It’s a scary place, but this week, I’m inviting you into my brain 🤯 to see what’s been stewing…

The first meeting of the 2026 Short Great Books reading group met last night at Landmark Booksellers. I selected A Good Man is Hard to Find by Flannery O’Connor to kick off the year. Twenty of us got together to discuss this shocking short story. I came in feeling a bit embarrassed that this was my first encounter with Flannery’s fiction, but was quickly relieved to learn that over half of the attendees were also experiencing her writing for the first time. Living in the south, I had assumed reading Flannery O’Connor was some sort of right of passage.

My favorite thing about reading groups is experiencing the book multiple times over through the eyes of others. My reading of the work (quite sympathetic to the grandmother) was not shared by the vocal majority last evening. Many considered her to be manipulative and self-absorbed. That caused me to reconsider my own reading of the story to weave the pieces of the story together.

Some other observations:

• A Good Man is Hard to Find reminded me of Cormac McCarthy’s Blood Meridian. Both stories are shockingly violent to the point where a second reading is required. The first reading will shock you out of your comfort. The second reading will open you up to receive what these authors are trying to say.

• One of the attendee’s mother had written her college thesis paper on literary reactions to Flannery O’Connor. The attendee read from different portions of his 97-yr-old mother’s thesis and it was just delightful. That made the evening extra special.

• While the main group discussion was occurring, I attempted to draw out thoughts from each attendee. Some of the most beautiful and heartfelt observations occurred from those who remained quiet until I specifically asked them for their thoughts.

I was deeply saddened to learn about author Philip Yancey’s 8 year affair. We had him in for an event at Landmark Booksellers in 2023. My point here is not to dog on Yancey but to make an observation based upon my main takeaway from this reading project. That takeaway is that our lives move in a direction. Public failures or successes almost always start with small, seemingly insignificant choices made alone and in the privacy of our own heads. Each one of those decisions sets a particular direction for our lives. I see this show up all the time in works of fiction, biography, non-fiction, and others. And I see proof of choices setting a direction in my life on a daily basis.

I could be wrong, but I would venture to guess that were you to ask Philip the exact moment that led to his affair, that he would be able to identify it. I’m not talking about the point 8 years ago when the affair began. I’m talking about a point much earlier on, maybe 16, 24, 32 or more years ago. A specific decision or compromise that occurred in thought, word, or deed. I suspect that if he were to disclose the single compromise that set his course, we’d find it was no different from the small choices you and I confront countless times each day. That’s where the decision is most important.

In our social media age, it’s tempting to put the work into the visible and shiny. But we (and I) need to be constantly reminded of the importance of our very next decision. That is what sets the direction for our day, our year, and our lifetime.

I start each year reading straight through a different version of the Bible. This year, I’ve kicked off the Five Books of Moses and the Early Prophets with the Intertextual Tanakh Vol I shown above. This is my 5th year starting with the Bible and each year, some topics or ideas take root in my brain and I become very interested in following them throughout the entire Bible. I usually can’t control what sparks my interest. It just happens.

This year, I’ve been very interested in following mentions of angels and cherubs. So far, to the best of my recollection (and I’m in the book of Numbers), the word angel hasn’t been used in this particular translation. Each time, it has been messenger. But cherubs have shown up and it made me wonder about the difference between the two. Cherubs are set to guard against re-entry into Eden after mankind has been kicked out of the garden. They are also the winged creatures sitting atop the Ark of the Covenant on each side.

In the commentary, it was fascinating to learn that a similar ark was found in the tomb of Tutankhamun. I look forward to marking other mentions of cherubs as I read through the rest of the Hebrew Bible, Apocrypha, and New Testament over the next few months.

I’ll be spending most of 2026 ploughing the depths of Plato and Aristotle. I divide eating reading year into semesters:

• Spring Semester - March - June

• Summer Break - July

• Fall Semester - August - November

• Winter Break - December

I start each year reading straight through the Bible during January & February. The versions I’m using this year are The Intertextual Tanakh (tah knock), Bibliotheca (The Latter Prophets, The Writings, The Apocrypha, and The New Testament)

I started Plato during Fall Semester last year. I’ll be continuing on, but am first taking a look at philosophers before Plato since he keeps referencing them. I’ll then return to the 20 or so dialogues of Plato that I have remaining within the Complete Works set.

• The First Philosophers: The Presocratics and the Sophists

• Early Greek Philosophy

• Heraclitus Fragments

• The Greek Sophists

• Plato: Complete Works

• The Republic / Bloom

• A Commentary on Plato’s Meno / Jacob Klein

• From Plato to Christ / Louis Markos

• The Cave and the Light / Arthur Herman

I’m going to dedicate the month of July to Gilgamesh. I love that epic so much and am going to read some of the books pictured above. I’ve been collecting anything I find about Gilgamesh and it’s time to read those books. If you know of other books related to Gilgamesh that I must read, please let me know in the comments below.

