2024 Summer Reads

Summer can be a popular time to catch up on some readings. Students will have to read a book or two over the summer for school. We all have been there at some point. Meanwhile, beachgoers will lounge on the beach or by the pool, getting Vitamin D (hopefully with enough sunscreen) with the eagerness to read the book on the self or purchase and place in the endless to-read stack. The good news is that there are some great reads for everyone from a wide range of genres.

Some books on this year’s list will be released in time for summer while others are recent releases.

Here are ten books to read during the summer of 2024.

Recent Releases

All Things Catholic- Shaun McAfee

Shaun McAfee breaks down everything Catholic in this recent release. He brings the intellectual tradition of Catholic teaching to readers’ fingertips. It even provides a how-to when it comes to defending the church’s teachings during our everyday life.

Totality- Brendan Lyons

Brendan Lyons releases his debut novel. The story is set in the future and centers around Tim Plesac who questions a program to create human life. This comes with well-researched bioethical issues that will soon be raised in the 21st Century. The author himself works for the National Catholic Bioethics Center.

The Devil and Communist China: From Mao Down to Xi- Steven W. Mosher

Steven Mosher has been a human rights activist for decades. This book, released in March, is a groundbreaker into years of research uncovering the little-known facts of how communism has shaped China into a geopolitical threat today. I’m sure President Biden should get this book for when he vacations at a beach in Delaware.

God is Ever New- Pope Benedict XVI

Another posthumous work by the late pope makes its way on the list. This latest will make one feel like they’re working alongside this shepherd from Germany. He speaks as a pastor in this work and as Pope Francis puts it, “knew how to bring heart and mind, thought and feeling, rationality and emotion in concert with one another—a fruitful model of how one can tell the world about the shattering power of the Gospel."

Detrans: True Stories of Escaping the Gender Ideology Cult

Mary Margaret Olohan broke the Riley Gaines story. The seasoned journalist for outlets like The Daily Signal, The Daily Caller, and Daily Wire offers in-depth interviews from those who once went from one sex to another and share why they regret it. The book exposes why gender ideology is demonic and how some were told to keep quiet.

Death in Black and White- Father Michael Brisson

Father Michael Brisson grapples with the themes of identity, purpose, justice, sin, and, ultimately, redemption in this page-turning thriller. A priest named Father Christopher Hart is lured into the job of the mob to hear a confession of a man before he is killed. He is faced with a decision to either do what the mob tells them or find a way to stop the violence.

Into the Cold Blue: My World War II Journeys with the Mighty Eighth Air Force

John F Homan’s riveting memoir explores the horrors he has seen and how he survived the conditions as a WWII aviator. This is based loosely on the HBO’s series Masters of the Air.

Upcoming Releases

Charles Carroll of Carrollton- Fr. Charles P Connor

Father Charles Connor has done an outstanding job in documenting the history of Catholic America from its humble beginnings and where it must go today. Father Connor writes a timely biography on the life of the only Catholic to sign the Declaration of Independence and the brother of the first archbishop of the United States.

This book will be released on June 18th from Sophia Press.

The Way of Perfection- St Teresa of Avila

St. Teresa of Avila is considered the queen of meditation beyond mystical wisdom. In the pages of this upcoming release (June 25th), she shares why meditation is necessary to grow in virtue and how perseverance and humility are necessary for prayer.

The Naked Truth- Cynthia Garrett

Since the dawn of the Sexual Revolution of the late 1960s, Christians have fallen silent. What the movement reaped was self-gratification, friends with benefits, promiscuity, redefining marriage, and no-fault divorces. The trick to countering this is

to have purity in body, mind, and spirit.

Summer is heating up with these releases and soon-to-be ones. There is plenty to choose from.