Catholic Fiction from the Catholic Mom Book Club at CatholicMom.com

Catholic Fiction

Classic Catholic Fiction Favorites
click on each book title for additional information

The Penguin Complete Father Brown by G. K. Chesterton
Mr. Blue by Myles Connolly
In This House of Brede by Rumer Godden
The Heart of the Matter by Graham Greene
The Power and the Glory by Graham Greene
The End of the Affair by Graham Greene
Flannery O'Connor : Collected Works: Wise Blood / A Good Man Is Hard to Find / The Violent Bear It Away / Everything that Rises Must Converge / Essays & Letters by Flannery O'Conner
The Complete Stories by Flannery O'Conner
The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings by J.R.R. Tolkien
Kristin Lavransdatter: The Bridal Wreath, the Mistress of Husaby, the Cross by Sigrid Unset
Brideshead Revisited by Evelyn Waugh

Contemporary Catholic Fiction Favorites
click on each book title for additional information

T he Spirit Woman by Margaret Coel
One Baby Rose by Jim Bello
Shalom, Mary by Kathleen Culligan Techler
Elizabeth: A Holy Land Pilgrimage by Cheryl Dickow
Mariette in Ecstasy by Ron Hansen
A Green Journey by Jon Hassler
The Foxhole Angel by J.D. Kamps
This Side of Jordan by Bill Kassel
Little Flowers by Kathryn Lively
Murder Most Holy (Five Star Mystery Series) by Mike Manno
Pierced By A Sword by Bud McFarlane Jr.
Conceived Without Sin by Bud McFarlane Jr.
House of Gold by Bud McFarlane Jr.
Father Elijah: An Apocalypse by Michael O'Brien
Awaiting Orders by Farrell O'Gorman
Death of an Angel by Carole Ann O'Marie
Crusader King: Novel of Baldwin IV & the Crusades by Susan Peek
Five Star First Edition Mystery - Angels Whisper by Tony Perona
Amata Means Beloved by Sr. Mary Catharine Perry
The Island Off Stony Point by Regis Schilken
A Miracle for St. Cecilia's by Katherine Valentine
A Gathering of Angels by Katherine Valentine
Grace Will Lead Me Home : A Novel by Katherine Valentine
The County Fair: A Novel by Katherine Valentine
The Haunted Rectory: The Saint Francis Xavier Church Hookers by Katherine Valentine
Jerome and the Seraph by Robina Williams
Angelos by Robina Williams
Fabric of Faith by Nancy Brandt

Catholic Fiction Reading List - A great place to start if you're looking for quality Catholic fiction!

Loyola Classics Series:
Amy Welborn, General Editor

These classic Catholic novels, now newly available through Loyola Press, feature fantastic introductions by some of today's greatest Catholic authors and questions for reflection and discussion. A great new resource for those interested in Catholic fiction.

Mr. Blue by Myles Connolly
The Silver Chalice by Paul Costain
In This House of Brede by Rumer Godden
North of Hope by John Hassler
Dear James (Loyola Classics) by Jon Hassler, (Joan Wester Anderson, introduction)
Things As They Are by Paul Horgan
Saint Francis by Nikos Kazantzakis
Vipers' Tangle by Francois Mauriac
Catholics by Brian Moore
The Edge of Sadness by Edwin O'Connor
Do Black Patent Leather Shoes Really Reflect Up? by John R. Powers
The Last Catholic In America by John R. Powers
Helena by Evelyn Waugh
The Devil's Advocate by Morris L. West

The Passionate Troubadour: A Medieval Novel About Francis of Assisi
by Edward Hayes

Most lives of the saints are written backward, beginning with the saint’s achieved holiness. This lively story begins at the beginning, with Francis as a very human and, therefore, flawed man, a hopeless romantic who is slowly and painfully drawn by grace toward a destiny he does not desire. More than simply picturing the patron saint of poverty, peace, ecology and animals, this book depicts Francis as a holy model for becoming fully oneself as a unique individual. From the age of fourteen until his death, this passionate man is forced to wrestle with his opposing personalities. On the one hand he is an ascetic influenced by the negative theology of his day. On the other hand he is a poet, troubadour, and joyful lover of life.

