Four Books for Summer
St. John Bosco said that “Only God knows the good that can come about by reading one good Catholic book.”
That might sound like an overstatement but I’ve seen the power of a good book too many times to question it. 
my four summer reads
When I share books that have transformed me for the better I tend to share them with everyone I know. It’s like introducing two good friends to each other and watching them connect. You just sit back, smile and take it all in.
So here’s me sharing four good friends to keep your heart full this summer. I had to take a step back and give myself some parameters for these recommendations. Each book on this list had to fit two criteria:
1)it had to be a book that would make you feel like a better person for having read it AND…2)it had to be entertaining and fast paced enough to want to read on the beach.
Seemed like an important Venn diagram for a summer book club.
In no particular order…here are my four picks for your summer 2023 reading list:
The Short: This is a historical fiction that takes place in first century Rome during Nero’s persecution of the early Church. It’s equal parts romance, thriller and historical drama. It’s been translated into over 40 languages and won the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1905. Be sure to grab the modern translation by W.S. Kuniczak.
The Long: Be prepared before you start this book. It is super hard to put down once you get rolling. And things start to get exciting early on in the narrative. There’s so much that I love about this book. Henryk Sienkiewicz took 10 years to research this book before he even started to write. Historians of first century Rome read his descriptions of the homes, streets and households in his book and are blown away. The level of detail is incredible.
You will fall in love with the apostles Peter and Paul, both of whom make strong appearances in these pages. But most of all you’ll fall in love with the beauty of the Christian faith. And if you’re like me your heart will swell with pride that we are the spiritual benefactors of the courageous men, women and children of the early Church.
I’m re-reading this book over the summer and using it for two different book clubs with friends. I encourage you to do the same and find a few friends to chat over this masterpiece on your back porch. Enjoy it while sipping a strong Italian americano. Bellissimo!
The Short: This book is the spiritual companion to the book With God in Russia, which tells the story of Fr. Walter’s decision to become a missionary priest in communist Russia within the underground Church. With God in Russia is excellent and tells the “story from the outside,” so to speak. It details how Fr. Walter found his vocation, entered Russia, was captured, sentenced to solitary confinement and later on to the labor camps before his miraculous release in the 1960s.
He Leadeth Me is “the story from within.” It details the spiritual lessons that he gained from the years of adventure and hardship in Russia
The Long: Each chapter describes Fr. Walter’s time in Russia through the lens of his interior pilgrimage. I especially love chapter six—The Interrogations. I tend to reread it every year or so. Fr. Walter’s spirituality is very masculine, in the noblest sense of the word. He is filled with high ideals and a desire to push himself to the limits in order to accomplish great things for God. I think we can all resonate with that. He Leadeth Me is the story of how God took those holy desires and purified them with a total insistence of relying on God’s grace. Sometimes it’s hard to describe what surrender “looks like” in the spiritual life. Read this book and you’ll understand it better.
The Hiding Place, by Corrie Ten Boom
I’m realizing there is an unintentional trend here with these books. I promise I did not mean to only select authors who lived through intense periods of Christian persecution. It’s true however that hard times produce heroic men and women and thus compelling stories worth reading. This next one is no exception.
The Short: I’m surprised by how many people in our generation have never heard of Corrie Ten Boom. My understanding is that most middle and high school students in our parents generation read the tale of Corrie and her Dutch family during World War II. Corrie and her sister Bessie are eventually sent to Ravensbruck concentration camp for helping their Jewish friends and neighbors.
The Long: This books reads in part like two old spinster ladies sharing a cup of tea, part spy thriller and part sermon. You’ll fall in love with this family and their courage. I loved the words Corrie’s watchmaker father shares when he picks up a small Jewish baby: “you say we could lose our lives for this child. I would consider that the greatest honor that could come to my family.”
I will add one more interaction from the book. It is one of my favorite scenes in all the books on this list.
When Corrie and her sister Betsie arrived at the concentration camp they were placed in barracks that were infested with fleas. Corrie was horrified at their sleeping conditions and complained to her sister. Betsie responds:
Rejoice always, pray constantly, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus. That’s it, Corrie! That’s His answer. “Give thanks in all circumstances!” That’s what we can do. We can start right now to thank God for every single thing about this new barracks!’
“I stared at her; then around me at the dark, foul-aired room…”
“The fleas! This was too much. ‘Betsie, there’s no way even God can make me grateful for a flea.’
‘”Give thanks in all circumstances,”‘ she quoted. ‘It doesn’t say, “in pleasant circumstances.” Fleas are part of this place where God has put us.’
And so we stood between tiers of bunks and gave thanks for fleas. But this time I was sure Betsie was wrong.”
Soon after their arrival the two sisters began hosting evening Bible studies and to their amazement their large dormitory would be free of any guards. Later they realized the reason: the guards hated the fleas and kept their distance from the infested barracks. Betsie’s gratitude was justified.
Never be afraid to trust an unknown future to a known God.
PS. If you love this book, be sure to read Tramp for the Lord after!
Jane Eyre, by Emily Brontë
The Short: Jane Eyre is a classic work of English literature that you may have been forced to read in high school. I encourage you to read it again if it’s been a few years. It tells the story of a young woman who, orphaned at a young age and raised in an abusive school for girls, nonetheless develops into a beautiful woman. He depth of soul transforms the reclusive and abrasive Mr. Rochester, who hires her as a governess for his young ward.
The Long: I love this book for two reasons. It has my favorite description of the conscience in all of literature. Actually when I was in 9th grade my stellar religion teacher assigned this segment from Jane Eyre when we studied the moral life and the role of the conscience. Without giving too much away, let me share that in one crucial chapter Mr Rochester asks Jane:
“Who in the world cares for you? Or who will be injured by what you do?”
(Aka the old “I’m not hurting anyone by my actions so who cares if what I do is wrong?”)
Jane replies:
“I care for myself. The more solitary, the more friendless, the more unsustained, I am, the more I will respect myself. I will keep the law given by God, sanctioned by man. I will hold to the principles received by me when I was sane, and not mad—as I am now. Laws and principles are not for the times when there is no temptation; they are for such moments as this, when body and soul rise in mutiny against their rigor; stringent are they; inviolate they shall be. If at my individual convenience I might break them, what would be their worth? (…) foregone determinations are all I have at this hour to stand by; there I plant my foot.”
Gah! It’s so so good.
The second reason I love this book so much is because it depicts what contemporary psychology calls the “earned secure” person. You can read about this more in the book Attached by Amir Levine (its a great one!) but the basic concept is that an adult who experienced insecure/traumatic parenting in their childhood but who is capable through a stable attachment figure to later develop secure relationship patterns as adults. It’s another way of describing the dynamic of healing and redemption in our capacity for loving relationships with ourself, God and others.
This happens to Jane. Traumatized and abandoned as a young girl, she becomes a textbook example of “earned secure” through her two fundamental relationships—her childhood friend, Helen, and her teacher Miss Temple. The stability of their love forms a secure base from which she becomes capable of secure relationships. She is able to give and receive love from a place of deep security in spite of such rocky beginnings, so much so that she is in turn a “stable attachment figure” for two other characters in the novel.
This concept gives me a lot of hope!
Highly recommend pairing this excellent read with an iced London fog latte on a hot summer day.
Thank you for allowing me to share some of my favorite books with you! I hope that they inspire you throughout the summer, or whenever you choose to read them. Please share your thoughts in the comments below.
