Reading "Agir avec Aristote"
The book (Agir avec Aristote by Damien Clerget-Gurnaud) is written in French, but I read the Chinese translation. This is my experience reading the book.
I loved reading philosophy books around 2 years ago. Usually I would finish one within a week and move on to the next one. Not much information was actually retained in the brain. I only remember enjoying reading them so much that I almost underlined every single paragraph. The books I read include some of Plato's works and Existentialism. At some point I decided that reading about a good life does not help me live one. I sold all my physical copies on a second-hand online store, and did not read a single philosophy book ever since.
Agir avec Aristote (lit. to act with Aristotle) is one of many books that attempt to make philosophy actionable. It does not mainly focus on what a good life is (although there are descriptions of it) but more on what a good life should be, because knowing what something is does not lead to action. Morals guide us towards a state of "should". "Should's" gravitate towards the future.
I wish I had read this book much earlier when I wasn't so burnt out from reading theoretical arguments. It is a great reminder that philosophy should (most of the time) guide instead of confuse. This one guides you towards Aristotle's works and thoughts. I tried reading Nicomachean's Ethics some time ago. Let's just say complex clauses do not translate well into Mandarin. At best, I re-read the sentence several times. At worst, the reading experience was so fractured I had given up trying. Even if the translation weren't so confusing at the time, I wouldn't know why exactly I was reading the book. There was no intrinsic motivation.
This one might get me back on track with Nicomachean's Ethics. I might also consider reading an introductory collection of essays before diving into another school of thought.