Erik Rostad (Books of Titans)
@booksoftitans
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I'm reading 200 of The Great Books over the next 10 years in order from oldest to newest. I'm also the business manager at Landmark Booksellers in Franklin, TN.
Franklin, TN
Joined January 2017
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🧵My 2024 Reading List.
I'll be chronicling my journey through year 2 of my Great Books + reading project, adding each book as I finish it. As most books are from Ancient Greece, I'm calling this year "My Big Fat Greek Reading List."
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Hi, my name is Erik, and I’m an Iliadoholic.
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I love the sense of discovery in reading. Just last week, I learned that there are 8 total works in the Trojan Epic Cycle. The most famous are the Iliad & Odyssey, but there were 6 others that are now lost to us. Although not written by Homer, they included stories before, in…
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2023 was the best reading year of my life. I read the Bible, Herodotus, the Iliad, the Odyssey, and Hesiod. I learned about the Babylonians, Assyrians, Egyptians, Persians, Greeks, and Scythians. I read Gilgamesh, Enheduana, and Sappho. It was epic.
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I started The Great Book+ in March. It’s a reading plan of 200 of the greatest books & authors of all time and am reading them from oldest to newest. I will pair most books with a guidebook (hence the + sign). It will take 10+ yrs. So far, so good.
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In the very first paragraph of Blood Meridian, you’ll come across the phrase “hewers of wood and drawers of water.” The first time I read the book, I blew right past that. The second time, I stopped and learned it is a phrase from the book of Joshua in the Hebrew Bible…
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@JeremyTate41
C.S. Lewis suggested Animal Farm over 1984. Brave New World is slightly more applicable to the USA right now than 1984.
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These are the books I read in 2023. Tonight, I’m going to pick up each book in the order in which I read them and record a podcast where I share the One Thing I remember from each book. It’s my final exam. The episode will release this Friday.
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Check out the new Wall of Fame at Landmark Booksellers in Franklin, TN! Owner Joel Tomlin, myself, and a myriad of our booksellers have curated a new section of the bookstore with the best books ever written. These are the Great Books, the ones that have influenced the other…
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Here they are, in order from top left to bottom right, my 52-book 2022 reading list. I finished the final book this morning. I have a couple podcast episodes coming up in the next few weeks:
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Thinking of topping off the month of November, which I've dedicated to The Odyssey, by watching O Brother, Where Art Thou? tonight. What do you think?
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Finished Herodotus. It took 35 hours and 40 minutes. Easily a top 10 book and I absolutely loved it. Incredible.
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I emailed Robert Alter this morning and he replied and I'm feeling pretty good about life right now.
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I started reading The Great Books in March. Here’s what I’ve read so far. I’m calling it Great Books+ as I’m pairing at least one guidebook with each great book for better context. I finished the book on top this morning and this has been the most fun I’ve ever had reading.
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This is pretty cool - a Fahrenheit 451 read-a-thon starting tomorrow (for what would have been author Ray Bradbury's 100th birthday) with
@neilhimself
,
@WilliamShatner
, and
@susanorlean
as some of the readers -
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I begin each year of my Great Books project by reading straight through a different version/translation of the Bible. This morning, I started reading Robert Alter’s translation & commentary of the Hebrew Bible, beginning with the Torah / The Five Books of Moses.
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I often think about this passage from
@EconTalker
's book How Adam Smith Can Change Your Life. I call it the Dorito Dictum:
"Hard-and-fast rules are easier to keep than rules that are slightly relaxed. The opposite should be true. You'd think abstinence would be much harder to…
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Do you struggle with Greek classics? You’re not alone. I used to feel overwhelmed when attempting Homer or Aeschylus in the past. What has helped me tremendously is reading this book Mythology by Edith Hamilton. She presents the basic foundation you need to appreciate and…
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Completed the 4-book Robert Caro series about Lyndon B. Johnson this morning. Took 120 hours and 35 minutes. Those were some of the best hours of reading I’ve enjoyed in my entire life. This was an extraordinary series that will have me thinking for years to come.
