Meditations
I keep a copy by the bed and read a page or two at a time, which seems to be the only way this book works. Read straight through, it is repetitive almost to the point of irritation: the same handful of reminders about death, other people and the present moment, turned over again and again.
It took me a while to see that the repetition is the point. These were never meant as essays. They read like someone talking himself back into a position he keeps losing, which makes them more convincing than if he had managed to say it once and move on.
Book II is the one I return to most. Book IV is where I started underlining.