In Common is my (mostly) weekly Commonplace roundup – notable quotes from the previous week, and current reading list.

My current read pile has grown a little stagnant. I’ve been busy getting ready for the new school year, and have not made nearly as much progress as I would have liked.

I’ve got a stack of books to preread for my Year 5 student as well, so I am pretty sure many of the remaining titles on my 2017 list will be pushed to 2018. But I have managed to wrap a couple books up.

I recently finished In Defense of Sanity. This is an extensive collection of essays written by G.K. Chesterton and I believe it is a wonderful introduction to Chesterton’s writings.I’m already giving thought to what is next for me, as far as Chesterton goes. I’ve got the complete Father Brown Mysteries, which I just have never found the time to start, but maybe something a little deeper, like The Everlasting Man. One of my favorite quotes from In Defense of Sanity is taken from “If I Only Had One Sermon to Preach.”

“Pride is a poison so very poisonous that it not only poisons the virtues; it even poisons the other vices.”  In Defense of Sanity

I took a break from my current stack and read A Man Called Ove this past week. This was such a wonderful book, and it provided a much-needed break from all the non-fiction I’ve been working on. Ove is such a man of principle, and while he is a surly man of few words, and seemingly averse to forming friendships, somehow he manages to touch the lives of so many people. Even as a young man, he lived by a simple code, passed down from his father.

“‘Men are what they are because of what they do. Not what they say’, said Ove.” A Man Called Ove

This week I am trying to finally finish Locke’s Second Treatise. I have enjoyed reading it, though I have been at odds with some of Locke’s arguments (mostly his argument that labor puts the greatest part of value on land, a view that can be seen in the justification of wholesale Native American land grabbing) but overall his writing on the rights of man, man’s role in society and the limit of authority and government is fascinating.

I did take a break from my regular reading schedule to binge read a couple books from C.J. Cherryh’s Foreigner series. I am a couple of trilogies behind schedule and trying to get caught up.

And as is my habit, I did start another book this weekend – Kay Arthur’s How to Study Your Bible. This is an excellent overview of inductive bible study methods. I am a little familiar with the method because of my time spent doing Good Morning Girls bible study, which uses an inductive approach (somewhat), and also because my daughter has worked through Kay Arthur’s How to Study Your Bible For Kids. I expect it to be a quick but impactive read.

Current Reads:

• The Life-giving Home by Sally Clarkson (one chapter a month)
• The Fourth Turning by William Strauss and Neil Howe
• The Well-educated Mind by Susan Wise Bauer
• A Beginner’s Guide to Constructing the Universe by Michael Schneider
• Survival Mom by Lisa Bedford
• Rosemary Gladstar’s Medicinal Herbs: A Beginner’s Guide by Rosemary Gladstar
• Don Quixote by Miguel de Cervantes
• Second Treatise on Civil Government by John Locke
• Fluent Forever by Gabriel Wyner
• How to Study Your Bible by Kay Arthur