Catholic Truth Society
ISBN9781860825262
eISBN 9781784694418
As a confirmed bibliophile I never shy away from looking at booklists. In fact I have collected a number of recommended Catholic Book lists over the years, One of my favorites is by Fr. John McCloskey his 'A Catholic Lifetime Reading Plan'. So when I came across this book while researching a different title from the Catholic Truth Society, I had to take a look. But this book is much more than just a list. This book was created by compiling data from 25 contributors who each listed their 10 favorite books, that would enrich and nourish their Catholic and Christian faith. One of the things they did in compiling the book, is if one of the books is out of print at the time of publication it was marked with a (P). But the list also contains a brief summary of the book, a paragraph or two per book.
As can be gathered from the title this book contains a list of 100 books. They are broken down into the following categories and counts:
Biography - 28 Books
Fiction - 26 Books
History - 9 Books
Spiritual Reading - 19 Books
Theology, Teaching The Faith - 18 Books
In the introduction we are told:
"Ever wanted to get hold of some really good fiction, biography, history or general spiritual reading to broaden your mind and support your Christian faith? Apart from suggestions from a colleague or friend who knows it all, how can you make a systematic and informed start? Well, here it is: a listing and brief review of 100 good books you really should read. Title and author details are followed by a summary of the book and recommendation as to why you should read it. You can search by title or author. Ranging from great classics to more modern works, this little guide will get you reading!"
Even with all of the reading I have done, averaging over 100 books a year since I started keeping track, I had only read 24 of the 100 titles in this book. I had another 16 already in my to be read pile and have added another 26 to that pile. So I would agree this book is a great start or jumping off point. This book was compiled with the help of the following 28 contributors:
David Baldwin
Ashley Beck
Martin Blake
Joanna Bogle
Vivian Boland OP
Richard Brown
Stratford Caldecott
Nick Donelly
Piero Finaldi
Patrick Fleischer
Donal Foley
Marcus Holden
Mark Langham
Amette Ley
Fergal Martin
Barry Midgley
Jennifer Moorcroft
Fiorella Nash
Charlie O'Donnell
Susan Parsons
Helena Scott
Peter Sefton-Williams
Ethel Tolanski
Brendan Walsh
Stephen Wang
Richard Whinder
Eldred Willey
Petroc Willey
I have read books by a few of these contributors and would have loved if we had the list of 10 each contributor had submitted, but then the list would have been 280 books long, and not been the great little volume we have available now. This is a great book. I really enjoyed reading the summaries of the books, even those I had already read.
This book is an excellent resource and give it my highest recommendation!
Note: This book is part of a series of reviews: 2018 Catholic Reading Plan! For other reviews of books from the Catholic Truth Society click here.
I highly recommend a book along the same line by the late Servant of God, Fr. John A. Hardon, S.J. which was published much earlier than McCloskey's: "The Catholic Lifetime Reading Plan". Published in 1989.
ReplyDeleteThat book appears to be out of print but does look like it is worth tracking down.
ReplyDelete