Latest adventures in reading.
The Republic by Plato How does one write a brief review – of the type I am accustomed to offering in this space – of Plato’s “Republic”? Short answer: one does not. In light of this, what follows are just a few short blurbs containing impressions that I came away with after reading this classic…
A very frustrating month where I read a ton, but only finished one book. Things are looking better for May though… On the Future of our Educational Institutions by Friedrich Nietzsche My Philosophy professors this summer have developed a maddening habit of assigning portions of books for us to read. The result is that I…
Rhythm of War by Brandon Sanderson I am in awe of how Brandon Sanderson can be so prolific, and at the same time maintain the quality of storytelling that he does. Each one of the four “Stormlight Archive” books is over a thousand pages long, and yet there was never a single moment where I…
The Holiness of God by R.C. Sproul Yet another book to add to my growing category called “why didn’t I read this before?” R.C. Sproul does a masterful job of putting high theological truths into accessible languages. His down-to-earth illustrations – using an NFL game to illustrate the beauty of holiness, for example – make…
Mythos by Stephen Fry My 2021 reading got off to a strong start with Stephen Fry’s “Mythos”. Known mostly as a humorist, Fry is also a student of Greek mythology. In this book (the first of two) he provides a delightful account of how the denizens of Olympus came to be, as well as helping…
Here are the ten best books I read in 2020. The are listed in the order I read them. You can see my entire reading list here. Escape from Rome by Walter Scheidel Rome fell, and that’s a good thing. Reason, Faith, and the Struggle for Western Civilization by Samuel Gregg The uneasy relationship between…
It’s the end of the year, time to finish up some reading projects, and cram in a couple others. An Introduction to Greek Philosophy (Great Courses) by David Roochnik I’m just going to come out and say it…online classes are horrible. Not only does the medium limit the scope of what can be presented, but…
Introdução ao Filosofar (Introduction to Philosophizing) by Berg A. Bornheim Introduction to Philosophizing (in Portuguese, “Introdução ao Filosofar”) is a work by the late Brazilian philosopher Berg A. Bornheim. In it, he examines the origins of philosophical thought, not just as it was born in ancient Greece, but as it is born in the mind…
October was a good month for reading. There is a decent variety, but a strong undercurrent of war and desolation. That’s just the way it happened… 1939: A People’s History of the Coming of the Second World War by Frederick Taylor The years leading up to the Second World War have always fascinated me. Most…
My reading got off to a great start this month, then slowed down towards the end. Still, some solid offerings. Exercise of Power by Robert M. Gates Other than books I read for ministry study and sermon prep, I have no real method for the choosing of reading material, other than to maintain a diverse…