Reading Project
Harvard Classics Vol. 1: The Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin, The Journal of John Woolman, & The Fruits of Solitude by William Penn.
Franklin made ~200 pages a drag, oof. But I was more interested in his little habit/virtue tracker (13 virtues) and his plan for his day. Woolman was very Quaker, and he was an early abolitionist of both wars and slavery. He had some very interesting thoughts about not paying taxes for wars (he advocated not paying taxes during the French and Indian War (1754-1763)), as well as being against cruelty to animals. William Penn’s Fruits were numbered paragraphs on how to conduct oneself. I thought the public life sections were illuminating. Also, Franklin was not fond of the Penn family, so it’s rather striking that Franklin & Penn share a volume. The first volume was already prepared before Charles Eliot gave his name to the project, though, as Collier thought the Harvard
Gateway to the Great Books Volume 1: Introduction; Syntopical Guide
This volume was an introduction to the set, how to read through the set, starting with a first initial run-through, then going back for a second look (or more depending), and other hints on reading the selections in the set. It also offers a Syntopical Guide, offering related pieces and authors in the Gateway & Great Books of the Western World sets for every author in the Gateway set. There is an appendix covering a Plan of Graded Reading by school grades: Part I is for 7th & 8th grade-level readers, Part II is for 9th & 10th grade-level readers, Part III for 11th & 12th grade-level readers, and Part IV is for those reading at the level of freshman & sophomores in college.
Flatland – Edwin Abbot
My copy is from Standard Ebooks. I read this ages ago in an old paperback copy, and decided to read it again for my Classics Club Reading List. It really makes you think about place and dimension and even space. The inhabitants of Flatland are shapes, ranked by their angles. Women are straight lines, and men are shapes, starting from the most narrow of triangles all the way to circles. The more sides one has, the higher rank you are.
Completed Books
The Widows of Malabar Hill (Perveen Mistry #1) by Sujata Massey, reread, 4 stars
Dancing With Danger (Goode Girls #3) by Kerrigan Byrne, 4 stars
Started Books
The Satapur Moonstone (Perveen Mistry #2) by Sujata Massey
Tempting Fate (Goode Girls #4) by Kerrigan Byrne
