Yes! Exactly!

Oh, lovely!

Hahaha, I don't understand why they exit. Who, in their pride, thought they could rightly alter the great books, knowing what we were all able to do without?!

Packing books is the hardest! How am I supposed to know what kind of mood I'll be in in three days?!

That is the most common sense thing I've heard today. Obviously.

I, too, lose things but so glad you are on the hunt to read it finally!

I would've buy out their entire catalog if I could!

Isn't it so fun to watch him share his love of books?!

Give 'em what they need! And enjoy that book reorganizing!

Well, I'm not sure about KZfaqrs but I do love the CiRCE Institute and all that comes out of their work! You could consider joining us in Common House. There are about 550 of us-from around the world-having conversations like these. And I make a ton of resources just for them! No pressure! commonhouse.mn.co

Thank you!

Now that is quite the honor.

So glad you enjoyed it! Please watch Wes Callihan's full video! I think you'll love it!

Thank you! Happy to have you here.

Ooh enjoy!

Thank you! Very kind of you to say!

Thank you!

Can I come? Love a good library sale.

Yea for beauty!

Yeah, they do have an old smell. As I've been looking for more rare books (at the $60-$100 range), I've found my best tip is to keep a whole separate window open on my computer with the search tabs open. Every week, I refresh, scope it out again, and then minimize it. I never forget what I'm looking for and it gives me a regular search habit!

You can put smelly items in a bag with a ripe banana until the banana turns black. The gas it puts off as it ripens helps eliminate musty and other odors. Worth a try if you find a good book at a very very low price while thrifting.

@@penguinblanche WHAT. Amazing.

I would look at websites like Yesterday's Classics and Purple House Press and others. They are reprints and brand new. If price is a factor, you could try looking into a virtual school program that provides books like these for free. For example, Wisconsin and Indiana have a school called Academy of Excellence that pays for free books of your choosing (within some parameters). It's not for everyone because then you are under their umbrella insated of homeschooling on your own, but for building a library it could be an option --and you avoid the smelly old books.

😭😭😭 One day they will regret it. You can send them my way 😅

That's so sad. I've always wanted to build a library.

This would make me very sad too. I think parents have always felt pained when children have scoffed at their inheritances. But it doesn't mean your gift wasn't gold.

It's a helpful thing to keep in mind!

Thank you! This one is actually a shirt! It's an old blouse from Madewell.

So happy to hear it!

Woop! Thank you!

I might notice. It may be one of those things that is hard to grasp without being within it.

Aren't they beauties?!

We have all been there! This is exactly why I started The Commonplace podcast (and then the KZfaq): to help find a path forward through the overwhelm! I highly recommend John Senior's Thousand Good Book List. Find to where you've read already and keep going from there. (Pay no attention to the "grade" levels!) seascs.net/documents/2017/10/John%20Senior%20The%20Thousand%20Good%20Books%20List.pdf

Ah, well, there is the serendipitous "found it an an old bookstore" moment, which I may or may not live for. Then, there's Google. The depths of Google. You make a really good point. You need to *know* your authors OR have a guide. This is why I love the canon of Western civilization. You can't know everything. You can't judge everything. But we do have a collective list of what has been agreed upon as the great books or authors and you can let that be your guide while you build!

@@thecommonplacehomeschool I mean finding the books on my own shelves organized by published date 🤣 I think it would be daunting to try and remember what was published when for when I try to find a certain book in my own bookshelves

@@Hookhamhomestead Oh oh oh! I see. But if you're generally aware of the book's ideas, you will learn when in the stream of thought those ideas appeared!

Very nice! We're going the floating shelf route in our homeschool nook but thank you!

Oh, lovely! I haven't heard of that one. Thank you! I have a few resources expanding Mason's thoughts on this: podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/ep-14-the-way-of-the-will-and-the/id1568956517?i=1000579560352 podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/ep-16-the-way-of-the-reason-principles-18-19/id1568956517?i=1000582482104 kzfaq.info/get/bejne/nrWHi8J2yd7YgGw.html

My kind of person.

I ask because I would love to find some good Eastern classics to add to my Western classics as I grow my library. And surely there are Good, True, and Beautiful things and ideas I'm missing out on from other parts of the world.

YES. So, the Western classical tradition is built on Western thought/civilization. We are formed mostly by it, so we study what we inherit. However, of course, there is wisdom in the 'canons' of other parts of the world! (There is a new book on the six liberal arts of the Chinese Classical Tradition. Katerina Kern of CiRCE has spoken on the African classical tradition -- I believe she was in Uganda? -- etc etc.) If you've not read The Abolition of Man by Lewis, let me recommend it for this conversation. But as you read (or, at least, as I read), you start tracing ideas to other places and works. You will certainly discover treasures from other places. It's only right. Mostly I've grown the folktales, fairytales, and myths from other places. I hope to find more in the future!

Oh, I forgot to answer how to choose: So the western canon deals with what's common to man. These are the questions, hopes, pains, struggles of the common person, right? So look for the similar threads in other places. There will be differences in the art, form, character, etc. in each place, but we're all wrestling with what it means to be a person, how to define and "get" the good life, and, ultimately, why do we exist?

@@thecommonplacehomeschool Thanks! I'll have to look into the stuff from CiRCE. I have read Abolition of Man, but I'm probably due for a re-read soon. :)

Autumn, so happy to see you recommending CiRCE… when I first came across your podcast I figured you were connected to CiRCE based on last name alone 😂 whoops! (I go to church with about half of CiRCE staff. The Orthodox half lol)

Warby Parker! Watts, maybe?

Rather on topic for me, as you can tell. Yes, that's the plan! I still have quite awhile before my hair has grown out fully but I've had fun (and some panic) saying, "Oh, so this is what I *actually* look like." Starting reason: hoping to give my daughter (and sons!) a healthy view of aging and beauty and realness and the like. Added reason: hoping to do the same for me.

Oh I love that. Thanks for sharing. I'm partially worried about chemicals, partially just too lazy to keep up with my hair. 😅

Ha! KZfaq shows me a lot of booktubers on my home page and 99% of the videos center around YA series like forbidden, kidnappy loves stories with dark alien princes and what not. While I love encountering a potato chip at a party, you can't eat 'em regularly. Stories, like food, do something to you and I'm wary of anyone feasting on most of what I see on YT or a walk through the teen section of our local library. Ah, one note: "Eating" the great books doesn't mean just the mighty classics! Commonly good books are the bulk of a regular reading diet! But mediocre or counterfeit books (what I'm talking about) damage us. Joshua Gibbs has much to say about this. Loved his book Love What Lasts!

I have a love for classical books but I too have a love for young adult books! 😅 The ones I love and reach for again and again are several series from Melanie Dickerson. She takes fairy tales and rewrites them into history, replacing the magic part with teachings about God and having faith in His plan. I highly recommend them!

@@thecommonplacehomeschool Yeah, I've noticed that YA fiction seems to be getting darker and more adult in recent years. I think that's because of how many adults read YA fiction. It's unfortunate.