EP 124: Wondering What to Read? Here's the Answer!

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For years, every time Audrey spoke somewhere, no matter the topic, people would approach her afterward and tell her that she had inspired them to read more, "But," they wanted to know, "what should I read?"

This podcast has the answer!

If you're someone who wants to be a lifelong learner and just isn't sure where to start. Or if you want to read more enriching books but don't know how to choose. Or you would love to read books to your children, but don't know how to pick the best ones. Or you wish you could discuss good books with your friends but have no idea what you should be looking for...Audrey is here to help!

With a few simple guidelines, you will be far more confident in choosing the right things to read, books which can enrich your life, and help you lift others. 

If you want to level up your reading, take a listen!

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PODCAST TRANSCRIPT (AI Generated)

 Welcome to the Mission-Driven Mom podcast. This podcast is for moms just like you—moms who want to learn how to glorify God by finding and embracing true principles, discovering and developing your greatest gifts, and using them to serve your family and community.

Jordan Peterson once said something that really encapsulates the “why” behind what we’re going to talk about for a few minutes today:

“We’re always deciding, with every choice we make, whether we are going to do good or harm—by action or by inaction. Whether we should do good, or harm, or nothing at all. I think that depends, to some degree, on who we think we are and what we believe we’re capable of. It seems to me that the humanities, when they’re properly taught, are the study of who we could be as individuals. And we need to know that, because otherwise, we’ll be much less than we are—and could be. And that’s not a trivial problem.”

That really struck me. All throughout the day, every day, we’re called upon to make micro-decisions and macro-decisions. Those decisions affect us, they affect the people around us, and they reflect the kind of person we’ve become.

This is why the ancients—and really, all the way up until maybe the last hundred years or so—the greatest thinkers and leaders constantly talked about virtue. Virtue was considered the primary purpose of being human. That was the ultimate goal. That was the end game.

We are the only creatures we know of who have self-consciousness, self-awareness, and the capacity for self-improvement. Because we have that capacity, it’s incumbent upon us to develop it—to become the most virtuous humans we can be.

This reminds me of something John Quincy Adams wrote to his son while he was serving as an ambassador to Russia. His son was only about 10 or 11 years old at the time. In his letter, Adams wrote something like this:

“You boys brag a lot about how many books you’ve read. But those books are of no benefit to you if they don’t make you wiser and more virtuous. What’s the point of plowing through a stack of books if they haven’t changed you?”

That’s the essence of what I’m all about: truth that changes you. Truth that makes you free. And it connects beautifully with what Jordan Peterson was saying—that the humanities are really the study of being human and of striving to be the best humans we can be.

This is why I’m such an advocate for lifelong learning. When we seek truth and apply it, not only do we gain tools for solving the problems we face, but we also grow in virtue. Lifelong learning develops our character, shows us over and over again the kind of person we could become, and motivates us to keep striving.

I talked recently in another video podcast about Benjamin Franklin’s book club and the impact it had. It illustrates this same principle: we often don’t realize how much good can come simply from interacting with the truly great—the kind of “great” that is genuinely virtuous and has a profoundly positive influence on the world.

So today I want to focus on something that might seem a little trivial at first glance: how to choose books—whether for yourself, your children, or a book club.

I am a huge proponent of book clubs and group learning because discussion is so powerful. In future podcasts, I’ll share more about why discussion matters so much—how it changes the way we think, the way we live, and the way we apply truth. If you follow me at all, you know I teach the five types of questions, how to lead quality discussions, how to look for themes, how to mark your book, and most importantly, how to identify principles.

But here’s the thing: none of those skills matter if you choose the wrong books. The wrong readings will derail your efforts before you even begin.

Now, when it comes to book clubs, many follow a “democratic” method—everyone takes turns choosing a book and leading the discussion. The challenge is that members have widely varying backgrounds, skills, and levels of preparation. I’ve seen book clubs where members hadn’t even read the book they chose! That kind of inconsistency creates an environment where participants don’t know what to expect—whether the reading will be worthwhile, whether the discussion will be meaningful, or whether someone will simply hijack the conversation.

And when that happens, people lose motivation.

But book clubs—done right—are one of the best ways to continue lifelong learning. Having a deadline motivates you to actually read, and discussing the material with others deepens your understanding. In my own book club with my sister and some friends, we use these principles. We eat, we laugh, we learn—and the discussions are rich and life-giving.

So how do you choose books that will make that possible?

