Marking pages, marking time

Weekends my time is my own, and I spend much of that time reading, navel-gazing, or gaming. Yesterday I went out and did some shopping with my sister. Stuff I needed. Stuff I want can wait until Xmas, and I've already started work on the Xmas list. Meanwhile, I'm trying to get back into reading 'Classics of philosophy'. It's a mammoth book made up of all the greats, and I was having some trouble get through Plato. Now I've finally reached Aristotle, and I can breathe a sigh of relief. Socrates choosing to drink the hemlock continues to bug me, especially when he had the option of making an escape. I know he saw it as submitting to the will of the civilization, but I still think he had a choice in escaping and coming back when the heat was off. I guess he felt that, being in his 70's, he could die before the heat was off. It's one of those things that cannot be answered. I read 'Republic' and enjoyed it somwhat. Are there any oligarchies or timocracies still alive today, or are we all monarchies, democracies, or dictatorships?
This massive book is not from the library, but one I kept from my University days (I decided that I was not going to drop this book until I was done reading it cover-to-cover). I also just finished reading Cornelia Funke's 'Inkheart'. Thick like brick but a good story. I've got 'Inkspell' waiting in the wings, and am on the hunt for 'Inkdeath', which is the 3rd book in the series. I'm wondering when Brendan Fraser is going to star in a movie treatment of 'Inkspell'? I should go and watch 'Inkheart' now that I've gotten through the book a second time. I've heard it's a good movie. Cornelia Funke is a pretty good writer (and her translator is pretty good as well). I read 'Dragon rider' recently as well. Another book I couldn't put down for long.
On the literary horizon, I've got a book about Carl Barks coming up, as well as another foray into Joyce Milgaard's book. I haven't read it in a couple of years, and thought the time was right. But before I go down this path, I've got a ton of Philosophy to get through. And that's what going on with me these days. I'll talk a little more about my navel-gazing later on. Whatever highlights I can come up with, I will post. BYE.