33 Books On FemCatholic’s Summer Reading List

Looking for your next summer read? We picked one topic for each month and added our team’s personal recommendations. Whether you’re looking for a memoir by a woman like you, food for thought about current debates, or to meet your new favorite saint, you’ll find it in one of the books on our list:

June: Memoirs by Contemporary Catholic Women 

There’s no better way to explore your own faith than by hearing from other women like you to learn how they’re navigating life – from dive bars to leading global organizations.

1. When Life Gives You Pears by Jeannie Gaffigan
2. Parched by Heather King
3. Something Other Than God by Jen Fulwiler
4. Our Lady of Hot Messes by Leticia Ochoa Adams
5. Fat Luther, Slim Pickins: A Black Catholic Celebration of Faith, Tradition, and Diversity by Marcia Lane McGee and Shannon Wimp Schmidt 
6. Into the Deep: An Unlikely Catholic Conversion by Abigail Favale 
7. Embracing Weakness: The Unlikely Secret to Changing the World by Shannon Evans
8. Working for a Better World by Carolyn Woo
9. Fifteen Feet from the Pope: Dispatches from a Sabbatical in Rome by Luanne Zurlo
10. The Heart of Perfection by Colleen Carol Campbell
11. God's Hotel: A Doctor, a Hospital, and a Pilgrimage to the Heart of Medicine by Victoria Sweet

July: Books That Explore Current Issues and Debated Topics

From feminism to abortion and reproductive health, there’s a lot of information to sift through in today’s debates. If you’re looking to learn more – whether from those you agree with or those you don’t – check out one of these books.

1. Rethinking Sex: A Provocation by Christine Emba 
2. The Fifth Vital Sign: Master Your Cycles & Optimize Your Fertility by Lisa Hendrickson-Jack
3. Rehumanize: A Vision to Secure Human Rights for All by Aimee Murphy 
4. Everything Below the Waist: Why Health Care Needs a Feminist Revolution by Jennifer Block
5. Invisible Women: Data Bias in a World Designed for Men by Caroline Criado-Perez
6. Hood Feminism by Mikki Kendall
7. We Should All Be Feminists by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
8. The Turnaway Study: Ten Years, a Thousand Women, and the Consequences of Having — or Being Denied — an Abortion by Diana Greene Foster
9. This is Your Brain on Birth Control: The Surprising Science of Women, Hormones, and the Law of Unintended Consequences by Sarah Hill, PhD
10. Taking Charge of Your Fertility: The Definitive Guide to Natural Birth Control, Pregnancy Achievement, and Reproductive Health by Toni Weschler
11. The Girls Who Went Away: The Hidden History of Women Who Surrendered Children for Adoption in the Decades Before Roe v. Wade by Ann Fessler

August: Books to Learn More About Saints

Have you ever thought that all the saints seem to be exactly alike? The women on this list will prove that assumption wrong and show you different ways to live your faith.

1. Mother Teresa, CEO: Unexpected Principles for Practical Leadership by Ruma Bose and Lou Faust
2. My Sisters the Saints by Colleen Carol Campbell 
3. The Long Loneliness: The Autobiography of the Legendary Catholic Social Activist by Dorothy Day
4. Sister Thea Bowman, Shooting Star: Selected Writings and Speeches by Thea Bowman and Celestine Cepress
5. Pray for Us: 75 Saints Who Sinned, Suffered, and Struggled on Their Way to Holiness by Meg Hunter-Kilmer
6. My Badass Book of Saints by Maria Morera Johnson 
7. Shirt of Flame: A Year with St. Therese of Lisieux by Heather King
8. Edith Stein: The Life and Legacy of St. Teresa Benedicta of the Cross by Maria Ruiz Scaperlanda 
9. Chiara Corbella Petrillo by Simone Troisi and Cristiana Paccini
10. Chiara Luce: A Life Lived to the Full by Michele Zanzucchi‍
11. Chiara Lubich: A Biography (A Spirituality of Unity) by Armando Torno