My 2022 Reading
As I finished my reading last year, I had a fairly substantial stack of 27 books waiting for me to read in 2022. That included a few larger works, such as General Sherman’s Memoirs, Bonhoeffer by Eric Metaxas, and a book of poetry and prose by John Milton (including Paradise Lost), and the other two volumes of the extant works by Livy (The War with Hannibal and Rome and the Mediterranean. I also hoped to read six or so more plays by Shakespeare in the process of reading all 39 of them.
The year turned out differently to what I had hoped and there was a time I didn’t think I’d get through as many as 45 books. The middle of the year, in particular, was a difficult time and reading became much more difficult. Nevertheless, I managed to read at least some every day, averaging a little short of 48 pages a day. I got through the 27 books and ended up reading a total of 57 books in all. As usual, the list of books is below. This year’s reading only included four books by currently living authors, all written in this century. At the other end of the age spectrum, nine were written in the years B.C. The 19th century provided the largest number of books this year, at 16, followed by the 20th century (8 books) and 16th (7 books, all plays by Shakespeare). You can sort the table by the order read (the default), title, author, and date written by clicking on the headings.
The Books
As I finish writing this on January second, I have already begun my 2023 reading with the second volume—Their Finest Hour—of Winston Churchill’s six volume history of the Second World War. I read volume one—The Gathering Storm—in 2017 and I hope to get through all the rest this year, a total of more than 4,000 pages. Including the five by Churchill, there are 39 books on my to-read shelf, including a few long books, such as Plutarch’s Lives and Vanity Fair.
In case you are interested, here are links to my 2021 Reading and my 2020 Reading.
| Order Read |
Title | Author | Date | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Laodicean A Laodicean | Hardy, Thomas (June 2, 1840 – January 11, 1928) | 1881 1881 | Subtitled, “A Story of To-day.” |
| 2 | Aku-Aku Aku-Aku | Heyerdahl, Thor (October 6, 1914 – April 18, 2002) | 1957 1957 | Subtitled, “The Secret of Easter Island.” This chronicles excavations and other archaelogy on Easter Island by the author and his team in the 1950s. Very interesting reading. |
| 3 | Evenor Evenor | MacDonald, George (December 10, 1824 – September 18, 1905) | 1875 1867, 1871, and 1875 | A collection of three short stories: The Wise Woman (1875); The Carasoyn (1871); and The Golden Key (1867); with an introduction by Lin Carter titled “The Dubious Land.” |
| 4 | Piers the Ploughman Piers the Ploughman | Langland, William (circa 1332 – circa 1386) | 1370 circa 1370 | An allegorical narrative poem written in a Middle English sometime in the late 14th century. |
| 5 | Memoirs Memoirs | Sherman, William Tecumseh (February 8, 1820 – February 14, 1891) | 1886 Second Edition, published 1886, (first edition was published in 1885) | Not surprisingly, the bulk of this deals with the years 1861 through 1865 and Sherman’s campaigns of the U. S. Civil War. This includes—among others—Shiloh, Vicksburg, Chickamauga, Lookout Mountain, and Missionary Ridge, the Atlanta campaign and of course the March to the Sea. |
| 6 | Gentle Art of Swedish Death Cleaning The Gentle Art of Swedish Death Cleaning | Magnusson, Margareta (born December 31, circa 1935) | 2018 2018 | Subtitled, “How to Free Yourself and Your Family from a Lifetime of Clutter.” This book is not as depressing as the title may sound and considerably less depressing than dealing with someone elses ‘stuff’ (for lack of a better term). |
| 7 | Comedy of Errors The Comedy of Errors | Shakespeare, William (circa April 26, 1564 – April 23, 1616) | 1594 circa 1594 | A short farcical comedy. There are two sets of identical twins who are repeatedly mistaken, one for the other. |
| 8 | War With Hannibal The War With Hannibal | Livy (Titus Livius, 59 B.C. – A.D. 17) | -27 circa 27 B.C. | Livy’s History of Rome (Ab Urbe Condita Libri) contained 142 books, of which 35 are extant. This third volume contains books 21 through 30, covering the the Second Punic War, from 218 to 202 B.C. |
