UPDATE: Check out my more comprehensive lists of the the best Catholic books and the best Catholic eBooks.
The Daughters of St. Paul are experts in Catholic literature. They run Catholic bookstores throughout the country, and also have a blog where they offer video reviews of their favorite books. Book suggestions are always rich gifts, so I thought it would be nice to compile their recommendations in a single place. Below you will find past video book reviews from the Daughters, along with links to the books they discuss. The book links below go to Amazon–as some of the titles are no longer sold at the Daughters’ online store–but to support the work of the Daughters, purchase the Pauline books directly from them. Enjoy!
Best Catholic Books for Christmas (video)
– “The Reed of God” (Caryll Houselander)
– “The Nativity Story” (Rose Pacatte)
– “Mary, Human and Holy” (Antonio Bello)
– “Approaching Christmas” (Jane Williams)
Best Catholic Books for New Year’s (video)
– “My Life With the Saints” (Fr. James Martin, SJ)
– “Practice the Presence of God” (Brother Lawrence)
– “Weekday Missal” (Daughters of St. Paul)
Best Catholic Books for Lent (video)
– “The Gospels For Prayer” (Michael Hansen)
– “The Strangest Way” (Fr. Robert Barron)
– “Sermon In A Sentence” (St. Francis de Sales)
– “Heart of the World” (Hans Urs von Balthasar)
Best Catholic Books for the Stations of the Cross (video)
– “Way of the Cross” (Pope Benedict XVI)
– “John Paul II’s Way of the Cross” (Pope John Paul II)
– “Mary’s Way of the Cross” (Irma Pfeifer)
– “The Way of the Cross” (Caryll Houselander)
– “Children’s Way of the Cross” (Anne Flanagan, FSP)
– “Stations of the Cross Coloring & Activity Book” (Maria Dateno)
Best Catholic Books About Mary (video)
– “Mary, Human and Holy” (Antonio Bello)
– “Mary Leads Us to Jesus” (James Alberione, SSP)
Best Catholic Book for the Summertime (video)
– “Life for the World” (Marie Paul Curley)
– “Fully Human, Fully Divine” (Michael Casey)
Best Catholic Books for Praying With Scripture (video)
– “Matthew, Journey of Hope” (Elena Bosetti)
– “Fire of Mercy, Heart of the World” (Erasmo Leiva-Merikakis)
Best Catholic Books – Catechisms (video)
– “Catechism of the Catholic Church”
– “Compendium of the Catechism of the Catholic Church” (Pope Benedict XVI)
– “United States Catechism for Catholic Adults” (USCCB)
Best Catholic Books – Lives of the Saints (video)
– “The Song of Bernadette” (Franz Werfel)
– “Bernadette Speaks” (Rene Laurentin)
– “Saints: A Year in Faith and Art” (Rosa Giorgi)
– “57 Stories of Saints” (Anne Eileen Heffernan)
– “Blessed Pier Giorgio Frassati” (Ana VaZquez)
– “Blessed Pier Giorgio Frassati” (Maria Di Lorenzo)
– “Holy Daring” (John Udris)
– “The Joyful Beggar: St. Francis of Assisi” (Louis De Wohl)
Best Catholic Books – Fiction (video)
– “Christ the Lord: The Road to Cana” (Anne Rice)
– “Redeeming Love” (Francine Rivers)
– “Mark of the Lion” (Francine Rivers)
– “Kristin Lavransdatter” (Singrid Undset)
– “The Arthurian Saga” (Mary Stewart)
Best Catholic Books for the Year of St. Paul (video)
– “Paul, Least of the Apostles” (Alain Decaux)
– “Letters of St. Paul” (Mark Wauck)
– “Apostle of the Crucified Lord” (Michael Gorman)
– “Cruciformity: Paul’s Narrative Spirituality of the Cross” (Michael Gorman)
Best Catholic Books – Good Reads (video)
– “Ratzinger’s Faith” (Tracey Rowland)
– “Modern Spiritual Masters” (Robert Ellsberg)
– “Exiles: A Novel” (Ron Hansen)
– “Santa Biblia” (Justo Gonzalez)
Best Catholic Books – New Favorites (video)
– “Let God” (Winn Collier)
– “The Complete Fenelon” (Francois Fenelon)
– “The Book of Positive Quotations” (John Cook)
– “Perpetua” (Amy Rachel Paterson)
– “Leading Lives That Matter” (Mark Schwehn)
Best Catholic Books – Just Browsing (video)
– “Word on Fire” (Fr. Robert Barron)
– “The Eucharist” (Fr. Robert Barron)
– “Letter From the Desert” (Carlo Carretto)
– “Let God” (Winn Collier)
– “Coming Home To Your True Self” (Albert Haase)
– “Jesus of Nazareth” (Pope Benedict XVI)
– “Discernment” (Marko Rupnik)
Best Catholic Books – Still Browsing! (video)
– “The God Who Won’t Let Go” (Peter Breemen)
– “The God of Our Deepest Longings” (Peter Breemen)
– “The Pocket Thomas Merton (Robert Inchausti)
– “Thoughts In Solitude” (Thomas Merton)
– “His Princess Bride” (Sheri Shepherd)
– “Prayers to My King” (Sheri Shepherd)
– “His Princess” (Sheri Shepherd)
Best Catholic Books – Can’t Stop Browsing! (video)
– “The Robe” (Lloyd Douglas)
– “Quo Vadis” (Henryk Sienkiewicz)
– “The Keys of the Kingdom” (A.J. Cronin)
– “Will I See My Dog In Heaven?” (Jack Wintz)
– “40 Day Journey with Gerard Manley Hopkins” (Francis Mcaloon)
– “The School of Prayer” (John Brook)
– “God Is Near Us” (Pope Benedict XVI)
(For more book goodness, make sure to subscribe to the Daughters of St. Paul blog!)