Reading Recap: October 2025
Plato • Braveheart • Bookish Acquisitions
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.
October Reading Recap
I’m on author #18 from my Immortal Books reading list. That author is Plato. Initially, my plan was to read four or five of his main works but then I got a silly notion to read his complete works. I’ve now finished 9 of his dialogues (Euthyphro, Apology, Crito, Phaedo, Cratylus, Theaetetus, Sophist, Statesman, and Parmenides). I call this insanity The Plato Project and most of October was dedicated to Cratylus through Parmenides from the list above.
So far, my two favorites are Cratylus and Statesman. The two most difficult have been Sophist and Parmenides. I read Sophist 3 times, asked a ton of questions on X, and have read some articles to try and help. Parmenides is quite possibly the most difficult thing I’ve ever read in my life, except for tax forms. After finishing Parmenides, I asked A.I. to summarize the dialogue for a 5 year old and I didn’t even understand that. 🤯
I also read Man’s Search for Meaning during October. That was for the Short Great Books reading group I lead once a month. It was my second time reading the book. I had first read it in 2017, so I took the podcast episode below as an opportunity to compare 2017 Erik to 2025 Erik both in what I got out of the book and how I approach reading.
November Reading Plan
My brain started hurting while reading Plato’s Parmenides. I could only read a few pages at a time. I found myself longing for lighter fare. I needed a little break and so yesterday morning, I started reading White Nights by Fyodor Dostoevsky. This is the book for the November meeting of the Short Great Books reading group (I’d love for you to join). So far, it’s very interesting and I can’t wait to discuss it with others.
After White Nights, I’m going to read about Plato in Robin Waterfield’s Plato of Athens. Waterfield has translated a number of Greek works and I had this book recommended to me.
Then, it’s back to the Complete Works of Plato. I had a lofty notion that I would finish Plato by the end of this year, but that will likely not be the case. I’ll keep plugging away. I’m actually really enjoying Plato. It’s hard, but there have been some ‘ah-ha’ moments of comprehension after deep confusion. That is such a great feeling and one of the main joys of reading.
November Reading Group
If you’d like to join the November online reading group covering White Nights, simply become a paid subscriber to this Substack and you’ll be notified about the Zoom link. We’ll be meeting on Wednesday, November 12th at 7pm Central Ttime. Also, if you’d like to join in December, we’ll be discussing Dickens’ A Christmas Carol. To learn more about this reading group, go to Short Great Books.
October Bookish Adventures
I had some really incredible book-related experiences during October. The first was having Malcolm Guite in Franklin, TN for his 3rd event with Landmark Booksellers. I was able to ask him questions about Plato. Despite not having read the dialogues in decades, he was adroitly talking about them as if he had just read them a few days before. It was incredible. The event with Malcolm was such a delight. He shared this comment about poetry:
“You write poetry to make discoveries. If I’ve got an idea to write a poem, and I start to write it and that’s exactly what it is and nothing more, then that is not a poem - that’s a note to self. The poem has got to tell me more than I know. It’s got to quicken under my hands with its own life. It’s got to push back. I’ve got to find something I wasn’t expecting.”
~ Malcolm Guite, Oct 14, 2025, St. Paul’s Episcopal Church, Landmark Booksellers Event
My favorite movie of all time and the one that has had the biggest impact on me is Braveheart. I got to meet Randall Wallace on October 19th at a TEDxNashville event. Randall is the author of Braveheart and the screenwriter for the film. He told me that his initial draft of Braveheart had been deeply inspired by the New Testament. As he got to know more about the historical account of William Wallace, he saw that elements of his story had indeed happened without Randall knowing beforehand. I thought that was pretty cool.
Although it looks like it, I’m not yelling at these author/illustrators. Sophie from the U.K. and John Hendrix from the U.S.A. appeared together at Landmark Booksellers for an early October event. John is the author/illustrator of the wildly successful Mythmakers graphic novel about the friendship between C.S. Lewis and J.R.R. Tolkien. It’s so fun listening to people talk about imagination.
One of my greatest joys is getting the right book in the right hands at the right time. During October, I got to set up a table of books I curated at a TEDxNashville event. My goal was then to find out what people were interested in and encourage them to read a particular book that would challenge them.
Recently Acquired
I saw
recently highlight books he had purchased during the month and I thought it’d be fun to begin chronicling the random books I purchase throughout the year. As I come across book ideas, have books recommended to me, or wish to follow a thread, I usually just go ahead and purchase the book. I may not get to them right away, but I like knowing they are there.Here’s what I purchased during October from bottom to top:
Since I met Randall Wallace, I decided to purchase his book Living the Braveheart Life.
Plato: Sophist - this was the 3rd translation I read of Sophist.
Parable and Paradox by Malcolm Guite - I bought this one because it is signed by the poet.
Against the Academicians and The Teacher by Augustine - Malcolm Guite suggested this book and said The Teacher is Augustine’s answer to Plato’s Forms.
The Cure at Troy by Seamus Heaney - this is Heaney’s version of Sophocles’ Philoctetes. I was part of a Catherine Project reading group in October covering Philoctetes and it is my favorite Greek Tragedy, so when I saw this, I knew I had to have it.
Meditations by Marcus Aurelius (Translated by Aaron Poochigian) - this is an advance reading copy and was sent to me by the translator. I’ve read Poochigian’s translations of Sappho and Aristophanes. I’m hoping to get him in for an event at Landmark Booksellers in 2026.
How to Develop a Brilliant Memory Week by Week by Dominic O’Brien - I’m doing some research into how to remember what you read.
The Complete Fairy Tales by George MacDonald - I heard this one mentioned on
’s podcast and ordered it immediately.Rhetorica Ad Herennium by (maybe) Cicero - this one deals with memory, something I’m looking into.
I’m hoping to read some of these during my December Break Month of reading.