I’ve been asked by Ignatius Press to list six of its titles that I consider to be my own personal favourites and which I would recommend to others. Considering how many wonderful books Ignatius has published over the years, it was not an easy task. Indeed I am haunted by many significant sins of omission. In any event, here are the six titles that I selected with my brief reasons for choosing thus:

Ignatius Press has been blazing a trail with the publication of new Catholic fiction which I hope will be catalytic in the generation of a renewed Catholic literary revival in the twenty-first century. A Postcard from the Volcano by Lucy Beckett would be my pick of the bunch. Superbly well-written by an author who is steeped in western culture and thoroughly knowledgeable of European history, this novel should be on every well-read Catholic’s reading list.

Whilst on the subject of contemporary Catholic fiction, I would be committing a sin of omission were I not to mention the novels of Michael D. O’Brien. Any and all of his works are worth reading but I still think his first, Father Elijah, is possibly his finest.  

Ignatius has also blazed a worthy trail with its active promotion of the works and legacy of the great G. K. Chesterton. One thinks especially perhaps of the painstaking publication of the Collected Works. My Chestertonian choice (apart from my own biography of him!) would be one of Dale Ahlquist’s introductions to Chesterton, such as Common Sense 101.

I cannot get enough of the writing of the wonderful Thomas Howard and would especially recommend his Dove Descending, an engaging and enlightening study of T. E. Eliot’s Four Quartets.

As an aficionado of the great literary works of Christendom, it has been a true honour to be the series editor of the Ignatius Critical Editions. I would unflinchingly recommend any of the titles in this very important series but will single out The Merchant of Venice, principally for the simply sublime critical essays which shed priceless light on this so often misunderstood and misconstrued play.

Last but indubitably not least would be any and all of the works of Pope Benedict XVI/Cardinal Ratzinger, of which the awe-inspiring brilliance of The Spirit of the Liturgy would be my first choice.