Book Summaries

CATHOLIC TEACHING

General Theology:

• Theology for Beginners by Frank Sheed
• A Map of Life by Frank Sheed

Jesus Christ:

• On the Incarnation of the Word of God by St. Athanasius
• Scandal of the Incarnation: Irenaeus Against the Heresies by Hans Urs von Balthasar
• Jesus-Shock by Peter Kreeft
• The Infancy Narratives by Pope Benedict XVI
• The Passion of the Infant Christ by Caryll Houselander
• The Cross and the Beatitudes by Venerable Fulton J. Sheen

Holy Spirit:

• On the Holy Spirit by St. Basil
• The Sanctifier by Archbishop Luis M. Martinez
• Sober Intoxication of the Spirit: Filled with the Fullness of God by Fr. Raniero Cantalamessa
• The Action of the Holy Spirit: The Lord and Giver of Life by Frank J. Sheed
• In the School of the Holy Spirit by Fr. Jacques Philippe

Mariology:

• Rosarium Virginis Mariae by St. John Paul II
• The World’s First Love: Mary, Mother of God by Fulton J. Sheen
• The Secret of Mary by St. Louis de Montfort
• The Anti-Mary Exposed: Rescuing the Culture from Toxic Feminity by Carrie Gress
• The Marian Option: God’s Solution to a Civilization in Crisis by Carrie Gress
• Rediscover the Rosary: The Modern Power of an Ancient Prayer by Matthew Kelly
• The Reed of God by Caryll Houselander
• Hail, Holy Queen: The Mother of God in the Word of God by Scott Hahn
• 33 Days to Morning Glory by Fr. Michael Gaitley
• The Contemplative Rosary: With St. John Paul II and St. Teresa of Avila by Dan Burke and Connie Rossini

Sacraments:

• Ecclesia de Eucharistia by Pope St. John Paul II
• Mane Nobiscum Domine by Pope St. John Paul II
• Sacramentum Caritatis by Pope Benedict XVI
• Heart of the Christian Life: Thoughts on Holy Mass by Pope Benedict XVI
• A Key to the Doctrine of the Eucharist by Dom Anscar Vonier
• The Eucharist by Lawrence G. Lovasik
• The Bishop of the Abandoned Tabernacle by St. Manuel Gonzalez Garcia
• 7 Secrets of the Eucharist by Vinny Flynn
• 7 Secrets of Confession by Vinny Flynn
• Bread That Is Broken by Fr. Wilfrid Stinissen
• Symbol or Substance? A Dialogue on the Eucharist with C.S. Lewis, Billy Graham, and J.R.R. Tolkien by Peter Kreeft
• Be Transformed: The Healing Power of the Sacraments by Dr. Bob Schuchts
• How the Eucharist Can Save Civilization by Dr. Jared Staudt

Liturgy:

• Dies Domini by St. John Paul II
• The Spirit of the Liturgy by Pope Benedict XVI
• The Wellspring of Worship by Jean Corbon
• The Lamb’s Supper – The Mass as Heaven on Earth by Scott Hahn
• Preparing Yourself for Mass by Romano Guardini
• If Your Mind Wanders at Mass by Thomas Howard

Ecclesiology:

• Called to Communion: Understanding the Church Today by Pope Benedict XVI
• The Dimensions of the Church by Cardinal Avery Dulles

History:

• The Spirit of Early Christian Thought by Robert Louis Wilken

Vatican II:

• Dei Verbum (The Dogmatic Constitution on Divine Revelation)
• Apostolicam Actuositatem (The Decree on the Apostolate of the Laity)
• Dignitatis Humanae ( The Declaration on Religious Freedom)
• Ad Gentes (The Decree on the Missionary Activity of the Church)
• Presbyterorum Ordinis (The Decree on the Ministry and Life of Priests)
• Gaudium et Spes (The Pastoral Constitution on the Church in the Modern World)

Morality / Virtues / Theology of the Body:

• Spes Salvi by Pope Benedict XVI
• A Brief Reader on the Virtues of the Human Heart by Josef Pieper
• Christian Fasting: Disciplining the Body, Awakening the Spirit by Sr. Mary David Totah
• Eat, Fast, Feast: Heal Your Body While Feeding Your Soul by Dr. Jay Richards
• Victory over Vice by Fulton J. Sheen
• On the Eight Deadly Sins by St. John Cassian
• The Noonday Devil: Acedia, The Unnamed Evil of Our Times by Jean-Charles Nault
• Humility by Andrew Murray
• Happy Are You Poor by Fr. Thomas Dubay
• Fit for Eternal Life by Kevin Vost
• The Hidden Power of Kindness by Fr. Lawrence Lovasik
• Becoming Human by Jean Vanier
• Man, The Saint by Jesus Urteaga
• The Intellectual Life by A.G. Sertillanges
• Moral Conversion and Resisting Temptation by Fr. Robert Spitzer
• Born Only Once: The Miracle of Affirmation by Conrad Baars
• Winning the War in Your Mind by Craig Groeschel
• As a Man Thinketh by James Allen
• The Ruthless Elimination of Hurry by John Mark Comer
• Fill These Hearts: God, Sex, and the Universal Longing by Christopher West
• Our Bodies Tell God’s Story by Christopher West
• Making Gay Okay – How Rationalizing Homosexual Behavior Is Changing Everything by Robert by Robert Reilly
• Unwanted: How Sexual Brokenness Reveals Our Way to Healing by Jay Stringer

Spiritual Warfare:

• Spiritual Warfare and the Discernment of Spirits by Dan Burke
• Slaying Dragons: What Exorcists See & What We Should Know by Charles Fraune
• Spiritual Combat by Lorenzo Scupoli
• Lukewarmness: The Devil in Disguise by Francisco Carvajal

Pastoral Care & Healing Ministry:

• Life Promises Life: Pages from the Diary of a Hospital Chaplain by Fr. Vincent Nagle
• Healing: Bringing the Gift of God’s Mercy to the World by Dr. Mary Healy
• 12 Steps to Divine Healing by Eddie Russell
• God Images by Bill Gaultiere

SPIRITUAL READING

St. Teresa of Avila:

• Interior Castle
• The Way of Perfection
• The Life of St. Teresa
• St. Teresa’s Manner of Prayer by Fr. Salvador Ros Garcia

St. John of the Cross:

• The Dark Night of the Soul 
• The Mystic Ladder of Divine Love

St. Therese of Lisieux:

• I Believe in Love: A personal retreat based on the teaching of St. Therese of Lisieux by Fr. Jean C.J. D’Elbee
• St. Therese: A Treasured Love Story by Fulton Sheen
• The Way of Trust & Love: A Retreat Guided by St. Therese of Lisieux by Jacques Philippe

St. Francis de Sales:

• An Introduction to the Devout Life
• Finding God’s Will for You
• Live Today Well: St. Francis de Sales’s Simple Approach to Holiness by Fr. Thomas Dailey

St. Faustina:

• Diary: Divine Mercy in My Soul by St. Faustina
• 7 Secrets of Divine Mercy by Vinny Flynn
• 33 Days to Merciful Love by Fr. Michael Gaitley

St. Teresa of Calcutta:

• Mother Teresa’s Lessons of Love and Secrets of Sanctity by Susan Conroy
• Something Beautiful for God by Malcolm Muggeridge
• Come Be My Light: Mother Teresa by Fr. Brian Kolodiejchuk
• No Greater Love – Collection of writings by Mother Teresa

Fr. Thomas Dubay:

• Fire Within: St. Teresa of Avila, St. John of the Cross, and the Gospel – On Prayer
• Deep Conversion/Deep Prayer
• Prayer Primer: Igniting a Fire Within
• Saints: A Closer Look
• Happy Are You Poor
• And You Are Christ’s: The Charism of Virginity and the Celibate Life

Fr. Jacques Philippe:

• Searching for and Maintaining Peace
• Interior Freedom
• The Way of Trust & Love: A Retreat Guided by St. Therese of Lisieux
• Time for God
• Thirsting for Prayer
• Real Mercy
• In the School of the Holy Spirit
• Trusting God in the Present

Fr. Thomas Green:

• Opening to God: A Guide to Prayer

C.S. Lewis:

• Mere Christianity
• Till We Have Faces
• The Great Divorce
• The Weight of Glory
• The Screwtape Letters
• The Problem of Pain
• A Grief Observed

Peter Kreeft:

• Prayer for Beginners
• How to be Holy
• Symbol or Substance? A Dialogue on the Eucharist with C.S. Lewis, Billy Graham, and J.R.R. Tolkien
• Jesus-Shock

Henri Nouwen:

• The Way of the Heart
• Life of the Beloved
• The Return of the Prodigal Son
• The Way of the Heart: The Spirituality of the Desert Fathers and Mothers

John Eldredge:

• Wild at Heart
• Fathered by God
• Beautiful Outlaw
• EPIC: The Story God is Telling
• Get Your Life Back

Catherine Doherty:

• Soul of my Soul – Coming to the Heart of Prayer
• Dear Father
• Dear Seminarian
• Season of Mercy: Lent and Easter

