My Living Cannon

Long after we finish reading them, they continue reading us.

What Is a Living Canon?

I once believed a personal library was something you collected.

Now I think it's something you cultivate.

Some books entertain us for a weekend.

Others quietly become part of who we are.

A Living Canon isn't a list of the greatest books ever written.

It isn't a race to finish the classics.

And it certainly isn't a collection assembled to impress anyone.

To me, a Living Canon is a lifelong conversation.

It's a carefully tended library of books that shape my thinking, challenge my assumptions, strengthen my character, and remind me of the kind of person I hope to become.

Some books have already earned their place.

Others are still teaching me.

A few are patiently waiting for the season when I'll finally understand why they've been calling my name.

This isn't a finished collection.

Like every living thing, it will continue to grow.

Why I Started Building It

When this idea first took shape, almost everything in my life was changing.

I had recently gotten engaged and was learning what it meant to build a life alongside another person. We had just begun living under the same roof, discovering new routines, sharing responsibilities, and figuring out what kind of home we wanted to create.

Nothing about that season felt ordinary.

It was the beginning of ordinary.

We weren't simply sharing a house.

We were learning how to build a home.

Not just through walls or furniture, but through habits, traditions, conversations, and the small decisions that slowly become a life.

During that season, I realized I wanted something that could grow alongside me.

Not another accomplishment.

Not another hobby.

Something that would remain with me through every season of life.

I realized that while I could spend my life learning about countless subjects, the subject I most wanted to study was myself.

Not in the sense of self-importance, but in the pursuit of self-understanding.

I wanted to become as educated as I could in what it means to live well.

To understand my strengths and weaknesses.

To recognize the patterns of my own thinking.

To become more patient.

More courageous.

More attentive.

More peaceful.

As I searched for teachers, I kept returning to books.

Not because they had all the answers.

But because the greatest books have spent centuries asking the right questions.

Some of these books I discovered on my own.

Some are books I've shared with the people I love.

Others are books I already hope to place into someone else's hands someday—not because I expect them to have the same experience I did, but because I believe they have something enduring to offer.

That's when I realized I wasn't creating a reading list.

I was building a Living Canon.

A collection of companions that would grow alongside me.

Books that would shape the home I was building.

The traditions I hoped to create.

The conversations I wanted to have.

And, if I'm fortunate, the legacy I hope to leave behind.

Long after we finish reading them, they continue reading us.

That is why this Living Canon exists.

It isn't a collection of the greatest books ever written.

It's a record of the books that are helping me become the person I hope to be.