We reached out to some “well-read” women here in Des Moines and asked for their summer reading recommendations. Ask and you shall receive! Special thanks to Abby Henderson, Kilty Gonzalez, Ellen Kyhl, and Kristi Quinlan for sharing a whole bunch of interesting titles to explore. Any commentary shared on their selections is included in parenthesis behind each recommendation as well. Finally, while you’re here, please do take a minute to share in the comments what you’re reading this summer. Happy reading, friends!
Catholic/Spiritual:
- Walk Humbly with Your God: Simple Steps to a Virtuous Life by Fr. Andrew Apostoli C.F.R.
- Overcommitted: Cut Chaos and Find Balance by Rachel Balducci
- A Quiet Place: How Daily Prayer Can Change Your Life by Fr. John Bartunek
- Into the Deep: Finding Peace through Prayer by Dan Burke
- Your Blue Flame by Jen Fulwiler
- Everybody Needs to Forgive Somebody by Dr Allen Hunt
- Starting Point: A Parent’s Journal for Dreaming by Matthew Kelly
- The 7 Levels of Intimacy: The Art of Loving and the Joy of Being Loved by Matthew Kelly (interesting and helpful in understanding and working on relationships)
- The Great Divorce by C.S. Lewis (highly satisfying and quick. C.S. Lewis is always a good choice)
- Return of the Prodigal Son: A Story of Homecoming by Henri Nouwen
- Made to Crave by Lysa Terkeusrt
Saints/Historical Fiction:
- My Sisters the Saints: A Spiritual Memoir by Colleen Carroll Campbell
- The Well (The Living Water Series) by Stephanie Landsem
- Joan of Arc by Mark Twain (It’s a commitment, but it is so excellent. Twain’s masterpiece, spent 11 years researching it, a few more years writing it. It’s amazing.)
- Helena by Evelyn Waugh (about St. Helen finding the Cross. Not too long.)
Self-Help:
- Keep Going: 10 Ways to Stay Creative in Good Times and In Bad by Austin Kleon
- You’re Not Listening: What You’re Missing and Why it Matters by Kate Murphy
Fiction/Historical Fiction:
- Persuasion by Jane Austen (Anything by Jane Austen was also recommended) 🙂
- And Then There Were None by Agatha Christie (Abby re-reads this every summer – such a tightly woven mystery!)
- Invisible Man by Ralph Ellison
- Jannissary Tree by Jason Goodwin
- Christy by Catherine Marshall
- The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society by Mary Ann Shaffer and Annie Barrows
- A Tree Grows in Brooklyn by Betty Smith
- A Gentleman in Moscow by Amor Towles
- The Hawk and the Dove by Penelope Wilcock (a great story of friendship within a monastery, as told as stories by a mother to her daughter whose brother is a monk there).
- Jeeves in the Offing by P.G. Wodehouse
- The Jeweler’s Shop by Karol Wojtyla A.K.A Pope St. John Paul II (a quick fun read)
Non-Fiction:
- Out of the Silence: After the Crash by Eduardo Strauch
- Dead Wake: The Last Crossing of the Lusitania by Erik Larson
Family Read-Alouds:
- The Little Palace by Jeffrey Erlarcher (The author is friend to Abby Henderson’s family)
- The Gospel of John: The Navarre Bible (Family read-aloud at the dinner table)