| 9 | Reflections On The Psalms Reflections On The Psalms | Lewis, C. S. (November 29, 1898 – November 22, 1963) | 1959 1959 | As the title suggests, these are reflections rather than any sort of thorough study of the Psalms. I found it wonderfully written and helped me to look at these poems in a new way. I highly recommend this short book to anyone interested in the subject. |
| 10 | Euripides II Euripides II | Euripides (circa 480 – circa 406 B.C.) | -412 440 through 412 B.C. | The second of three volumes of plays by Euripides and volume six in the Modern Library’s The Complete Greek Tragedies. The first four plays are set in the aftermath of the Trojan War. The fifth with the son of Xuthus by Apollo and the progenitor of the Ionian people. The sixth is an event during the Trojan War, and the last with war between descendants of Oedipus. The seven plays are:
|
| 11 | Possessed The Possessed | Dostoevsky, Fyodor (November 11, 1821 – February 9, 1881) | 1872 1872 | Originally titled Demons (Бѣсы), this is a somewhat complicated story dealing with Dostoevsky’s views on nihilism and the social and political situation in 19th century Russia. It’s the fourth book by Dostoevsky I’ve read and is considered among his four masterworks. I need to read The Idiot to complete those four. |
| 12 | Bonhoeffer: Pastor, Martyr, Prophet, Spy Bonhoeffer: Pastor, Martyr, Prophet, Spy | Metaxas, Eric (born June 27, 1963) | 2010 2010 | A wonderfully written biography of a most remarkable man, Dietrich Bonhoeffer (February 4, 1906 – April 9, 1945). I’ve only read one of his works, The Cost of Discipleship, first published as Nachfolge (Discipleship) in 1937. I need to read that again and have also added two others to my ‘to read’ list: Life Together, completed in 1938 and Ethics, incomplete on his death and edited and published by his closest friend, Eberhard Bethge (August 28, 1909 – March 18, 2000). |
| 13 | Julius Caesar Julius Caesar | Shakespeare, William (circa April 26, 1564 – April 23, 1616) | 1599 1599 | One of the most well known of Shakespeare’s plays, giving us such lines as “Cowards die many times before their deaths; The valiant never taste of death but once.”, “those that understood him smiled at one another and shook their heads; but, for mine own part, it was Greek to me”, “Cry ‘Havoc,’ and let slip the dogs of war”, “This was the most unkindest cut of all,” and of course “Friends, Romans, countrymen, lend me your ears.” |
| 14 | Chronicles Of The Crusades Chronicles Of The Crusades | Villehardouin, Geoffrey of (c. 1150 – c. 1213) and Joinville, Jean de (c. 1 May 1224 – 24 December 1317) | 1309 early 14th century | This volume is comprised of translations of two works: The Conquest of Constantinople, by Geoffrey of Villehardouin (c. 1150 – c. 1213) and The Life of Saint Louis, circa 1309, by Jean de Joinville. |
| 15 | Cheese & Dairy Cheese & Dairy | Lamb, Steven | 2018 2018 | River Cottage Handbook No. 16, this deals with cheese making, although I didn’t learn as much from it as I might have liked. It’s a nice book but not really enough to feel confident actually trying make anything but the very simplest cheeses. It’s also geared towards the English market, where double cream is an actual thing. |
| 16 | Measure for Measure Measure for Measure | Shakespeare, William (circa April 26, 1564 – April 23, 1616) | 1604 1604 | Not one of Shakespeare’s better known plays, it deals with morality and power. I actually enjoyed it. |
| 17 | Woodlanders The Woodlanders | Hardy, Thomas (June 2, 1840 – January 11, 1928) | 1887 1887 | I made the mistake of reading the introduction to this book, which had spoilers in it. Particulary with Hardy, not knowing how the story will end is a big part of their appeal. Hardy doesn’t always end a story the way you might want. But they have considerable verisimilitude. I think I liked the ending much more than the author of the introduction. |
| 18 | Wrongly Dividing the Word of Truth Wrongly Dividing the Word of Truth | Gerstner, John H. (November 22, 1914 – March 24, 1996) | 1991 1991 (but third edition, 2009) | This is a strongly worded polemic against dispensationalism. Although it touches briefly on eschatology, it is more focused on soteriology. |