If I finish reading Plato during the Spring Semester, I’ll begin reading Aristotle in the Fall Semester. Like Plato, I’m planing on reading the complete works of Aristotle. I realize that’s excessive and may change my tune, but why not. He’s one of the greatest philosophers of all time.

• The Complete Works of Aristotle Volume 1 / Hackett

• The Complete Works of Aristotle Volume 2 / Hackett

• From Aristotle to Christ / Louis Markos

I’m going to explore another area of interest during December - Trees! I know nothing about these strange things surrounding us outside and simply want to know more. I don’t have a list yet, so suggestions are welcome. There’s only one book so far that I keep seeing over and over again:

• The Hidden Life of Trees

I lead a reading group in Franklin, TN and this year we’ll be covering the following books, so I’ll be interspersing these books with the list above. More details here.

1. A Good Man is Hard to Find by Flannery O’Connor - Jan 12

2. The Overcoat by Nikolai Gogol - Feb 2

3. Our Name is Dare by Kev Coleman - March 2

4. One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich by Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn April 6

5. Medea by Euripides - May 4

6. Apology (Defense of Socrates) by Plato - June 1

7. Till We Have Faces by C.S. Lewis - July 6

8. Billy Budd by Herman Melville - August 3

9. My Antonia by Willa Cather - September 7 (Labor Day)

10. Candide by Voltaire - October 5

11. Jason and the Golden Fleece by Apollonius - November 2

12. The Nutcracker and the Mouse King by E.T.A. Hoffmann - December 7

I set aside one post per month to highlight my reading life. Books of Titans is a reading project aimed at seeking the ancient paths by reading The Immortal Books by 200 authors chronologically over the next 15 40 years. Thank you for following my journey.

December is where I take a break from the Immortal Books and read some books that have piled up on my to-be-read pile. Here’s what I read during December:

• A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens - I read this for my Short Great Books reading group. During our discussion, one of the attendees brought up the fact that Scrooge lived in an entirely ethical manner and yet failed at life. That story really shows the difference between ethics and morality. I’ve been thinking about that a lot since reading this again this year.

• Rhetorica Ad Herennium by Cicero - I read a short 15 page section dealing with memory. It’s the first writing we have about how to remember what you hear or read. Here’s my podcast episode about this book.

• The Real Environmentalists by Jim Beach - Jim Beach had a huge impact on my life. He was my teacher of entrepreneurship during my graduate studies and I trace my current career path largely to his class. This book talked about entrepreneurs making an actual difference for the environment.

• The Secret Society of Success by Tim Schurrer - This was a fun book that provided a number of helpful reminders.

• Living the Braveheart Life by Randall Wallace - I really enjoyed getting to know the story of how Braveheart came about. You can see clear traces from Randall’s life.

• Maria’s Scarf by Zoro - This was an incredible story of growing up in poverty and becoming one of the world’s most renowned drummers. I’m meeting with Zoro this week to discuss the book.

• Roots and Rhythm: A Life in Music by Charlie Peacock (audiobook) - I learned a lot about Charlie Peacock’s role in a number of album’s I’ve enjoyed throughout my life.

I kick off each new year reading straight through the Bible. This year, I’m using the following editions:

• The Intertextual Tanakh (The Five Books of Moses and The Former Prophets)

• Bibliotheca (The Latter Prophets, The Writings, The Apocrypha, and The New Testament)

I started the Intertextual Tanakh on January 1st and am really enjoying it so far. As the title suggests, the commentary ties together different parts of the Hebrew Bible. This Bible is really neat in that it starts from the back of the book, it has English on the right, Hebrew on the left, and contains commentary on each outer side of the page. It’s a huge Bible but I’m getting a lot out of the commentary. It references Robert Alter quite often, which was the version I read in 2023.

For the remainder of 2026, here’s a rough outline of my plan:

• Jan/Feb: The Bible

• Mar-Jun: Finish all dialogues by Plato & Early Greek Philosophy

• July: Books about Gilgamesh (I love the Epic of Gilgamesh)

• Aug-Nov: Aristotle Complete Works

• Dec: Books about Trees (hey, I want to know more about trees)

I had a few fun book-related events during December. I drove to Birmingham, AL to see an interview of Allen Levi. It was delightful to catch up quickly with him.

