Keeping an independent bookstore in business when virtually any title can be ordered instantly online is a calling that blends a love for reading with a desire to bring people together. Rooted in local communities, these spaces invite conversation, exploration of the mind and heart, and a place for customers to pause and rest a while.

Several notable Catholic and Catholic-friendly bookstores across the United States have these traits in common, inviting tangible experiences with books and offering the riches of reading. 

The Register spoke to the owners of a few of these locally owned bookstores to learn more about the unique ways in which they engage their communities and, ultimately, invite others to Christ.

 

Pace e Bene, Atchison, KS

Founded in 2022, Pace e Bene serves the local Atchison and Benedictine College communities. Mark Zia, store owner and professor of sacred theology at Benedictine, runs Pace e Bene with his wife and six children. The store carries not only books and religious goods but is also a bakery and café that serves Italian coffee, gelato and other treats. 

In 2025, the store will expand to become a space not only for gathering, but for prayer and pilgrimage: “The first floor will be an extension of the store as well as a venue for lectures and gatherings of various types, with the entire second floor being dedicated to the Shroud of Turin and a permanent exhibit of posters by Carlo Acutis, the most famous being the segment on the ‘Eucharistic Miracles of the World,” Zia said. “There will also be a permanent exhibit of approximately 300 relics.”

Zia’s mission for Pace e Bene is simple: “a ‘theology of encounter.’” 

“We want our store to be a place of peace and goodness (hence the store name, ‘Pace e Bene’) so all who enter feel welcome,” Zia told the Register. “Our world tends to be too focused on ‘digital this’ and ‘virtual that,’ so we seek to preserve the meaning of true encounters with others, focusing on them and their stories, and not on mere business transactions.”

Personal favorite book in your store: Life of Christ by Archbishop Fulton Sheen

Book you are most looking forward to coming out in 2025: “Ignatius Catholic Study Bible: Old and New Testament by Ignatius Press. (The store received this December 2024 release in 2025.)

Find Pace e Bene: Make a trip to Atchison, Kansas. As part of the store’s dedication to a theology of encounter, Zia explained, “We intentionally do not have an online presence nor a monitored website.”

 

Trinity House Café + Market, Leesburg, VA

Housed in a historic home built in 1794, Trinity House Café + Market features not only books and food but a ministry, thanks to owners Soren and Ever Johnson. 

“We opened Trinity House Café + Market in October 2014 in Leesburg, Virginia, as part of our nonprofit Trinity House Community ministry to ‘inspire families to make home a taste of heaven for the renewal of faith and culture,’” Soren told the Register. Soren also outlined the mission of the ministry: “We equip parents with a vision and strategy for their own ‘Trinity House’ or domestic church, and encourage families through a fast-growing network of Trinity House community groups. Described by some as ‘date night plus family night,’ the groups are now active in 30 parishes in 14 states, providing entire families with the community, fellowship and formation they need.” Hosted within parishes, the community fostered by Trinity House gives couples a chance to connect with other parents while offering the whole family time for fellowship and fun. (Check out their “Trinity House Way.”) 

 

Through their ministry, the Johnsons have created a space for “a representation of the domestic church in public.” 

“Customers stop by for coffee, breakfast, lunch or a mid-day latte and often tell us that they’re surprised by how cozy, peaceful and special the café is,” Ever said. “They enjoy our used-book selection and often walk away with a serendipitous treasure.”

Book most popular with customers over the past year:

o The Johnsons’ book, Heaven in Your Home Letters & Guide: Inspiration and Tools for Building a Trinity House 

o Magnificat devotional 

o Children’s books: God’s Glorious Girl and God’s Brave Boy by Emily Wilson and The Richest Leprechaun in Ireland by Elise Daniel

Book you are most looking forward to coming out in 2025:

The Johnsons’ next book, Heaven in Your Home Letters & Guide: Nurturing Your Holy Family

Find: Trinity House Café + Market: TrinityHouseCafe.com and TrinityHouseCommunity.org. To receive the weekly “Heaven in Your Home” e-letter, subscribe here. 

 

Blessings of St. Joseph, St. Joseph, MO

Having celebrated its 25th year in business in November 2024, Blessings of St. Joseph is co-owned and operated by two Catholic couples: Joleen and Mike Aberer and Jeanne and John Modlin. “Catholic bookstores are a difficult business,” Joleen admitted. “The fact that we have a partnership of two families has led to our longevity. Our partnership is a unique blend of different talents that works well together.” 

Blessings of St. Joseph serves its community in a variety of ways, both spiritual and social. Jeanne shared that the store’s staff play a special role in the lives of their customers: “We cultivate a welcoming atmosphere, treating each customer as Jesus. We welcome everyone with love and respect whether they are Catholic, Protestant or have no faith at all. Many people come in the store searching — for books and gifts, yes — but also, for a relationship and answers. We meet them where they are and point the way to the Lord through our kindness and counsel.” 