I want to give you three simple but important tools for discerning which books to read—whether you’re teaching a class, parenting your children, or running a book club. These three suggestions can make all the difference in your experience.

In fact, I once wrote about this, and I’d like to share a little story from that piece—an experience I had while attending a friend’s book club…

So I went to this book club—it consisted of neighbors who had been meeting regularly for many years. Out of the 12 women who attended, about half had finished the book for that month. Some had started it, and a couple had even refused to purchase or read it at all. As you can imagine, this made it difficult to have a meaningful discussion.

When they did talk about the book, the conversation felt flat—just sharing a favorite part, a quote, or a brief comment. But when they shifted to discussing their personal struggles with spouses, children, friends, or work, the conversation suddenly came alive.

And this is my point: pair the two. Let the things you’re reading inform your real-life experiences. My YouTube channel used to be called Education for Real Life because that’s exactly what true education is supposed to provide—skills for living. That’s what we want to resurrect.

Now, I personally didn’t say much during that discussion, but when I sensed they were winding down, I asked a few questions. Honestly, I wanted to evaluate this book club as a kind of test case for my theories about book clubs.

I asked, “How do you choose the books you’ll read?”
One woman replied, “Everyone gets a turn on a rotating schedule.”

That’s how most book clubs operate.

I followed up: “Had anyone here read this book before it was recommended?”
The answer: “No.”

“Then how did you come to choose it?” I asked.
“It was recommended to one of the members by a friend.”

Finally, I asked, “Will any of you ever read this book again?”

And here’s what shocked me: even the staunchest defenders of the book—the women who had purchased it, read the whole thing, and engaged in the discussion—all answered no. Not one woman there thought the book was worth reading again.

“Really?” I asked, genuinely surprised. “Why not?”

One woman’s answer explained the problem perfectly. She said, “There just aren’t very many books worth reading more than once. Maybe a couple hundred years ago that was different, but now we’re inundated with information. Honestly, if you look at how many books are published every year, very few are worth a second read.”

Now, while I know many people feel this way, her comment still surprised me—because I own many books that I believe are absolutely worth reading again and again. For me, her perspective felt a little tragic.

Another woman added, “Yeah, I’ve only read a couple of books twice in my whole life.”

Then something fascinating happened. A woman sitting next to me—one of the members who hadn’t purchased or read the book that month—spoke up. She said, “I read The Help three times this past year. We read it for group several months ago, and when I finished it, I went right home and read it again. Then I read it a third time.”

I asked her, “Why three times?”

She replied, “Because it made me want to be better.”

That’s the key. That’s the power of choosing the right books.

This is why I’m doing this series on book clubs—and why I’m releasing this one as a podcast. I want you to have these tools. Because what most people think they want in their book clubs are books that are simply entertaining. But the books that truly enrich the club—the ones that bless the lives of those who attend, and keep them motivated to come back—are the books that are enriching.

Now, enriching books can certainly be entertaining. But often, entertaining books are not enriching. Great books are both. That’s the goal.

Think of it like food. We think we want candy—but what we really need, what nourishes us, are vegetables. And just like vegetables, great books can both taste wonderful and nourish us at the same time. That’s the kind of reading we want.

Here’s the point: some things are “the best” by my standards, and some by your standards. But some things are truly the best by history’s standards. Certain books, music, and art outlast the popularity of their day. They endure not just their generation, but even centuries, because they speak universally to humankind.

Personally, I don’t have a lot of extra time to read for book club. If I’m going to invest my time, I want it to be worthwhile. That doesn’t mean I want to cozy up with Moby-Dick tonight, but it does mean there are so many incredible works we could be reading and discussing—works that could truly change how we think and live.

Unfortunately, most book clubs spend their time on easy-to-read, modern novels. And that’s a tragedy, because the same time could be spent on books that are far more meaningful.

Not only are better readings richer in content, they’re actually more fun to discuss.

So when I say “classics,” I don’t just mean old books. I mean any reading that:

• Contains timeless truth we can learn from again and again.
• Reflects natural consequences and honors natural law.
• Teaches true human nature.
• Inspires us to be our best selves.

And here’s the secret: one of the biggest problems in our culture today is the absence of this kind of reading. If our schools were filled with the right kinds of books, we would be producing a different kind of man and woman—and, ultimately, a different kind of culture.