#lbj
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Started book 10 this morning - The Oresteia by Aeschylus. I’ve owned this book since 2005 and have never read it. It’s one of the books I’m most excited about reading this year and is the first in the set of Greek tragedies.
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My 2023 Reading List 🧵-
I'm starting to read through 200 of The Great Books this year. For each book, I will also try to find a guidebook to help me better understand the material.
2023 Reading List -
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My 2020 Reading List is now posted on the Books of Titans website. Check out the full 52-book list and click on any book to learn why I am reading each one. Full list also included in this thread -
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I may be biased here, the author is my brother-in-law, but this book is a masterpiece and one that will impact scholarship, Christian thought, and Biblical interpretation for years to come. Jason Staples looks at Romans 1-2 and 9-11 and considers Paul’s argument in light of…
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In 2017, I started Books of Titans with the goal of reading 52 books/year. I just finished book 52 for my 2023 list and thus concluded Phase I of the reading project. Here are the totals:
291 books
98,751 pages
2,757 hours of reading
Phase II begins 1/1/23 with The Great Books.
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All set up. I’ve been dreaming about an office/library for 20+ years.
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"The worst evils in history have always been committed by those who truly believed they were combating evil. Beware of combating evil."
~ One of 99 additional bits of unsolicited advice from
@kevin2kelly
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One of my favorites from this year's reading list, The Coddling of the American Mind by
@glukianoff
and
@jonhaidt
is just $1.99 today on
@amazonkindle
() &
@applebooks
()
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Amen
If I ever win the lottery I won't tell anyone but there will be signs.
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2021 Reading List:
Chronicles of Narnia - C.S. Lewis
LBJ Series - Robert Caro
Lord of the Rings - Tolkien
The Idea of Israel -
@jasonstaples
Advent Series -
@russramsey
Civil War Series - Shelby Foote
Harry Potter -
@jk_rowling
All books by
@EconTalker
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This episode "The Underground Spirit" by
@martyrmade
is one of the most extraordinary podcasts I've ever heard. Arguably the two finest minds of the time (Dostoevsky & Nietzsche) addressing the same questions and coming to vastly different conclusions -
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Replaced a Steven Pressfield book with this one by
@andrewklavan
(sorry, Steven). Have you read it? I’m learning some really cool stuff about some 19th century poets.
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My Aeschylus Syllabus:
⁃ 1st reading - straight through George Thomson translation (almost finished)
⁃ 2nd - closer reading of Thomson translation
⁃ Robert Fagles intro (thanks for the suggestion,
@PaulEhrlich13
)
⁃ 3rd - Fagles translation
The Oresteia is short enough to…
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A few heroes of mine, Lewis more so than Tolkien. If I could add one more, it’d be Frederick Douglass. Artwork by
@nedbustard
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I cover The Truth and Beauty by
@andrewklavan
in episode 164 of the podcast. It releases Friday morning.
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Finished Russ Roberts’ (
@EconTalker
) fourth book last night - How Adam Smith Can Change Your Life. Now onto his 5th book - Gambling with Other People’s Money about the 2008 financial collapse. The Adam Smith book is so good.
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Me packing an extra bag for a two day trip.
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Our most-popular podcast episode to date is the one where we cover "Surely You're Joking, Mr. Feynman."
@ProfFeynman
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Starting book 28 today. Have you read it?
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It's a wrap! Here are the books I read in 2021. It was a year focused on series of books. My favorite book of the year was Means of Ascent by Robert Caro, the 2nd of 4 of the LBJ series.
What was your favorite book of the year?
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My notes so far for The Power Broker by Robert Caro and I still have 400+ pages to go 😳. For such a large book, there is only one blank page in the back for notes, so I may need to start writing on maps 😂.
