The Catholic Summer Reading Program

This summer, why not take some time to discover the rich treasure of Catholic literature?

Aquinas and More Catholic Goods, the official sponsor of the Catholic summer reading program, would like to invite you to join in a book discussion at your parish, local Catholic store or online at CatholicBookDiscussion.com. Kids can also get involved by downloading our Catholic Kids Reading Path and filling it in as they read Catholic books during the summer.

We Have Our Winners!

The voters in the 2008 election have spoken and the winners are:

1) Jesus of Nazareth
2) St. Francis of Assisi
3) Diary of a Country Priest

We heard grumbling that we stacked the deck by putting the Pope's book on top and did notice some questionable voting activity from IP addresses designated to some "vatican.va" domain (whatever that is) and that American Papist tried to surreptitiously sabotage the voting by tainting Brideshead Revisited with his posting of the horrible trailer to the new movie version. In the end, we believe that the voting was fair and no voters were turned away from the polls.

So now it's time to download a study guide, download the resource kit and take it to your parish or local store and get a discussion group started!

So How Do I Get Involved?

• First, put a graphic for the program on your site.
• Second, read about ways you can take part in and promote the program.

AdditionalResources:

• The 64 books we chose from to get our 10 finalists.
• A list of 100 books that should be part of every parish library.
• Catholic Kids Book Suggestions
• Teen Summer Reading Suggestions
• 2007 Winners Page

Here are the Summer Reading Finalists:

Sign Up For Updates

"This book is . . . my personal search for 'the face of the Lord." - Pope Benedict XVI.

This is Pope Benedict XVI's first book since his pontificate began.

Who is Jesus? According to the wildly popular book and film, The Da Vinci Code, Jesus was merely a human figure whose original message was distorted by his followers.

Not so, argues Pope Benedict XVI in this inspiring well-argued, and thoughtful new book. Benedict sums up two thousand years of Christian insight about the person and work of Jesus Christ. The early Christians did not misinterpret Jesus. Indeed, their understanding of Jesus is the one that makes the most sense based on the historical evidence.

"Who do men say that I am?" Jesus asked his disciples. The answer to that question is as crucial and timely today as when it was first asked two thousand years ago. Jesus Christ remains the pivotal figure of human history.

In his first major book written as Pope, Benedict XVI looks at various answers to the question of Jesus' identity. He shows in a "theological narrative" how the Christ of the Gospels, the Jesus of the Church's faith, is the genuine Jesus of history. He presents Jesus as someone we can know personally, and someone who knows and loves us. And who sacrificed himself for our salvation.

Jesus of Nazareth also continues the conversation about the relationship of Christianity and other world religions. Benedict XVI affirms the truth found in other religions, but he also expresses the Christian conviction that Jesus, the Word of God made flesh, embodies the fullness of truth, God's immense love for the world.

From The Da Vinci Code and Roswell to the pyramid on the back of every dollar bill, we all are fascinated by secrets, codes and coincidences. Fr. George Rutler - EWTN speaker, Crisis magazine columnist, and reigning Catholic wit-offers his fun reflections, full of surprise, on the coincidental links that connect the most far-flung parts of our worlds. Topics cover the gamut of human life, from Louis Farrakhan and Edgar Allen Poe to Benjamin Franklin and the propensity of Scottish physicians to dominate the Nobel Prizes for Medicine. Each 4-page reflection is accompanied by line art to give this volume the perfect feel of antiquarian delight-perfect for the language lover and curmudgeon in all of us.

Francis of Assisi is, after Mary of Nazareth, the greatest saint in the Christian calendar, and one of the most influential men in the whole of human history. By universal acclaim, this biography by G. K. Chesterton is considered the best appreciation of Francis's life--the one that gets to the heart of the matter.

For Chesterton, Francis is a great paradoxical figure, a man who loved women but vowed himself to chastity; an artist who loved the pleasures of the natural world as few have loved them, but vowed himself to the most austere poverty, stripping himself naked in the public square so all could see that he had renounced his worldly goods; a clown who stood on his head in order to see the world aright. Chesterton gives us Francis in his world-the riotously colorful world of the High Middle Ages, a world with more pageantry and romance than we have seen before or since. Here is the Francis who tried to end the Crusades by talking to the Saracens, and who interceded with the emperor on behalf of the birds. Here is the Francis who inspired a revolution in art that began with Giotto and a revolution in poetry that began with Dante. Here is the Francis who prayed and danced with pagan abandon, who talked to animals, who invented the creche.

Are you too busy to pray? What if you could actually gain time and be more productive by praying? Would you pray more? We often forget the real secret to gaining time and being productive is to seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things shall be yours as well (Mt 6:33). If we make time for God through prayer, He multiplies our time and makes it fruitful and productive in all areas of our life. But have you ever felt unsure about how to pray? For that matter, what exactly is prayer and who is it for? And where, when and how should you pray?

These questions find an answer in this latest book from Scepter, Time for God. Written in a simple and modern style, author Jacques Philippe draws on years of experience as a spiritual guide to illuminate the fundamental principles of true prayer and describes some common mistakes and misconceptions that can lead it astray. This book is a must-read for anyone wanting to make better use of their time with God.

A classic Catholic novel - simple, beautiful, sad and inspiring.

