A Year of Reading
Zaytuna College’s 12000 Strong monthly book club examines several different genres of writing from the best of the past and present.
Explore the First Command Book Club’s Monthly Selections
January
How to Read a Book
Mortimer Adler’s classic work aims to equip the avid reader with the tools necessary to critically analyze and enjoy books from any tradition. This foundational skill makes an excellent start to the book club, as you will be able to apply its lessons throughout the year.
February
Cynical Theories
In Cynical Theories, Pluckrose and Lindsay analyze and break down the modern sociopolitical narratives that inform the present-day social justice movement.
March
The Muqaddimah: An Introduction to History
The great Maliki scholar Ibn Khaldun is considered a pioneer of the social and natural sciences. While his bibliography is vast, it is the Muqaddimah that brings together his most famous and penetrating insights.
April
The Koran Interpreted
A. J. Arberry’s translation of the Holy Qur’an has been praised for its use of language, which remains striking and accessible even decades after its release.
May
Sense and Sensibility
Jane Austen’s debut novel is a classic of English prose that offers a clever and witty depiction of middle-class life in nineteenth century England.
June
Politics
This text by the great Greek philosopher is perhaps the most foundational work of political philosophy. It famously follows his ethical treatise, The Nicomachean Ethics, underscoring Aristotle’s view that ethics necessarily precedes politics when establishing a just society.
July
Notes from Underground and Bartleby, the Scrivener
Notes from Underground provides poignant social critique, philosophical musings, and detailed reflections on life in late-nineteenth-century Russia. In the second half of the month, we read Melville's Bartleby, the Scrivener.
August
The Brothers Karamazov
Dostoevsky’s final novel is a philosophical and theological reflection set against the backdrop of social change in Russia.
September
Islam and Secularism
In this seminal work, Professor Syed Naquib al-Attas analyzes a crisis of knowledge in the modern day and proposes a framework for a harmonious use of knowledge from various sources, so long as they follow an intellectual and spiritual hierarchical order.
October
Al-Shama’il Al-Muhammadiyya
This famous work by Imam al-Tirmidhi beautifully presents a careful selection of hadith that extol the blessed appearance, character, manners, and lifestyle of the Prophet Muhammad ﷺ. It allows readers to deepen their appreciation for and love of God’s best and most perfect of all creation.
November
The Drama of Atheist Humanism
De Lubac traces modern atheism to its original sources, demonstrating how this intellectual genealogy has reverberated across a range of schools of thought.
December
The Bacchae and Measure for Measure
These two plays, an ancient Greek tragedy and an Elizabethan comedy, offer deep insights on the contrasting elements of vice and virtue, and religion and secularism, which remain relevant today.
