This is extremely informational and a great way to build a foundation of life-long learning from reading! Also, I just discovered the word “synchronicity” and used it in my recent post. It was fun to see it here! Your writing (and how you structured your support page) has inspired me greatly!
Your list is amazing! I am rarely intentional about reading, but a couple of years ago, Amor Towles’ Gentleman in Moscow led me into a very deep dive into all things Russian. I had a pretty limited humanities education, and as I’ve gotten older I feel the lack, but I’ve also let my self-discipline go to pot. Earlier this year Ted Gioia here on Substack published his own “Humanities Reading List” and it was the push I needed. I’m keeping a record of that reading here on Substack. Five weeks in I’ve read a bunch of Plato, the Odyssey, Confucius, and all of Aristotle’s Ethics and Poetics. I keep notes of what books I’d like to read based on each book. This week, back to Plato and also Herodotus. Already my attention and focus are changing for the better.
Cheryl, it sounds like you're following some giants! Amor Towles is a wonderful author, and I loved A Gentleman in Moscow. Ted Gioia is one of my favorite writers here on Substack. He's an erudite individual with wide-ranging interests. His reading list is to be admired. I have been following your for a bit but will make sure to did a bit deeper into your writing. Thanks for being an important part of this conversation.
Thank you, this is wonderful! I embrace everything you’ve written here except that I have a different take on this statement: “Lifelong learning through self-education is a means of keeping pace with a changing world…”. In fact, I think the pace of change in our world today is inhuman and ultimately impossible to keep up with. Reading, by its nature, actually slows us down to a more human pace. When reading, I don’t care if the world gets ahead of me—I get to spend time with great minds and eternal verities. :) But this is a great post and I thank you for sharing your approach with us.
Amy, thanks for this insightful point. You have me thinking a little deeper on the topic. I agree that we can't keep pace with everything. The act of reading slows us down and anchors us in a physical place. At the same time our mind expands and we become a little more than what we were before. So I think we are both on to something here. I appreciate your voice in the conversation.
Matthew, this post offers a great perspective on reading the classics and other cornerstone books in the humanities and beyond. I would add that reading books in topics one is interested in also provides for life learning. In talking with university advisor a decade ago when I was working on my late in life B.A. we discussed books I had read and found I had covered a couple of semesters of women's studies on my own.
Thanks Pamela. I agree that focusing on things we have an interest in likely leads to better retention and more learning over time. If I was forced to read a bunch of books on chemistry or math I doubt much learning would take place regardless of how much I read!
Matthew, My biggest fear when I went back to school to get my B.A. a decade ago was math and science. Thankfully the only class I had any trouble with was Stats. I think there is a lot to be said about going to school later in life. Most people that chose that path tend to be avid self-directed learners, like me, who didn’t get a chance to go to college when they were younger. Every now and then I think I might go back for more. Another M.A. maybe or a PhD. I love learning.
Wow! I have never seen such intentional reading ideas although I completely understand why you are doing it. I wonder if you need a fair amount of knowledge about books to be able to do this. I come from the chaos end of the reading spectrum but did think that being more intentional would be good for me. I am going to think about one book each month that I might read so that there is still plenty of space for the random reading (i.e. go into the library, see a new book on the new books shelves and borrow it). Thank you for a thought-provoking read.
Joy, you are welcome and all chaos readers are welcome here! I think there is a good argument for reading spontaneously and with whatever strikes the mood. I just know that for me it wouldn't work because I would get too distracted by some shiny object! So the plan keeps me focused. Thanks for being here.
I can see that and I can also see that some of this would be good for me. What I think is that I might need to reverse engineer the reading. Start with what I like and work backwards. So, I really like Percival Everett's books, particularly James which is based on Huckleberry Finn - something I haven't read and could. I could also follow his central theme which is that there is not just one Black story and follow that to see where it takes me. Who else is writing about this and how? I can also look and see if there are any biographies about Everett. This is a completely new way of thinking about reading and I see the merit in it. I am enjoying what you are writing and how you are making me think differently. Thank you.
I'm going to "steal" your Russian story reading list to supplement my journey into Russian literature. Speaking of which, have you read I Was a Slave in Russia by John Noble? It gives a German-American perspective on life in the Gulag.
