Reading List
A compiled list of Apogee's assigned readings
This is the required reading of Apogee. I have placed them all down, but know that I have not read them all. The books I have read will be explained a summary below.
Do Hard Things - Alex and Brett Harris
I loved this book. I loved the testimonies, the stories, and the explanations. My favorite analogy was the elephant and the twine. Even the largest of elephants can be held to a boundary by the thinnest of twine. To go somewhere in life, we have to break the twine and do hard things. I actually had read this book before and wrote a report on it. I was younger, so bear the horrible writing. Favourite quote:
“The teen years are not a vacation from responsibility,” we had told the columnist. “They are the training ground of future leaders who dare to be responsible”
― Alex Harris, Do Hard Things: A Teenage Rebellion Against Low Expectations
Atomic Habits - James Clear
Habits make up our lives. They do! Any morning routine has at least a dozen habits if you really dive in deep. But the problem is not all habits are good. Atomic habits explains the cure in three ways. Make it ugly, make it inaccessible, and make a partner to help you with it. For good habits, simply switch the first two around. Favourite quote:
'You do not rise to the levels of your goals. You fall to the level of your systems." - James Clear
The Way of Men - Jack Donovan
The term "men" or "man" in our day and age is ever-shifting. And the dictionary isn't helping. It defines it simply as "an adult human male. There's a bit more to it, though, and in The Way of Men by Jack Donovan, he explains just exactly what that "more" is.
My favorite story that Mr. Donovan told was about the creation of the infamous empire: Rome. Two brothers, Remus and Romulus, were left to die, raised by wolves, and eventually staggered into society as two burly and very uncivilized men. After a brawl between Romulus' captor and Remus, they decide to start an empire. The simple problem of naming the new kingdom threatens to tear them apart and literally does when Romulus beats Remus in a duel. With his beloved brother dead, Rome is born.
It was hard for me to read this story and think about the Roman people when Rome fell. They were fat, gluttonous, lazy, and cowardly. The once-feared empire fell quickly against the anger of the uprising nations. This strange and sad difference between Rome's beginning and the ending leads to my favorite moral in the book.
When we enter society, we immediately sacrifice a bit of our manhood.
In my opinion, manhood is important. Especially if not solely when it comes to protecting or defending one's loved ones. The more rash, reckless, and brutish side of manhood, I believe, is not as important. I believe gentle strength is better than quick and vengeful wrath that men are so easily ensnared by.
Favorite quote: “A child is a child, but an incompetent adult is a beggar.” - Jack Donovan, The Way of Men
Fortitude - Dan Crenshaw
In every age, every era, there is one essential value that stands out. In medevial times, this value might be perseverance, or in the industrial it might be aspiration. In our day and age however, this value is fortitude. We must shield ourselves from the confusion of transgender, wokeism, and so many worldy pleasures that come forth and entice.
From Fortitude, I learned a number of lessons. One stood out however, and for me it is the one lesson that trumps the rest. Put simply, it is turning the other cheek. This covers forgiveness, mercy, stoicism, perseverance and so many more. If I can look the attacker in the eye and say "hit me again, go on" I have reached a great level of strength and fortitude.
The Art of War - Sun Tzu
There are few ancient books have lasted to our day and age and are still popular. I would say the Bible is on the topmost pedestal of ancient bestsellers, but Sun Tzu's Art of War is a close second. Obviously I'm no war general, nor captain, nor soldier, I'm not even in the army. As I was reading the Art of War, however, I realized each and every one of Sun Tzu's phrases of wisdom can be applied to the spiritual war.
It was a game I played while reading! I would find out how to apply a qoute such as this one spiritually:
"Even the finest sword plunged into salt water will eventually rust.” - Sun Tzu, The Art of War
What I found from this wonderful qoute is that no matter how strong I think my armour of God is, I still must be wary. If I fall into saltwater, I can still rust.
Can't Hurt Me - David Goggins
In reading the first three chapters of Can't Hurt Me by David Goggins, I realized that I have it easy. David Goggins on the other hand, was living a complete and total nightmare of a life. He was horribly abused, and perhaps even worse had to watch his mother be hit over and over again until she was beat senseless.
But pasts do not define futures, and Mr. Goggins leapt up from his life of misery and weakness to become a navy SEAL, world-record breaker, wonderful husband, fantastic son, and a strong, capable man. This book was by far my favorite of Apogee's required reading so far. Why? Because it was a story.
Sure, I can tell the whole world to toughen up and to stop crying. But if I'm sobbing myself to sleep every night though, what's the point? That's just it, there is none. Like the old saying says: I have to practice what I preach. The fact that makes Mr. Goggin's story so incredible is that it's completely true. He went through Hell Week twice, he did 4,300 pullups in 24 hours, and he underwent one of the most horrific childhoods I've ever heard of.
Yes, all of these things are true. Not to mention, they are staggering feats of human will and strength. Even more than Mr. Goggins physical achievements, however, I was impressed by his final chapter, which taught forgiveness. You see, his brother had stayed with Mr. Goggin's monster of a father after he and his mother left. David and his brother hadn't spoken with eachother for fifteen years, yet when his brother's daughter was shot to death, they embraced.
As I read through stories like these I often find that the physical brutalities aren't the obstacles that break a man. It's the spiritual ones. This is why I love Matthew 10: 28,
"Do not be afraid of those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. Rather, be afraid of the One who can destroy both soul and body in hell."