Top 7 Books for Every College Freshman

With High School Graduation just around the corner and the beginning of college approaching fast, it’s time for high school seniors (like me) to start picking classes for the fall and creating packing lists for move in day!

My orientation at college is NEXT MONTH! Both my brother and I are heading off to college this year, so my family has double the trouble of making sure we each have everything we need to attend school in two different states and two different time zones and two very different climates!

While our packing lists obviously drastically differ, after a special trip to the office earlier this week to get additional copies of several books we both wanted to take to school, I noticed that the piles of books we each were setting aside to pack were looking suspiciously similar………….

After re-examining the piles and asking my older sisters what books they had found helpful in college, I’ve made a list of the Top 7 Books Every College Freshman Needs.

All these books are perfect for graduation presents for new high school graduates. One (I won’t tell you which!) was not in my brother’s pile, so I’m planning on giving it to him before he leaves!

Catholic Scripture Study Bible

Every child in our family receives one of these Bibles for Confirmation (Lillian got hers last month), and each of my older sisters took it with them to college, bringing it home well-worn and marked.

In addition to the large and clear print (it will not strain tired-from-studying-eyes) and sturdy leather cover, this Bible includes so much to help make it a Bible that helps you connect the Scripture to our Faith and lots more:

76 pages of colored pages with maps
Stories of saints
One-page “Faith Facts” which defend and explaining the Church’s stand on various issues such as the Rapture, overpopulation, female priests, the occult and horoscopes, fasting, Purgatory, and more
Eight (8!) pages of “apologetics cheat sheets” packed with Bible verses that apply to Church teachings on issues like abortion, contraception, and divorce and a lot more. Here’s a hint my dad gave me which the man who compiled them told Clara (by the way, it’s Jim Burnham–who wrote the Beginning Apologetics Series which I mention below!): the verses are in the order that best explains/reveals the basis for the Church teaching, step-by-step!) I plan on taking my Bible to college with a tab on the cheat sheet pages!
An extensive topical index (23 pages) so you can find Bible verses for just about any moral or other teaching you might think of.
A calendar of all the daily Bible readings at Mass for every cycle of readings–and it shows which cycle you’re in for every year up to 2040

2. The Great Adventure Ca tholic Bible

This is another Bible, but it has it’s own unique characteristics that made me also pack this copy up for college too!

The narrative approach gives the big picture of salvation history and shows how everything ties together. This is the only Bible that incorporates The Great Adventure’s color-coded Bible Timeline learning system, a system that has made The Great Adventure Bible study resources the most popular and influential in the English speaking world. The color-coded tools make it easy to read and easy to remember!

How I learned from this Bible (and what your college freshmane can learn too!):

Color-coding for easy reference. Uses the popular Bible Timeline system that’s used by hundreds of thousands of Catholics to learn the Bible–this means it’s easy to understand the story of the bible.
Articles to help you understand the overarching story and important covenants that tie the entire Bible together.
Key event callouts to help you quickly identify important points in the Bible that ordinarily take readers a long time to find and categorize in their head.
Detailed charts giving a visual overview of important characters, key events, maps, major covenants, and historical context.
Newly Designed Full-Color Maps to help visualize Bible story locations.

This Bible, beyond all its teaching features, is a complete Revised Standard Version – Second Catholic Edition

The Bible with authentically Catholic explanations of historical context, symbolism, and commonly challenged beliefs. And really, what more could you want from a Bible at college!!

3. Trustful Surrender to Divine Providence

I read this short, small, and amazingly simply written 130-page book last year, and promptly gave it to my siblings (and my parents!) to read, as well. The authors of this book, St. Claude de la Colombiere and Father Jean Baptiste Saint-Jure (St. Margaret Mary’s confessor), give a clear overview of what Divine Providence truly means, what effect our sins and free will have on Divine Providence, how the actions of other people are part of God’s Will, and how it factors into every moment of our daily lives.

I’ve re-read this book multiple times, and each time have noticed additional details I’d missed previously. Divided into short chapters, this book can be read in increments over a long period of time or read all at once in only a few hours. I guarantee that you will return to it for prayer time and when the Holy Spirit prompts you…

With exams and loads of homework, this book is a great reminder to busy college students that God is right there with them, and it can easily fit in a purse or slide into a cramped backpack!

4. Christian Dating in a Godless World

As the unofficial reviewer (!) of many of the dating books Holy Heroes has sold over the years, I can say, “Hands down, this is the best dating book I have ever read (and not just because of the gorgeous cover)!”

Written by a priest who entered the seminary in his thirties after years of dating (and being engaged TWICE!), this book shares common sense and an honest understanding of the world of male-female relationships today backed with the wisdom of the Church made PRACTICAL on how to navigate dating and finding a spouse without losing your dignity and faith.

Since many people do find their spouses during college (either undergraduate or grad school–like my parents, my sisters, many friends), this book is a must-have for any college student! Actually, anyone leaving home should have it (and every family should also have a copy easily accessible at home for browsing as I did–I’m serious!).

Fr. Morrow gives solid advice on how to approach dating with plenty of real examples from couples he has encountered…including some who followed his guidance…and some who did not–and the dating results from both.

5. The Rosary of St. John Paul II

Several weeks ago, my mom was talking to me and my brother about the importance of maintaining our faith life once we were living on our own. The Rosary was one of the devotions she talked about and this little purse sized booklet is a wonderful way to meditate on the mysteries.

This book is easily my favorite Holy Heroes product, and I already use it during the family rosary, so it was an obvious book to bring to college with me. Whether you are praying a decade a day or the entire rosary, this book is a great resource for praying the rosary! (also, you can buy it with this 3-for-price-of-2 link, so you have more to share!)

Why do I say this? Because this book contains so many OPTIONS so you can use it a variety of ways to pray:

You can simply look at the gorgeous classic full-colored pictures for each mystery
Or read a verse of Scripture for each bead (each mystery has ten verses)
Or use the ten personal and simple reflections for each of the twenty mysteries of the rosary.
Or–well, the introduction provides step-by-step explanation of how Pope Saint JPII suggested we can reinvigorate and refocus ourselves with the rosary–so you decide every time you pray what can help you!

6. Beginning Apologetics Set

The Beginning Apologetics Set written by Jim Burnham and Fr. Frank Chacon was recommended to me by my sister, Clara, who brought the complete set with her to college.

This set provides explanations from Scripture, history, Church documents, and simple reason for topics like the True Presence of Christ in the Eucharist, Mary’s role in the Church, and how to tackle tough moral issues such as abortion, contraception, and euthanasia. When Clara came back from school at the end of her freshman year, she had read through the entire set and had underlined sections and written notes throughout the books.

No matter where you decide to attend college, not every student is going to agree with you on your faith, and these books are an excellent tool to have readily available when called upon to support and defend the Catholic Church!

7. Holy Heroes Spiritual Journal

The Spiritual Journal was my Dad’s recommendation! A (college) priest friend once told my dad, “There is no one lonelier than a college freshman.” Instead of retreating into a diary to talk to yourself, using our Spiritual Journal daily can be a powerful way to each day recollect and remind yourself that you are not alone, and that God is continually concerned about you and watching over you.

Here’s a blog post I wrote earlier explaining all about it. In summary, this journal includes tear out sheets for confession (a helpful reminder…), a simple guided daily examen (with options and variations depending on the liturgical season), and prayer lists so you can remember everyone you want to prayer for. Even though Trey and I will be away at school, we can still join our family at home in prayer by writing daily in our spiritual journals!

Do you have suggestions for what your children should take with them to college to help them keep the Faith and grow into the people God wants them to be? Tell us in the comments!