Join My 2025 Reading Group | Short Great Books
I'll be leading a monthly reading group both in-person and online. I'd love for you to join!
Join me for a Great Books reading group! We’ll discuss short, 2-5 hour reads in person (Franklin, TN) or online (Zoom). Details on joining, dates, and monthly books below.
How it Works:
I’m going to lead a monthly reading group covering Short Great Books. If you live near Franklin, TN, you can join in person on the 2nd Monday of each month. If you live outside the area, I’ll be leading a separate online discussion on Wednesdays (tentative dates listed below the reading list). You can come and go as you please. Join all 12 sessions or pick and choose as your schedule allows. Here are details on joining in-person or online:
In-person: Purchase the book for that month from Landmark Booksellers. If you already have the book, you can purchase another book.
Online: Become a paid subscriber on the Books of Titans Substack (options for $5/month, $99/year, or $500/yr). Subscribe at any level and Zoom call details will be sent to paid subscribers. Feel free to dip in and out of a subscription for the months you wish to participate.
Reading List
January
The Epic of Gilgamesh
Version: Stephen Mitchell Version | Purchase from Landmark
This is one of the earliest stories we have. It’s fascinating and even contains a flood epic within the main epic!
February
Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass
Version: Signature Classics | Purchase from Landmark
This is an account of the early life of Frederick Douglass and is one you will never forget. This is one of the most impactful books from my entire reading project.
March
Agamemnon by Aeschylus
Version: Penguin / Robert Fagles Translation | Purchase from Landmark
Let’s kick off the Greek Tragedies with one of the most famous stories in literature, Agamemnon’s return from the Trojan War.
April
The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald
Version: Any Authorized Edition | Purchase from Landmark
You read it in high school. If you were like me, you hated being forced to read it. It’s time to revisit it. You may even like it this time around.
May
Philoctetes by Sophocles
Version: Hackett / Peter Meineck & Paul Woodruff Translation | Purchase from Landmark
This is such an amazing tragedy play by the second great Greek tragedy playwright, with themes of truth/lies and deliberation/force.
June
The Old Man and the Sea by Ernest Hemingway
Version: Any Version | Purchase from Landmark
This is one of my favorite books and it was book #2 for this reading list back in 2017.
July
The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde
Version: The Gothic Chronicles Collection | Purchase from Landmark
I read this 20+ years ago and it has stuck with me. An incredible story.
August
Man’s Search for Meaning by Viktor Frankl
Version: Any Version | Purchase from Landmark
One of the most impactful books I’ve read. A survivor of the concentration camps asks how to survive hell on earth.
September
Poetics by Aristotle
Version: Penguin Classics / Malcolm Heath Translation | Purchase from Landmark
It’s back to school time. Let’s dig into Aristotle as he comments on Greek Tragedy.
October
Medea by Euripides
Version: Any Version | Purchase from Landmark
It’s October. How about some spurned love, child killing, and overall devastation!
November
White Nights by Fyodor Dostoevsky
Version: Penguin Classics / Ronald Meyer Translation | Purchase from Landmark
This will be my first reading of this short Dostoyevsky novel.
December
A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens
Version: Rabbit Room Edition | Purchase from Landmark
Is it even possible to read something other than A Christmas Carol in December?
Tentative In-Person Dates:
Monday Evenings, 7 – 9pm at Landmark Booksellers, Franklin, TN
January 13th
February 10th
March 10th
April 14th
May 12th
June 9th
July 14th
August 11th
September 8th
October 13th
November 10th
December 8th
Tentative Online Dates:
Wednesday Afternoons, 2 – 4pm Central Time
January 15th
February 12th
March 12th
April 16th
May 14th
June 11th
July 16th
August 13th
September 10th
October 15th
November 12th
December 10th
Any chance the online sessions will be recorded, so if we work during that time we could go back and listen to the discussion? Or will there be a podcast? Just curious, thanks!