| 19 | Timaeus and Critias Timaeus and Critias | Plato (428/427 or 424/423 – 348/347 B.C.) | -360 circa 360 B.C. | Timaeus is mostly a long monologue given by the Timaeus of Locri, speculating on the nature of the physical world, discussing the four elements and their shapes: earth (cube), fire (tetrahedron), air (octahedron), and water (icosahedron). Critias tells the story of Atlantis, its attempt to conquer Athens. |
| 20 | Henry V Henry V | Shakespeare, William (circa April 26, 1564 – April 23, 1616) | 1599 circa 1599 | A good story. The two most memorable parts or two monologues given by Henry. The first is in Act 3, Scene 1, beginning with “Once more unto the breach, dear friends, once more.” The second in Act 4, Scene 3, the ‘Saint Crispin’s day’ speach, with that well known phrase, “We few, we happy few, we band of brothers.” |
| 21 | Euripides III Euripides III | Euripides (circa 480 – circa 406 B.C.) | -406 413 through 406 B.C. | The last of three volumes of plays by Euripides and volume seven in the Modern Library’s The Complete Greek Tragedies. The five plays in this volume are:
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| 22 | Westminster Confession of Faith The Westminster Confession of Faith | Westminster Assembly, 1646 | 1646 1646–7 | This publication also includes the Westminster Larger Catechism and the Westminster Shorter Catechism and is published by the Presbyterian Church in America (PCA). |
| 23 | Two On A Tower Two On A Tower | Hardy, Thomas (June 2, 1840 – January 11, 1928) | 1882 1882 | Thomas Hardy’s categorized his novels into three groups: Novels of Character and Environment, Romances and Fantasies, and Novels of Ingenuity. I’ve read, eight of the ten in the first category and one of the three in the third. This book is the first I’ve read in the second (of which there are five). It definitely did not end the way I would have expected. But it’s a good read. |
| 24 | Augustine Reader An Augustine Reader | Augustine of Hippo (November 13, 354 – August 28, 430) | 0427 A.D. 427 | Edited by John J. O’Meara (18 February 1915 – 12 February 2003) and published in 1973. Included in this edition are:
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| 25 | Pursuit of God The Pursuit of God | Tozer, Aiden Wilson (April 21, 1897 – May 12, 1963) | 1948 1948 | I was warned before reading this that Tozer would likely make me feel inadequate. I can see where that attitude comes from but I actually liked this little book quite a bit. It put me in mind of Brother Lawrence and I found it more an encouragement to be better than I am. |
| 26 | Protagoras Protagoras | Plato (428/427 or 424/423 – 348/347 B.C.) | -390 circa 390 B.C. | The book I have contains both Protagoras and Meno. However, because I read Meno as recently as 2020, I didn’t read it again this time. Protagoras deals with the question “Can virtue be taught?” |
| 27 | Romeo and Juliet Romeo and Juliet | Shakespeare, William (circa April 26, 1564 – April 23, 1616) | 1595 circa 1595 | This is definitely one of Shakespeare’s best know works so there were no surprises. Spoiler alert, it ends sadly. |
| 28 | Rome and the Mediterranean Rome and the Mediterranean | Livy (Titus Livius, 59 B.C. – A.D. 17) | -0027 circa 27 B.C. | This fourth and final volume of Livy’s History of Rome (Ab Urbe Condita Libri) contains books 31 through 45, covering the the Second Macedonian War, the War with Antiochus, and the Third Macedonian War. Books 46 through 142 are, sadly, lost. |
| 29 | Birthmark The Birthmark and Other Stories | Hawthorne, Nathaniel (July 4, 1804 – May 19, 1864) | 1852 1832–1852 |
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| 30 | Second Treatise of Government Second Treatise of Government | Locke, John (August, 29 1632 – October, 28 1704) | 1689 1689 | Locke writes about the state of nature, conquest and slavery, property, representative government, and the right of revolution. |
| 31 | Robinson Crusoe Robinson Crusoe | Dufoe, Daniel (circa 1660 – April 24, 1731) | 1719 1719 | Another novel that everyone knows but not everyone has actually read. As usual, there’s quite a bit more to book than the simple story that everyone knows. Well written and very engaging. |
