Zane Graham > Recent Status Updates

September reading update. Been able to finally have some things settle and can read some again. Been doing a lot of re-reading for various reasons. Re-read Plato's Euthyphro, and Nicole wanted to listen to an audiobook together, so we have listened to Mistborn 1 & 2. I just finished Rhythm of War, and am reviewing my notes and thoughts before posting my reflection.

July 2026: Slow month, but good month. Switched to a new note-taking template. Still adjusting to moving to Boston.

June update: Moved to Boston. Reading has been slow, if not non-existent. July will probably be similar as I am getting settled. Hoping to pick back up in August of September.

May Update: Been a bit more of a productive book of reading. Life is transitioning from one phase to the next. As my current schedule/routines/commitments in KS begin come to an end, and the chaos of moving has begun, I have been able to read between the chaotic moments. Finished "How to Read a Book", and read NEBR, A book from my childhood pastor. NEBR is not catologued on goodreads.

Finished, just working on my reflection, and reviewing notes.

APRIL UPDATE: Its been a slow month, but picked up my pace some. Finished PT 1 of Fahrenheit 451 with my mom. I spent awhile responding to the questions she drafted up for our discussion. TBH, it has been a slow year in general, but one of my deepest years in terms of tearing apart what I am reading. Preparing to move is also slowing me down. I feel like I am coming out of the slump I am in, but only time will tell!

Reading this last month has been slow. Lots of things going on in life. Travelling, events. Work has been busy so not really reading at work, and most of all, hitting our financial milestone to start things going on moving to the Boston area. So most of my time when I have it has not been towards reading. When I have been reading though, it has been great!

I honestly treat Goodreads like social media for ideas (of sorts). By this I mean that traditional social media platforms incentivize users to post about what things they are doing and who they are with, which is great, but not something that particularly interests me. (See Comment for finished thought)

I honestly treat Goodreads like social media for ideas (of sorts). By this I mean that traditional social media platforms incentivize users to post about what things they are doing and who they are with, which is great, but not something that particularly interests me.

Pretty much finished. Going back through it for my reflection

Started using the methods taught in this book. This slowed my reading, but my understanding & focus is improved. This book claims that the purpose of note-taking & marking up a book is not about learning, but is a measurement of your attention while reading. So the primary function of taking notes, highlighting, annotating and etc. are not to learn better, but to focus better (which happens to help with learning)

Using this as my testing ground for reading methods taught in How to read a book by Mortimer J Adler. This has slowed my reading, but my reading is much deeper. This book seems marketed as a contemporary history of the bible, but it is pretty complex, and deals with a lot of history & philosophy. If anything, it shows that the history of the bible is something more complex than what 300 pages can do justice.

Updated my monthly progress on my reading for January 2026. Overall it was a slower month than I would have liked as I was doing a lot of work preparing for the full year. But I can now mostly just put my head down and start reading and reflecting.

I am pretty much done with this. I'm reading two different translations, and Goodreads doesn't let me show that I am actually reading two translations... Anyways, I've read the main story, now I am just reading some of the appendices, essays and commentary that the translators have attached to their publication of the Epic of Gilgamesh.

I'm taking this one slow. It is very dense. Honestly downright archaic and frustrating to read sometimes because the authors language is needlessly flowery and downright making the simplest explanations into the most beautiful tapestries. This is one of the most beautiful and hardest books I have read. It's an experience for sure.

I'm finished with this book. Just writing my review. If you want my opinion now, ITS BIG POOPOO DONT READ IT.

I have been reading this on and off on audio for a few months as a background comfort read since I know alot about theology & the Bible, but I was often getting lost or would quit paying attention. So, I decided to restart this book by reading it traditionally. This book has a lot more going on than I thought. It looks like contemporary writing, but it's actually serious scholarship. The first chapter is brilliant!

Much more enlightening in my re-read, especially with some knowledge of platonic philosophy. Doing some quick research I realized the author was an Aristotelian so of course I was going to see some dialectical philosophy going on.

Picked this back up again. Started taking notes as I read. Slowed me down significantly, but helps me keep the firehouse of world History in my mind.

2025 END OF YEAR READING REFLECTION

If you want to read my year end reading reflection, here is the link to my substack. Goodreads isn't allowing me to post a wall of text 🥲🙃

https://open.substack.com/pub/zanegra...

November general update: I did an oopsie and discovered graphic audio books, and before I knew it.... I read 6 books in a month. Don't know how that happened, but it did.