I like your tips! I just finished Don Quixote and that is one old book I probably would not have stuck with if I hadn't been reading it with a student, haha! People keep telling me they love it, but no one comes back to tell me why...
“...but do not underestimate the movements of the Holy Spirit in certain books appearing in your life at certain times” - I can’t tell you how many times my sister and I have said to each other that the right book found us at the right time. Since we know God, I think it’s an easy leap to see certain books coming into our lives at certain times as answers to prayer. Thanks for these encouraging ideas on reading authors from the past.
I'm so glad I found your Substack! I resonate with your roundabout ventures into theology from the humanities; I have also never been to seminary or divinity school, but have studied theology independently through my master's coursework in art history. :)
Letting your interests guide you is key! I too have found that a book will sit on my shelf unread for months or years, only to be picked up at exactly the right time. Or, I'll try to force my interest and it will backfire, and it's only when I pick it up again later out of genuine interest that suddenly it clicks for me. Another piece of advice I've benefited from is following threads, which you also mentioned. This could be that I like an author's book so I pick up another of their works, but also that I like a particular nonfiction book so I read books from the bibliography at the end, or I find the general topic interesting and want to read more from another perspective. I enjoy reading far more when I let my interests guide me rather than following whatever is popular in the book world at any given moment.
I admit that I do follow my interests, but my interests are all over the place! I've found that I love reading Medieval authors, especially writings about the faith. There are so many that I haven't read, each one is a treasure. I enjoy poetry more than expected, and the mystics like Julian of Norwich are wonderful. Thomas à Kempis' "Imitation of Christ" is one of my favorites! I'm looking forward to reading more this year.
I think your first suggestion on letting your interests guide you is perhaps the most important - so often we (I!) feel obligated to read a particular book because of some sense that we *should*. But that's silly, really, because what value does it give us if we're genuinely not interested? We might be surprised, of course, but the feeling of *needing* to read something is something I think a lot of us (I!) need to get over.
I couldn’t agree more. I think it’s our dominant paradigm when we read classics or old books, and too often it adversely affects our reception, enthusiasm, even understanding!
I recently finished a Church History course offered by a theological institute my church is affiliated with. It covered the early church to the middle ages, and one of the assigned books was Intoducing Medieval Biblical Interpretation, which is how I recently encountered Hugh of St. Victor myself! I loved the excerpts of his work and made a note to come back to it more fully when I have the time this year.
In a happy coincidence, I was able to read your book immediately after finishing the class and it was so cool to see some of the discussions we had in class help me understand the context of your book even better!
I love medieval lyrics. Their poems are always so very human and real. One of my favorite medieval philosophers (I teach this subject) is John Scotus Eriugena. Not well known but mind blowing in his concept of God and the universe. Full disclosure: I think his ideas were banned as heretical. All the more reason to check them out.
This spoke right to my feelings about how I will read this year. I have pushed myself before to try something that scares me and surprised myself by how easy and enjoyable it was, with the right assistance and other reading. I will be doing that agin this year as well as letting go of things that should be read. Great Expectations was one novel that languished for months in 2023 but I picked it up today and it seems fresh and appealing and funny. It isn't Medieval but it was causing me to feel resentment so I had stopped. I ordered God's Secretaries from your recommendation and it arrived last week, so it will be on the Reading List next month. I like the sound of your new book and will be awaiting further information.
My dad just found a large collection of Shakespeare that used to belong to my grandfather. I’ve never read Shakespeare, but I’m going to this year!
I love Shakespeare! I hope you enjoy your new reading adventure.
I like your tips! I just finished Don Quixote and that is one old book I probably would not have stuck with if I hadn't been reading it with a student, haha! People keep telling me they love it, but no one comes back to tell me why...
Hahaha! I feel the same way about Don Quixote as you do. I’m glad I read it. But likely will never return.
“...but do not underestimate the movements of the Holy Spirit in certain books appearing in your life at certain times” - I can’t tell you how many times my sister and I have said to each other that the right book found us at the right time. Since we know God, I think it’s an easy leap to see certain books coming into our lives at certain times as answers to prayer. Thanks for these encouraging ideas on reading authors from the past.
You are welcome! ♥️
I'm so glad I found your Substack! I resonate with your roundabout ventures into theology from the humanities; I have also never been to seminary or divinity school, but have studied theology independently through my master's coursework in art history. :)
I love that!
Letting your interests guide you is key! I too have found that a book will sit on my shelf unread for months or years, only to be picked up at exactly the right time. Or, I'll try to force my interest and it will backfire, and it's only when I pick it up again later out of genuine interest that suddenly it clicks for me. Another piece of advice I've benefited from is following threads, which you also mentioned. This could be that I like an author's book so I pick up another of their works, but also that I like a particular nonfiction book so I read books from the bibliography at the end, or I find the general topic interesting and want to read more from another perspective. I enjoy reading far more when I let my interests guide me rather than following whatever is popular in the book world at any given moment.
Yes to all of this!
I admit that I do follow my interests, but my interests are all over the place! I've found that I love reading Medieval authors, especially writings about the faith. There are so many that I haven't read, each one is a treasure. I enjoy poetry more than expected, and the mystics like Julian of Norwich are wonderful. Thomas à Kempis' "Imitation of Christ" is one of my favorites! I'm looking forward to reading more this year.
My interests are also eclectic... it makes reading more fun, don't you think?!
Oh yes! Blog post idea: What are your all-time 10 favorite books, any genre?
I think your first suggestion on letting your interests guide you is perhaps the most important - so often we (I!) feel obligated to read a particular book because of some sense that we *should*. But that's silly, really, because what value does it give us if we're genuinely not interested? We might be surprised, of course, but the feeling of *needing* to read something is something I think a lot of us (I!) need to get over.
I couldn’t agree more. I think it’s our dominant paradigm when we read classics or old books, and too often it adversely affects our reception, enthusiasm, even understanding!
I recently finished a Church History course offered by a theological institute my church is affiliated with. It covered the early church to the middle ages, and one of the assigned books was Intoducing Medieval Biblical Interpretation, which is how I recently encountered Hugh of St. Victor myself! I loved the excerpts of his work and made a note to come back to it more fully when I have the time this year.
In a happy coincidence, I was able to read your book immediately after finishing the class and it was so cool to see some of the discussions we had in class help me understand the context of your book even better!
That’s wonderful! I love a happy reading coincidence so much.
I love medieval lyrics. Their poems are always so very human and real. One of my favorite medieval philosophers (I teach this subject) is John Scotus Eriugena. Not well known but mind blowing in his concept of God and the universe. Full disclosure: I think his ideas were banned as heretical. All the more reason to check them out.
Very cool! Medieval lyrics are so very human, I love that too.
This spoke right to my feelings about how I will read this year. I have pushed myself before to try something that scares me and surprised myself by how easy and enjoyable it was, with the right assistance and other reading. I will be doing that agin this year as well as letting go of things that should be read. Great Expectations was one novel that languished for months in 2023 but I picked it up today and it seems fresh and appealing and funny. It isn't Medieval but it was causing me to feel resentment so I had stopped. I ordered God's Secretaries from your recommendation and it arrived last week, so it will be on the Reading List next month. I like the sound of your new book and will be awaiting further information.
Just found the "Internet Medieval Sourcebook" at Fordham University: Neat! https://sourcebooks.fordham.edu/sbook2.asp#spirit2
Oh my, thank you for sharing!! I've never seen this page before!