100 books a year is fantastic! I'm not sure how many I read per year...but it's a lot. I'm still like you were before: No method to the reading madness; I read whatever falls into my hands at any given time. Personally, this approach seems to fit my own weird, erratic nature, haha, but I totally understand the drive towards more purposefulness and categorical discipline when it comes to reading.
"Today's digital age highlights the significance of literature as a tool for lifelong learning. While the internet offers unparalleled access to information, it often encourages superficial engagement rather than deep understanding."
Michael, I think there are probably more people who read chaotically than with a plan and that is ok. If I don't have a plan then my brain wanders off into the clouds somewhere and I don't get anything done.
Enjoyed listening to this very much, Matthew. Any sense of curation in my own reading began when I was in my early twenties. I fell very ill with glandular fever and during a long recuperation decided that I might finally try and read one of those large canonical books I'd picked up on the cheap a couple of years previous. I started with Melville, and Moby Dick, thrilled that several hundred pages could be enjoyed so easily when you had so much time on your hands! Melville led me to Camus, Camus to many other French greats and to Dosteovsky, Dosteovsky to many other Russians, classical and a few modern. I don't think there was any great plan, but there was a very certain thread that ran through them all and each new book suggested the next. It was such a lovely few years of discovery, reading, learning and, I think you are quite right: wisdom. These days, I read so little fiction, which I miss, but I rarely read a book that disappoints. So interesting to learn more of your journey and thoughts.
Matt, thanks for sharing your experience with curated reading. It is interesting to me the different seasons we go through with reading. It is one of the reasons I love my reading journal which is really just a list of all the books I have read since 1997. It allows me to see what types of reading I was doing at different points in time. I think that my own reading still skews towards fiction but non-fiction has definitely increased in the last few years. There was a decade or so in my late 20s and early 30s where I didn't touch a non-fiction book unless it had to do with school.
Having spent my life with history and literature I do read topic areas depending on shifting interests. Any updates to WWII and current Russia always command my attention. But literature—I read things that will be the bases for other writers’ works, but then tend to follow those authors I like until I have read the.complete works, then move on. The so-called canon was chosen predominantly by white men and represents a narrow world view. Life is short. I want to read well-written or interesting narratives or essays or poetry. I have read a very great deal. I used to average a book every two or so days. I am a swift and ferocious reader and often exchange sleep for literary pleasure. Nowadays I read whatever I fancy.
Alexandra, I love that approach. I don't buy into the definitive canon idea. Each of us creates our canon of what is vital to our lives. I am happy as long as people are reading something!
In reading over the contents of The Harvard Classics, I find lots of lovely but probably not very useful or gloriously written essays. And indeed they do mean classics. I would weed volumes 1, 2 9, 26 ; the essays, some of the continental drama. The problem is that the more of this you read, the less you can read of everything else I also worry that lit crit will stop readers from forming their own opinions. Very difficult.
This is brilliant! I have been realizing this also. I read a lot, but without any plan until recently. I have started choosing a history or non-fiction topic a month, and it's amazing how many connections I am able to make. Your list makes me think about how I could refine my reading this coming year. Thank you!
Chris, I'm glad this was helpful. You don't have to go all in when you're just starting out. My process has been developed over several years of figuring out what works best for me. If it looks like something that works for you, you can use it or something similar. But also give yourself the freedom to experiment.
It is amazing the connections we can make we we put some intentional thought into our reading and that is what I love about a plan. I also still allow myself the pure joy of pulling a random novel off my shelf and sitting down for an afternoon with something completely unplanned.
Your point, "Literature is ..." solid! Each point, especially "life-long learning."
Thanks Joseph!
I’m so happy Sea of Tranquility is in your reading list!
I love her books. I just finished The Glass Hotel and loved it!
This is extremely informational and a great way to build a foundation of life-long learning from reading! Also, I just discovered the word “synchronicity” and used it in my recent post. It was fun to see it here! Your writing (and how you structured your support page) has inspired me greatly!
P.S. Do you own a copy of The Nightingale??
Thanks Rachel. I am glad you found value and inspiration here. Glad to have your voice in the conversation.
I do not currently own a copy of The Nightingale although it was on my Christmas wish list so we will find out in a few days if I get one or not!
