Monday, December 5, 2016

A Reading Plan for 2017?

I said on Facebook recently that I was going to make 2017 "the Year of Reading Seriously." The update garnered some nice responses. People immediately chimed in with suggestions (just what I was hoping for). Here are some of the books mentioned:
These are just the kinds of recommendations I was hoping for. I think Augustine is definitely on my reading horizon. I also think some of this "serious" reading will be rereading. Orwell's 1984 comes to mind, a book I keep thinking I should get back to.

Right now I'm reading Richard Weaver's Ideas Have Consequences. That book is actually the starting point for this prospective reading list. From here I might turn to Robert Nisbett's The Quest for Community.

The whole process of finding books to read is always interesting to me. In the past year I went about researching the Western novel genre, creating a reading list (and an author list). But at other times I just let randomness rule. You browse the shelves at the library, or you pass one of those mini-libraries that people put up these days in their front yards, little free-book exchanges. I recently stopped by one of those, shaped like a little house on a post. You opened the front door and found a dozen old paperbacks inside. That's one way to find books you never would have thought to choose on your own. I'm currently reading and enjoying one of these found books: Kenneth Roberts' Oliver Wiswell, a novel about the Amerian Revolution narrated from a Loyalist perspective.

These random finds are great, but sometimes I like to set up reading programs for myself. Nothing like a good thematic reading list for this purpose, and thankfully such things are all over the Internet. Here's one that may be influencing my personal reading list for the coming year: National Review's 100 Best Non-Fiction Books of the 20th Century.

If anyone out there has any further suggestions, fire away!


1 comment:

Bob Spencer said...

https://home.isi.org/7-books-you-need-read-craft-compelling-case-liberty