{"id":1676,"date":"2023-01-15T12:37:00","date_gmt":"2023-01-15T12:37:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/maverickphilosopher.blog\/index.php\/2023\/01\/15\/reader-asks-what-should-i-read\/"},"modified":"2023-01-15T12:37:00","modified_gmt":"2023-01-15T12:37:00","slug":"reader-asks-what-should-i-read","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/maverickphilosopher.blog\/index.php\/2023\/01\/15\/reader-asks-what-should-i-read\/","title":{"rendered":"Reader Asks: What Should I Read?"},"content":{"rendered":"<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"font-family: georgia, palatino; font-size: 14pt;\">Nathaniel T. writes,<\/span><\/p>\n<blockquote>\n<div style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"font-family: georgia, palatino; font-size: 14pt;\">In the new year, I&#39;m committing to some more regular reading habits.&#0160;<\/span><\/div>\n<div style=\"text-align: justify;\">&#0160;<\/div>\n<div style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"font-family: georgia, palatino; font-size: 14pt;\">What serious books would you recommend to someone outside academia who has about half an hour uninterrupted in the morning to read, three times a week? How about a list that would last that person a year?&#0160;<\/span><\/div>\n<div style=\"text-align: justify;\">&#0160;<\/div>\n<div style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"font-family: georgia, palatino; font-size: 14pt;\">Here are some additional parameters that might aid in your selection:<\/span><\/div>\n<div style=\"text-align: justify;\">&#0160;<\/div>\n<div style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"font-family: georgia, palatino; font-size: 14pt;\">I went to St. John&#39;s College in Annapolis, so I&#39;ve read many of the &quot;greats&quot; in whole or in part, at least once. I have kept up some serious reading since my graduation in 2012, just irregularly.&#0160;<\/span><\/div>\n<\/blockquote>\n<blockquote>\n<div><span style=\"font-family: georgia, palatino; font-size: 14pt;\">I already pray and read the New Testament and spiritual reading daily.&#0160;<\/span><\/div>\n<div>&#0160;<\/div>\n<div><span style=\"font-family: georgia, palatino; font-size: 14pt;\">Thanks for your insight and writing!<\/span><\/div>\n<div>&#0160;<\/div>\n<\/blockquote>\n<div style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"font-family: georgia, palatino; font-size: 14pt;\">The best advice I could give anyone&#0160; with your background who is committed to the life of the mind is to buy and study a copy of A. G. Sertillanges, O. P., <em>The Intellectual Life: Its Spirit, Conditions, Methods. <\/em>He explains how to proceed. &#0160;It is a classic. He draws upon Aquinas and upon Alphonse Gratry, of whom C. S. Peirce had a very high opinion. So I also recommend Gratry&#39;s <em>Logic<\/em> if you can find a copy. Reference <a href=\"https:\/\/maverickphilosopher.typepad.com\/maverick_philosopher\/2010\/01\/gratry-on-trinity-and-mystery.html\">here<\/a>.<\/span><\/div>\n<div style=\"text-align: justify;\">&#0160;<\/div>\n<div style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"font-family: georgia, palatino; font-size: 14pt;\">I hesitate to offer a list of books on particular topics given the constraints on your time.&#0160; But here are a couple that are&#0160; short, very clear, and unusually thought-provoking: Athanasius of Alexandria, <em>On the Incarnation<\/em> (make sure to get the Sea Harp Press edition which contains an introduction by C. S. Lewis); Romano Guardini, <em>Jesus Christus<\/em> (anything by Guardini is worth reading).<\/span><\/div>\n<div style=\"text-align: justify;\">&#0160;<\/div>\n<div style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"font-family: georgia, palatino; font-size: 14pt;\">If perchance you are interested mystical theology, and have already read the great Spanish mystics, Juan de la Cruz and Teresa de Avila, and have the stamina for a long slog, then I recommend Augustin Poulain, <em>The Graces of Interior Prayer: A Treatise on Mystical Theology<\/em>. Reference and notes <a href=\"https:\/\/maverickphilosopher.typepad.com\/maverick_philosopher\/2020\/02\/this-mornings-meditation.html\">here<\/a>.<\/span><\/div>\n<div style=\"text-align: justify;\">&#0160;<\/div>\n<div style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"font-family: georgia, palatino; font-size: 14pt;\">For more suggestions see my <a href=\"https:\/\/maverickphilosopher.typepad.com\/maverick_philosopher\/bibliophilia\/\">Bibliophilia<\/a> category.<\/span><\/div>\n<div style=\"text-align: justify;\">&#0160;<\/div>\n<div style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"font-family: georgia, palatino; font-size: 14pt;\">Combox open if anyone has any recommendations.<\/span><\/div>\n<div style=\"text-align: justify;\">&#0160;<\/div>\n<div style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"font-family: georgia, palatino; font-size: 14pt;\">By the way, has St. John&#39;s College, Annapolis <a href=\"https:\/\/michaelsavage.com\/president-of-st-johns-college-in-annapolis-who-says-universities-treat-professors-as-thought-criminals-creates-new-university-dedicated-to-the-fearless-pursuit-of-truth\/\">gone &#39;woke&#39;<\/a>?&#0160;&#0160;<\/span><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Nathaniel T. writes, In the new year, I&#39;m committing to some more regular reading habits.&#0160; &#0160; What serious books would you recommend to someone outside academia who has about half an hour uninterrupted in the morning to read, three times a week? How about a list that would last that person a year?&#0160; &#0160; Here &hellip; <a href=\"https:\/\/maverickphilosopher.blog\/index.php\/2023\/01\/15\/reader-asks-what-should-i-read\/\" class=\"more-link\">Continue reading<span class=\"screen-reader-text\"> &#8220;Reader Asks: What Should I Read?&#8221;<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[389,289,290,72,299],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1676","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-bibliophilia","category-books","category-life-of-the-mind","category-sage-advice","category-studiousness"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/maverickphilosopher.blog\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1676","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/maverickphilosopher.blog\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/maverickphilosopher.blog\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/maverickphilosopher.blog\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/maverickphilosopher.blog\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1676"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/maverickphilosopher.blog\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1676\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/maverickphilosopher.blog\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1676"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/maverickphilosopher.blog\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1676"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/maverickphilosopher.blog\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1676"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}