Matthew Kelly, C.S. Lewis top Catholic best-sellers

Written by Eric Tiansay

Thursday, 12 February 2009 03:14 PM America/New_York

Author Matthew Kelly made a significant showing with four entries on the March Catholic hardcover best-sellers list, while C.S. Lewis titles were featured on the paperback list.

Kelly's Rediscovering Catholicism (Beacon Publishing) landed at No. 1 on the hardcover list, followed by: 2. Mother Angelica's Private and Pithy Lessons From the Scriptures by Raymond Arroyo (Doubleday); 3. The Dream Manager by Kelly (Hyperion); 4. Parallel Empires by Massimo Franco (Doubleday); 5. Celebration of Discipline: 25th Anniversary Edition by Richard Foster (HarperOne); 6. Surprised by Hope by N.T. Wright (HarperOne); 7. The Rhythm of Life by Kelly (Fireside); 8. The Gift of Years by Joan Chittister (BlueBridge); 9. The Seven Levels of Intimacy by Kelly (Fireside); and 10. Heroic Living by Chris Lowney (Loyola Press).

Classic author C.S. Lewis topped the paperback list with Mere Christianity and followed with The Screwtape Letters (both HarperOne) at No. 2. Continuing down the list were: 3. Good News About Sex & Marriage by Christopher West (Servant Books); 4. Catechism of the Catholic Church (Doubleday/USCCB Publishing); 5. God's Enduring Presence by Joyce Rupp (Twenty-Third Publications); 6. The Complete C.S. Lewis Signature Classics by Lewis (HarperOne); 7. Handbook for Today's Catholic (Liquori Publications); 8. Coming Down the Mountain by Thomas Hart (Paulist Press); 9. United States Catholic Catechism for Adults (USCCB Publishing); and 10. The Return of the Prodigal Son by Henri J.M. Nouwen (Image).

The Children & Young People's list saw titles from the "Totally Lent!" series in the first three spots: 1. Totally Lent! A Kid's Journey to Easter 2009; 2. Totally Lent! A Child's Journey to Easter 2009; and 3. Totally Lent! A Teen's Journey to Easter 2009 (all Pflaum Publishing Group). Following were: 4. Tear Soup: A Recipe for Healing After Loss by P. Schwiebert and C. DeKlyen (ACTA/Grief Watch); 5. Called to His Supper Student Book (revised) by Jeannine Timko Leichner (Our Sunday Visitor); 6. Making Things Right (revised) by Jeannine Timko Leichner (Our Sunday Visitor); 7. My First Missal (revised) by Maria Grace Dateno (Pauline Books & Media); 8. Welcome, Children! (Pflaum Publishing Group); 9. Handbook for Today's Catholic Teen by Jim Auer (Liguori Publications); and 10. My First Communion Remembrance Book by Nadia Bonaldo (Pauline Books & Media).

The list is based on publisher reports of all January orders placed with members of the Catholic Book Publishers Association.