10 Spiritual Books Every Catholic Feminist Should Read

The first in our Bookish series! 📚

I get asked for book recommendations very, very, very often. Maybe it’s because I’m a writer, or maybe it’s because I’m That Girl who whips out a book in the Chick-fil-a drive through line. To say “I read a lot” is kind of like saying the Sisters of Life “pray a lot”. A bit of an understatement.

My friend Tsh recently wrote a beautiful essay on reading where she says we should “Read. Read for your souls, for your minds, and for your hearts. The people in your life you’ve been called to love will be better for it because you will be better for it. Make a conscious choice to read and read well. What we read changes our minds, souls, and hearts. I’ve experienced it first-hand, and I bet you have, too.”

I certainly have.

So many of us are tired of scrolling through social media for un-nuanced soundbites and retweets; there are, believe it or not, some of us who don’t like consuming information with reels. We want books. We want paper in our hands that smells like old libraries. We want someone else’s coffee stain on page six, and we want notes scribbled in margins. We want depth and breadth, not long Twitter threads.

We want to read.

However, whenever I get asked for a book recommendation, I immediately forget what books are and just name something random off my shelf.

That being said, I thought I’d create a more formal set of book lists for all of you sweet subscribers. Each month this year, I’ll present you with a book list. This is not a checklist you need to complete this year. This is not the be-all-end-all of booklists. This is one person’s (my) opinion on what books a Catholic feminist should read. It’s not meant to give you stress or more action items on your calendar. It’s meant to make wandering the library easier. Believe it or not, I do think you can read TOO much—if you don’t sit and take time with a book, you may miss its message or meaning. So don’t feel like you need to read Every Single Book Claire Shares within the next five years! Go at your own pace.

This month is which spiritual books I believe should be read, but future months will have novels, children’s books, books by non-Catholics, books on current issues, and more.

I’m not going to use affiliate links on these bookish posts because I think the best way to support the literary world is to purchase from your own local, independent bookstore. ThriftBooks or the library are other great options! If you prefer audiobooks, Libro.fm connects with your local indie and has great prices.