Skip Navigation
 
Classics made modern Classics made modern classics made modern classics made modern

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:

  • online chatWe 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.

Laughing Boy by Oliver La Farge

Laughing BoyWed, Apr 2 | 2-3pm

Laughing Boy is a 1929 novel by Oliver La Farge about the struggles of the Navajo in southwestern United States to reconcile their culture with that of the United States. It won the Pulitzer Prize in 1930.

Read the ebook on Hoopla or check availability on physical items from the library.

Read 193 pages.

The Roman Hat Mystery by Ellery Queen

the roman hat mysteryWed, Apr 30 | 2-3pm

A murder in a crowded Broadway theater presents a full house of suspects—the first in this classic mystery series starring Ellery Queen!

Read the ebook or download the audiobook on Hoopla.

Read 250 pages or listen to 11 hours.

A Room of One's Own by Virginia Woolf

a room of ones ownWed, May 28 | 2-3pm

This extended essay is based on lectures Virginia Woolf delivered in 1928 at women's colleges at the University of Cambridge. In her 1929 essay, Woolf uses metaphors to explore social injustices and comments on women's lack of free expression.

Read the ebook or listen to the audiobook on Hoopla or check availability on physical items from the library.

Read 125 pages or listen to 4 hours.

Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, An American Slave by Frederick Douglass

douglassWed, Jun 25 | 2-3pm

Frederick Douglass's Narrative powerfully details the life of the writer, orator and abolitionist, from his birth into slavery and the circumstances of his upbringing, to his brutal treatment at the hands of slave-owners and his narrow escape from Maryland to freedom. Written in 1845, this narrative is one of the most famous works of American literature and provided fuel for the abolitionist movement that began in the early nineteenth century.

Read the ebook or listen to the audiobook on Hoopla or check availability on physical items from the library.

Read 200 pages or listen 4.5 hours

The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain

twainWed, Jul 23 | 2-3pm

Following the events of The Adventures of Tom Sawyer, Huckleberry Finn is under the watchful stewardship of the Widow Douglas. However, when he is forced back into his drunken father's custody, Huck fakes his own death and runs off down river. In the process, he meets up with Jim, a runaway slave, and they embarking on a legendary journey. The story is set in a Southern antebellum society that had ceased to exist over 20 years before the work was published in 1885. It offers both brilliant humor and tragedy as Huck and Jim explore moral dilemmas of slavery and freedom.

Read the ebook or listen to the audiobook on Hoopla or check availability on physical items from the library.

Read 300 pages or listen 9.5 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!

 
Back to Top