At Landmark Booksellers, we had a big Dickens of a Christmas Festival mid-month. I booked 30+ authors to join us and sign books. Kathie Lee Gifford was one of our authors:

In family news, we got a cat who joins me as I read in the morning. Her name is Lucy (after Narnia) and here she is about to attack the book I’m reading, something she loves to do:

Finally, we spent a few days over the holidays at Disney World and EPCOT. I was amazed walking around and thinking that the park wouldn’t exist were it not for books. Nearly every ride is based upon a book and a story. The Spaceship Earth ride at EPCOT is basically an homage to the history of the book. It’s incredible.

Each year, I stack all of the books from the previous year’s reading list next to me and reminisce over the reading year. It’s one of my favorite yearly podcast episodes and it’s a great way for you to hear about some books to add to your reading list.

2025 was an incredible year of reading. I continued on in the third year of my Immortal Books project. The main focus was on Greek Tragedies, Comedies, History, and Philosophy.

In this episode, I cover the year as a whole, some of my favorite works, and some best of lists.

I start each new year reading straight through the Bible. It’s a practice I first tried in 2020 and was amazed at the experience. There’s something really powerful about reading the Bible in its entirety within a relatively short period of time. I decided to make it a practice and it’s something I hope to do each year in January & February for the rest of my life.

I read a different translation of the Bible each year. Here are the versions I’ve read so far:

• 2020 - Christian Standard Bible

• 2023 - Bibliotheca (The American Literary Version)

• 2024 - Robert Alter (Hebrew Bible) / David Bentley Hart (New Testament)

• 2025 - King James Version

For 2026, I’m going to revisit the Bibliotheca version for The Latter Prophets, The Writings, The Apocrypha, and The New Testament. For The Tanakh (The Five Books of Moses and The Former Prophets), I’m going to use a version and translation sent to me by . It’s called The Intertextual Tanakh and it is in both English and Hebrew. Genesis starts at the back of the book. I’m really looking forward to this version and the commentary. I’ll start with that big red book on January 1st, 2026.

This will be my fifth time reading straight through the Bible. Each time, I’ve finished within a two month timeframe. I always start on January 1st and try to finish by the end of February. It’s the only book I read during those two months. I then start back reading The Immortal Books on March 1st and continue until Summer Break in July.

To finish in two months, I need to be reading for an hour or two each day. I try to get the majority of this reading done early in the morning before my family wakes up. Coffee definitely helps. Then, I carry the Bible around with me and read it whenever I have an extra few minutes. It all adds up.

I also have a number of tools handy while I’m reading the Bible. I highlighted those in an article last year:

I’ll be sharing about the experience during January and February, so if you have a knack for kicking off 2026 reading straight through the Bible, I’d love for you to join me!

The Braveheart film has had an outsized impact on my life. It first sparked a deep interest in the country of Scotland, that try as I might, I cannot shake. It inspired me to purchase a set of bagpipes and then learn how to play them. But it also had deeper implications in the areas of faith and living.

In this book, the author of both the novel Braveheart as well as the screenplay that became the famous film, Randall Wallace, provides an autobiography that shows a close connection between his life and the Braveheart story. It’s an exploration of fatherhood, faith, and truth. And I loved it.

We all know that books are the gifts that keep on giving, how you can open them for the rest of your life, and how the recipient will think kindly of you into eternity. What’s harder to know is what book to get for the video-gaming nephew, the exuberant aunt, or the football-laden father. Here’s my attempt at a gift-giving guide with the potential to most likely awaken or re-awaken a love of reading.

These are the books I’ve seen give a spark to myself and others and I present them in no particular order. I’m including a link to purchase each book from Landmark Booksellers, where I handle the business side of the book business. Each link is to the exact version of the book that I recommend. Please note that each of these books would be enjoyable for all ages, but I’m highlighting one particular set of people for your gift-giving pleasure:

Adventure, betrayal, sword fights, and treasure, once started, this book will be hard to put down.

Purchase Here

This was easily our best-selling book at Landmark Booksellers this year. It’s a novel that has exploded through word of mouth and tells how one man transforms a small town in just one year.

Purchase Here

This story is over 4,000 years old and is utterly fascinating. There’s even an epic within an epic, a flood story that pre-dates Noah’s Ark.

Purchase Here

One of our top-selling series at Landmark. This 4-book adventure is highly creative and utterly heart-wrenching. Purchase: Book 1, Book 2, Book 3, Book 4, Creaturepedia, Tales

A delightful tale full of twists and turns. An Odyssey film will be released during 2026, part of an ongoing trend of people getting reacquainted with these ancient tales. You may as well throw the Aeneid in there as well.

Purchase Here

It’s amazing how many adults I speak to who were first awakened by Lewis’ beloved stories, myself included. Just please be sure to read them in the correct order, which begins with The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe.

