buy and read every title in "The New Lifetime Reading Plan" : Read dozens of major works of literature, poetry, and philosophy over the next forty years.

June – September

the Bible
^{“We assume that nearly every reader of this book will own a Bible and be at least somewhat accustomed to reading it; there is nothing we might try to say about it that would not seem presumptuous.” Well sir, an assumption and a dollar won’t get you a cup of Starbucks coffee! I’m halfway done with it, I just need to buy a new one and dive back in.}

Virginia Wolf Orlando
or
Lewis Carroll Through the Looking Glass
^{This will be my selection for my reading club at work.}

October

John Stuart Mill On Liberty
^{“Conservatives are not necessarily stupid, but most stupid people are conservatives” (JSM) I own it, it’s thin, and it’s essential reading. Yay!}

Other Books that I Own Already

1. Confucius, 551-479 BCE. The Analects
   
2. Plato, 428-348 BCE. Selected Works
   
3. The Bhagavad Gita
   
4. Marcus Aurelius, 121-180. Meditations
   
5. Niccolò Macchiavelli, 1469-1527. The Prince
   
6. David Hume, 1711-1776. An Enquiry Concerning Human Understanding
7. Ralph Waldo Emerson, 1803-1882. Selected Works
8. John Stuart Mill, 1806-1873. On Liberty
9. Charles Dickens, 1812-1870. David Copperfield
10. Thomas Kuhn, 1922-1996. The Structure of Scientific Revolutions

Robert Teeter’s version of the list

and a briefer version of the list

• Essays and Poems Ralph Waldo Emerson
• Leaves of Grass Walt Whitman
• Walden Henry David Thoreau
• Complete Works Plato

I just figured out that I’ll get to read some significant selections from the NLRP during my Spring semester at the university. So I can work on several goals at once—1) graduate from undergrad, 2) buy and read every title in the NLRP, and 3) study for fifteen to twenty hours per week.

• Plato’s Meno and Phaedo
• Walt Whitman’s Song of Myself

• Plato’s Republic and Phaedrus

This is going to be a very challenging goal, because this year promises to be one of the busiest yet. My work load keeps piling up and I’m taking three difficult classes this semester. It will be all I can do to keep up with my short-term priorities and I’m afraid that my reading project might suffer. Here’s how I will deal with this.

1. Send myself a weekly reminder from 43 Things
2. Aim at reasonable comprehension of the works—I might not gain a deep understanding of everything that I read, but that is okay
3. Pick works that I can become passionate about so that I’m motivated by interest and enjoyment

• Read Scruton’s writing about Hume and the British Empiricists
• Re-read the “Enquiry” and outline the arguments as best as I can

• Read two translations of the Bhagavad Gita, digesting and outlining the ideas in it
• find out how to pronounce the important words
• Read and annotate a commentary
• Visit the Hare Krishna temple in Dallas and talk to people knowledgable about the philosophy of their beliefs

• Read Machiavelli’s The Prince
• Find out more about the history, art, and politics of Renaissance Italy

• Read Moby Dick by Herman Melville

I did it! I plowed through all twelve chapters—some were delightful and easy to comprehend, while others contained more intricate arguments that will require more time to digest. Riotious fun!

I’ve read the first four chapters of this book but I haven’t read any of it this week so far. I should be able to finish my first reading of it by Monday. Then I’ll start a systematic close reading, outlining arguments, raising objections, and finding other comments on the book. I’m considering scheduling reading time every day. As little as fifteen minutes dedicated to reading would push me toward my goal.

The first book on my list is An Inquiry Concerning Human Understanding by David Hume. I bought this book and read most of it for an Introduction to Philosophy class several years ago. I enjoy reading Hume—he’s a fantastic writer. This morning I read the Cambridge Dictionary of Philosophy entry on the dude.

The challenge will be to read consistently over the long haul. With pressure from work and school, I don’t have much free time for extracurricular stuff.

I encountered Clifton Fadiman’s Lifetime Reading Plan many years ago at a public library and fell in love with it. I’ve attempted to work my way through some of the titles in years past, but never systematically. I calculated this morning that if I read four or five books per year for the next thirty years, I would cover the entire list. I can only imagine the worlds I will have discovered in that time. Bon Voyage!