Even before I was Catholic, I was an avid book lover. Throughout our childhood my sister enjoyed listening to a slew of epic fantasy novels which always came to us through our dad’s voice. No matter how many books I read (or had read to me), my reading list never gets any shorter. My husband’s learned to avoid Barnes & Noble on busy afternoons because it’s never a quick trip.

Over the last couple of years as I’ve grown in my faith I’ve started viewing my reading material through a much more Catholic lens, even the fantasy books. Here is my current book list for other Catholic readers.

Religious

• The Bible – This is a Catholic no-brainer. It may not always be the easiest read but is something that every Catholic should familiarize themself with. Questions will undoubtedly arise as you go and you should never be afraid to bring these to your local priest. I also found it helpful to work through the Bible using the Fr. Mike Schmitz podcast series, The Bible in a Year.
• The Catechism – Similar to the Bible, this book is incredibly useful for understanding not only Catholic texts but traditions as well. You can also digest this through a podcast series from Fr. Mike called The Catechism in a Year.
• Miracles Through Our Lady: True Stories of Everyday People That Can Change Your Life Forever originally written by Fr. Karl Maria Harrer and translated by Renate Mross – This was one of the first books my husband ever read to me and I’m still deeply moved by the tales of marian miracles all over the world throughout history.

Dating Advice

• How to Find Your Soulmate Without Losing Your Soul by Jason and Crystalina Evert – This book is full of Catholic dating advice. It pounds home the necessity of saving sex for marriage, a conclusion I arrived at independently of my faith before picking up this book. However, my key takeaway was to never settle for someone who only tolerated my values. Although that lesson may seem obvious it was a shining moment for me in riddling out exactly what went wrong in a past relationship. This and many other relationship lessons were among the first to set me on the path to God. 

Non-Fiction

• Unbroken by Laura Hillenbrand – Immediately after watching the movie adaptation of this story I pulled the book off my parents’ shelf and started reading. Despite all of the unspeakable things that Louis Zamperini endured during WWII, I found this was ultimately a tale of Christ-like forgiveness and I couldn’t tear my eyes away from it. 

Fantasy 

• The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings by J.R.R Tolkien – Much like The Bible the epic tales of Middle Earth will never disappear from my list no matter how many times I read them. These are among the first books I remember my dad ever reading to my sister and I and someday I hope to share them with my own kids. They are bursting with Catholic teachings, Tolkien having been a devout Catholic himself, and the struggles and character of Christ can easily be seen in several of the main characters in this fantasy universe. 

Honorable Mentions

Many of these are not strictly Catholic but for one reason or another I found myself relating various characters or scenes to similar biblical happenings and had difficulty putting these stories down.

• Did You Ever Have a Family by Bill Clegg
• A Man Called Ove by Fredrik Backman
• All the Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr
• The Mistborn Trilogy by Brandon Sanderson
• The Stormlight Archives by Brandon Sanderson
• Harry Potter by J.K Rowling
• The Chronicles of Narnia by C.S Lewis