I have been reading more lately, but when I tried to think of what books I actually got through last year, I had difficulty remembering. So I thought it might help to list the books I have been or will be encountering in one place. Here goes:
Currently reading:
The Silmarillion by JRR Tolkien (simultaneously listening to related episodes on the Amun Sul podcast)
The Language of Creation by Jonathan and Matthieu Pageau
Want to buy and read:
Feminism Against Progress by Mary Harrington (you can read about some of Mary’s ideas here.) (READ)
by Sarah Hill
The Sagas of the Icelanders by Jane Smiley et al
Competing with this wish list to some degree are blogs and Substacks, some of which I’m considering getting a paid subscription to. Then there are books I already own but haven’t fully read or benefitted from, mostly because they are challenging for some reason or other. I’m also on my second course from The Great Courses. So far I’ve been only buying the courses on sale, but they still cost as much as a hardcover book, at least.
Books I started and should finish some day, but don’t hold your breath:
The Bible (no link needed, lol) I think I got to about Exodus? Update: I am now listening to the podcast
The Whole Counsel of God where Fr. Stephen DeYoung reads through the Bible verse by verse and discusses, offering interpretation and background based on the Orthodox tradition and his own historical education. I am finding this more engaging and meaningful than trying to slog through the Bible on my own. Plus I can listen while doing crochet or other repetitive work.The Gulag Archepelago by Alexander Solzhenitsyn. I read a grand total of four chapters of this book in 2018, and blogged about it here: http://torthuilreads.blogspot.com/ Maybe one day I'll be back. But it's such an awful book to read and right now, I don't even want to try again.
The Wake by Paul Kingsnorth. I was reading this one last summer, and while I did appreciate it, it just wasn’t the right book to get me through some of the difficult stuff that was going on then.
Books I already own and want to read, but haven’t started:
The Unfinished Tales by JRR Tolkien (which was a birthday present along with The Silmarillion)
The Parasitic Mind by Gaad Saad (READ)
Prayers on the Lake by St. Nicholi Velimirovich
History and Presence by Robert Orsi (READ)
The last two were recommendations to me, for reasons that may become clearer when I actually start reading them. I have dipped into Prayers on the Lake and enjoyed the bits I read.
Some books don’t really lend themselves to a “feet up by the fire” reading approach. Something I’m challenging myself to do with The Language of Creation, and maybe with others, is to respond in a way that specifically isn’t writing. I’ve been doing a sort of visual journal for The Language of Creation, basically drawing or attempting to draw the images that come into my mind as I read it, or the particular passages that stand out. So far it's been a rewarding approach.
There you go, I may be back to add to this list or to say that I've actually finished a book!
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