Campin' in Chicago
by Hilary McRee Flanery

Read our complete Book Spotlight profile on this selection

Fiction Companions and Resources

References for those Reading The Da Vinci Code

De-Coding Da Vinci: The Facts Behind the Fiction of The Da Vinci Code by Amy Welborn, Our Sunday Visitor
Fact and Fiction in The Da Vinci Code by Steven Kellmeyer, Bridegroom Press

Reference for those reading The Five People You Meet in Heaven

Effective Habits of the Five People You Meet in Heaven by Steven Kellmeyer, Bridegroom Press

Second Advent (Five Star First Edition Mystery Series)
by Tony Perona

Read our complete Book Spotlight profile on this selection

Grace Will Lead Me Home : A Novel
by Katherine Valentine

Read our complete Book Club Profile on this selection

The Scholar
by Dan Flaherty

recommended by Catholic Mom Bea who shares the following comments:

"This is a novel that takes place in the 1950's. It brings to life the way things were then and gives catechism lessons as you read along by people who lived the faith, religious that cared, taught and lived their lives in faith as a "matter of fact" and not as if it were something out of the ordinary. It shows the interaction of prayer as it presents Mary's help in the lives of the characters and interaction between the good and the bad angels as they struggle to take a soul. inch by inch. It's enlightening at the same time as entertaining"

The Spirit Woman
by Margaret Coel

About the Book from Amazon.com

On a gray November afternoon, Father John O'Malley, head of the Jesuit mission on the Wind River Reservation in Wyoming, finds a decomposed body. Across the reservation, attorney Vicky Holden discovers that her friend, Laura Simmons, has disappeared while searching for Sacagawea's memoirs. O'Malley and Holden soon realize that their mysteries are connected and rush to solve them before more mayhem occurs. Coel's series' characters continue to be richly developed and compelling in this sixth installment, but Sacagawea steals the show. Her memoirs make a terrific McGuffin in this nicely paced and suspenseful mystery. Sacagawea's own experiences with domestic violence and her decisions, at key points in her life, to make her own journeys foreshadow the mystery's solution and the life choices made by Holden and other women in the tale. This series will continue to appeal to fans of other authors using Native American settings and characters (Hillerman, Doss, and Medawar, among them), but Coel blends frontier history, complex emotions, and western vistas in a way that is all her own. John Rowen Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

A Miracle for St. Cecilia's
by Katherine Valentine

About the Book (from www.KatherineValentine.com)

It's a bitter cold Ash Wednesday in Dorsetville, New England, where the last wool mill shut down five years ago and only Yankee grit gets its citizens out of bed for another day of facing challenges with wry humor. Poor in worldly goods but rich in faith and compassion, they have been bound together for generations by the gaudy monolith of St. Cecilia's church, long a white elephant to the Catholic archdiocese and now slated to close-after the last mass on Easter Sunday.

Father James Flaherty despairs of turning the parish finances around, or even of fixing the cantankerous furnace. What will become of his flock? And of their beloved eighty-two-year-old Father Keene, increasingly eccentric but beatific, who had planned to live out his days at St. Cecilia's? Diners at the Country Kettle-where plates have never matched but you get the best cup of coffee in the valley-worry, too. Among them is waitress Lori Peterson, who needs her own miracle-a bone-marrow match for her husband, Bob. And Matthew Metcalf, a rash young genius in trouble at Dorsetville High for hacking into its computer and inadvertently exposing some embarrassing secrets.

Christian Fiction
Inspirational Fiction by Christian authors

The Women of Ivy Manor Series by Lyn Cote - Chloe, Bette, Leigh, and Carly - The stories of four generations of women who forge a dynasty amid the tapestry of the 20th Century
Brink of Death (Hidden Faces Series) by Brandilyn Collins
Forgivin' Ain't Forgettin' by Mata Elliott
Circle of Grace: A Novel by Penelope J. Stokes
A Song I Knew By Heart: A Novel By Bret Lott
Where Mercy Flows by Karen Harter
Firestorm : A Novel by Jeanette Windle - Read our Book Spotlight Interview with this author
Forbidden by Wilma Wall
The DMZ by Jeanette Windle
Romance Rustlers and Thunderbird Thieves by Sharon Dunn
Cape Refuge by Terri Blackstock

Thanks to our new partnership with Catholic Company, 20% of each purchase you make at our Catholic Mom Catholic Company store will go to help host and support CatholicMom.com Shop Catholic Company for Catholic Books and Catholic Gifts! Our store features an outstanding selection of Catholic Books and Gifts including Catholic Bibles, Catholic Catechisms, Bible Studies, Rosaries, Crosses, Crucifixes, Miraculous Medals, Statues, Catholic Jewelry, Art, Music, Videos, and Church Supplies!