Reading Ambitions for 2021

 I won't say 2020 was a great year for reading books. I was a restless reader in 2020, starting one book and moving on quickly to another. That's something I hope to change in 2021. Sometimes it seems like the rise of online-reading, which is generally short-form, with the reader flitting from a sip here, a sip there, like a bee from flower to flower, is dis-equipping us for the long-form, the deep dive. So to counteract that I'm really going to focus on reading all the way to the finish line, including some long-form novels and histories, etc. Perhaps this year I will finally read my first Jane Austin novel!

I also intend to re-read a classic novel this year, both as a test of my reading discipline and because, as every reader knows, great works reward a second look. Do I have what it takes to read War and Peace again?

I begin the new year very near the finish-line in Jonathan Pennington's Jesus the Great Philosopher. Pennington's focus here, as in his previous book, is "human flourishing." In this one he interacts a lot with the great philosophical traditions of Greece and Rome, especially Aristotle and the Stoics. In the coming year I want to read Aristotle and Cicero on politics and perhaps a great Stoic document like The Meditations of Marcus Aurelius.

So yeah, I want to read a little political philosophy in 2021, both the ancient variety and some of the early American kind as well. I've got a notion to put together a series of titles that will actually take me through America's political history from the Revolution onward. First up in that series, Friends Divided.

For pure fun I like to read classic mysteries and westerns these days. I'll try to fit a few of those in the course of the year. Next up, Charles Portis's modern classic, True Grit. I'll also try to fit in at least one classic scifi or fantasy novel as well. I emphasize "classic" here because the contemporary stuff generally doesn't interest me so much, although I can be persuaded to try one from time to time. Every Heart a Doorway, for example.

And there will be Jesus books of course. I want my focus to remain on Jesus and the four Gospels. I don't have any particular books in mind yet though. Possibly Gentle and Lowly. The thing about Jesus, I'll just say here, is that where he is you will find relentless love and persistent forgiveness. If the emphasis isn't on these things, if we're talking or writing about Jesus and that is not the content and feel of our words, we are misleading people.

On tap for a 2021 devotional: 52 Weeks with Jesus.

And that should do it. I start the new year with the ambition to read well, to read persistently and deeply as well as broadly. But I know I will veer in unexpected directions over the next twelve months (cuz that's what readers do!). Readers are by nature adventurers.

Finallty, I pray that you who read this have a blessed and adventurous year of reading.