Dear Jane:

I praise God that you wish to know your faith well and accurately. I wish more people did that.

The Catechism of the Catholic Church, 2nd Edition, is the first resource. It contains a summary of the Faith. I also recommend to go along with the Catechism the Compendium of the Catechism of the Catholic Church by Joseph Ratzinger (Pope Benedict XVI)

In addition to the Cathechism and this Question and Answer Forum, there are the following websites:

Catholic Answers Pamphlets
Biblical Evidence for Catholicism
Scripturel Catholic

These three websites give information about subjects that typically come up with Protestants. Even if you do not have an occasion to talk with Protestants about the faith, reviewing this information is an excellent to learn some of the details of the Faith.

Along those lines San Juan Catholic Seminars has some excellent booklets one can buy.

I also recommend the St. Paul Center for Biblical Theology founded by Scott Hahn. The Center has an excellent online Bible study.

Speaking of Scott Hahn I recommend anything from him. He is one of the best, brightest, and enthusiastic Catholic speakers and teachers. It was Scott Hahn who converted me from a Baptist preacher to a Catholic. Listening to his tapes will excite you about the faith. Material from Scott can be found on his website. Of special interest of Scott Hahn's teachings are The Lamb's Supper: The Mass as Heaven on Earth, which opens up a whole new perspective on the Book of Revelation; and his tape series, Salvation History (found on his website). This tape series is a must to understand our faith. Scott talks about the five covenants of the Old Testament leading up to the New Covenant of Jesus Christ. To truly understand Christianity we must understand where we came from.

Three excellent books for beginners, sort-to-speak are:

Theology for Beginners by Francis Joseph Sheed
Map of Life: A Simple Study of the Catholic Faith by Francis Joseph Sheed
Catholicism for Dummies by Father John Trigilio, Jr.

Also of note are:

Anything by Father Thomas Dubay, especially:

Seeking Spiritual Direction: How to Grow the Divine Life Within

Fire Within: St. Teresa of Avila, St. John of the Cross, and the Gospel-On Prayer

Anything by Peter Kreeft, especially:

Back to Virtue: Traditional Moral Wisdom for Modern Moral Confusion

Everything You Ever Wanted to Know About Heaven, but Never Dreamed of Asking

Making Sense out of Suffering

The book by St. Francis de Sales, Introduction to the Devout Life, is a must read.

A good one volume history of the Catholic Church is Triumph: The Power and the Glory of the Catholic Church

And one of the best books about Church history is, How the Catholic Church Built Western Civilization. Any Catholic or non-Catholic Christian who does not read this book ought to be horse-whipped.

This ought to get your started.

God Bless,
Bro. Ignatius Mary