Reading Recap: March 2026
Early Greek Philosophy • Bookish Adventures • Recently Acquired Books
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 40 years. Thank you for following my journey.
March 2026 Reading
Early Greek Philosophy
I returned to my Immortal Books reading list at the start of March. I’ve taken a break from reading Plato in order to read the philosophers who inspired Plato. I realized that Plato was referencing early Greek Philosophers and I wanted to know more about them, so that’s my focus at the moment. I also worked in a few extra books during the month. Here they are from bottom to top:
Nero & Paul - Kathie Lee Gifford with Bryan M. Litfin / Landmark Booksellers had an event with Kathie Lee Gifford on March 16th about her new book with Bryan Litfin called Nero & Paul. A few days after that event, I left on a family vacation to Rome, and so I decided to read this book on the plane. I ended up visiting a number of Roman sites mentioned in this book that dealt with the life of the Apostle Paul. This was one of those perfectly timed books.
Early Greek Philosophy - Translation by Jonathan Barnes - Penguin Classics / I’m still reading this book and going through each of the early Greek philosophers one by one.
The First Philosophers - Translation by Robin Waterfield - Oxford World’s Classics / I’m still reading this book and going through each of the early Greek philosophers one by one.
Heraclitus: Fragments - Translation by Brooks Haxton - Penguin Classics / I read this in preparation for my podcast episode about the early Greek Philosopher Heraclitus and to learn more about his writing about the logos.
The Logos of Heraclitus - Eva Brann / I wanted to learn more about Heraclitus’ use of the logos term and to see if it had any connections to John’s use of the term in the Gospel of John. I share what I learned in this podcast episode.
The Intentional Father - Jon Tyson / I need all the help I can get in parenting. Although written for dads with sons (I have two daughters), this book was full of helpful wisdom. Now to implement.
April 2026 Reading Plan
Early Greek Philosophy • Plato
I’m continuing on in my pursuit of the early Greek philosophers. That may take me through the end of April. My plan is to cover the main philosophers on the podcast. My goal with this detour is to better understand Plato when I return to him. Here are the books on tap for April from bottom to top:
One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich - Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn / This is the book for April for the Short Great Books reading group I lead in Franklin, TN. I’ve never read this and am looking forward to it.
Three Books about Greek Philosophers
Lives of the Eminent Philosophers - Diogenes Laertius - Loeb Volumes 1 & 2 / Back in 200–250 AD, Diogenes wrote a large book about the early philosophers. This has become an important source for information about these early Greek Philosophers. I’m reading this as I read about each philosopher.
Bookish Adventures
Author Events • Edinburgh • Rome
March was full of incredible author events at Landmark Booksellers and some delightful travel abroad. I’m including some photos and descriptions below:
A welcome sign in Edinburgh
The Loeb section at Blackwells in Edinburgh
An event in Franklin, TN with Kathie Lee Gifford and Karen Kingsbury
The Almost Corner Bookshop in Rome
The Liberia Fahrenheit Bookshop in Rome
A Bernini statue of Hades’ rape of Persephone at the Borghese Gallery in Rome
The School of Athens by Raphael at the Vatican Museum
An event in Franklin, TN with illustrator Stephen Crotts and poet Malcolm Guite
Listening to Malcolm Guite read a poem about the desk of Emily Dickinson at Landmark Booksellers
Recently Acquired
March Book Purchases
I went a little crazy on the book buying during March. I acquired some of these overseas. Here’s why I purchased each book:
Aristotle Complete Works - I’ll be reading Aristotle after Plato and had been eyeing this new set for a while. I finally pulled the trigger.
Galahad and the Grail - Malcolm Guite, Illustrated by Stephen Crotts / I’ve been highly anticipating this book and it came out on March 26th. This is the first of a four-part epic written by the poet Malcolm Guite. It’s a stunning work and is one I think will stand the test of time.
Heraclitus - Martin Heidegger / I purchased this one to learn more about Heraclitus’ use of the term logos.
The Four Gospels in Braid Scots / I purchased this book in Edinburgh at McNaughtan’s Bookshop, Scotland, and it’s the four gospels of the New Testament in Scots dialogue. It’s so awesome.
The Secret Life of the American Musical - Jack Veirtel / This book was mentioned in the book about the musical Hadestown by Anaïs Mitchell and sparked my interest enough to purchase it.
Rome: Archeological Guide / My other trip during March was to Rome, Italy, and so I picked this book up at the Almost Corner Bookshop and had a lovely chat with one of the owners.
The Flowering Hawthorn by Hugh Ross Williamson / During my read-through of the Bible this year, I was really struck by the story of Joseph of Arimathea and how he cared for the body of Jesus. Well, this story then ties Joseph to Arthur.
Selected Myths - Plato / The title alone has me intrigued and I plan to read everything by Plato. However, I think this is just a collection of the myths he references in his dialogues, so I’ll probably be reading these all within the dialogues. But oh my, that title.
Sayings and Anecdotes - Diogenes / I actually meant to get the works by Diogenes Laertius, so this was a mistake purchase, but I decided to keep the book as I’ll probably read it at some point.
The Logos of Heraclitus - Eva Brann / I purchased this to learn more about Heraclitus’ use of logos.
Aristophanes II - Loeb / A Scotland secondhand bookstore purchase at Edinburgh Books. When I see Loebs on sale, I just go ahead and buy them. I also want to return to Aristophanes at some point.
Argonautica - Apolonius Rhodes - Loeb / This is one of the books on my Short Great Books reading group list this year, so I thought I’d pick up the Loeb version. Another Scotland secondhand bookshop purchase.
Lives of the Eminent Philosophers - Diogenes Laertius - Loeb Volumes 1 & 2 / Purchased these for the great information about the main early Greek philosophers.