Purchase Here

It’s very rare for it to be someone’s 250th birthday, but today is that day for Jane Austen. This has been called the perfect novel, with not a single word out of place. Purchase a rare 1839 edition, or a more common one below.

Purchase Here

I just led a reading group on this Dickens’ classic last week and I was surprised at how it was the first time reading for most of the attendees. I plan to read this beloved tale yearly going forward.

Purchase Here

Another series credited with awakening the love of literature for millions worldwide.

Purchase Here

A most perfect consideration of what’s important before entering the next stage of life.

Purchase Here

The two pillars of this reading project are to read more books and to remember what I read. To that end, I’ve experimented with a variety of practices to attempt to assist with memory. I’m always on the hunt for new ideas.

That’s how I came across Rhetorica Ad Herennium by [Cicero]. Cicero is in brackets because it’s not certain that he is the author. So, author unknown, but content exceptional. This is the oldest surviving work we have about ways to remember what you hear and learn.

This was written around 90BC and the techniques are still used today. The main idea is to place an intermediary background between your memory and the thing you are trying to remember. I always just go right to the thing. If I want to memorize a poem, I brute force my way into my memory bank by reading it over and over again. I never thought to place that poem against a background to enhance the likelihood of remembrance.

In this episode, I cover a very short 10-page section of this larger work that deals with memory. I share how Cicero or not-Cicero suggests creating a background or room in which to place images that relate to words or subject matter. The more striking and odd the image, the more likely it will be remembered.

This practice is not natural to me and it actually seems counterintuitive. But, if it’s worked for 2,000+ years, there’s something to it. I’m going to give it a try.

Book Version - Loeb Classical Library book 403 - Rhetorica Ad Herennium

A few years ago, I began partaking in online reading groups. I would join people around the world talking about books like Homer’s Iliad, his Odyssey, and Aeschylus’ Oresteia. That sparked a desire in me to start an in-person group in my area. In 2024, I started a reading group and we read through the Iliad over a 9 week period.

That was a bit intense and too much with the rest of my schedule, so I decided to start a monthly Short Great Books reading group at the start of 2025. We met once a month throughout the year and covered books like Man’s Search for Meaning, The Epic of Gilgamesh, and Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass.

I’m continuing this reading group into 2026. We will meet the second Monday of each month at Landmark Booksellers in Franklin, TN at 7pm. I also led an online group for each book during 2025, but am discontinuing it due to lack of interest (most calls only had one person).

Here’s the list of books for 2026. In the photo above, the books are in order from top to bottom. We’ll start with A Good Man is Hard to Find in January and end with Nutcracker and the Mouse King in December:

1. January - A Good Man is Hard to Find by Flannery O’Connor

2. February - The Overcoat by Nikolai Gogol

3. March - Our Name is Dare by Kev Coleman

4. April - One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich by Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn

5. May - Medea by Euripides

6. June - Apology (Defense of Socrates) by Plato

7. July - Till We Have Faces by C.S. Lewis

8. August - Billy Budd by Herman Melville

9. September - My Antonia by Willa Cather

10. October - Candide by Voltaire

11. November - Jason and the Golden Fleece by Apollonius

12. December - The Nutcracker and the Mouse King by E.T.A. Hoffmann

I realize that most of you do not live in Franklin, TN. You’re welcome to join whenever you are in town. But I hope this encourages you to start a reading group in your area. There’s something very powerful about meeting together in person to discuss books. I was absolutely amazed at the discussions that took place this year.

Here’s an article I wrote back in October 2024 that contains some ideas for starting a reading group of your own:

I started reading through the complete dialogues of Plato this year. I came to a point where I realized that Plato was referencing philosophers who came before him and I didn’t know anything about them or their ideas. I took a break from Plato to consider these philosophers who gave the seeds to Plato’s philosophy.

These philosophers are called the Presocratics and the Sophists. They are Pre-Socrates in that their ideas precede Socrates, not necessarily that they preceded him historically. The Presocratic philosophers discussed in this podcast episode lived between 600 - 400BC. Socrates lived between 469 - 399BC.

I read The First Philosophers with a translation and introduction by Robin Waterfield. In the introduction, Waterfield says “Presocratic thought was holistic : it was an attempt to give a systematic account of the whole known universe and all its major features.” They cover ideas such as the soul, happiness, and the makeup of things. You can see not only their intellectual method but also their ideas in the dialogues of Plato.

In this episode, I cover four of my favorite Presocratic philosophers (Heraclitus, Parmenides, Pythagoras, and Empedocles) and some of their ideas. I also share the one thing that stuck out to me the most about these fathers of philosophy.