The 2026 Short Great Books Reading Group
Announcing the Book List for 2026
A few years ago, I began partaking in online reading groups. I would join people around the world talking about books like Homer’s Iliad, his Odyssey, and Aeschylus’ Oresteia. That sparked a desire in me to start an in-person group in my area. In 2024, I started a reading group and we read through the Iliad over a 9 week period.
That was a bit intense and too much with the rest of my schedule, so I decided to start a monthly Short Great Books reading group at the start of 2025. We met once a month throughout the year and covered books like Man’s Search for Meaning, The Epic of Gilgamesh, and Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass.
I’m continuing this reading group into 2026. We will meet the second Monday of each month at Landmark Booksellers in Franklin, TN at 7pm. I also led an online group for each book during 2025, but am discontinuing it due to lack of interest (most calls only had one person).
Here’s the list of books for 2026. In the photo above, the books are in order from top to bottom. We’ll start with A Good Man is Hard to Find in January and end with Nutcracker and the Mouse King in December:
January - A Good Man is Hard to Find by Flannery O’Connor
February - The Overcoat by Nikolai Gogol
March - Our Name is Dare by Kev Coleman
April - One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich by Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn
May - Medea by Euripides
June - Apology (Defense of Socrates) by Plato
July - Till We Have Faces by C.S. Lewis
August - Billy Budd by Herman Melville
September - My Antonia by Willa Cather
October - Candide by Voltaire
November - Jason and the Golden Fleece by Apollonius
December - The Nutcracker and the Mouse King by E.T.A. Hoffmann
I realize that most of you do not live in Franklin, TN. You’re welcome to join whenever you are in town. But I hope this encourages you to start a reading group in your area. There’s something very powerful about meeting together in person to discuss books. I was absolutely amazed at the discussions that took place this year.
Here’s an article I wrote back in October 2024 that contains some ideas for starting a reading group of your own:
Leading a Reading Group
I just finished leading a 9-week, in-person reading group covering the Iliad. It was such a good experience. I’ve also participated in a number of groups over the years and wanted to use this podcast episode to share what I’ve learned and to hopefully encourage you to start your own reading group.
I’m going to try to do this!