I believe that the key to a happy family is a serene mother. The foundation for this peaceful spirit can be found in a deep trust in God’s will, as St. Alphonsus de Liguori explains in his classic work Uniformity with God’s Will. This little gem is only $5, and can be read in less than an hour. St. Alphonsus explains the key to happiness and serenity is resignation to God’s will as seen in your lot in life.

Father Jacques Philippe’s Searching for and Maintaining Peace: A Small Treatise on Peace of Heart outlines a similar vision to St. Alphonsus: that finding peace is tied to confidence in and surrender to God. I love how Father Philippe not only explains the path to interior peace in theory, but then spends the majority of the book explaining how to maintain that peace in real-life circumstances. Again, this is a cheap ($7 at time of writing) but life changing book.

My other favorite Father Philippe book, Interior Freedom delves deeply into a topic close to the heart of most mothers: how to feel free when your world is a busy family. Where is our interior freedom when life circumstances seem against us? Father Philippe’s answer is grounded in a right understanding of freedom, what we were created for, and how the theological virtues enable us to live out our vocation.

Trustful Surrender to Divine Providence: The Secret of Peace and Happiness by Father Jean Baptiste Saint-Jure and Saint Claude de la Colombiere is a third spiritual classic explaining that peace lies in surrender to God’s will. Written over 300 years ago, this is a denser read than the two previous titles.

Caryll Houselander, mystic and Catholic convert, understood a woman’s heart like few authors I’ve encountered. In The Reed of God, she offers a reflection not just on Mary but on Catholic womanhood and motherhood. This is a move-to-tears type of reflection on a woman’s place in God’s order. Beautiful and life-changing.

I appreciate Peter Kreeft’s method of “translating”complex theology into layman’s terms. His book on the Bible is a good example of a great book for your non-fiction shelf. In You Can Understand The Bible, he dives into the genre and core message of each book. I also really like his Handbook of Catholic Apologetics, which is great to have on hand for reference or to read to be prepared to give a defense of what we believe. For a lighter philosophy dabble, I really enjoyed his Philosophy of Tolkien.

Life is Worth Living is a series of talks by Fulton J. Sheen on topics from motherhood to fear, apologetics to the Irish. The chapters are concise and thought-provoking, like listening to a practical homily by an awesome priest.

Full transparency, I am a huge C. S. Lewis fan. Since Lewis’ specialty was “transposing” complex philosophy and apologetics into something a twentieth century men could grasp, his books are perfect for modernity. I highly recommend having his complete non-fiction works as part of your library.

Everyone knows Sigrid Undset because of Kristen Lavrandsdatter, but not everyone realizes she also wrote Catholic classics like Stages on the Road. In this easily digested series of chapters, Undset explores the lives of several lesser known saints from Angela Merici to Robert Southwell.

Ever read the Litany of Humility? It’s a great prayer. Pride, we all struggle, don’t we? In Patrick O’Hearn’s new book Humility of the Saints, he connects the lives of 55 saints with this powerful prayer. Learn from the masters how to combat our fatal flaw.

My Sisters the Saints is a memoir of how Colleen’s life was changed over and over again by her encounters with long-dead women. Creepy? Well, not if they’re saints! A tear-jerker of a reversion story, fertility journey, and growing up spirititually story.

If you or someone you know has experienced the heartbreak of losing a child, this beautiful book has reflections, practical tips, and prayers to help. Nursery of Heaven draws on wisdom form saints such as Gianna Molla for guidance for grieving parents.

St. Therese of Lisieux’s little way is infinitely practical for and applicable to motherhood, so I highly recommend I Believe in Love: A Personal Retreat Based on the Teaching of St. Thérèse of Lisieux.

For the utterly overwhelmed mom, Danielle Bean and Elizabeth Foss have created the perfect daily verse, reflection, and action prompt all on one page: Small Steps for Catholic Moms: Your Daily Call to Think, Pray, and Act

Rooted in Love: Our Calling as Catholic Women is a wonderful introduction to seeing your very womanhood as a vocation to embrace. Donna Cooper O’Boyle quotes extensively from encyclicals, John Paul II, and a plethora of saints in this extremely readable exploration of our calling as Catholic women.

Momnipotent: The Not-So-Perfect Woman’s Guide to Catholic Motherhood is a funny, affirming, inspiring book that will leave you empowered to dive back into the beautiful mess that is raising a Catholic family. A quick read with thought-provoking questions in each chapter.

Dr. Alice von Hildebrand’s books on womanhood are insightful and inspiring. I enjoyed The Privilege of Being a Woman, which is a response to feminist ideology about man and woman’s equality. Man & Woman: A Divine Invention is an even more fascinating sequel in which von Hildebrand reflects on how man and woman are each part of God’s infinitely wise plan.

Edith Stein, convert and Carmelite, had a brilliant mind. Her reflections on womanhood are insightful and fit well with Theology of the Body.

In Parenting with Grace, Catholic psychologist and father Dr. Greg Popcak joins with his wife Lisa in writing one awesome guide to raising Catholic children. Dr. Popcak takes John Paul II’s Theology of the Body and applies it to raising children in a unique and perspective-changing way, that is backed up by extensive scientific research.

I also love Dr. Popcak’s Beyond the Birds and the Bees: Raising Sexually Whole and Holy Kids as a practical, how-to guide for teaching kids about sexuality from a Theology of the Body perspective. More of my favorite books on this subject on this list: Great Books about Sexual Education and Theology of the Body for Catholic Parents

The Temperament God Gave Your Kids: Motivate, Discipline, and Love Your Children by Art and Laraine Bennett brings the classical concept of four temperaments into the modern day and age. Complete with quizzes and plenty of examples of each temperament, this book will help you understand how best to parent your children’s different personality types. I also highly recommend the Bennett’s book on temperaments for adults: The Temperament God Gave You: The Classic Key to Knowing Yourself, Getting Along with Others, and Growing Closer to the Lord.

A Mother’s Rule of Life: How to Bring Order to Your Home and Peace to Your Soul is an interesting work that applies classical monastic wisdom to the home. If you are seeking a way to better order your life, this would be a good book for you.

Teaching from Rest: A Homeschooler’s Guide to Unshakable Peace is the sort of book you read and immediately pass on to a friend because it’s so good you can’t wait to share it! Sarah Mackenzie has broken down homeschooling into manageable steps and strategies, all based on the foundation of trusting God and aiming to create a well-rounded child who loves God. If you are a homeschooler, or considering being one, or know one, read this book!

Against the Machine is a must-read new book about technocracy, AI, and what we should do about it. While I don’t agree with everything Kingsnorth says, there’s a ton of goodness and food for thought here. This book helped me understand how dramatically the world has changed in the last couple centuries, and even the last decade.

After reading Kingsnorth’s Against the Machine, I went looking for resources on Distributism, also known as Localism. Localism is a great collection of essays on a variety of topics all encompassed in the idea of Localism. Chesterton would approve. This is a practical manual with ideas of how the average person can start living with a more Local/Distributist mindset.

Another rabbit hole I’ve been falling down as I try to understand the modern world is what was different about the Medieval era. What was different about people’s minds? How did they build Gothic Cathedrals? Why was it like in Christendom? Jason Baxter’s new book The Medieval Mind of C. S. Lewis is a short introduction to aspects of Medieval thought in areas like cosmology, harmony, music, chivalry, and literature. This book isn’t practical like Localism, but understanding what we’ve lost in modernity is important to me too.