The weather is warming up and it’s almost time to start reading on the back porch after dinner most nights. I’m looking forward to enjoying a summer of full days but quiet nights. April’s book list is long because several of them are books I read throughout Lent and finished at Easter. It was a very diverse, but good reads this past month. Here’s what I read in April:

The Way of Trust and Love by Jacques Philippe

The Way of Trust and Love was a Lenten book study I did with a podcast I listen to – Abiding Together. The chapters were short, but profound. It complemented another book study I did during Lent about St. Therese, too. 

True Devotion to Mary by Louis-mar Grignion de Montfort

True Devotion to Mary was another quick read during Lent. It walks through how to think about Mary and where the line falls for true devotion vs. too little or too much devotion. I learned some things from this book.

Quo Vadis by Henryk Sienkiewicz

Set during the time of Emperor Nero, Quo Vadis tells the story of Christians who lived during that time. While the main characters are involved in a complicated love story, St. Peter and St. Paul also make frequent appearances in the story. While the persecution of Christians and Roman depravity can be hard to read about, it’s a very important book. I’d recommend it to all mature teen and adults.

Poems and Prayers by Matthew McCounaughey

I borrowed Poems and Prayers as an audiobook from my library to listen to on a drive. It was a fun listen, although it does have language in it. It shows his deepening of faith as he gets older. It was fun to listen to since he read it.

Father Elijah by Michael D. O’Brien

Father Elijah is a book about the end times from a Catholic perspective. An antichrist is rising on the scene and the pope calls a monk to come and make a connection with the man in hopes of sharing the Gospel with him. Trying to navigate a world outside a monastery creates some difficult times for Fr. Elijah, but his faith is strengthened as it’s tested. I really enjoyed reading this book.

The Road to Calvary by Alfonso Maria de Liguori

The Road to Calvary is a Lenten devotional that I read every day during Lent. It’s profound as it has the reader walk with Jesus every step along his Passion. I would re-read this again almost every Lent now.

Experience Jesus Really by John Eldredge

While I wish there was more heavily Catholic content in Experience Jesus Really, it has some profound points for faith. Eldredge explores how Christians can more deeply experience Jesus in their daily lives. His main suggestions all deal with deep, pointed prayers. I would highly recommend this book.

The Book of Lost Hours by Hayley Gelfuso

Where do memories live? Might there be a group of timekeepers who have access to the world where the energy of memories is kept? The Book of Lost Hours proposes this idea in fiction and it starts with one such timekeeper sending his daughter to this land to save her from the Germans coming to raid their shop on Kristalnacht. She is stuck there for years and years but then she starts noticing people coming into the world to set fire to certain memories. As soon as they leave, she rushes to save the memories and collects them in a book of her own. She finds herself a wanted person-of-interest by several countries and has to find new ways to hide. The book is very interesting.

Breath by James Nestor

I learned a lot about breathing by reading Breath. Most of us are probably doing it wrong most of the time. He participates in an experiment where he can only breathe through his mouth for 10 days and then only through his nose for 10 days – same diet, same exercise. His health is so much better when he breathes through his nose. I highly recommend this book to health conscious people.

Elijah in Jerusalem by Michael O’Brien

Elijah in Jerusalem is the third in a series where I haven’t read the first book. I started with the second book not knowing it was part of a series. It was an unexpected end to Fr. Elijah’s journey, but it was a great storyline for apocalyptic fiction.

From Calvinist to Catholic by Peter Kreeft

From Calvinist to Catholic is more of Kreeft’s life biography than a focus on his conversion to Catholicism. However, it was interesting to see his life journey and all the things that influenced him in life. 

How the Penguins Saved Veronica by Hazel Prior

What a fun book! Veronica is an elderly woman deciding what she should do with her fortune when she dies. She watches a documentary on penguins and decides she would like to leave her money to the scientists working to help the penguins survive. However, she must visit and observe their research before she can decide. Despite their adamant denials that she can visit them in Antarctica, she arrives one day and must stay at least three weeks. She changes almost everyone’s life while there, but especially her own in How the Penguins Saved Veronica.

Share your recent reads in the comments below!