I’m really late on posting what I try to make an annual, beginning of the year thing: My 2019 reading list. I like sharing my list in this space as a way of generating sharing and discussions, as well as demonstrating my belief and practice that good citizens are well read citizens, and that well read citizens are not just reading politics.
How I chose my reading
I won’t belabor the point this year, so if you’d like to get the rundown on how I choose books you can read about my method in my 2018 reading list post.
Suffice to say, it’s mostly random. I first go through the bookshelves at home and pull off a handful of books that either A) grab my interest or B) I’d like to reread. Then, I add books that I received for gifts over the holidays and round it all out with some recommendations that require access to a library.
I’ll browse my father in law’s Audible library on my Kindle as well to throw in a few audiobooks.
No rhyme or reason to it, just a few prioritized criteria.
The 2019 reading list
As noted in my 2018 reading list post, I generally group my reading in a few broad categories. Under each category, I list what I hope to read this year (given the later publication of this post, the books I’ve read already are in bold).
- History/Biography
- Ta-Nehisi Coates, Between the World and Me
- Margaret MacMillan, Paris, 1919
- Thucydides, History of the Peloponnesian War
- Steve Kemper, A Splendid Savage
- Denis Judd, Empire
- Politics/Philosophy
- Foreign Affairs
- Yuval Levin, The Fractured Republic
- Robert Kaplan, Warrior Politics
- Danielle Allen, Our Declaration
- Ben Sasse, The Vanishing American Adult
- Rene Descartes, Meditations on First Philosophy
- Francis Fukuyama, The End of History and the Last Man
- Amy Chua, World on Fire
- John Stuart Mill, On Liberty
- Library of Congress, Presidential Inaugural Speeches, Vol. I and II
- Theology
- Mark Dever, God and Politics
- Glen Matt, Evidence for a Christian Worldview
- Abdu Murray, Saving Truth
- Henri Nouwen, Life of the Beloved
- Abelard, Ethical Writings
- Augustine, On Christian Teaching
- Literature/Fiction
- George MacDonald, Phantastes
- James Joyce, The Dead
- Sidney Lanier, King Arthur and His Knights of the Round Table
- James Joyce, Dubliners
- George Elliot, Silas Marner
- William Shakespeare, As You Like It
- Business
- Daniel Coyle, Culture Code
- John Maxwell, Developing the Leaders Around You
- Health/Fitness
- Other
- Seyla Benhabib, Claims of Culture
- Gabriel Wyner, Fluent Forever
What I’ve read and learned already
Of the books I’ve read already, a large portion were for a class I’ve been teaching on contemporary political thought. Of those books, those by Coates, Allen and Sasse have provided an excellent conversation for my students and I on understanding American political thought and culture. Indeed, the contrast in tone and thought between Coates and Allen provides wonderful insight into the rich contribution African-American writers are making to American political thought. Sasse’s book is unique as a reflection by a sitting Senator on what ails American society in that he’s not exactly writing as a Senator, but as a parent and citizen. There’s a degree of humility there that’s refreshing.
On the literature front, I haven’t read a Joyce story since my undergraduate college days and I was newly awed by Joyce’s ability to write such drama, depth and beauty into the everyday experience of a holiday party in The Dead.
When I first read Lanier’s King Arthur and His Knights of the Round Table, I was about 11 or 12 and found the older English difficult, even if the stories were interesting. However, reading it again as an adult, I found within its pages a deeper reflection on the nature of power and the limits of human idealism. Even with the best people, the best intentions, and the best system, Arthur’s Camelot still fell in time due to the darker impulses of human nature. It’s a parable worth laying to heart.
In much the same way, MacMillan’s Paris, 1919 is a fascinating study of a similar exercise in idealism only one that occurred in fact and not legend. The saga of the Paris Peace Conference and its many twists and turns is a timely reminder of the difficulties of multilateral and bilateral diplomacy. What was surprising in this, my second reading, was the familiarity this hundred-year-old world bears to our own.
What remains
It’s already been a really rich reading experience, and I’m excited to dig into the rest, particularly the presidential inaugural addresses, and the Judd and Kemper books as a mini-course on English imperialism. Hopefully I’ll get through all of them this year, but what I’m recognizing I really need to do is develop a method of gathering insights and meaty quotes from these books. Any suggestions would be helpful!