It’s finally Easter Break! After all the naps, homework and relaxation, what is there left to do? Try to read a book! Here’s a short list of great Catholic books to both build up your faith and entertain your mind.

If you’re looking for a biography to inspire you, try T.T. Mundakel’s biography called Blessed Mother Teresa: Her Journey to Your Heart. This book was a summer reading book in the past and a personal favorite of mine. It traces the inspirational journey that St. Teresa of Calcutta from becoming Sister of Loreto, to her work with the poor of Calcutta, to her death in 1997.

Another good piece of Catholic non-fiction is Story of a Soul: The Autobiography of St. Therese of Lisieux. It consists of manuscripts written by St. Therese of Lisieux herself that were put together by her loved ones after her death. At first, it was only printed for the Carmelite nuns, but it later became a widely known book for Catholic people everywhere. In this book, St. Therese of Lisieux talks about her famous “little way of love and trust” and acting like a little child in the hands of God. I also read part of this for a theology class in the past and I found that it had an interesting perspective on being a child of God.

If you’re more interested in learning about Christianity in easy to understand language or even some entertaining fiction, try some of the works by the author C.S. Lewis, who is most famously known for The Chronicles of Narnia. One of his famous Christian books is called Mere Christianity. It consists of a number of radio talks given by C.S. Lewis during World War II. In these talks, Lewis explains Christian teachings without the vocabulary that less educated Christians might not comprehend. Some of the teachings he talks about are basic moral law, the concept of divinity, and ethics.

Two of Lewis’s famous works of fiction are The Great Divorce and The Screwtape Letters. The Great Divorce is another one of my favorite Christian books because it presents an interesting interpretation of the ideas of Heaven, Hell and Purgatory. The story follows a nameless narrator who witnesses the afterlives of characters with varying levels of repentance, from the Purgatory/Hell called the “grey town” to the Heaven-like place they all visit. His other work, The Screwtape Letters, is a satirical story about a demon who mentors his nephew demon in tempting a human. In following the work of two demons, Lewis also presents lessons in living a Christian life despite temptations.

If you’ve already tried these books or want to look for some more Christian books, look up some online or ask your local theology teacher.