This week is Fall Books Week at Current! From today through Friday, you can expect five reviews of five beautiful new books on very different topics—or so one might say at first glance. But all of these books (and review essays about them) add up to one important desire: the pursuit of human flourishing.
What is the good life, this life of flourishing? It is a very old question, of course. Answers too often appear elusive. Such is the human condition, one could say. But there is something wondrous about books that people have known since the earliest days of writing. Books, we see time and time again, can heal weary souls.
Indeed, such has been the function of storytelling well before writing existed to commit good stories to a format that would allow them to be disseminated without a person coming along to tell these stories to each successive audience. I am reminded of the many times in Homer’s Odyssey when weary travelers are treated to a dinner banquet—yes, food, that basic comfort!—but also a story. Sometimes, these same weary travelers are invited to be storytellers themselves after dinner. Why? Because for the tellers and the listeners alike, the telling of tales that are meaningful is no less a basic comfort than a good meal, a comfortable chair, and the company of friends, old and new.
These stories from an epic composed by traveling bards before there was a Greek alphabet to write it all down also reminds of another important aspect of storytelling: We are never meant to hoard the best tales and ideas all to ourselves. It is, rather, a delight to share them with others, near and far.
And this brings us right back to Fall Books Week and, really, the reason we plan for books weeks now every quarter—because these are opportunities for us to share some of the best of recent books with each other in the spirit of intellectual encouragement. Through hospitality to books and ideas, we extend hospitality to people–to writers of books and of reviews, and to all who love to read and talk about books and ideas.
Current book reviews are meant to be conversation-starters—and the books we select for review reflect this purpose. So go ahead, read a review, share it with others! Pick up a book, talk about it with others. And find the joy of community through conversations about good books.