Below is a list of the books from my homily at Holy Family Adventure Weekend. Remember that reading books is a great way to come to know things about God; make sure you make good use of the sacraments and spend time in personal prayer so that you will come to know God Himself, which is infinitely better than knowing about God (important though that is).
Books for the more casual reader
Time for God, Jacques Philippe. If you read just one book on this list, read this one.
Catechism of the Catholic Church (2nd ed.) You know this one.
Compendium of the Catechism of the Catholic Church. Not as well known as the full CCC, though maybe it should be. It is cast in the tradition Q&A form of catechisms, and is less detailed but more accessible than its parent volume.
The Belief of Catholics, Ronald Knox. Knox was one of the most prominent Catholic writers in England in the first part of the 20th Century. This book is an admirable summary of what we believe and why we believe it. You can read the whole thing online here. Ignatius Press offers a print version.
Hail, Holy Queen, Scott Hahn. I confess it's been a while since I read this, but if memory serves, it is a good introduction to the place of Mary in Catholic thought and piety.
Jesus of Nazareth, Joseph Ratzinger (Pope Benedict XVI). I hesitate to write a review of a book by the Pope. Just read the book. (But be warned that the Holy Father does assume a certain level of familiarity with current debates in biblical studies.)
Life of Christ, Fulton J. Sheen. A profound meditation on the Life of Christ.
Theology for Beginners, Frank Sheed. A gentle but not shallow introduction to theology.
The Gospel According to St. John, Navarre Edition. The Navarre editions are good commentaries, for the most part, though I have to admit I now prefer The Ignatius Catholic Study Bible: New Testament for an entry-level commentary for the books of the New Testament. But the Ignatius one wouldn't fit in my book bags, so it didn't make it into the homily.
Books for serious study (which is not to say that you can't study books on the earlier list, too!)
Fundamentals of Catholic Dogma, Ludwig Ott. A concise one-volume summary of the Church's official teaching on nearly everything along with explanations of the belief, evaluations of the level of certainty associated with the teaching (defined doctrine down to pious opinion), and references to the appropriate sources. Not particular a book you'd sit down and read, but if you need to know what the Church teaches on a given point, you'll probably find it here. It was written in the 1950s, so it's lacking anything that's been defined and refined since then. There are also a few points at which well-informed people disagree with Dr. Ott's assessments. Still, there's no other book quite like it.
The Shape of Catholic Theology, Aidan Nichols, O.P. (Dominicans rule!) An overview of the process of Catholic theology: the role of philosophy, the use of the Bible, the resources of sacred tradition, aids to discernment, and a short history of theology.
Introduction to Moral Theology, Romanus Cessario, O.P. (Dominicans rule!) Just what it says; if you want to know how we know what a moral life in Christ is, this is a good place to start.
The Sacramental Mystery, Paul Haffner. Another seminary text, and one I refer to every now and then. It's got a good overview of the sacraments in general and a discussion of each sacrament.
Aristotle for Everybody, Mortimer Adler. It's hard to understand St. Thomas without understanding Aristotle, and it's hard to understand Catholic doctrine without understanding at least the vocabulary of St. Thomas. Ergo, if one wishes to understand Catholic doctrine, some acquaintance with Aristotle is quite helpful, and this book is one of the more painless way to make that acquaintance.
Summa of the Summa, St. Thomas Aquinas, O.P. (Dominicans rule!) ed. and annotated by Peter Kreeft. This book concentrates on the purely philosophical portions of St. Thomas's work (that is, it is not concerned with the Trinity, the Incarnation, sacraments, etc., which we know only through revelation [though we can then apply philosophical reasoning to them, which St. Thomas does]), but it is one way to begin making one's acquaintance with St. Thomas. I note that there are those who think Dr. Kreeft gets some things wrong, but we used this book in my Natural Theology course in seminary, and I'm confident it is far more right than wrong.
A Tour of the Summa, Paul J. Glenn. A brief summary of the Summa (well, briefer than the Summa itself, at least).
Of God and His Creatures, St. Thomas Aquinas, O.P. (Dominicans rule!) tr. and abridged by Joseph Rickaby, S.J. A shortened version of St. Thomas's Summa Contra Gentiles with commentary by Fr. Rickaby. There are places where I am afraid Fr. Rickaby gave in to the intellectual currents of the early 20th Century and edited out material he ought to have left, but there's still plenty here, and St. Thomas gives explanations a little more verbose than those in the Summa.
The Three Ages of the Interior Life, Reginald Garrigou-Lagrange, O.P. (Dominicans rule!) in two volumes. A pair of weighty tomes on the spiritual life. Great stuff, but he presumes a fair amount of background knowledge, particularly of the writings of St. Thomas.
God: His Knowability, Essence, and Attributes, Joseph Pohle, adapted and edited by Arthur Preuss. Msgr. Pohle and Mr. (? maybe Dr.--nothing I have says for sure) Preuss produced a series of texts that were, I believe, standard seminary fare in the early 20th Century. They are among the first places I turn to when faced with a more technical question in theology. The drawback for a modern reader is that the authors assume that a page full of Latin is no problem, nor are they concerned over the occasional outburst of Greek and Hebrew. They also assume some acquaintance with St. Thomas, though they also explain his teaching in depth (occasionally getting it wrong, IMHO, though not so often as to make me dislike the books). Google Books and the Internet Archive (www.archive.org/texts) have copies of the whole series.
Jesus Christ: Fundamentals of Christology, Roch A. Kereszty, O. Cist. This was a textbook from seminary; I recall the class fairly well, but not much about the book. When I actually have a Christology question, I consult the book on Christology by Pohle/Preuss, and I recommend it instead of this one, but I don't own a hardcopy of P/P on Christology (I read a library copy) and so couldn't bring it.
Novum Testamentum Graece, Nestle-Aland 27th ed. (a.k.a. NA27). The current standard edition of the Greek text of the New Testament. I have the large print edition, which is hard enough on the eyes as it is. I can't imagine trying to read the smaller edition.
Pocket Interlinear New Testament, ed. Jay P. Green, Sr. I don't particularly recommend this edition as it uses an inferior version of the Greek text along a revised version of the King James translation (I think this copy came from a garage sale or some such place where at least the price was right), but interlinears are handy to get an idea what the Greek text is that underlies a given passage without actually having to learn Greek.
JPS Hebrew-English Tanakh. Hebrew text of the Old Testament in parallel with an English translation. (Tanakh is an acronym from "Torah" [the five books of Moses], "Nevi'im" [prophets], and "Ketuvim" [writings = everything else].)
