Top 8 must-read books recommended by Cardinals

The Opposite of Loneliness: Essays and Stories     
By: Marina Keegan

An assemblage of Marina’s essays and short stories that articulates the universal struggle that all of us face as we figure out what we aspire to be and how we can harness our talents to make an impact on the world.

Midnight Sun         
By: Stephenie Meyer

Transport back into the world of Twilight in this unforgettable tale told through Edward Cullen’s eyes. Learn fascinating details about Edward’s past and the complexity of his inner thoughts. Find out how meeting Bella Swan was the most unnerving and intriguing event he experienced in all his years as a vampire and understand why this is the defining struggle of his life.

Think Like a Monk            
By: Jay Shetty

In this inspiring and empowering book, Shetty draws on his time as a monk to show others how to clear roadblocks to their potential and power. Combining ancient wisdom and his own rich experiences in the ashram, this book reveals how to overcome negative thoughts and habits, and access the calm and purpose that lie within all of us. He transforms abstract lessons into advice and exercises we can all apply to reduce stress, improve relationships, and give the gifts we find in ourselves to the world.

Looking for Alaska           
By: John Green

Miles Halter is fascinated by famous last words—and tired of his safe life at home, He leaves for boarding school to seek what the dying poet François Rabelais called the “Great Perhaps.” Much awaits Miles at Culver Creek, including Alaska Young, who pulls Miles into her labyrinth and catapult him into the Great Perhaps.

Wildthorn   
By: Jane Eagland

Seventeen-year-old Louisa Cosgrove wanted to break free of the confining life of wealthy girls in nineteenth century England. Her wish comes true one day when she awakes to find herself locked away in an insane asylum where everyone, including the doctors and nurses, insist on calling her Lucy Childs. Join her as she unravels the mystery of who she can trust and as she finds love in the treachery, the only person she can seem to trust, Eliza.

The Vanishing Half           
By: Brit Bennett

The Vignes twin sisters will always be identical. But after growing up together in a small, southern black community and running away at the age of sixteen, everything about their adult lives is different: their families, their communities, and their racial identities. After many years, one sister lives in the very town she once ran from with her black daughter, and the other secretly passes for white, and her white husband knows nothing about her past. But even separated by many miles and lies, the fates of the sisters remain intertwined. What will happen to the next generation, when their daughters’ storylines cross?

The Count of Monte Christo     
By: Alexandre Dumas

Edmond Dantes is confined to the grim prison of If for a crime he did not commit. In the fortress, he learns of a great hoard of treasure hidden on the Isle of Monte Cristo and he becomes determined to both escape and unearth the treasure to use it in a plot the destruction of the three men responsible for his incarceration.

The Secret Letter  
By: Debbie Rix

In 1939, there is a tumbledown farmhouse on the outskirts of a close-knit village in the heart of the rolling hills of Bavaria, Germany. A once happy family home is torn apart by Nazi rule and one young girl who refuses to give up on what she believes in. Inspired by a true story, this is a heart-wrenching, unforgettable tale of the strength of human kindness in a time of unimaginable heartbreak.

Honorable Mentions