At the start of 2026, I did something I’d never done before. I wrote out a list of books I hoped to read during the year — an “aspirational” reading list. I don’t feel wedded to the list — if I want to deviate from it, or abandon it altogether, so be it. It’s my reading time, after all, my reading life. But I enjoyed the exercise and it did focus me. After all, I consistently read about 50 books per year. So if I live another 20 years, I can finish reading about 1,000 more books. That may seem like a lot, but I assure you, gentle reader, it falls far, far below my aspirations. So some focus and tethering to long-term desire may prove useful.

From my “2026 Aspirational Reading List,” I tackled a few books this quarter: Moby Dick, Jane Eyre, an Eknath Easwaran translation, and Martin Shaw’s new book. And I re-read one of my very favorite books, Hermann Hesse’s The Journey to the East, to prepare for the upcoming book conversation on it. I loved it as much in this reading as I ever have before. Marvelous!

All in all, a wonderful quarter of reading! On to Q2!