A Naked President & The February Reading List

"The challenge was to reach the goal no matter what obstacles were in the way."

I set aside one post per month to highlight my reading life. Books of Titans is a reading project aimed at seeking Truth & beauty through the world’s Immortal Books. My goal is to immerse myself in works of 200 authors, reading them in chronological order over the next 15 years. Thank you for following my journey.

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No Matter the Obstacles

“Some evenings, Roosevelt would slip out of the White House, pick a spot miles in the distance, and head straight for it. The challenge was to reach the goal no matter what obstacles were in the way.”

~ Natural Born Heroes by Christopher McDougall

I love the simple joy of life permeating this story. I’m a runner but I like to stick to nicely paved roads or well-worn trails. Here’s the President of the United States choosing a spot in the horizon and running towards it like a kid released from school on the first day of spring. The story continues:

““On several occasions we thus swam Rock Creek in the early spring when the ice was floating thick upon it. If we swam the Potomac, we usually took off our clothes,” Roosevelt would recall. “We liked Rock Creek for these walks because we could do so much scrambling and climbing along the cliffs…Of course under such circumstances we had to arrange that our return to Washington should be when it was dark, so that our appearance might scandalize no one.””

Amazing. May we all be more like Roosevelt in looking into the horizon, selecting a worthy destination, and adventurously meeting the obstacles along the way, preferably clothed :).

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February 2025 Books / January Recap

Each year, I set aside January & February to read through a different version of the Bible. This year, I selected the King James Version designed & illustrated by Barry Moser. I started with Genesis and made it to the Books of Psalms during January. My plan is to jump into the Apocrypha in between the Old and New Testaments, and time permitting, read Pen of Iron by Robert Alter, a book about how the KJV of the Bible has inspired literature. It will require a good amount of reading per day to finish by the end of February, but that’s the plan.

So far, I’ve loved the King James Version. It’s the one are likely familiar with the thou’s, art’s, and thy’s. The Psalms were especially beautiful. I have not found the language to be distracting. I’ve actually been surprised at how quickly I’ve adapted to the antiquated language to where I don’t even notice it at times. There’s something special about reading the translation that’s been used for the past 400 years. I like that.

Here are some of my favorite illustrations by Barry Moser that I’ve come across so far:

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2025 Reading Group: Read Short Great Books

Join me for a Great Books reading group! We’ll discuss short, 2-5 hour reads in person (Franklin, TN) or online (Zoom). Details on joining, dates, and monthly books below. Our second book will be Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass.

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Into March

In March, I start back in on The Immortal Books and will kick this off with The Analects by Confucius. Here’s my full 2025 Reading List - https://books.booksoftitans.com/2025-reading-list/