August 2026 Reading
Plato • Melville • Cather
I continue to work my way through the complete dialogues of Plato. I spent this past month focused on the following dialogues:
Charmides (on self-control)
Laches (on courage)
Lysis (on friendship)
Alcibiades
Hipparchus
Rival Lovers
Theages
I covered Charmides in my most recent podcast episode and embarrassingly referred to the dialogue as Charmenides (with an extra “en” in the middle) the entire time. I tried to re-record the episode and just couldn’t get it how I wanted it, so I added a mea culpa at the start and asked listeners to think Charmedies when I said Charmendies. Doh!
For Charmides, I read it first in the John M. Cooper edited Complete Works and then read it a few more times in that top book there in a Robin Waterfield translation.
I also read Billy Budd by Herman Melville and My Ántonía by Willa Cather for the Short Great Books reading group I lead at the start of each month. It was my first reading of Billy Budd and my second of My Ántonía. I really like My Ántonía.
Special Podcast Episode
Plato’s Ion • Ascend - The Great Books Podcast
I’ve been a listener of Ascend - The Great Books Podcast over the past few years. They’ve helped guide me through Homer and some of the Greek Tragedies. It was therefore quite an honor to join them for a discussion on Plato’s Ion dialogue about art, inspiration, and philosophy. You can read their Substack here - The Ascent - and watch the episode above. If you prefer to listen, here’s a link to the episode.
September 2026 Reading Plan
Plato’s Republic
I’ve decided to focus the entire month of September on Plato’s Republic. My plan is to read it three times. I’ll start with the John M. Cooper edited Complete Works, move to Bloom’s translation and introduction, and then finish with the Robin Waterfield translation in that Oxford World’s Classics version. I’ve also heard that one should read Against Eratosthenes in Lysias before reading The Republic, hence the green Loeb on the top.
In October and November, I’m going to try to make it through as many of the remaining dialogues as I can. Here’s my current status:
Read - Euthyphro, Apology, Crito, Phaedo, Cratylus, Theaetetus, Sophist, Statesman, Parmenides, Philebus, Symposium, Phaedrus, Alcibiades, Second Alcibiades, Hipparchus, Rival Lovers, Theages, Charmides, Laches, Lysis, Ion
September - Republic
Yet to Read - Euthydemus, Protagoras, Gorgias, Meno, Greater Hippias, Lesser Hippias, Menexenus, Clitophon, Timaeus, Critias, Minos, Laws, Epinomis, Letters, Definitions, On Justice, On Virtue, Demodocus, Sisyphus, Halcyon, Eryxias, Axiochus, Epigrams
Recently Acquired
August Book Purchases
Here are the books I added to my library during August:
Lysias - I purchased this in order to read Against Eratosthenes before reading The Republic
Orphic Collection - This is the latest work in the Loeb Classical Library and someone mentioned that Plato references this quite a bit, so I thought it’d be good to have in the library.
The Republic - Robin Waterfield translation - I’ve really come to like Robin Waterfield and wanted his translation for September’s focus on Plato’s Republic.
Bookish Adventures
I had a fun book meetup with three other guys pushing the reading envelope around the world. We met up in Franklin, TN and visited The Great Wall at Landmark Booksellers.
I have a new podcasting station setup in the corner of my office. This gives me a nice spot away from my working desk dedicated to the podcast. This also allows me to record video podcasts. I’ve noticed shift in user behavior around podcast consumption. Audio listens are down and video views are up. It was time to make the switch after 9 years!
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 Great Books by 200 Authors chronologically over the next 40 years. Thank you for following my journey.
I am a big fan of Cather's work. Glad to see it in your mix.
I'm on my third Willa Cather go-round