On my list to be read soon.

What do you want to get out of reading? The answer to that should give you a few directions you could go in.

I’m a big advocate of learning history, it obviously influences everything in the present. It can be studied endlessly, anywhere from the largest of scope to minute details of an individual life. History can inform your reading of literature, psychology, the authors you read, the social and political situations we find ourselves in today, all the way down to personal circumstances. Science can do the same.

Once you decide what you want to get out of reading it becomes easier to pick out books to achieve that.

I’d say classics are the safest best. And then the classics of sci fi and fantasy as well. Ones that even if you don’t love them you’ll be glad you read them.

Ohhh not to worry. There is never a lack of reasons to buy more books 😂 Each new one opens the door to at least a handful of others.

Close to 1/4 of my collection is TBR and my list of books I’m interested in acquiring is unknowably long at this point. For reference my collection is north of 1000.

The cautionary example I’ll give is that my taste in novels have changed. I went from a genre fiction reader to a reader of literature. Nonfiction mostly stayed the same. So many of the genre fiction books I picked up and didn’t get to I no longer have an inclination to read in large quantities.

Some book interests will never change and some could. If you recognize your likely trends you’re good. Depending on price constraints I’d use some caution but not too much lol. If you pick up 10 books for a buck like at some book sales go hog wild by all means!

Periodically I’ll pick up Franklin Library or Folio editions of a few favorites or if they slip through the cracks for cheap.

I’m reading it for the second time in a row, the first time I just read it without notes. My second and slower read I’m reading the notes for a canto or two and then reading the cantos.

I could go either way with reading them or not. I find having read Homer and Virgil and knowing a good amount of history to be of more informational value than the notes anyways. I don’t mind breaking immersion with the text possibly because I don’t find it all that immersive. I do enjoy it though.

Note: Mine has endnotes, without notations in the text of what has an endnotes. The endnotes refer back to the line. So no chance I would read them as I go lol.

I used to never read them except on a reread. I care a lot less about plot now so I’ll typically read them. Some are better than others so I end up flipping through the ones that don’t appeal to me.

Almost always physical. Podcasts or music for the car. Reading is very much a priority in my life so no matter what modernity gets up to I’ve always found sitting with a book to be my preference. For people who have a million things going on or for other reasons I totally understand the audiobook appeal but I haven’t been converted myself.

It might just not be for you and if that’s what you decide it’s not a big deal but sometimes things grow on you as time passes. One thing to think about when reading them is why the author chose magical realism to convey their story. Would changing the story telling mode change your perception of the novel, would it be more palatable to you? Sometimes I find magical realism elevates the text, other times I find it becomes impenetrable. Usually I lean on the side of, I need to grow as a reader to appreciate them. After a few years I like to return to difficult books and see if anything has changed for me.

You pretty much said it. I read to gain knowledge primarily. Wasn’t into the structure of schools teaching the same things that I’m picking up now by choice. I enjoy working to understand things and see the shape of the world from ancient times through to our own. History provides context for our world and for literature through the ages.

Half of what I read (ideally) is history with a bit of science that goes over my head, philosophy, etc.

In my teens and twenties I primarily read mysteries, thrillers, then sci fi and fantasy and historical fiction. Heavier sci fi, fantasy, and historical novels sparked an interest in history and classics, and those led me to literature. I don’t think of my reading as an escape but everyone has their own life circumstances and I totally get why people wouldn’t be interested in the books I like reading the most.

The Violent Bear it Away by Flannery O’Connor

One can study Shakespeare forever but just to be able to read it the only thing you should need is a copy with footnotes for the archaic words, Everyman’s library edition is perfect for this.

The nice thing about Shakespeare is that if you want to comprehend it better you just start again since they aren’t 1000 page tomes