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Robert Fagles calls Aeschylus’ Oresetia a new theogony. In Hesiod’s 1st Theogony, “Zeus acquired power; in the new Theogony he refines it.” I’ve been reading Fagles’ introduction for the past 3 days and it is incredible. I’ll read The Oresteia for a 2nd time after completing the…
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My top 5 books for 2023:
1. The Epic of Gilgamesh
2. The Iliad
3. The Histories by Herodotus
4. The Odyssey
5. Elon Musk by Walter Isaacson
What were your favorites?
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Happy Release Day,
@jasonstaples
! This one’s a masterpiece. If you’ve ever been confounded by Romans 1-2, 9-11 in the New Testament, this is your book.
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I keep having this thought while reading the Robert Caro LBJ series - there's no way this could be a novel. The author would be hounded for creating a story that is simply not believable. It would have to be released as fantasy. LBJ's life was that outlandish.
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Here's the single most important tip for reading more in 2021:
Always carry a book with you
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My top 5 books from 2020. What were yours?
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Finished my 2nd reading of The Odyssey this morning. I started Nov with Emily Wilson’s translation and finished with Robert Fitzgerald’s. I paired the 2nd reading with the companion guide, an extremely helpful tool. I think I’ll be pondering The Odyssey for the rest of my life.
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If you need just one heuristic for choosing books for 2021, use this:
Read books by authors who have suffered.
Deep wisdom comes through tremendous suffering.
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Well, I'm 40 pages in and
@sweatscience
has already discussed Shackleton's South Pole expedition, the attempt to break the 2hr marathon, and Roger Bannister's breaking of the 4min mile. This is going to be good. Thanks
@Alex__Gajewski
for the suggestion -
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The Deluge Connection:
Had a 🤯moment yesterday in preparation for this Friday’s podcast episode about the Atrahasis. A cataclysmic flood / deluge story shows up in a number of ancient texts and I was stunned to learn that there is a close connection with the name of the…
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I became the Business Manager at Landmark Booksellers in Franklin, TN this past year. I've loved this bookstore since first visiting in 2017. We carry a mix of old, new, and rare books and I plan to make deeper connections between the bookstore and this reading project in 2022.
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Episode 137 is up. I cover every book written by economist Russ Roberts (
@EconTalker
), host of the popular EconTalk Podcast. There are 5 books in total - 3 novels and two nonfiction. I talk a bit about each book and tie ideas together from the set -
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Just finished my
@CatherineProj
tutorial covering the Iliad and the Odyssey. We had 12 sessions total and it was so amazing. I learned so much and have such a deep appreciation now for Homer.
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I’m preparing a podcast episode for this Friday where I’ll be pulling my top 10 to 15 ideas from this reading project. It will basically be one hour of greatest hits pulled from 2700+ hours of reading between 2017 - 2022. Here are the books I’ll be consulting.
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Here are the reasons I purchased each copy from bottom to top:
Translation:
@EmilyRCWilson
- this was my first reading of the Iliad in Sept/Oct 2023. Its release date coincided almost exactly with my schedule of reading through 200 of The Great Books ().…
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Just recorded episode 137 covering all books written by economist Russ Roberts
@EconTalker
. It releases this Friday morning.
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This is fantastic:
"The Best Investment Strategy–Pretend You’re Dead"
"When the brokerage firm Fidelity did an internal review of their client accounts that posted the best returns from 2003-2013, they found that “the best investors were either dead or inactive."
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Want to know why the Robert Caro books are so powerful? Here's a comment I received yesterday from a listener:
"As a journalist myself, I find that I learned more from Robert Caro than four years of college and journalism classes, and 25 years on the news desk."
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Here's my current list of Great Books I plan to read over the next 10 years. What am I missing?
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You do realize this now makes St. Andrew the patron saint of the platform formerly known as Twitter, right?