The Founding generation understood this. After the Constitution was ratified, the leaders said, in essence: “We’ve established a free nation. Now we must educate the people to remain free.” Education wasn’t just about literacy—it was about forming character, cultivating virtue, and preparing citizens to perpetuate liberty.

So if you didn’t receive that kind of education in school—and I didn’t—get it for yourself. And then pass it on to your family.

That brings me to the first principle in choosing what to read for lifelong learning—whether it’s for your family, your children, or your book club:

Stick with the original.

Let me give you an example. Several years ago, I was doing research for one of my classes. I had to visit a local private school, where I listened to a lecture on Christopher Columbus. It was part of their American history studies.

At the time, there was a lot of buzz in the country about putting Columbus “on trial” in classrooms and finding him guilty of heinous crimes. That narrative is still circulating today—though it has only intensified…

I’ve written and spoken elsewhere about this, but I believe what we’ve done to Christopher Columbus is truly tragic.

When I was young—50 years ago—we admired Columbus. But in the 1990s and early 2000s, suddenly he was despised. I watched that shift happen in my own lifetime, and it felt bizarre. I couldn’t figure out why it had changed so drastically, and I thought about it a lot.

So when I was working on this research project and heard a speaker lecture about Columbus, my interest was piqued. He shared stories I’d never heard before, and I was fascinated. But what struck me most wasn’t so much what he said about Columbus—it was that he repeatedly referenced Columbus’s own journal.

By this point, I had already realized that the private university I had attended as a young adult had not given me nearly enough exposure to original sources. But that lecture, combined with what I was seeing in the news, helped me understand the importance of going directly to the source on a whole new level.

I went home, typed “Columbus’s journal” into Google, and there it was. In just a few pages, I could read for myself who Columbus was, what he did, and—most importantly—how he felt about his life and decisions.

I could learn about Columbus from Columbus.

It was incredibly liberating and exhilarating. No more relying on someone else’s opinion—I could find out for myself. I hadn’t done this earlier in my life simply because I didn’t realize I could or even should. Others don’t do it because they don’t know how, or they feel intimidated. Many people believe older writings are too difficult to understand.

But that simply isn’t true. Yes, Shakespeare can be challenging, and yes, you may need to read Plato’s Republic or Allegory of the Cave a few times to fully grasp it. But most older writings—letters, treatises, documents, even Shakespeare—have been translated into modern English. You can start there.

Columbus’s journal was not hard to read. Neither are many of the original sources I now recommend: the letters of John and Abigail Adams, Cicero’s speeches, Marcus Aurelius’s Meditations. They’re not as easy as a modern novel or a children’s classic, but they’re far more accessible than most people assume. Even Shakespeare, once you get familiar with the plot and take a little time, can not only be understood but thoroughly enjoyed.

So here’s the first principle when choosing what to read for yourself, your family, or your book club:

1. Go to the original.

Most of our public-school textbooks are three, four, or even five steps removed from the original. Someone read something, who read something else, who read something else, and then a committee of scholars compiled it. Along the way, they picked and chose based on their worldview, values, and judgments of what was “important.”

But that doesn’t necessarily make you a more virtuous person. It might not help you discover who you really are. It might not benefit your life.

So whenever you can, go straight to the source. Learn from Columbus, from Plato, from Abigail Adams—directly.

2. Mix it up.

Don’t read only novels. Don’t read only nonfiction. Don’t read only self-help. Expose yourself—and your book club—to all kinds of reading.

I’ve included a bullet list in the description to give you some ideas, but here’s just a sampling of the kinds of genres you can explore:

• Plays
• Poetry
• Speeches
• Essays
• Children’s novels
• Fairy tales
• Treatises
• Histories
• Autobiographies
• Historical fiction
• Scientific studies
• Short stories
• Self-help
• Manifestos
• Documents
• “Great Books” excerpts
• Letters
• Court case summaries
• Magazine articles

You see, most book clubs fall into monotony because they read almost exclusively modern novels. That’s largely because these are the books friends recommend, or because they feel easy and entertaining. People think that’s what they want—but in reality, those books don’t usually provide a deeply enriching experience.

Modern novels do have their place. But they should be just one resource among many. Leaders who haven’t been exposed to other types of readings simply don’t know what’s available. But if they did, their groups would have far more enjoyable reading experiences and much more stimulating discussions.

One way to start mixing it up is to choose a subject or theme and explore it across genres. For example, say you want to study Franklin D. Roosevelt, or France, or leadership. Search your library or the internet for speeches, essays, novels, and even scientific studies on that topic.

