I first found the book, The Well-Educated Mind, about a year and a half ago. I dutifully read the book, copied the lists, and began hunting down some of the books on the lists (it was a great excuse to buy more books!). However, I didn't get very far when it came to actually sitting down and reading the books.
You see, I am a prolific reader and it rarely takes me more than a couple days to finish a book. However, the author of TWEM expects much more than just a quick perusal. Without going into much detail, I'll just say that she recommends reading a book not just once, but 3 times in a row! And you are not to passively read the book, you are to take notes and really analyze it! Extraordinary thought.
I'd like to think that I analyze the books I read, but I quickly found that taking notes on the book is time consuming, and much more complicated than I'd thought. My reading quickly tapered off and I fell victim to the number one killer of readers: Netflix!! (I don't have cable so that wasn't a problem.)
Long story short, it's over a year later and I find myself unexpectedly unemployed. Never having been in this situation before, it didn't take long for me to grow bored. So now I shall return to my previous inspirations and endeavor to become well-educated!!
My goal is to read through all 5 lists and journal through out the process. The five lists are titled as follows: Novels, Autobiographies, Historical Reading, Drama, and Poetry. Ms. Bauer arranged them chronologically and I believe they include about 157 books. I have already read several of the novels, but I shall re-read them and endeavor to think through them.
There's my lengthy introduction - now to get started!!
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