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Morning reading: book 35/52, pg 212/454 - From the Holy Mountain by
@DalrympleWill
. In this book, Dalrymple is following the footsteps of 6th century monk John Moschos across the Middle East. It’s a fascinating look at the traditions, beliefs, and longevity of Eastern Christians.
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Deep diving into The Iliad! I'm reading
@EmilyRCWilson
’s translation straight through, then doing a slower read using Fitzgerald and the Companion to the Iliad. I've also joined a
@CatherineProj
tutorial that started today. I'm hoping this will permeate my soul!
#TheIliad
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My 2019 Reading List is now posted on the newly-revamped Books of Titans website. Check out the full 52-book list and click on any book to read about the reason I am reading each one.
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Here’s what I read between mid-February and this morning in order from bottom to top. The Greek Epic Fragments offer some incredible insight into the reading of the Iliad.
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And so it begins. Robert Caro’s four book series about Lyndon Johnson. The four books consist of 2,825 pages and I expect it to take a few months.
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A great podcast going through the Iliad book by book if you're interested in digging deeper...
If you want to take seriously your intellectual life, there is no better place to start than reading the great books.
Join the “great conversation” of authors who built Western civilization.
It starts with Homer.
We are reading Homer in a year.
Join us.
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Took a 48 day break from all social media. I missed it and didn’t particularly like the time away, but now I’m back and I have a new favorite book called The Iliad 😁.
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I passed a milestone this morning. I finished the 250th book for this reading project that started January 2017. It’s been a wild ride and so much fun. Can’t wait for the next 250!
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What is the best automobile for readers? Let’s answer this question today right here. I put forward Exhibit A: the VW Jetta, with a standard Loeb Classic holder easily accessible to the driver. What car do you choose? Photos and descriptions required. 🚗📚
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Last year, we read Mistakes Were Made (But Not By Me) at the suggestion of
@PeterAttiaMD
. Now, he has suggested a new book on the latest episode of the
@tferriss
Show Podcast - I Don't Want to Talk About It. That and the other books listed here -
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Add this to your 2021 reading list. So good. What a life!
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Episode 200 is up. I cover an extraordinary book called Paul and the Resurrection of Israel by Dr. Jason A. Staples. I start the episode by setting the stage for the question Dr. Staples is addressing and then highlight three areas where what I learned differs from what I’ve…
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Here are my reading lists over the past four years. I started Books of Titans to read more books and put practices in place to help me better remember what I read. It’s been a blast -
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I don’t know much about Zelensky, but if the books I read are true, he didn’t make the decision to remain in Ukraine 2 nights ago. He made that decision 10 or 20 years ago through small and unseen daily decisions. People are saying they want courage like him. Well, start today.
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Friendly reminder - Netflix will never give you a sense of accomplishment, even after binge watching a 159 hour show. However, reading just one book will give you a sense of accomplishment and pride. Choose wisely.
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Starting book 9 for the year, book 12 on my Great Books list. From what I hear, Pindar weaves in mythology amidst stories of the Greek athletes.
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Latest episode is up. I cover Never Split the Difference by
@VossNegotiation
- a great book with immediately implementable tools throughout. Kahneman shows up once again in this book -
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Stop reading the news, says
@farnamstreet
. I stopped reading it in early 2017 so that I could focus on my 52-book reading list. I ended up reading 51 of those books and would not have done so had I been obsessed with news each day.
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Finished the book of Numbers this morning and continued on into Deuteronomy. This is what my setup looks like - I look at a few maps as I’m reading. That really helps me. The 2nd photo shows the notes so far.
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Preparing for this Friday’s podcast episode that I will be calling “The Cataclysmic Will of Zeus.”
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Next phase of this reading project - The Great Books:
Can you help me with my final list, supplementary materials & translations/versions?
@KSPrior
@jennfrey
@tommycollison
@joeljmiller
@EconTalker
@ChristyHorp
@drmoore
@mervatim
@heymiller
@jasonstaples
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Some of the shelves at Landmark Booksellers
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