| 32 | Erotic Poems The Erotic Poems | Ovid (Publius Ovidius Naso, March 20, 43 B.C. – A.D. 17 or 18) | -0016 Between 16 B.C. and A.D. 8 | The book contains The Amores, 16 B.C., The Art of Love, circa A.D. 2, Cures for Love, circa A.D. 2, and On Facial Treatment for Ladies, between 1 B.C. and A.D. 8. |
| 33 | Celestial Railroad The Celestial Railroad and Other Stories | Hawthorn, Nathaniel (July 4, 1804 – May 19, 1864) | 1851 1834–1851 | This book turns out to include all but one (Feathertop) of the short stories that were in The Birthmark and Other Stories with the addition of the following:
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| 34 | Hand of Ethelberta The Hand of Ethelberta | Hardy, Thomas (June 2, 1840 – January 11, 1928) | 1876 1876 | The fourth Hardy book this year. Not a well known work, I don’t think, but I found it wonderfull well written and a very good story. |
| 35 | Thus Spoke Zarathustra Thus Spoke Zarathustra | Nietzsche, Friedrich (October 15, 1844 – August 25, 1900) | 1883 1883 | This is a work of philosophical fiction, dealing with ideas about the Übermensch, the death of God, the will to power, and eternal recurrence. |
| 36 | Ra Expiditions The Ra Expiditions | Heyerdahl, Thor (October 6, 1914 – April 18, 2002) | 1972 1972 | Heyerdahl chronicles the planning, building, and sailing of two rafts made of papyrus from the west coast of Africa across the Atlantic Ocean. |
| 37 | Complete Poetry and Selected Prose of John Milton Complete Poetry and Selected Prose of John Milton | Milton, John (December 9, 1608 – November 8, 1674) | 1673 1673 | This book includes the 300+ page Paradise Lost (1667) and the much shorter Paradise Regained (1671), which are the principle reasons I bought and read it. I found a few of the sonnets lovely, which was a nice bonus. The prose, for the most part, was quite dry and with a few exceptions, not something I’d recommend. |
| 38 | Dhammapada The Dhammapada | Gautama, Siddhārtha (a.k.a. the Buddha, 6th or 5th century B.C.) | -500 6th or 5th century B.C. | A collection of 423 aphorisms grouped into 26 chapters, attributed to the Buddha. The title can be translated as The Path of Truth. |
| 39 | Ship of the Line Ship of the Line | Forester, C. S. (August 27, 1899 – April 2, 1966) | 1938 1938 | This is the second book published in the Hornblower series but is the seventh in terms of the story timeline. |
| 40 | Pensées Pensées | Pascal, Blaise (June 19, 1623 – August 19, 1662) | 1662 1662 | The Pensées (i.e. “Thoughts”) is a collection of fragments by the French mathematician, physicist, inventor, philosopher, writer, and Catholic theologian. |
| 41 | Blithedale Romance The Blithedale Romance | Hawthorne, Nathaniel (July 4, 1804 – May 19, 1864) | 1852 1852 | An interesting romance by Hawthorn. |
| 42 | Histories The Histories | Polybius (circa 200 – circa 118 B.C.) | -140 Mid to late 2nd century B.C. | There were originally 40 volumes in this work. The translation by Robin Waterfield has the first five, which exist in their entirety, and the existing portions of volumes six and twelve. After a summary of the first war between Rome and Carthage (the First Punic War) and a corresponding summary of the situation in Illeria, Macedonia, and Greece, he begins his history proper. He discusses the causes and first three years of the Second Punic War (a.k.a. the ‘Hannibalic War’) and then the occurrences in Greece, Asia Minor, Persia, and Egypt during the same three years. |
| 43 | Desperate Remedies Desperate Remedies | Hardy, Thomas (June 2, 1840 – January 11, 1928) | 1871 1871 | One of Hardy’s so-called ‘Novels of Ingenuity’, this was his first published novel. |
| 44a | Birth of Tragedy The Birth of Tragedy | Nietzsche, Friedrich (October 15, 1844 – August 25, 1900) | 1872 1872 | This is the first of two works in a single book. Nietzsche discusses, as the title suggests, the development and subsequent changes to the art of tragedy. I can’t say I followed his argument well enough to explain it to anyone else, but I found it interesting. |
| 44b | Genealogy of Morals The Genealogy of Morals | Nietzsche, Friedrich (October 15, 1844 – August 25, 1900) | 1887 1887 | This is the second work by Nietzsche in this book. He traces “episodes in the evolution of moral concepts with a view to confronting ‘moral prejudices’, specifically those of Christianity and Judaism.“ |