Other authors:

• The Rules for the Discernment of Spirits by St. Ignatius of Loyola
• The Fulfillment of All Desire by Ralph Martin
• The Practice of the Presence of God by Brother Lawrence
• Divine Intimacy by Fr. Gabriel of St Mary Magdalen
• The Soul of the Apostolate by Fr. Jean-Baptiste Chautard
• The Power of Silence: Against the Dictatorship of Noise by Robert Cardinal Sarah
• Imitation of Christ by Thomas à Kempis
• On Loving God by St. Bernard of Clairvaux
• He and I by Gabrielle Bossis
• Personal Prayer: A Guide for Receiving the Father’s Love by Fr. Thomas Acklin & Fr. Boniface Hicks
• Spiritual Direction: A Guide for Sharing the Father’s Love by Fr. Thomas Acklin & Fr. Boniface Hicks
• “Prepare Your Heart to Pray” by Dom Augustin Guillerand
• Into Your Hands, Father by Fr. Wilfrid Stinissen
• Bread That Is Broken by Fr. Wilfrid Stinissen
• Surrender! by Fr. Larry Richards
• Unbound: A Practical Guide to Deliverance by Neal Lozano
• Abba’s Heart by Neal Lozano
• Experiencing Father’s Embrace by Jack Frost
• Spiritual Slavery to Spiritual Sonship by Jack Frost

MEDITATION & PRAYING WITH SCRIPTURE:

• Verbum Domini by Pope Benedict XVI
• Meditation and Contemplation: An Ignatian Guide to Praying with Scripture by Fr. Timothy Gallagher
• Praying Scripture for a Change: An Introduction to Lectio Divina by Dr. Tim Gray
• Sacred Reading: The Ancient Art of Lectio Divina by Michael Casey
• A Guide to Christian Meditation by Fr. John Bartunek
• Lectio Divina and the Practice of Teresian Prayer by Sam Anthony Morello
• Into the Deep: Finding Peace Through Prayer by Dan Burke
• Psalms: The Prayer Book of the Bible by Dietrich Bonhoeffer

READINGS FOR LITURGICAL SEASONS:

Advent & Christmas:

• The Infancy Narratives by Pope Benedict XVI
• The Passion of the Infant Christ by Caryll Houselander
• The Reed of God by Caryll Houselander
• Joy to the World by Scott Hahn
• The Purpose of Christmas by Rick Warren
• Donkey Bells: Advent and Christmas Stories, Traditions and Meditations by Catherine Doherty

Lent & Easter:

• The Lenten Spring by Fr. Thomas Hopko
• Victory over Vice by Fulton J. Sheen
• The Cross and the Beatitudes by Venerable Fulton J. Sheen
• “See How the Cross of the Lord Stands Revealed as a Tree of Life” by Richard Conlin (Scripture Paper for Seminary)
• Season of Mercy: Lent and Easter by Catherine Doherty
• The Risen Christ: The Forty Days After the Resurrection by Caryll Houselander

THE PRIESTHOOD, CELIBACY, AND DISCERNMENT:

• The Priest is Not His Own by Bl. Fulton J. Sheen
• On the Priesthood by St. John Chrysostom
• “From the Depths of Our Hearts: Priesthood, Celibacy, and the Crisis of the Catholic Church” by Pope Benedict XVI and Robert Cardinal Sarah
• Priestly Spirituality by Hans Urs von Balthasar
• In Sinu Jesu: When Heart Speaks to Heart – The Journal of a Priest at Prayer by A Benedictine Monk
• The Grace of Ars by Fr. Frederick Miller
• Dear Father by Catherine Doherty
• Dear Seminarian by Catherine Doherty
• And You Are Christ’s: The Charism of Virginity and the Celibate Life by Fr. Thomas Dubay
• Virginity: A Positive Approach to Celibacy for the Sake of the Kingdom of Heaven by Raniero Cantalamessa
• The Power and the Glory by Graham Greene
• Finding God’s Will for You by St. Francis de Sales
• God’s Voice Within by Mark Thibodeaux
• Why Preach by Fr. Peter John Cameron

EVANGELIZATION, CATECHESIS, AND APOLOGETICS:

