A Reading List to Make the Most of Every Day
The books, daily meditations, and newsletters that fuel me each morning
Reading isn’t just something to do on vacation, or when you have a spare moment. Like all important things in your life, it should be a daily practice, something to continuously get better at.
I work hard every day to make sure I read something that expands my mind, piques my curiosity, or reminds me of an important lesson. That means that even if I’m deep into a new novel or biography, I also spend my mornings with some specific books, websites, and newsletters that I benefit from each time I read them. You might make them a part of your daily reading practice, too.
A Calendar of Wisdom by Leo Tolstoy
As Tolstoy wrote in his diary, the continual study of one text — reflected upon in increments of a page per day — was critical to his personal growth. “Daily study,” Tolstoy wrote in 1884, is “necessary for all people.” So Tolstoy set out to create a book composed of “a wise thought for every day of the year, from the greatest philosophers of all times and all people… Epictetus, Marcus Aurelius, Lao-Tzu, Buddha, Pascal.” The result was A Calendar of Wisdom, which he believed was his most essential work.
