Bedside Table Reading

Many of my friends (both homeschoolers and not) talk about the pile of books teetering on their bedside tables. I'm no exception. My bedside table looks like a miniature, poorly organized, library. Today, I'm going to let you look and tell you what I'm currently reading.


On the top of the pile is Shakespeare: To Teach or not to Teach by Cass Foster and Lynn G. Johnson. I'm thinking about reading Henry V with my boys this year, culminating with seeing a live performance this spring. Cass Foster abridged A Midsummer Night's Dream, among other Shakespeare plays, and I thought he might have some insights on how to teach Shakespeare to my kids.

Next on the pile is Sense and Sensibility. This is the book I'm currently reading to wind down just before I go to sleep. This is probably the 3rd or 4th time I've read it. Jane Austen just never gets old.

Third down is a brand new book I put on my Amazon wishlist and received as a gift. I'm very excited to read it, although I've barely opened it yet. It's The Trivium: The Liberal Arts of Logic, Grammar, and Rhetoric by Sister Miriam Joseph. The trivium is one of the bases for classical education, so I'm trying to get a better picture of what the teaching the trivium entails.

Next down is a book that is always on my bedside table: The Underground History of American Education by John Taylor Gatto. I'm chipping away at this book, which is fascinating, yet frustrating (for its lack of citations). I think this is a must read for the "big picture" view of what we're doing by homeschooling.

The next three books are aspirational reads more than anything: Ovid's Metamorphoses, Virgil's Aeneid, and Plato's Republic. Ovid and Plato are for my own edification, so I rarely actually get to them. I just plain don't like the Aeneid. I only have one more section of it to read, though, so I might make it a goal to finish it before the new year.

I would love "Bedside Table Reading" to become a regular post on this blog. Please take a picture of your pile of books (whether it's on the bedside table or not), make a list of the books and, if you have time, make some comments, and then send it to me at homeschoolingrevolution [AT] gmail [DOT] com.