Your list is amazing! I am rarely intentional about reading, but a couple of years ago, Amor Towles’ Gentleman in Moscow led me into a very deep dive into all things Russian. I had a pretty limited humanities education, and as I’ve gotten older I feel the lack, but I’ve also let my self-discipline go to pot. Earlier this year Ted Gioia here on Substack published his own “Humanities Reading List” and it was the push I needed. I’m keeping a record of that reading here on Substack. Five weeks in I’ve read a bunch of Plato, the Odyssey, Confucius, and all of Aristotle’s Ethics and Poetics. I keep notes of what books I’d like to read based on each book. This week, back to Plato and also Herodotus. Already my attention and focus are changing for the better.
Cheryl, it sounds like you're following some giants! Amor Towles is a wonderful author, and I loved A Gentleman in Moscow. Ted Gioia is one of my favorite writers here on Substack. He's an erudite individual with wide-ranging interests. His reading list is to be admired. I have been following your for a bit but will make sure to did a bit deeper into your writing. Thanks for being an important part of this conversation.
Oh my goodness thanks so much! Happy to connect on this great platform.
Have you read Chekhov, Dostoevsky, Tolstoy? Get on that if not!
Yes! All in my Russian dive, plus a bunch of history, and even Solzhenitsyn. And a few other novelists who I can’t recall off the top of my head.
Thank you, this is wonderful! I embrace everything you’ve written here except that I have a different take on this statement: “Lifelong learning through self-education is a means of keeping pace with a changing world…”. In fact, I think the pace of change in our world today is inhuman and ultimately impossible to keep up with. Reading, by its nature, actually slows us down to a more human pace. When reading, I don’t care if the world gets ahead of me—I get to spend time with great minds and eternal verities. :) But this is a great post and I thank you for sharing your approach with us.
Good point, Amy. Our current pace IS inhuman. Agreed.
Amy, thanks for this insightful point. You have me thinking a little deeper on the topic. I agree that we can't keep pace with everything. The act of reading slows us down and anchors us in a physical place. At the same time our mind expands and we become a little more than what we were before. So I think we are both on to something here. I appreciate your voice in the conversation.
I respect you readers who plan but I remain firmly in chaos mode.
For 2025 I did come up with some loose goals:
- Read more books published by independent presses
- Read more poetry
- Read more works in translation.
Me too. Literary anarchy, man.
I respect readers who can just wing it! It takes all kinds my friend.
Matthew, this post offers a great perspective on reading the classics and other cornerstone books in the humanities and beyond. I would add that reading books in topics one is interested in also provides for life learning. In talking with university advisor a decade ago when I was working on my late in life B.A. we discussed books I had read and found I had covered a couple of semesters of women's studies on my own.
Thanks Pamela. I agree that focusing on things we have an interest in likely leads to better retention and more learning over time. If I was forced to read a bunch of books on chemistry or math I doubt much learning would take place regardless of how much I read!
Matthew, My biggest fear when I went back to school to get my B.A. a decade ago was math and science. Thankfully the only class I had any trouble with was Stats. I think there is a lot to be said about going to school later in life. Most people that chose that path tend to be avid self-directed learners, like me, who didn’t get a chance to go to college when they were younger. Every now and then I think I might go back for more. Another M.A. maybe or a PhD. I love learning.
Wow! I have never seen such intentional reading ideas although I completely understand why you are doing it. I wonder if you need a fair amount of knowledge about books to be able to do this. I come from the chaos end of the reading spectrum but did think that being more intentional would be good for me. I am going to think about one book each month that I might read so that there is still plenty of space for the random reading (i.e. go into the library, see a new book on the new books shelves and borrow it). Thank you for a thought-provoking read.
Chaos Readers Unite! (CRU)
Joy, you are welcome and all chaos readers are welcome here! I think there is a good argument for reading spontaneously and with whatever strikes the mood. I just know that for me it wouldn't work because I would get too distracted by some shiny object! So the plan keeps me focused. Thanks for being here.
I can see that and I can also see that some of this would be good for me. What I think is that I might need to reverse engineer the reading. Start with what I like and work backwards. So, I really like Percival Everett's books, particularly James which is based on Huckleberry Finn - something I haven't read and could. I could also follow his central theme which is that there is not just one Black story and follow that to see where it takes me. Who else is writing about this and how? I can also look and see if there are any biographies about Everett. This is a completely new way of thinking about reading and I see the merit in it. I am enjoying what you are writing and how you are making me think differently. Thank you.
