Fr. Leo Trese is very readable and explains almost everything you need to know.
 
Pope Benedict had a very good introduction to Christianity bool…I think the tle title is Introduction to Christianity.
 
KarenElissa said:
One of my favorite books is “On Being Catholic” by Thomas Howard. It is all really good, but has some of the best descriptions of the Mass, it is worth it even for just those chapters.
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Very much agree! 👍
 
by Scott and Kimberly Hahn, Rome Sweet Home. Easy read by a convert from being Presbyterian minister and his wife (daughter of another Presbyterian minister) on their conversion - the simplified, theological questions and answers they found.
 
All of the books mentioned so far are excellent, but some are rather weighty and heavy and even a little frightening.

E.g., I love the book, The Imitation of Christ, by A Kempis, but had I read it as a non-Catholic, I think I would have been scared away from Catholicism. It’s too heavy for a non-Catholic who doesn’t possess a full understanding of Catholic theology. Without that understanding of Catholic theology, the book becomes a paeon for “salvation by good works,” which can be a real turn-off to non-Catholics.

I agree with the Thomas Howard recommendation, and add his great book, Evangelical is Not Enough.

I also suggest anything by Dr. Scott Hahn. Rome Sweet Home is great, but try is other books–anything by the man is well-written and easy-to-understand!

Crossing the Tiber by Steve Ray specifically delves into the Catholic doctrines of Baptism and Eucharist. (He’s a former Baptist.)

I like Catholicism and Fundamentalism by Karl Keating. The LDS is not considered a “fundamentalist Christian” church, but I think you would still enjoy a lot of the information in this book.
 
I would also recommend Catholic Home Study Service. This is a free course. You can start with what ever book grabs your interest. Personally, I would start with the “We Believe” because it gives you the basics of the Catholic Faith.

I have to second what Cat said about the Saints books. I would not recomend most of them to you right now. Saints books tend to be on the heavy side. You need to learn what it is that Catholics believe versus what we don’t believe. The Saints, in most cases, are way past that stage.

It sounds like your getting off to a good start. 🙂
 
Try My Life with the Saints by Father James Martin. It is easily available in soft cover.
 
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