I returned home from the C. S. Lewis Retreat in Texas to find a box waiting for me, which had been delivered to me by my publisher, Saint Benedict Press. Opening it, I was delighted to discover that it contained copies of my latest book, Bilbo’s Journey: Discovering the Hidden Meaning of The Hobbit. Written and published to coincide with the imminent release of the first of Peter Jackson’s film adaptations of Tolkien’s classic children’s tale, I hope that Bilbo’s Journey will repeat the success of my earlier book, Tolkien: Many & Myth, in making the Catholic dimension of Tolkien’s work more widely known.
 
Coincidentally, the arrival of the box of books coincided with the receipt of an e-mail from someone requesting details of books on Tolkien and Catholicism. Here’s the text of the relevant part of the e-mail:
Sir, I was wondering if you might recommend any further books on Tolkien and his life/legacy from the Catholic perspective. I read yours over the summer incidentally. 
 
And here’s the relevant part of my reply:
 
My new book, Bilbo’s Journey: Discovering the Hidden Meaning of The Hobbit, has just been published by Saint Benedict Press. Apart from this new book and Tolkien; Man & Myth, which you have already read, I have also edited Tolkien: A Celebration (Ignatius Press). Other books on Tolkien from a Catholic perspective include the following:
Richard Purtill, J. R. R. Tolkien: Myth, Morality & Religion (Ignatius)
Bradley J. Birzer, J. R. R. Tolkien’s Santifying Myth (ISI Books)
Ralph C. Wood, The Gospel According to Tolkien (Westminster John Knox Books)
Peter J. Kreeft, The Philosophy of Tolkien (Ignatius)
Stratford Caldecott, Secret Fire: The Spiritual Vision of J. R. R. Tolkien (Darton, Longman & Todd)
Ian Boyd, C.S.B. & Stratford Caldecott (eds.), A Hidden Presence: The Catholic Imagination of J. R. R. Tolkien (Chesterton Press)