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.
August Reading Recap
A bit of reading chaos culminating in Plato
I really do try to read just one book at a time but that rule has been severely tested over the past few months. I’m technically in my Fall Semester of reading through The Immortal Books. In my self-imposed semesters, I read one author at a time from my list. Right now, I’m in the midst of reading through the complete works of Plato, something I’m calling The Plato Project. I only planned on reading a few of his dialogues, but I figured, why not try and read them all? I’m using that bottom red book as my main source and then table into
Here’s a little info about each of the books listed above from bottom to top:
Plato Complete Works - so far, I’ve read through Euthyphro (podcast episode here) and Apology. Only 40+ dialogues to go! 😳
Your Hidden Genius by Betsy Wills - We had Betsy in for an event at Landmark Booksellers on August 14th. The person who was set to interview Betsy had to cancel at the last minute and so I had the honor of interviewing her! I read through the book in under 24 hours and took the professional assessment as well. Her main point is that we all have aptitudes that stick with us throughout our lives. They don't change, even when interests and skills do. The assessment seeks to identify our aptitudes. I love talking to authors, so this was a lot of fun. You can watch our discussion here.
Theo of Golden by Allen Levi - I led a reading group on this book during August and am also preparing for an event we have with the author on September 6th. I read Theo for a second time during August and am reading it for a 3rd time right now.
Plato | The Last Days of Socrates - I purchased this Penguin edition to complement the Complete Works. If I have trouble understanding one translation, I like to get another. It also has a great intro. I re-read both Euthyphro and Apology in this edition.
Xenophon | Memories of Socrates - I purchased this Oxford edition as a contrast point to Plato’s Apology. This book contains an Apology written by Xenophon. Each Apology deals with the trial of Socrates and I thought it’d be fun to compare the two in my next podcast episode. Xenophon’s Apology is just 7 pages long.
Scarlet Ibis by Gill Lewis - I read this book because it is mentioned in Theo of Golden by the character named Ellen. However, after reading it, I learned there was another, older book by the same title by James Hurst, so I think I may have read the incorrect version. However, there were some interesting connections in this middle school age book, including a father named Theo.
Loeb Plato - I have purchased some Loeb books over the years and keep them in my closet. I was thrilled to realized I had this edition containing Euthyphro and Apology, especially as I had trouble when I first read Euthyphro. I found the introduction in this one to be very helpful.
September Reading Plan
The Plato Project
For September, I’m going to continue on my Plato Project and read through the complete works of Plato. I’m also going to be leading a reading group on Aristotle’s Poetics (I’d love for you to join on Wednesday, September 24th, just become a paid subscriber here on Substack). Here is the order in which I plan to read Plato’s dialogues (this is the order in the red book above):
Euthyphro, Apology, Crito, Phaedo, trans. G. M. A. Grube
Cratylus, trans. C. D. C. Reeve
Theaetetus, trans. M. J. Levett, rev. M. Burnyeat
Sophist, trans. N. White
Statesman, trans. C. J. Rowe
Parmenides, trans. M. L. Gill and P. Ryan
Philebus, trans. D. Frede
Symposium, Phaedrus, trans. A. Nehamas and P. Woodruff
Alcibiades, trans. D. S. Hutchinson
Second Alcibiades, trans. A. Kenny
Hipparchus, trans. N. Smith
Rival Lovers, trans. J. Mitscherling
Theages, trans. N. D. Smith
Charmides, Laches, trans. R. K. Sprague
Lysis, trans. S. Lombardo
Euthydemus, trans. R. K. Sprague
Protagoras, trans. S. Lombardo and K. Bell
Gorgias, trans. D. J. Zeyl
Meno, trans. G. M. A. Grube
Greater Hippias, trans. P. Woodruff
Lesser Hippias, trans. N. J. Smith
Ion, trans. P. Woodruff
Menexenus, trans. P. Ryan
Clitophon, trans. F. J. Gonzalez
Republic, trans. G. M. A. Grube, rev. C. D. C. Reeve
Timaeus, trans. D. J. Zeyl
Critias, trans. D. Clay
Minos, trans. M. Schofield
Laws, trans. T. Saunders
Epinomis, trans. R. D. McKirahan, Jr
Letters, trans. G. R. Morrow
Definitions, trans. D. S. Hutchinson
On Justice, trans. A. S. Becker
On Virtue, trans. M. Reuter
Demodocus, trans. J. Barnes
Sisyphus, trans. D. Gallop
Halcyon, trans. B. Inwood
Eryxias, trans. M. Joyal
Axiochus, trans. J. P. Hershbell
Epigrams, trans. J. M. Edmonds, rev. J. M. Cooper
August Bookish Adventures
I met Alex of Alex & Books and Ravi from Reads with Ravi for breakfast in Nashville. The three of us are waging all out war to get people reading more books. It was fun to finally meet in person.
We had Sandra McCracken and Tim Nicholson in for an event at Landmark Booksellers (where I’m business & event booking manager) for their new children’s book The Maker of the Mountain.
I led a reading group on Theo of Golden by Allen Levi at my favorite old church in Franklin, TN. It was a very special evening with some people crying nearly the entire meeting.
I interviewed Betsy Wills at Landmark and got to ask her all about her book Your Hidden Genius.
I met Tim Schurrer, author of The Secret Society of Success, at a birthday party my daughter was attending. I love meeting authors and look forward to reading his book.
My wife Stephanie & I celebrated our 16th wedding anniversary. Give her a follow here on Substack where she shares her music and articles. By the way, if you are in the UK, check out my wife’s tour this September. I’ll be joining her on the violin and we’ll be in Scotland and England. If you are nearby, please come and say hi - https://www.stephaniestaples.com/tour/
The Architecture of the Invisible
https://www.amazon.in/dp/B0FGXNFKCN?binding=kindle_edition&ref_=ast_author_bsi