Blessings of St. Joseph is also present in local Catholic schools. As John explained, “In the past few years, we started hosting book fairs for area Catholic schools, each one highlighting a particular blessed or saint, such as Carlo Acutis and Pier Giorgio Frassati.” 

Personal favorite books in the store:

o Coached by Joan of Arc, Alexandra Havard 

o Left to Tell, Immaculée Ilibagiza 

o Loyola Kids Book of Saints, Amy Welborn

o Our Lady’s Wardrobe, Anthony DeStefano 

Book you are most looking forward to coming out in 2025:

o From Prison to Paradise by Kitty Cleveland, Word Among Us Press

o Prayer as a Weapon by Jesse Romero, Sophia Press

o God’s Little Flowers by Lindsay Schlegel, Our Sunday Visitor Kids 

Find Blessings of St. Joseph:

o Facebook page:  Facebook.com/BlessingsofSJ 

o Website: BlessingsofSJ.com

 

Eighth Day Books, Wichita, KS

Founded in 1988, Eighth Day Books offers a cozy, homey atmosphere with literal rooms of books to walk through. Noting on its website that “[r]eality doesn’t divide itself into ‘religious’ and ‘literary’ and ‘secular’ spheres, so we don’t either,” Eighth Day curates its books in this way: “if a book (be it literary, scientific, historical, or theological) sheds light on ultimate questions in an excellent way, then it’s a worthy candidate for inclusion in our catalog” (“About Us”). With books covering a host of subjects, including what owner Warren Farha calls “robust selections from both Eastern and Western Christendom,” Eighth Day has something for every reader.

Each customer who makes a purchase from Eighth Day receives a bookmark created by Farha and his staff. As Farha explained, “Reading a phrase or a quote is so compelling, and so congruent with who we are and what we care about, that we know it must be a bookmark.” Quotes come from a variety of authors and saints. Of the Church and Desert Fathers, Farha said that “many were poets, writing sublimely beautiful text that is also brief, concentrated, aphoristic — all qualities perfect for our bookmarks.” 

Personal favorite book in your store: The Brothers Karamazov by Fyodor Dostoevsky

Book most popular with customers over the past year: Living in Wonder: Finding Mystery and Meaning in a Secular Age by Rod Dreher

Find Eighth Day Books: EighthDayBooks.com

 

EWTN Religious Catalogue / Gift Shoppe at EWTN, Online and Irondale, AL

EWTN itself also publishes and carries a wide variety of books. EWTN Religious Catalogue was started by EWTN foundress Mother Angelica. “Her intention was to offer the viewers good Catholic books that people could read without wondering, ‘Is this what the Church teaches?’ ‘Is this really Catholic?’” Dorothy Radlicz, director of sales and marketing for EWTN Religious Catalogue, told the Register. (EWTN is the Register’s parent company.)

Customers looking to purchase books at a physical location can visit the Gift Shoppe at EWTN headquarters in Irondale, Alabama.

 

Book most popular with customers over the past year: Stand Firm, Be Strong: A Men’s Catholic Daily Devotional of Scripture and Saints by Father of Mercy Wade Menezes.

Book you are most looking forward to coming out in 2025: Mother Angelica Talks it Over by Mother Angelica and Italy’s Shrines and Wonders by Teresa Tomeo

Find EWTN Religious Catalogue: Visit EWTNRC.com or call (800) 854-6316.

Find Gift Shoppe at EWTN: Visit 5817 Old Leeds Rd, Irondale, AL 35210 or call (205) 271-2929.

 

Other Stores to Explore

Though this article cannot attempt to provide an exhaustive list of bookstores Catholics should know about, a few more suggestions:

Goldberry, Concord, NC 

Named for a character in Tolkien’s The Lord of the Rings series, Goldberry hosts a Tolkien section (of course!), and a variety of Catholic and Eastern Orthodox selections, as well as classic literature. Their Lumen art guides sound fantastic for home-schooling families. 

Catholic Information Center, Washington D.C. 

The center’s “Lifetime Reading Plan” is worth checking out! 

Pauline Books and Media Centers, Multiple Locations

These bookstores are run by The Daughters of St. Paul, who “stand in a long tradition of offering guidance, formation, hope, and the love of Christ to everyone who walks through our doors” (See “Our Mission”).

St. Paul Book and Church Supply, Memphis, TN

“Stewarded by families, leaders, and even religious sisters,” this store has a 30-year history and is now a nonprofit. (See About Us - St. Paul Institute.)