Current Reading Plan

Reading a lot it satisfies some desire to categorize what I’ve read, what I’ve learned, just as it is to categorize books for my own library system. (I use a combination of subject and chronological order. This still leaves many questions unsettled: which books should have the best showcase – the most impressive looking (the coffee table books) or the most valuable (which are usually not the most impressive looking); questions of subject – is Augustine theology or literature (his Confessions are both); and which books have to be boxed up because I can’t fit any more bookcases in my apartment?) Categorizing led me to think about reading for breadth, rather than to specialize my interest, as is one of the goals of the liberal arts education – to study a breadth of subjects, to gain some breadth of knowledge. The result is a reading plan I have developed and practiced since June, 2015. I have categorized Three Motifs of Learning and Five Methods of Learning:

Motifs of Learning

1.    Science and Social Science

2.    Philosophy and Theology

3.    Arts and Literature

Methods of Learning

1.    Informational

2.    Motivational

3.    Theoretical

4.    Lyrical

5.    Narrative

The plan is to read four texts at a time. They should fit under different categories as shown above. I try to read one from each Motif of Learning and the fourth text may fall under any. I try to pick books that differ in Method of Learning. I may read a work of literature – poetry (3.4) or fiction (3.5); a history book (1.1); a work of theology (2.1, 2.2 or 2.3); and a book of literary criticism (3.1 or 3.3).

When designing the plan I take into account book length so as to try to finish a book every 7-10 days. I plan start and finish dates for each book.

The plan is not only to read this way, but also includes taking notes and writing a summary or a review after finishing each book.