An idealistic young Catholic priest in an isolated French village keeps a diary describing the unheroic suffering and the petty internal conflicts of his parish. This may sound like a thin plot for a novel, but Diary of a Country Priest, by George Bernanos, remains one of the 20th century's most vivid evocations of saintly life. First published in 1937, Bernanos's Diary describes a faithful man's experience of failure. In his diary, the priest records feelings of inferiority and sadness that he cannot express to his parishioners. And as he approaches death, from cancer, the priest's saintliness remains unclear to him, but becomes undeniable to the reader. "How easy it is to hate oneself! True grace is to forget. Yet if pride could die in us, the supreme grace would be to love oneself in all simplicity--as one would love any one of those who themselves have suffered and loved in Christ."

Pray without ceasing, urged St. Paul. But how?

Come along with the Pilgrim on his winding, joyful path to spiritual enlightenment. Follow this anonymous nineteenth-century wayfarer as he takes you over the steppes of his mother Russia in search of the answer to the one compelling question: How does one pray constantly? Finally, share in his deep joy when the search turns up unexpected treasure: the "Jesus Prayer," handed down by untold generations of Orthodox believers.

The Way of the Pilgrim (and the Pilgrim Continues His Way - included in this book) is a spiritual classic ripe for renewed appreciation in our day. For the recent changes in Russia have revealed the great religious traditions of that land. And this work, freshly translated for our time, is among the fines examples of that centuries-old faith.

For the Pilgrim the old becomes new again. The great words of prayer from the ancient Christian past come alive in his joyful heart. And as they come alive for him, they come alive for us also. For he is an Everyman, and his hope-filled seeking evokes the longing of every pilgrim heart.

Evelyn Waugh tells the story of the Marchmain family. Aristocratic, beautiful and charming, the Marchmains are indeed a symbol of England and her decline in this novel of the upper class of the 1920s and the abdication of responsibility in the 1930s.

From the Merriam Webster Encyclopedia of Literature: This satirical novel by Evelyn Waugh was first published in 1945. According to Waugh, a convert to Roman Catholicism, the novel was intended to show "the operation of divine grace" in the affairs of a particular group of people. This is revealed through the story of the wealthy Roman Catholic Marchmain family as told by Charles Ryder, a friend of the family. Despite the seeming indifference to, or outright repudiation of, the Church by various members of the family, particularly Lord Marchmain, his daughter Julia, and his son Sebastian, by the end of the novel each has shown some sign of acceptance of the faith.

The beginning of the greatest fantasy epic of our time.

Bilbo Baggins was a hobbit who wanted to be left alone in quiet comfort. But the wizard Gandalf came along with a band of homeless dwarves. Soon Bilbo was drawn into their quest, facing evil orcs, savage wolves, giant spiders, and worse unknown dangers. Finally, it was Bilbo–alone and unaided–who had to confront the great dragon Smaug, the terror of an entire countryside . . .

Reinvigorate your faith by reading these short yet profoundly inspiring stories of people, from many faiths and diverse backgrounds, who found their way to the Catholic Church.

A new collection from Catholic Answers of eleven distinct and often startling accounts of conversion. The contributors to this book were Jewish, Anglican, Presbyterian, Lutheran, Baptist, Pentecostal, agnostic, atheist--but now they're Catholic. Frankly, we think this is one of the best collections of conversion stories ever!

Bestselling Catholic author Mike Aquilina shares wonderful stories of family life - full of love and laughter.

"God stoops down to lift up our homes, to make them outposts of his paradise…no matter how cold the winds may blow on a winter day." —From the Introduction

Paradise? Family life? Really? Yes—and one filled with laughter. If that doesn't sound like your family but you wish it did, or if you're just looking for a book to lighten your spirit, Love in the Little Things is for you.

Love involves sacrifice, Mike Aquilina notes, but as he spins humorous stories from his own family, it is evident that moms, dads and kids are happier when they lay down their lives for one another. Love in the Little Things nudges the reader toward a more satisfying family life.

Runners Up:

Another amazing novel from one of the great Catholic fiction writers of the 20th century.

Will Barrett is a 25-year-old wanderer from the South living in New York City, detached from his roots and with no plans for the future, until the purchase of a telescope sets off a romance and changes his life forever.

The Do's and Don't's in Catholic liturgy today . . . this book will help you navigate through the confusion!

No Catholic can be unaware of the crisis in Catholic liturgy. Even priests are often bewildered by the contradictory information put out by liturgical "experts." This one-of-a-kind book cuts through the confusion:

• Empowers priests and laity to deal with the "liturgical elite."
• Explains what the Church does and doesn't allow.
• Distills the answers from a mountain of liturgical documents.
• Provides information in a clear and concise way.
• Silences personal "reinterpretations" of the Church's liturgical law.
• Documents your right to have Mass celebrated as the Church intended.

Carl Sommer presents a popular study of the faith and life of the early Christians in the first two centuries after Christ. Using documentary evidence and archaeological records, Sommers reconstructs the lives of the early Christians in order to "introduce the treasures of early Christianity to a large number of modern readers".

By studying how the early Christians believed and lived, we can learn many valuable lessons on what to avoid and what to strive for today. The Roman world had many facets that are strikingly similar to elements of modern life. Sommer’s aim is to help the reader learn how to transform modern culture with the power of the Gospel as was first done in the centuries of the early Church.