This is one of the books that spurred my return to Christianity and my conversion to the Catholic Church. I read it for the first time in 1978 after the death of Pope John Paul I, who reportedly died with a copy on his chest.

I have just finished the audio version narrated by David Cochran Heath, and having done so, I've started listening to it all over again. It bears constant re-reading and listening. You will read of many saints who declared The Imitation their favorite book and some who memorized long passages. Therese of Lisieux supposedly knew it by heart. It is dense stuff: one strong piece of advice after another, page after page. Christianity Lite this isn't.

The origins of The Imitation are vague but interesting. It seems to have begun inside the Brethren of the Common Life, a late-medieval Christian community in the Low Countries that bears study.

I can't recommend this strongly enough—but only for active, practicing Christians who want to deepen their faith and devotion. The drum beat of religious teaching is far too loud to do anything but scare away the atheist or agnostic.

It served in my conversion only because I was a Christian since baptism at seven months, and my experience was more reawakening than conversion.