In my opinion, you can tell quite a bit about a person based on what they read. I taught middle school English, and I believe that one of the greatest gifts you can give a child is the love for reading. I am lucky that many of my closest friends are avid readers.
I realized I had stopped reading for fun while I was teaching and pursuing my first and second master’s degrees. Recently that has been something I have been consciously trying to change! In 2023, I read 27 books. In 2024, I read 32. So far in 2025, I have read 49, and we are only halfway through the year!
Feel free to follow me on Goodreads. I’d love to see what you’re reading, too!
Here are some of my favorites.
The Plan
The Lazy Genius Way
The Power of Moments: Why Certain Experiences Have Extraordinary Impact
Upstream
Atomic Habits
Joseph Bernadin
Anne Nellson
Thérèse by Dorothy Day
He Leadeth Me: An Extraordinary Testament of Faith
John T. Noonan’s A Church That Can and Cannot Change: The Development of Catholic Moral Teaching is definitely my favorite theological text. It helped me see the complexity of doctrinal development.
Catholicism: A Global History
Undoing the Knots
White Too Long
The American Catholic Revolution
Stages of Faith
Hamas Contained
Saints Around the World
Pray for Us: 75 Saints Who Sinned, Suffered, and Struggled on Their Way to Holiness
The Catholic All Year Compendium: Liturgical Living for Real Life by Kendra Tierney
The Catholic All Year Prayer Companion: The Liturgical Year in Practice by Kendra Tierney
Jayber Crow
A Girl Called Samson
A Canticle for Leibowitz
Death Comes for the Archbishop
My favorite series of all time is Harry Potter. I read it for the first time the summer before my senior year of High School. Then, I read it to my little sister during the Covid-19 quarantine. I recently read them all to my husband during our first year of marriage.
My next favorite series is Keeper of the Lost Cities. Be warned, this series is not yet complete, and some people find the later books redundant. My husband and I are currently reading through these.
Anne of Green Gables
I also love the series Kingdom Keepers. They are based in Walt Disney World, and they are super fun!
Bridgerton
The pictures are of the first book in each series.
Only Magic in the Building
Sweet as Sugar Maple
More Than a Game
The Ballerina Academy
Mission Today 