Meet the people behind the books. Discover their reading recommendations, hear their voices, and find a guide who speaks to you.
Catholic Classics is Ascension’s guided reading podcast series, accompanying listeners through enduring works of Catholic spirituality.
Its season selections make substantial spiritual books easier to begin and sustain through daily listening and discussion.
Bishop Robert Barron is the founder of Word on Fire, a Catholic ministry connecting faith with culture.
His reading list invites readers into theology, philosophy, literature and the intellectual life of the Church.
Brandon Vogt is a Catholic author and publisher, and the founder of ClaritasU.
His best-books guide provides a useful starting library. It credits Fr. John McCloskey, whose recommendations form the list’s foundation.
Fr. James V. Schall was a Jesuit priest, author and longtime professor of political philosophy at Georgetown University.
His Catholic home-library selections connect faith with the larger questions of education, reason and human flourishing.
A Jesuit priest, theologian and catechist, Fr. John Hardon devoted his work to helping Catholics understand and live their faith.
His lifetime reading plan offers a broad foundation in Catholic thought, from the early Church to modern spiritual writing.
Jimmy Akin is a Catholic Answers apologist and author who explains Scripture, Church teaching and questions about the faith.
His recommended reading offers practical help for understanding Catholic beliefs and exploring their foundations.
Joseph Pearce is a Catholic author and literary biographer who writes about classic literature and the writers behind it.
His book guides help readers discover the moral and spiritual questions within great novels, plays and poetry.
Matt Fradd is a Catholic author and the creator and host of Pints With Aquinas.
His Aquinas reading guide offers a path into the saint’s thought, with books for newcomers as well as more experienced readers.
Peter Kreeft is a Catholic philosopher and author known for making questions of faith, reason and the good life approachable.
His selections bring philosophy, spiritual classics and imaginative literature into the same conversation.
Taylor Marshall is a Catholic author and the founder of the New Saint Thomas Institute.
His lifetime reading list emphasizes Catholic theology, philosophy and the spiritual tradition, with a particular interest in St. Thomas Aquinas.
The Society of Gilbert Keith Chesterton is a Catholic lay apostolate devoted to Chesterton’s writing and vision of faith and culture.
Its reading plan gives readers a guided route into Chesterton’s wide-ranging books, ideas and storytelling.
Trent Horn is a Catholic Answers apologist, author and host of The Counsel of Trent podcast.
His apologist’s book list helps readers investigate faith and answer objections. Some selections are specialist works by non-Catholic authors.
Vicki Burbach is a Catholic author whose How to Read Your Way to Heaven encourages a sustained life of spiritual reading.
Her structured Catholic reading plan joins Scripture and the Catechism with spiritual classics, organized around belief, the sacraments, Christian living and prayer.