Read Along with the Sluggish Scholars
An invitation to join the club and announcing the four books we're reading in 2023
There are two types of people in this world: those who read and those who wish they read more. Alright, a third group exists, those with no interest in the written word, but they likely aren’t subscribed to this newsletter.
To continue speaking in blatant generalities, I suppose that most of us, even those who consider ourselves “readers,” wish we read more deliberately and with the discipline to tackle books of great importance.
Reading is in a bit of a crisis. On the one hand, reading is entertainment, yet when stacked up against digital alternatives, the type built to addict and ensnare, it rarely stands a fighting chance. On the other hand, reading, like any great art, can go beyond entertainment. It’s contemplative, inspiring, and helps us learn what it means to be human. These lofty outcomes are not easily reached, however. Literature of this kind requires attention and effort that may feel impossible to muster in our fast-paced lives. Even if we had the time, allowing the mental headspace to absorb all that literature offers is an entirely different challenge.
The effect of these two things - the alternative entertainment options and the diligence required to purposefully read—means that fewer adults read books than ever before. According to the American Time Use Survey, in 2021, the average fully employed adult read only 10 minutes a day (this includes reading anything, not just books).
The Purpose of The Sluggish Scholars Book Club
You could think of The Sluggish Scholars Club as an attempt to buck the trend. The name acknowledges the inherent difficulty of reading purposefully. We’re sluggish readers in need of a little motivation and community to get us reading important literature and non-fiction.
I won’t speak for the entire group who has joined so far, but I personally find it hard to discuss literature with others, not due to any lack of friends or family who read, but because no one is reading the same thing at the same time. This book club won’t have the benefit of sitting down in person with refreshments and idle chit-chat, but we are texting each other in What’s App and meeting once or twice on Zoom. We’ll learn from each other and have a chance to discuss books, not just read them.
In this club, no one is expected to read a lot. However, we will try and read consistently. In Greg McKeown’s 2014 book Essentialism, he writes about the habit of reading just a little bit every day. He writes, “One practice I’ve found useful is simply to read something from classic literature… for the first twenty minutes of the day. Not only does this squash my previous tendency to check my e-mail as soon as I wake up, it centers my day. It broadens my perspective and reminds me of themes and ideas that are essential enough to have withstood the test of time.”
20 minutes a day isn’t much, but it’s enough to get into a book and experience the centering, broadening effects McKeown describes.
For that reason, we’re only reading four books as a club this year. Members who have joined already voted to read these four books in the categories of Classic Fiction, Contemporary Fiction, History, and Essay/Memoir/Religion.
A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens
The Handmaid’s Tale by Margaret Atwood
Sapiens: A Brief History of Mankind by Yuval Noah Harari
Man is Not Alone: A Philosophy of Religion by Abraham Joshua Heschel
Each book will be spaced out over several months (though you can certainly read them faster if you choose). We’re starting with A Tale of Two Cities and spending three months on it. Then we’re moving to Sapiens which will take another three months. We’ll spend two months on The Handmaid’s Tale before finishing the last four months of the year with Man is Not Alone.
Every month, on the third Tuesday of the month, the club will publish a post written by me or one/several of the other club members about the book either introducing it, exploring a theme, or reviewing its merits.
Everyone is invited to read along and follow the discussion questions, tips, and debates that accompany each month’s post. For those who want more engagement, twenty of us are currently active in a What’s App group. We’ll be having our first discussion weekend this Thursday-Saturday, January 19-21. You’re invited! Just fill out this form, and at the end, you’ll receive the invite link to the group.
Introduction and Reading Schedule for A Tale of Two Cities
A Tale of Two Cities is a worthy read. It’s said to have sold over 200 million copies in its lifetime. If that number is true (and there are a few disputes), that makes it the second best-selling book of all time, coming in a few million behind Don Quixote, tied with The Little Prince, and selling nearly 100 million copies than The Sorcerer’s Stone, And Then There Were None, and The Hobbit.
Published when he was 47 years old, it was one of the last five novels Dickens ever wrote, and, as he often did, the novel was published in weekly installments over a seven-month period. Interestingly, Dickens actually owned the magazine that published A Tale of Two Cities (and later Great Expectations), whereas for his earlier serial works, he was only a contributor or editor.
Below, I’ve listed the reading schedule we’re following. Each date listed is a Thursday, which will kick off a new weekend discussion of the previous chapters.
January 19: Book 1, Chapters 1-6
February 2: Book 2, Chapters 1-9
February 16: Book 2, Chapters 10-17
March 2: Book 2, Chapters 18-24
March 16: Book 3, Chapters 1-10
March 30: Book 3, Chapters 10-End
So join the club, read along, and experience the benefits of great literature in 2023!
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