Reading Recap: April 2025
I got a little sidetracked 😬
I set aside one post per month to highlight my reading life. Books of Titans is a reading project aimed at seeking the ancient paths by reading The Immortal Books by 200 authors chronologically over the next 15 years. Thank you for following my journey.
April Reading Recap
If you look at my March Reading Recap, I had big plans to start back in on the tragedy plays by Euripides. Well, I got sidetracked. I’m the business manager at Landmark Booksellers in Franklin, TN, and we had a few author events and I wanted to have read their books before the events (Free Speech, There’s Nothing Like This). I was also gifted a few books by Joel Tomlin, the owner of Landmark Booksellers (Rules for a Knight, Twelve Tests of Character). And I led a reading group covering The Great Gatsby.
I enjoyed these books but am now back to reading Euripides and I feel as though I’ve returned home. Here are some quick thoughts about each of the books shown above:
Phoenician Women by Euripides
Although getting sidetracked, I did manage to fit in a few plays by Euripdes. Phoenician Women mimics the tragedy by Aeschylus called Seven Against Thebes, but with some key differences. I highlight those in episode 244 of the podcast:
Free Speech: A History from Socrates to Social Media by Jacob Mchangama
Read April 3 - 11
We had author Jacob in the store on Wednesday, April 9th. He was introduced by Nadine Strossen and interviewed by
. It was a very interesting evening (you can watch it here) and I learned a lot from the book. My biggest shock was the very small number of people throughout history who have remained principled in their views on free speech. Here’s my podcast episode about the book:
The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald
Read April 11 - 13
I lead a monthly reading group called the Short Great Books Reading Group (please consider joining). We covered The Great Gatsby during April and it was an absolute delight. I was challenged to read it like a Greek Tragedy play, which helped me a lot. You don’t read tragedies looking for upstanding moral citizens to emulate. The author usually presents morally repellent people in extreme circumstances to make a point. Oftentimes, first readings are off-putting for that reason. However, subsequent readings lead to incredible insights and delights. Here are a few thoughts about reading Gatsby again:
There’s Nothing Like This: The Strategic Genius of Taylor Swift by Kevin Evers
Read April 15 - 23
I never thought I’d read a book about Taylor Swift, but I specifically sought out this author for an event at Landmark. Kevin Evers is a Senior Editor at the Harvard Business Review, and this book is a sort of business case study about the career of Taylor Swift. It is fascinating. We then had Kevin in for an event on April 24th (you can watch it here).
Rules for a Knight and Twelve Tests of Character
These are two quick reads containing quick snippets of wisdom. The Twelve Tests book is from 1923 (when Gatsby was written) and the first chapter (the only one I read) covers First Things. It specifically talks about the reading life and prioritizing The Great Books in the limited time we have available. Rules for a Knight, written by actor Ethan Hawke would make a great graduation gift (please consider purchasing it from Landmark).
Orestes by Euripdes
Currently Reading
I’m now back into Euripides and his tragedy play Orestes. I love these tragedy plays so much and missed them. This one starts right after Orestes has murdered his mother Clytemnestra, who had murdered his father (and her husband), Agamemnon. Orestes is even considering killing Helen of Troy in this one, so nice warm fuzzy feelings abound. I’ll be covering this one on the next episode of the podcast.
May Reading Plan - Euripides
April was supposed to be my month of Euripides, but that will now happen in May. In the photo above, the books standing up on the left are those I read last year. I’m picking back up where I left off with Euripides going from bottom to top from the pile on the right. It looks like a lot, but I only have 9 plays remaining. I just had to buy a bunch of books to get them all. Here’s the list:
Bacchae, Iphigenia at Aulis, Rhesus
Suppliants, Phoenician Women
Ion, Helen, Orestes
Hippolytus Temporizes
The two green books on the top contain surviving fragments of Euripidies’ non-extant tragedy plays. He wrote around 90 and 19 survive, so this will provide details and snippets of those we don’t have. This stuff gets me so excited. I’ve really gotten into fragments as part of this reading project.
May Reading Group Book - Philoctetes by Sophocles
I lead a monthly reading group called Short Great Books. I try to pick books that will take you between 2-5 hours to read. We meet in-person at Landmark Booksellers on the 2nd or 3rd Monday of each month and online on the following Wednesday.
This month’s book is the Greek Tragedy Philoctetes by Sophocles and the dates/times are as follows (please note, a new time for the online meetings):
In Person - Monday, May 19th, 7-9pm at Landmark Booksellers in Franklin, TN
Online - Wednesday, May 21st, 7-9pm Central Time
I suggest this version of the book.
To join online, just become a paid subscriber here for as little as $5/month, and I’ll send you the Zoom call details:
April Bookish Adventures
We had over 35 different authors at Landmark during April. Most of them attended our Main Street Festival this past weekend and we also had a few do events at the store. I really enjoyed meeting authors Carolyn Weber (Surprised by Oxford), Jacob Mchangama (Free Speech), and Kevin Evers (There’s Nothing Like This). In my role at Landmark, one of my duties is to book all author events, and so it’s a joy seeking out authors and connecting with those who wish to do an event at Landmark.
I also led a workshop on The Art of Reading. You can watch it here. I provided reading tips and ideas for reading more and remembering what you read.
I’d say the highlight of the month was talking to others about The Great Gatsby. I learned a great deal during those discussions and have a newfound respect for the book, which turned 100 during April.
Interesting, I just started The Odyssey and Orestes is mentioned in the first pages – I hadn't heard about him before, and here I see him again :)