I'm going to "steal" your Russian story reading list to supplement my journey into Russian literature. Speaking of which, have you read I Was a Slave in Russia by John Noble? It gives a German-American perspective on life in the Gulag.
Please, steal as much as you want when it comes to book recommendations! I have not read the book by Noble. I will check it out. Thanks!
You're welcome. And thank you!
This is an excellent piece. I liked how you structured this and showed how you can develop a more purposeful approach to learning. Thank you.
Thanks Jon. That means a lot.
100 books a year is fantastic! I'm not sure how many I read per year...but it's a lot. I'm still like you were before: No method to the reading madness; I read whatever falls into my hands at any given time. Personally, this approach seems to fit my own weird, erratic nature, haha, but I totally understand the drive towards more purposefulness and categorical discipline when it comes to reading.
"Today's digital age highlights the significance of literature as a tool for lifelong learning. While the internet offers unparalleled access to information, it often encourages superficial engagement rather than deep understanding."
So true about our online culture!
Thanks for the piece.
Michael, I think there are probably more people who read chaotically than with a plan and that is ok. If I don't have a plan then my brain wanders off into the clouds somewhere and I don't get anything done.
Enjoyed listening to this very much, Matthew. Any sense of curation in my own reading began when I was in my early twenties. I fell very ill with glandular fever and during a long recuperation decided that I might finally try and read one of those large canonical books I'd picked up on the cheap a couple of years previous. I started with Melville, and Moby Dick, thrilled that several hundred pages could be enjoyed so easily when you had so much time on your hands! Melville led me to Camus, Camus to many other French greats and to Dosteovsky, Dosteovsky to many other Russians, classical and a few modern. I don't think there was any great plan, but there was a very certain thread that ran through them all and each new book suggested the next. It was such a lovely few years of discovery, reading, learning and, I think you are quite right: wisdom. These days, I read so little fiction, which I miss, but I rarely read a book that disappoints. So interesting to learn more of your journey and thoughts.
Matt, thanks for sharing your experience with curated reading. It is interesting to me the different seasons we go through with reading. It is one of the reasons I love my reading journal which is really just a list of all the books I have read since 1997. It allows me to see what types of reading I was doing at different points in time. I think that my own reading still skews towards fiction but non-fiction has definitely increased in the last few years. There was a decade or so in my late 20s and early 30s where I didn't touch a non-fiction book unless it had to do with school.
Having spent my life with history and literature I do read topic areas depending on shifting interests. Any updates to WWII and current Russia always command my attention. But literature—I read things that will be the bases for other writers’ works, but then tend to follow those authors I like until I have read the.complete works, then move on. The so-called canon was chosen predominantly by white men and represents a narrow world view. Life is short. I want to read well-written or interesting narratives or essays or poetry. I have read a very great deal. I used to average a book every two or so days. I am a swift and ferocious reader and often exchange sleep for literary pleasure. Nowadays I read whatever I fancy.
Alexandra, I love that approach. I don't buy into the definitive canon idea. Each of us creates our canon of what is vital to our lives. I am happy as long as people are reading something!
In reading over the contents of The Harvard Classics, I find lots of lovely but probably not very useful or gloriously written essays. And indeed they do mean classics. I would weed volumes 1, 2 9, 26 ; the essays, some of the continental drama. The problem is that the more of this you read, the less you can read of everything else I also worry that lit crit will stop readers from forming their own opinions. Very difficult.
This is brilliant! I have been realizing this also. I read a lot, but without any plan until recently. I have started choosing a history or non-fiction topic a month, and it's amazing how many connections I am able to make. Your list makes me think about how I could refine my reading this coming year. Thank you!
Chris, I'm glad this was helpful. You don't have to go all in when you're just starting out. My process has been developed over several years of figuring out what works best for me. If it looks like something that works for you, you can use it or something similar. But also give yourself the freedom to experiment.
It is amazing the connections we can make we we put some intentional thought into our reading and that is what I love about a plan. I also still allow myself the pure joy of pulling a random novel off my shelf and sitting down for an afternoon with something completely unplanned.