I spent 2016 reading a lot of classics, mainly as part of the Goodreads Classics & The Western Canon group, and found that my ignorance or amnesia about the Bible was often a barrier to understanding certain passages. For example, in Dostoevsky's Brothers Karamazov, one of the big themes is human suffering and a key biblical passage that is cited is the Book of Job, and I found myself rereading that section of the Bible just to keep up. Although I'm familiar with certain sections, especially in the New Testament, I realise that I need to read the Bible more systematically to understand it better, so have found a reading plan (it's a daily 6-month plan which I'll be stretching out over the whole year) for 2017. My other main reading challenge for 2017 is to read another fundamental work in the western canon, Plato's Republic, in the first quarter of the year, followed by Canterbury Tales and War & Peace later in 2017.
Here's the Bible reading schedule (which, as mentioned, I'll be doing every 2 days rather than daily). I'll be reading the Oxford World's Classics latest edition of the authorised King James Version (KJV from now on), and my plan is also to write a blog, whenever possible, with thoughts on the passages. Happy New Year!
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