This reflection comes out way late again.

Books I read this year:

• On Liberty by J.S. Mill: A liberal classic. On the face of it, nothing Mill advocates is considered radical from our modern point of view. But it’s still and inspiring defense of the value of liberty. Furthermore, you get the sense that
• The Riverside Shakespeare: I’ve read through all the plays and corresponding commentary. At first I struggled but I eventually habituated to the language. I feel a strong sense of satisfaction from having immersed myself in some of the most important texts of the English language. My feeling of accomplishment rivals that of my completion of the Bible.
• The Three Theban Plays by Sophocles (translated by Robert Fagles): I was able to complete all three plays in just a couple weeks. It’s inspired me to possibly read more classical Greek literature. The context around why Croesus’s Thebes must fall to Athens good to know while reading The Knight’s Tale/Two Noble Kinsmen.
• The Illustrated History of the World (Volume 1 & 2) by J.M. Roberts: Both volumes were (relatively) short and sweet.
• Pygmalion by George Bernard Shaw: Short read. Wasn’t sure what to make of it.
• Frankenstein by Mary Shelley: My new favorite book.
• SPQR by Mary Beard: Nice introduction to Roman history.
• Europe in the High Middle Ages by William Chester Jordan: Really helpful and good read.
• Moby Dick by Herman Melville: Pretty good read. I was worried by the reviews I came across but there were many funny sections and I found little boring.
• Foster by Claire Keegan: Nice short read.
• Various plays by William Shakespeare: I was hoping to finish but slowed down during the summer. I mostly have the history plays left. I read Macbeth, Othello, King Lear, Antony and Cleopatra, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Romeo and Juliet, The Merchant of Venice, As You Like It, The Tempest, Much Ado About Nothing, Love’s Labour’s Lost, Comedy of Errors, Titus Andronicus, Two Gentlemen of Verona, Twelfth Night, Measure for Measure, Coriolanus, Pericles, Cymbeline, and The Two Noble Kinsmen.

Books I’m still reading:

• Shakespeare: The Invention of the Human by Harold Bloom: I picked up this book as a companion to my Shakespeare anthology. Sometimes illuminating but often over my head. Bloom has inspired me to read more classics. It says something about my reading comprehension that I can’t exactly state what it means that Shakespeare “invented” the human. I can only finish this once I finish the rest of the plays.
• The Power Broker by Robert Caro: I starting reading this while looking for a history of New York. I got 2/3rds of the way through and haven’t looked at it for half a year.

Other notes

I read Hamlet and Julius Caesar in 2022 before starting with the rest of the plays. The biggest helpers for making myself read more have been making Anki cards on unknown vocab and other knowledge and getting and e-reader. Also joining some book clubs provides a good motivation.