Here's a running list of books I've finished this year (2024):
1. How Soccer Explains the World: An Unlikely Theory of Globalization, Franklin Foer. Soccer truly does explain so much about cultures around the world. I found this book fascinating. Thanks to Coach Jeff Pill for the recommendation.
2. The Ring of the Nibelung, Richard Wagner, translated by Andrew Porter. Wanted to learn more about Wagner, since he was such an influence on Lewis and Tolkien. His stories certainly have power to get into your imagination.
3. The Ring and the Fire, Clyde Robert Bulla. A nice summary of the Ring Cycle.
4. Ivanhoe, Sir Walter Scott. A fun, adventurous read. A little hokey at times. Glad I'm somewhat familiar with medieval English history or this wouldn't have made a lot of sense.
5. Hamlet, Shakespeare (thrice). Went on a Hamlet kick for a few weeks. Love this play.
6. Born Again, Charles Colson. A wonderful testimony that God does amazing, unlikely things.
7. The Professor and the Madman, Simon Winchester. Absolutely fascinating.
8. King Lear, Shakespeare
9. The Road, Cormac McCarthy
10. Making It So, Patrick Stewart
11. The Pleasures of Reading in an Age of Distraction, Alan Jacobs
12. The Aeneid. I went back and forth between translations by Fitzgerald and Fagles, depending on whether I was reading on my Kindle or in print.
13. Driving Mr. Yogi, Harvey Araton. I'm not a Yankees fan, but I admire the team's tradition. This book was more detailed than I was interested in, but I enjoyed it.
14. Dante's Inferno. Finished this for probably the fifth or sixth time. Read a combination of Musa's, Ciardi's, and prose translations.
15. Cliffs Notes on Plato's Republic. (I know I need to read the real thing!) It's important to consider what makes a good society. Plato and Aristotle make me think about very important questions I don't otherwise think about a lot.
16. Cliffs Notes on Plato's Euthyphro, Apology, Crito, and Phaedo.
Currently reading:
1. Robinson Crusoe, Defoe
2. Great Books: My Adventures with Homer, Rousseau, Woolf, and Other Indestructible Writers of the Western World, David Denby
3. Benjamin Franklin: An American Life, Walter Isaacson
4. The Hobbit, Tolkien. The last time I read it was 2016ish.