• Evangelii Nuntiandi by Pope St. Paul VI
• Catechesi Tradendae by St. John Paul II
• Evangelii Gaudium by Pope Francis
• Gaudete et Exsultate by Pope Francis
• Christus Vivit by Pope Francis
• Orthodoxy by G.K. Chesterton
• The Everlasting Man by G.K. Chesterton
• Lord of the World by Robert Hugh Benson
• Forming Intentional Disciples by Sherry Weddell
• From Christendom to Apostolic Mission: Pastoral Strategies for an Apostolic Age by Msgr. James Shea
• Good News, Bad News: Evangelization, Conversion and the Crisis of Faith by Fr. John McCloskey III and Russell Shaw
• Clear and Simple: How to Have Conversations that Lead to Conversion by Andre Regnier
• Reasons to Believe by Scott Hahn
• Search and Rescue by Patrick Madrid
• Do Monkeys Go to Heaven? Finding God in All Creation by Fr. John McCarthy
• The Biggest Lie in the History of Christianity by Matthew Kelly
• The Master Plan of Evangelism by Robert Coleman

BIOGRAPHIES:

• The Life of Anthony by St. Athanasius
• The Curé d’Ars by Abbé Francis Trochu
• A Man for Others: Maximilian Kolbe the “Saint of Auschwitz” by Patricia Treece
• Carlo Acutis: A Millennial in Paradise by Fr. Will Conquer
• Race with the Devil by Joseph Pearce
• St. Thomas Aquinas by G.K. Chesterton
• A Man of the Beatitudes: Pier Giorgio Frassati by Luciana Frassati
• Pier Giorgio Frassati by Robert Claude
• Benedict XVI: Last Testament in his own words with Peter Seewald
• My Son Carlo: Carlo Acutis Through the Eyes of His Mother by Antonia Acutis
• The Little Prince by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry
• St. Philip Neri by Bob & Penny Lord

PUBLIC SPEAKING:

• Give Your Speech, Change the World by Nick Morgan
• Public Speaking by Dale Carnegie
• Communicating for a Change by Andy Stanley and Lane Jones

HABIT FORMATION, MEMORY & LEARNING:

• Atomic Habits by James Clear
• Superhuman by Habit by Tynan
• The Power of Habit by Charles Duhigg
• Mini Habits by Stephen Guise
• Tiny Habits by BJ Fogg
• Moonwalking with Einstein: The Art and Science of Remembering Everything by Joshua Foer
• Read More Books Now by Brandon Vogt

LEADERSHIP AND ORGANIZATION:

• Growing an Engaged Church by Albert Winseman
• Living Your Strengths by Albert Winseman, Clifton, Liesveld
• A Spirituality of Fundraising by Henri Nouwen
• Making Vision Stick by Andy Stanley

BUSINESS & PERSONAL DEVELOPMENT:

• To Sell is Human by Daniel H. Pink
• The Charisma Myth by Olivia Fox Cabane
• Off Balance by Matthew Kelly
• Essentialism: The Disciplined Pursuit of Less by Greg McKeown
• 7 Habits of Highly Effective People by Stephen R. Covey
• Built to Last by Jim Collins
• Act Now by Kevin Harrington
• Driven by Robert Herjavec
• Google Marketing by Aaron Goldman
• Made to Stick by Chip and Dan Heath
• Market Mind Games by Denise Shull
• Power Negotiating by Roger Dawson
• Rework by Fried and Hansson
• The 1 Minute Manager by Blanchard and Johnson
• The Frog and Prince by Darcy Rezac
• The Greatest Networker in the World by John Fogg
• The Tipping Point by Malcolm Gladwell
• Trade Off by Jim Collins
• Who Moved My Cheese by Spencer Johnson
• Zag by Marty Neuiemer
• The Road Less Traveled by Scott Peck
• The Coaching Habit by Michael Bungay Stanier
• The Vision Driven Leader by Michael Hyatt
• The Boy, the Mole, the Fox and the Horse by Charlie Mackesy

ECONOMICS & FINANCE:

• Crisis Economics by Nouriel Roubini
• Currency Wars by James Rickards
• Fault Lines by Raghuram Rajan
• How an economy grows & why it crashes by Peter Schiff
• Investing and the Irrational Mind by Robert Koppel

BEST BOOKS TO READ:

• Top 100 Catholic Theology Books: A Book List by Taylor Marshall
• Recommended Books by Bishop Robert Barron
• Catholic Lifetime Reading Plan by Fr. John McCloskey
• Book List for Catholic Seminarians and Priests – Recommended Formation Reading by Fr. Gary Coulter
• Best Books for Seminarians to Read by Msgr. Daniel Trapp
• Best Catholic Books of All Time by Brandon Vogt
• Peter Kreeft’s Recommended Philosophy Books by Brandon Vogt
• The Ultimate Apologist’s Reading List by Trent Horn
• Massive List of Free Books and Resources