This is a more difficult question to answer than it should be, because I'm surrounded by stacks of books and I will randomly cycle between them while only very rarely finishing any of them. And also a kindle that I'll do the same thing on. But the two books I'm reading most consistently at the moment are The Iliad translated by Robert removedles and Conan by Robert E. Howard, an ebook of all the Conan the Barbarian stories that I got for a dollar. I know, two problematic reads. I'm halfway through the sixty page introduction to the Iliad, which has been interesting as it goes over the history of the Iliad, the scholarly debate over how it was composed—a debate that has itself spanned centuries—plus some general background about Mycenean Greece and also a little background on Homer's world. I've never actually read the Iliad, not even an abridged version in school (which I did do for the Odyssey) so I felt like it was finally time to read it. But my actual impetus for reading The Iliad (and I'm going to read the Odyssey after I finish it) is because I want to read The Classical World by Robin Fox, a general survey of ancient history. But I found quickly that the author assumed the reader had at least some sort of familiarity with Homer, and I thought I'd appreciate that book more having read him first.
As for the Conan books, I kinda like them. REH's race science is hugely problematic, for sure. And the prose is often terrible (though there's occasional glimmers of good prose in there, it's just the exception not the rule). But the stories are just engaging enough that I want to keep reading. After I finish these I want to read Jirel of Joiry by C.L. Moore, one of modern Fantasy's first female writers. Pulp, but it's about a Christian female knight and it's written by a women? Sign me up. I'm gonna be crushed if they suck. One of my biggest guilty pleasures is Red Sonja, the exploitation female counterpart to Conan. If I could get a version of that that is less problematic I'm going to be pleased.
As for any Socialist literature, I'm going to commit to reading The People's Marx. But even an abridgement of Capital is imposing, so I might read A People's History of the United States first just to dip my toes in something from a Left perspective that's a little more approachable.
This is a more difficult question to answer than it should be, because I'm surrounded by stacks of books and I will randomly cycle between them while only very rarely finishing any of them. And also a kindle that I'll do the same thing on. But the two books I'm reading most consistently at the moment are The Iliad translated by Robert removedles and Conan by Robert E. Howard, an ebook of all the Conan the Barbarian stories that I got for a dollar. I know, two problematic reads. I'm halfway through the sixty page introduction to the Iliad, which has been interesting as it goes over the history of the Iliad, the scholarly debate over how it was composed—a debate that has itself spanned centuries—plus some general background about Mycenean Greece and also a little background on Homer's world. I've never actually read the Iliad, not even an abridged version in school (which I did do for the Odyssey) so I felt like it was finally time to read it. But my actual impetus for reading The Iliad (and I'm going to read the Odyssey after I finish it) is because I want to read The Classical World by Robin Fox, a general survey of ancient history. But I found quickly that the author assumed the reader had at least some sort of familiarity with Homer, and I thought I'd appreciate that book more having read him first.
As for the Conan books, I kinda like them. REH's race science is hugely problematic, for sure. And the prose is often terrible (though there's occasional glimmers of good prose in there, it's just the exception not the rule). But the stories are just engaging enough that I want to keep reading. After I finish these I want to read Jirel of Joiry by C.L. Moore, one of modern Fantasy's first female writers. Pulp, but it's about a Christian female knight and it's written by a women? Sign me up. I'm gonna be crushed if they suck. One of my biggest guilty pleasures is Red Sonja, the exploitation female counterpart to Conan. If I could get a version of that that is less problematic I'm going to be pleased.
As for any Socialist literature, I'm going to commit to reading The People's Marx. But even an abridgement of Capital is imposing, so I might read A People's History of the United States first just to dip my toes in something from a Left perspective that's a little more approachable.