Join a virtual book club
Join a book club from home. The Classics Made Modern book group meets on Zoom and connects together in a Facebook group! If you haven't ever read a classic that wasn't assigned – we're going to make this fun. If you love reading but are looking for something a bit different – try one of these titles! Here are the basics:
We meet on Wednesday afternoons from 2-3 pm in a Zoom video chat to discuss the book "face-to-face!"- All of the books are available digitally from home -- as ebooks or audiobooks through Hoopla.
- Follow along in the library's Facebook group for this discussion as we share quotes, memes, historical context, modern takes, factoids about the author's personal life, strong opinions about the movie versions, and trivia!
- Background information on each title and author is shared in advance via email.
- For help with Hoopla, Zoom, or any questions, email classicsmodern@tscpl.org.
Upcoming Book Discussions
Read the ebook or listen to the audiobook, then join the discussion on Zoom.
Oroonoko by Aphra Behn
Wed, Aug 20 | 2-3pm
A landmark in the history of the novel, Oroonoko is among the earliest such works in the English language and its author, Aphra Behn, is often cited as the first professional woman writer. Originally published in 1688, the tale combines memoir, biography, and travelogue in the form of a narrative by an Englishwoman visiting Surinam. The storyteller's account of an African prince who is sold into slavery and becomes the leader of a rebellion represents one of the first fictional treatments of colonial and abolitionist themes, and it is unusual for its era in its sympathetic regard for black Africans
Read the ebook or listen to the audiobook on Hoopla or check availability for print books through Interlibrary Loan.
Read 80 pages or listen 3.5 hours
Emma by Jane Austen
Wed, Sep 17 | 2-3pm
Emma is a literary classic by Jane Austen first published in 1816 following the genteel women of Georgian-Regency England in their most cherished sport: matchmaking. Emma is spoiled, headstrong, and self-satisfied. After a couple she has introduced gets married, she greatly overestimates her own matchmaking abilities and, blind to the dangers of meddling in other people's lives, proceeds to forge ahead in her new interest despite objections.
Read the ebook or listen to the audiobook on Hoopla or check availability from the library.
Read 500 pages or listen to 18 hours
Mathilda by Mary Shelley
Wed, Oct 15 | 2-3 pm
In a haunting tale of love and loss Mathilda unravels the tragic story of a young woman grappling with the death of her mother and the unsettling affection of her father. English writer Mary Shelley (best known for Frankenstein) wrote the novella in 1820 as a means of self-distraction following the deaths of her young children in Italy, but it remained unpublished for more than a century. The story's posthumous appearance in 1959 helped cement Shelley's reputation as a leading Romantic.
Read the ebook or listen to the audiobook on Hoopla or check availability for print books through Interlibrary Loan.
Read 105 pages or listen 4 hours
Alice's Adventures in Wonderland and Through the Looking-Glass by Lewis Carroll
Wed, Nov 12 | 2-3 pm
Full of word play and whimsy, Alice's Adventures in Wonderland and its sequel Through the Looking-Glass have enchanted readers for more than 100 years – offering a timeless escape to a world where imagination reigns and nonsense makes perfect sense. Lewis Carroll, a mathematics don at the University of Oxford, wrote both the 1865 English children's novel and 1871 sequel entitled Through the Looking-Glass.
Read the ebook or listen to the audiobook on Hoopla or check availability for print books and movie adaptations in the library catalog.
Alice's Adventures in Wonderland
Read 150 pages or listen 2.5 hours.
Through the Looking-Glass
Read 270 pages or listen 3.5 hours.
YOU are invited to this book group
We've got options to make this work for everyone! If you aren't sure about this whole reading classics idea – check it out to see if any of these books or stories interest you!