| 45 | Flying Colours Flying Colours | Forester, C. S. (August 27, 1899 – April 2, 1966) | 1938 1938 | This is the third book published in the Hornblower series but is the eighth in terms of the story timeline. |
| 46 | Faust Faust | Goethe, Johann Wolfgang von (August 28, 1749 – March 22, 1832) | 1829 1829 in it’s final form | This is a play, mostly written in rhymed verse, giving his version of a classic German legend based on the historical Johann Georg Faust (circa 1480–1540). |
| 47 | Trumpet-Major The Trumpet-Major | Hardy, Thomas (June 2, 1840 – January 11, 1928) | 1880 1880 | Another romance by Hardy. He is among my favorite authors and I’m working on getting through all of his works. |
| 48 | If Ye Shall Ask If Ye Shall Ask… | Chambers, Oswald (July 24, 1874 – November 15, 1917) | 1915 1915 | A collection of talks on prayer given by Chambers between 1911 and 1915 at Bible Training College in Clapham Common, Greater London. It was published in 1938. |
| 49 | Beowolf Beowolf | Unknown author, translated by Tolkien, J. R. R. (January 3, 1892 – September 2, 1973) | 0800 8th century | This modern English prose translation of Beowulf was edited by his son Christopher Tolkien (November 21, 1924 – January 16, 2020) and published in 2014. In addition to the translation of Beowulf this volume contains Sellig Spell, Tolkien’s own retelling of the story of Beowulf, and two versions of Tolkien’s The Lay of Beowulf |
| 50 | On The Incarnation On The Incarnation | Athanasius of Alexandria (c. 296–298 – May 2, 373) | 319 before A.D. 319 | This is a theological meditation on the divine Word made flesh. Athanasius aims to provide “an elementary instruction and an outline of the faith in Christ and his divine manifestation to us.” |
| 51 | Rise of Silas Lapham The Rise of Silas Lapham | Howells, William Dean (March 1, 1837 – May 11, 1920) | 1885 1885 | This is a realist novel by William Dean Howells, nicknamed “The Dean of American Letters.” It tells the riches to rags story of Silas Lapham who nevertheless rises from moral ambiguity to clarity. |
| 52 | Gentle and Lowly Gentle and Lowly | Ortland, Dane | This is a lovely book that provides a good reminder of who God is. I don’t often recommend what I sometimes refer to as “Christian Self-Help Books” but this is worth reading. | |
| 53 | Works of Virgil The Works of Virgil | Virgil (Publius Vergilius Maro, October 15, 70 B.C. – September 21, 19 B.C.) | -0019 between 29 and 19 B.C. | This book, with translations by J. W. Mackail, contains The Aeneid, Eclogues, and Georgics all in prose. I read them back in 2010, but thought it was time to go through them again. |
| 54 | Love’s Labor’s Lost Love’s Labor’s Lost | Shakespeare, William (circa April 26, 1564 – April 23, 1616) | 1598 circa 1598 | An early comedy by Shakespeare dealing with the relations between men and women. |
| 55 | Candide Candide | Voltaire (François-Marie Arouet, November 21, 1694 – May 30, 1778) | 1759 1759 | I’m not sure what to make of this. It’s a fairly easy read and moves quickly along, but everything is so exagerated that it’s hard to really take it seriously in terms of social or philosophical criticism. |
| 56 | Midsomer Night’s Dream A Midsomer Night’s Dream | Shakespeare, William (circa April 26, 1564 – April 23, 1616) | 1596 circa 1595 or 1596 | A classic by Shakespeare, this is a fun play and more fun for my having seen in performed a few years ago so I knew the story pretty well ahead of time. |
| 57 | As You Like It As You Like It | Shakespeare, William (circa April 26, 1564 – April 23, 1616) | 1599 1599 | A final Shakespeare play to finish out the year, this has some of the best “banter” of the Bard’s plays as well as a happy ending. Highly recommended. |
Note about dates: Not all dates—either publication dates or birth/death dates for authors—are known with any certainty and some of them are not much more than educated guesses. If the work or collection of works was written over a period of years, sorting by date will use the latest relevant date. Also, I only label dates with B.C. or A.D. if they are earlier than A.D. 1000. All unlabeled dates are A.D.