Summer Reading: Catholic Fiction
Catholic Fiction Book List
We offer many great book lists for our students. However, today’s list is for you, the parent!
There has been a revival of sorts in Catholic fiction over the past few years. Yet, it’s a genre we don’t hear about too often. I can’t tell you how often friends and family have asked me to recommend a good contemporary novel with a Catholic flavor. I love the delight in their eyes when I can list nine or ten titles off the top of my head.
If you’re looking for some good, fun reads for the summer, I hope the following list will help get you started. Most are contemporary fiction titles written by Catholic authors. While I’ve read many of these myself, others were recommended by trusted sources (such as Joseph Pearce) and, therefore, are in my to-read-this-summer pile.
Click on the book title for ordering information and/or reviews (some are affiliate links). They are in no particular order.
Adult Novels
Note: While written from a Catholic worldview, these are still adult in nature.
A Bloody Habit by Eleanor Nicholson
A Postcard from the Volcano by Lucy Beckett (Ignatius Press)
The Leaves are Falling by Lucy Beckett (Ignatius Press)
Death Panels by Michelle Buckman (Saint Benedict Press)
Rachel’s Contrition by Michelle Buckman (Sophia Institute Press)
Bleeder by John J. Desjarlais (Chesterton Press)
Viper by John J. Desjarlais (Sophia Institute Press)
My Visit to Hell by Paul Thigpen (Realms)
The Book of Jotham by Arthur Powers (Tuscany Press)
Fatherless by Brian Gail (Gailforce Publishing)
Two Statues by Brian Kennelly (Saint Benedict Press)
Treason: A Catholic Novel of Elizabethan England by Dena Hunt (Sophia Institute Press)
Rapunzel Let Down by Regina Doman (Chesterton Press)
The Letters of Magdalen Montague by Eleanor Bourg Nicholson (Kaufmann Publishing)
Death of a Liturgist by Lorraine V. Murray (Saint Benedict Press)
Young Adult Novels
Though written with teens in mind, these are also enjoyable reads for parents.
Belisarius by Paolo Belzoni (Arx Publishing
Tale of Manaeth by Phillip Campbell (Cruachan Hill Press)
Toward the Gleam by T. M. Doran (Ignatius Press)
Adult Novels from Previous Centuries
Here are just a few in case you get through all the suggested books above.
Kirsten Lavransdatter by Sigrid Undset (Penguin Classics)
The Spear by Louis deWohl (Ignatius Press)
Dracula by Bram Stoker: Ignatius Critical Edition (Ignatius Press)
Conclusion
If you’d like to continue this discussion, I invite you to join me and other Catholic homeschooling parents at our Homeschool Connections Community or our Facebook group. There are a lot of great novels out there, and these are just the tip of the iceberg. I hope you’ll share your favorites (and why!)
