Autumn approaches, step by step.

It's a lazy evening and you're ready to relax. But wait! Before you grab for the remote and start channel-surfing, try picking up a book.

School has begun.

The due date for book reports approaches, step by step. Your high schooler is looking at a list of books he can choose from — and there are lots of reasons you wouldn't want him to choose a lot of them. Ask him if the teacher allows him to pick a book that's not on the list, and then see if he would like to do his report on a Catholic novel.

Catholic novels do actually exist, and they're fun to read. It's like a two-for-one deal: You can enrich your faith life and be entertained at the same time.

Here's a sampling of some of the excellent Catholic fiction that's out there. It was hard to choose the five on this list, but if you explore other titles by the authors, you'll find many new treasures, as well as connections to other great works.

Conceived Without Sin by Bud Macfarlane — You'll start this novel one evening, be unable to stop reading, and then finish at one in the morning. It's a dynamic story of friendship, faith and the things in life that really matter. What I love most about this book is its realness. The characters are everyday people: UPS driver, a computer entrepreneur and a secretary. But the genius of this book is that it takes those people and shows that no-one's life can ever be ordinary. The author understands well one of the central ideas of Pope John Paul II's papacy: the idea that life is not merely a timeline of events, but a drama between God and us with eternal significance. One copy of Conceived without Sin is available free through Saint Jude Media at www.Catholicity.com, so there's no excuse not to read this book.

Father Elijah: an Apocalypse by Michael O'Brien — Faith, conspiracy, love, hatred, and forgiveness are just a few of the themes Michael O'Brien's novel explores. He deals with the Catholic Church in an apocalyptic setting. A Jewish Carmelite priest, Father Elijah, has been called out of his monastery by the pope. The future of Catholicism will depend on whether he succeeds or fails in his mission. After I finished Father Elijah, I felt like I had returned from a long journey and would never be able to view the world in exactly the same way again. Although it definitely has “thriller” components to it, this work of fiction is so much more. It is well worth the investment of your time.

The Shadow of His Wings by Father Gereon Goldman — Though this book is autobiographical, it reads like a novel, and I couldn't resist sneaking it into this list. Father Goldman was a young German seminarian when World War II began and he was forcibly drafted into the SS. Through near-miraculous circumstances, he became ordained and ministered to Catholic German soldiers and citizens on both sides of the war; all the while trying to avoid death. This true story of heroism and faith will open your eyes to the way God works in your life through coincidences.

Citadel of God by Louis de Wohl — This historical novel tells the story of St. Benedict, but de Wohl's writing style is far from hagiography. Saint Benedict appears as a genuine person who struggles in the temptations and wickedness of Rome, then gradually becomes disgusted with the city's depravity. Citadel of God follows Benedict from his youth in turbulent Rome throughout his founding of the Benedictine order. Saint Benedict today is revered as the founder of Western monasticism.

Father Brown and the Church of Rome by G. K. Chesterton — “Has it never struck you that a man who does next to nothing but hear men's real sins is not likely to be wholly unaware of human evil?” So says Chesterton's famous detective, Father Brown. The book is a collection of short mystery stories featuring Father Brown. I'm not normally a big fan of whodunits, but the clever insights Chesterton slips in by way of his characters' dialogue make the mysteries much more than just an exciting puzzle.

Catholic novels teach us how to live our faith by using the best mode of communication — a story. If any of these volumes stir your interest, you can find all but Conceived without Sin through Ignatius Press. So what are you waiting for? Stop reading this article and go get one of these books!

Laura K. Cummings writes from Janesville, Wisconsin.