The Catholic Book Club discussion

Hey guys I'm a fairly new catholic, I'm looking for good catholic novels which are easy to read I likes Father Elijah and currently reading The Serpent and the Sword any suggestions?

I like novels...

Mike, you might like Diary Of A Country Priest, by Georges Bernanos or The Hobbit, by J.R.R. Tolkien. Two other excellent Catholic novels are The Power and the Glory, by Graham Greene and Catholics, by Brian Moore, but I wouldn't describe the latter two as "easy to read." Wonderful writing, though.

The Father Brown's stories by Chesterton.

Hi Mike,

So much to choose from. I would highly recommend a couple by by authors in this group that I enjoyed very much:

Jacob's ladder, by Manuel Alfonseca
Comet Dust, by C.D. Verhoff

Others we've read that I thought were quite good were:
Lord of the World, by Robert Hugh Benson (I've also read his Come Rack! Come Rope!, which is also very good)
The Coat Without Seam, by Maurice Baring
The Cardinal, by Henry Morton Robinson

We've also read Brideshead Revisited: The Sacred and Profane Memories of Captain Charles Ryder, by Evelyn Waugh, which is a classic.

John wrote: "Hi Mike,

So much to choose from. I would highly recommend a couple by by authors in this group that I enjoyed very much:

Jacob's ladder, by Manuel Alfonseca
[book..."

"Come rack, come rope" i want to read it. Regretably although one spanish publishing was interested in publishing it in spanish, unfortunatelly have never published it :-(. There is other novel was written by Maurice Baring very similar. I am speaking about "Robert Peckham" very small, but very touching and sensitive novel (Robert Peckham existed in the real life in the 16th century, and he was buried in Rome escaping during the reign of Elisabeth I his grave said here lain Robert Peckham, who for not giving up his religion escaped to Rome, but he was not aware to live out of his beloved England". He died of sadness because he could not forget his beloved country (England), also his father Edmund Peckham existed in the real life.

Outstanding! Comet dust looks good! Keep em coming

Mike wrote: "Outstanding! Comet dust looks good! Keep em coming"

Of course, each of those authors has written numerous other novels that would probably be worth a try. I have concentrated in reading Catholic nonfiction until relatively recently, so that taps me - other than, of course, Lord of the Rings.

John wrote: "Mike wrote: "Outstanding! Comet dust looks good! Keep em coming"

Of course, each of those authors has written numerous other novels that would probably be worth a try. I have concentrated in readi..."

John has a lot of good chancellors :-).

I can recommend most of the authors of the renouveau catholique. Catholic literature from the 19th and 20th century. Some have already been mentioned such as Benson and Chesterton. Another interesting figure is Leon Bloy. Just look it up on google.^^

There is another thread in this group "Recent Purchases" where several members (myself included) discussed Catholic books we have been reading or plan to read soon.

Mariangel wrote: "The Father Brown's stories by Chesterton."

I read those in high school and loved them. I have started reading Chesterton again recently, after finishing The Everlasting Man (not fiction, but awesome), and I still love them but it's funny how your perspective on something you read decades ago changes!

Mike wrote: "Hey guys I'm a fairly new catholic, I'm looking for good catholic novels which are easy to read I likes Father Elijah and currently reading The Serpent and the Sword any suggestions?"

I read the whole series (except for the last Fr. Elijah book) and really loved them, especially Strangers and Sojourners and A Cry of Stone, and the one about Arrow. Very moving. My late mother-in-law put me onto the series; she said it was a Catholic response to the Left Behind books.

Madeleine wrote: "Mariangel wrote: "The Father Brown's stories by Chesterton."

I read those in high school and loved them. I have started reading Chesterton again recently, after finishing The Everlasting Man (not ..."
I love all Chesty`s books. About the Father Elijah i have read only two books. Michael D. O`Brien is a very good writer, perhaps the only default were his endings. I would like to read in spanish Teophilos (curiosly was translated to French) and Voyage to Alpha Centauri. I have spoken to my friend Alfonseca to this novel.