Month 7 Well Filling

This month my personal goals are mostly  not going too well (drinking more water is one of them).  But one thing is. 

A little background:  a few years ago my dad introduced me to a list on Brigham Young University's website (my alma mater, wahoo).  Within the Honors program, there is something called the Great Works List (here).  Since then I have periodically used it to find books or art in order to educate myself in little small ways while still being a stay-at-home mom.  I would love to get more education some day; in the short run these make me feel like I am still challenging myself without taking too much time away from my kids.  One favorite that I have been exposed to over the last few years, through a smart friend, is Dickens.  David Copperfield has become a favorite, and Esther Summerson of Bleak House made it onto our "hero" wall even though she is a fictional character.

I have been in a little rut, though, reading the same types of things for a while (and in general my reading slowed way down when I started blogging).  So I challenged myself to go way outside my comfort zone and pick an author or title I'd never heard of (there are quite a few to choose from on this list!).  I chose Soren Kierkegaard's On Fear and Trembling (I even downloaded it free to my phone).  It is not huge, and I'm probably only one third of the way through it, but it has delivered precisely what I wanted-- exposure to a "great" work and new ideas.  And some challenge.  The concepts are quite beautiful.

Time is so precious, and I want things that inspire me to be better.  How do you choose your reading materials?  What is it that fills your tank from an intellectual perspective?  I feel I am a better mother when I am also trying to improve myself each day and it gives me tools with which to teach them, too.