* The Sound of a Wild Snail Eating (1988)
* A Voice In The Darkness: Evelyn Waugh and the Church (1991)
* Acts of Faith (1993)
* Cancer: A Guide for Caregivers (1995)
* The Edge of Joy: A Novel of the Great Depression (1996)
* Heaven In A Wild Flower: The Spiritual Journey of Thomas Merton (1997)
* The Days of Summer: A Novel of World War II (2000)
* In The Country Of The Young (2003)
* American Childhood (2005)
* Acts of Worship (2008)
* Where the Sky Began: One County in America and the Battle Over Civil Rights (2011)
* Child of Grace (2013)
* Heaven's Coast (2016)
*The Miracle of Saint Nicholas: How Santa Claus Became the World's Most Iconic Saint (2019)
Short stories
* "The River" (1988)
* "The Garden" (1990)
* "The House" (1991)
* "The Barn" (1992)
* "The Mill" (1993)
* "The Bridge" (1994)
* "The Road" (1995)
* "The Tree" (1996)
* "The Sky" (1997)
* "The Sea" (1998)
* "The Stars" (1999)
* "The Moon" (2000)
* "The Sun" (2001)
* "The Earth" (2002)
* "The Fire" (2003)
* "The Water" (2004)
* "The Wind" (2005)
* "The Stone" (2006)
* "The Wood" (2007)
* "The Metal" (2008)
* "The Glass" (2009)
* "The Plastic" (2010)
* "The Paper" (2011)
* "The Cloth" (2012)
* "The Leather" (2013)
* "The Bone" (2014)
* "The Flesh" (2015)
* "The Blood" (2016)
* "The Soul" (2017)
* "The Spirit" (2018)
* "The Love" (2019)
Essays
* "The Art of Fiction" (1989)
* "The Art of Poetry" (1990)
* "The Art of Drama" (1991)
* "The Art of Music" (1992)
* "The Art of Painting" (1993)
* "The Art of Sculpture" (1994)
* "The Art of Architecture" (1995)
* "The Art of Photography" (1996)
* "The Art of Film" (1997)
* "The Art of Television" (1998)
* "The Art of the Internet" (1999)
* "The Art of the Blog" (2000)
* "The Art of the Podcast" (2001)
* "The Art of the Video Game" (2002)
* "The Art of the Graphic Novel" (2003)
* "The Art of the Comic Strip" (2004)
* "The Art of the Animated Film" (2005)
* "The Art of the Documentary Film" (2006)
* "The Art of the Short Film" (2007)
* "The Art of the Experimental Film" (2008)
* "The Art of the Foreign Film" (2009)
* "The Art of the Independent Film" (2010)
* "The Art of the Cult Film" (2011)
* "The Art of the Classic Film" (2012)
* "The Art of the Hollywood Film" (2013)
* "The Art of the European Film" (2014)
* "The Art of the Asian Film" (2015)
* "The Art of the African Film" (2016)
* "The Art of the Latin American Film" (2017)
* "The Art of the Middle Eastern Film" (2018)
* "The Art of the Australian Film" (2019)
Memoirs
* My Life as a Writer (2006)
* My Pilgrimage to Rome (2008)
* My Journey to the Holy Land (2010)
* My Walk through the Grand Canyon (2012)
* My Trek to Machu Picchu (2014)
* My Sail Around the World (2016)
* My Hike to the North Pole (2018)
* My Descent to the Bottom of the Ocean (2019)