A while back we asked you, “What are the most tattered titles on your nightstand?” You answered with vigor and the responses were so numerous that we thought it might be helpful to summarize what our readers recommended. One of our amazing volunteers compiled every response and then put them into a spreadsheet. I was fascinated, surprised, and delighted to see how the top ten list emerged. The top three were 1) The Bible, 2) Liturgy of the Hours, and 3) Catechism of the Catholic Church. Here’s the top five after the top three:

1. The Imitation of Christ – Thomas à Kempis
2. The Collected Works of St. Teresa of Avila – St. Teresa of Avila (currently in three volumes)
3. Abandonment to Divine Providence – Fr. Jean-Pierre de Caussade
4. The Better Part – Fr. John Bartunek
5. Divine Intimacy – Fr. Gabriel of St. Mary Magdalen

So, there you have it. The next list reflects those books that had more than one mention. From the standpoint of the sheer number of votes to any one author (across multiple titles), St. Teresa of Avila gets the top prize.

• Story of a Soul – St. Thérèse of Lisieux
• An Introduction to the Devout Life – St. Francis de Sales
• Diary of St. Faustina – St. Faustina Kowalska
• The Collected Works of St. John of the Cross – St. John of the Cross
• Consoling the Heart of Jesus – Fr. Michael Gaitley
• Interior Castle – St. Teresa of Avila
• Return of the Prodigal Son – Fr. Henri J. M. Nouwen
• My Daily Bread (devotional) – Fr. Anthony J. Paone
• I Believe in Love – Fr. Jean C. J. d’Elbée
• Fire Within – Fr. Thomas Dubay
• The Fulfillment of All Desire – Dr. Ralph Martin, PhD
• True Devotion to Mary: With Total Consecration – St. Louis Grignion de Montfort
• Life of Christ – Ven. Archbishop Fulton J. Sheen
• Jesus of Nazareth Book 1 – Pope Benedict XVI
• Daily Roman Missal – Fr. James Socias
• A Revelation of Divine Love –  Julian of Norwich
• The Secret of the Rosary – St. Louis Grignion de Montfort
• Drinking from a Dry Well – Fr. Thomas H. Green
• When the Well Runs Dry – Fr. Thomas H. Green
• Man’s Search for Meaning – Viktor Frankl
• The Way of Perfection – St. Teresa of Avila
• The Great Divorce – C.S. Lewis
• Life of the Beloved – Fr. Henri J. M. Nouwen
• He and I – Gabrielle Bossis
• In Conversation with God – Fr. Francis Fernández-Carvajal
• Theology of the Body – St. John Paul II

The remainder of the recommendations all had one vote each. If you would like to see all the other book recommendations you can check out the combox of the original post and a post we have done to provide recommendations for you.

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Art for this post on tattered titles: Old book bindings at the Merton College Library, Oxford, England, Tom Murphy VII, 25 August 2005, CCA-SA 3.0 Unported, Wikimedia Commons.