One Hundred Great Catholic Books

What if you had a dear friend who was able to recommend one hundred great books in the Catholic tradition for you to read? That is the service Don Brophy provides in “One Hundred Great Catholic Books.” What makes a book “Catholic?” For Brophy's purposes, the primary criteria was that the author be Catholic because as he correctly states, “people are Catholic, books are not.” In a couple of instances, Brophy does include books whose authors were not Catholic because they wrote about Catholics or collaborated with Catholics.

Of course, there is a danger whenever one tries to make a list of one hundred great anything. There are always going to me some favorites that are left out and some included that people feel shouldn't be. Brophy is to be given credit for taking on the challenge. In addition, he includes a list of fifty other books at the end that come highly recommended as well. Brophy has chosen wisely, including most of the great classics of spirituality such as St. Augustine's “Confessions,” “The Cloud of Unknowing,” St. Teresa's “The Interior Castle,” and St. Therese's “Story of a Soul.” He has attempted to also include a broad spectrum of works, including history, apologetics, autobiography, and fiction. In these entries, one becomes acquainted with works by Flannery O'Connor, J.R.R. Tolkien, Maria Montessori, and Gerard Manley Hopkins. For each book, Brophy provides a two-page synopsis and indication of why this book was important. One can learn much about Catholic thought simply by reading these capsules. Hopefully, however, “ One Hundred Great Catholic Books” will inspire you to go out and actually read some of these classics. A reader ambitious enough to read all of them would have a strong understanding of Catholic thought.