Another way is to use the internet to search for “10 best” lists in various genres. Spend a little time comparing lists, and you’ll quickly find consensus about the true greats in each field. Then dedicate a year to reading across those genres—perhaps speeches one month, letters the next, short stories after that, and so on.

And don’t stop with just the text! Look at maps and timelines while you read. Learn about the time period, see where events took place, and pull up photos of what those places look like today. Doing this will open up a whole new world of learning—and make reading not only more meaningful, but also more fun.

Super-duper fun—and your book club becomes a little classroom.

So, the first principle is: go to the original. Stick with the original.
The second one is: mix it up.
And the third is: start simple.

As you learn more about the kinds of questions and reading skills I teach (or learn from others as well), you’ll come to see that in preparing for a great discussion, it’s far more important how you read than how much you read.

Plato’s Allegory of the Cave is just a page long, and I’ve had so many discussions about it that have gone in a million different directions. That’s the power of rich material. It’s not about the volume—it’s about the depth. And that’s also why you can actually get everyone to do the reading and come prepared. Because if it’s just one or two poems, or a short selection, people can actually engage. And those conversations can be incredible.

Now, many book clubs feel like they have to read an entire book every month. I want to say something about that. You’ve probably had it drilled into you—like I did—that you have to finish everything you start. Finish the book. Finish the assignment. But here’s the truth: you do not have to finish. You can read, and then stop when it’s no longer enriching for you.

That said, as a book club leader—or even just for your own enrichment—you can choose shorter readings that people will finish, and then you can go back to them over and over again. Your group can read as much or as little as you’d like. Just as you can use all different types of readings, you can also help your group grow in their capacity to read more effectively by starting simple.

Maybe you spend a few months, or even a couple of years, reading easier books while practicing your reading and discussion skills. The best way to do this is by choosing readings that are relatively easy to understand but that still offer rich themes and principles to explore.

Classic children’s literature, selections from self-help books, poetry, excerpts from great books, or even fairytales are wonderful for this. They’re short and approachable, but still allow for thoughtful reflection.

When you’re starting simple, choose readings that are either short and a little challenging—like a few pages from a great book, a couple of poems, or a document you can read multiple times and ponder—or easy and accessible, like children’s literature, a magazine article, or a play you can finish in a month. This gives you time to go slowly, think deeply, and really understand what you’re reading.

This approach also helps keep things fresh by rotating through different types of readings, while allowing your group’s reading and comprehension skills to grow. Eventually, you’ll be ready and even excited to tackle a more difficult classic.

And while it may feel like that day will never come, I promise you—it will. I’ve seen it happen with hundreds, probably thousands, of students and groups. I’ve had seven or eight hundred people just in the Mission Academy alone, and every time, when they follow this path, their capacity grows. Their love for learning deepens. And soon, they find themselves reading Cicero, Blackstone, Plato—just little pieces at a time—and applying the principles they discover.

It’s exhilarating. It’s fulfilling. And I can’t express enough how passionate I am about this path.

So the big “why” behind all of this is simple: so you can know who you are. So you can experience the joy of self-discovery, develop your character, and become a more virtuous person.

By sticking with the original, mixing it up, and starting simple, you can do that.

And what’s so wonderful about these tools is that they’re just a small part of what we call the MDM Way. This is our unique educational approach. It takes you to original sources. It introduces you to many different genres. It focuses on Socratic discussion and on learning by expressing your ideas. It’s deeply principle-based. And all of these good educational practices are built into everything we do.

The MDM Way is a beautiful model for the kind of education we can be giving ourselves right now, in our own lives.

If you join us in the MDM Academy, you’ll gain access to these tools and many more. You’ll be mentored as you walk through the content with us, and we’ll provide the resources you need. But even outside the Academy, you can begin today. Pick up a quality reading from an original source. Study it carefully. Ask yourself great questions. Ask the author questions. Compare it to your scriptures. And then strive to live the truths you discover.

We’ve talked today about how this applies to book clubs, but it’s just as true for your family, for your personal enrichment, and for any area of life where you want to keep learning and growing.

So thank you so much for joining me today. I hope you’ll take these simple tools to heart—choosing a variety of readings, using good study skills, and engaging in the adventure of lifelong learning. It’s such a tremendous source of joy, and so many people miss out on it.

If this was valuable to you, please share it with a friend and leave us a review.

Thanks again for being here—and I’ll see you next time.