Closing Out In-Between Reading 2026: Shaken, Indeed [IBR2026]

I noted in my IBR2026 Opening post last January that I was taking a different approach this year: I was eager to read a pile of what I called ‘Big Books’ on my table, so I moved Pushcart to the summer. This was an experiment, and what I got from it was that it was a Bad Idea. I’m still feeling the repercussions: I have several half-read books that I’m just not going to finish this year. I’d hoped to fit in at least two more, but BASS drops in four days and I need a little breathing space. So I’m calling the IBR section for 2026. This year was half Ancient Greek: finishing Herodotus, looking at the Epic Cycle, getting to know some of the dramas, and reading Thucydides and a couple of other related books on the Persian and Peloponnesian Wars. This was a highly successful approach for my purposes, as I have a much better, more organized understanding of a period that was a jumble of ideas. There is more material, of course, but I feel like I’ve got what I need to better understand Plato,…