Catholic women

5 Summer Reading Recommendations for Catholic Women

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These are five of the best books I’ve read so far this year, and I highly recommend each.

For the lover of romances:

The Mistletoe Countess by Pepper Basham

Fun, sweet, romantic, and mysterious with a splash of Christmas to cool off on a hot summer day.

My daughter and I listened to the audiobook version together over a long period of time. The narration was well done and well-suited to the story.

This novel has so much to offer: history, a marriage-of-convenience romance, mystery, faith, humor, Christmas, and a plethora of literary references. All this in an engaging story of a wonderfully original, genuine heroine with bookish tendencies and a reformed hero who is as loyal as he is dashing.

I loved how Grace’s innocence and enthusiasm shined throughout. The mystery was compelling and kept the story moving. A fun romance for Christmas or any time of year.

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An Attitude of Gratitude and the Miracle of the Chocolate Milk

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Something about me changed when I started making an effort to be more grateful. It didn’t happen overnight. It happened over the course of years. But it started with a conscious effort to name the many things I’m grateful for.

We have a habit of listing the things we are grateful for each day during bedtime prayers with our children. There’s a round of thanking Jesus by each of us. One kid repeats a boilerplate list of family members’ name and animals, specifically puppies. One is grateful for “getting through the day.” Another makes an exhaustive list of every detail (and is sometimes encouraged to take some of that list to private prayer). One takes it as an occasional opportunity to grumble–but, hey, we’re to be grateful for those things too, according to Saint Paul.

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