Some book clubs and reading groups are offering students an escape from their dorms during winter.
English Prof. William West leads a weekly reading group. West noted that while a traditional book club has participants do readings beforehand, his reading group reads a particular book aloud together at every meeting.
“We try to meet every week, we just read the book aloud to each other and talk about whatever comes up,” West said. “It’s just that idea of reading aloud and having it be totally optional. You don’t have to prepare. You can just show up with your copy of your book and just read it, or the person next to you will read it.”
Because the reading group does not require preparation, West said it’s perfect for students with busy schedules who do not have time to read beforehand.
The group, currently consisting of Northwestern graduate students and professors, is working on the epic poem “Paradise Lost” by John Milton.
“The thing I really love about reading groups is it feels to me like it’s really great to have to do something intellectual that is totally opt-in,” West said.
Taking a more service-oriented twist toward book clubs, Books & Breakfast is a before-school program that invites NU students to tutor and read books to Evanston elementary school students through paid and volunteer roles.
Weinberg sophomore Jennifer Lee said tutors at the program prioritize “brain work” like homework or a book before moving on to games to bond with the kids.
“More than you would think, the kids really make a connection with you,” Lee said. “I remember in the beginning, the student that I was paired up with seemed like she didn’t care too much. But, in the next few weeks that I went, she got a lot more excited to see me and talk to me.”
The Women’s Center Winter Book Club, which meets every Wednesday, takes a thematic approach to reading groups.
Each year, the Women’s Center chooses a programming theme and selects a book that aligns with it. This academic year’s theme is “Legacies of Living Free,” and the center selected “Marsha: The Joy and Defiance of Marsha P. Johnson” by Tourmaline.
Women’s Center Program Manager melisa stephen said the book’s author will give a keynote speech and facilitate a workshop in April.
“Marsha P. Johnson is an amazing person and icon to look up to. It felt important in this moment to also be uplifting and centering trans stories and trans experiences as central to the work of feminism,” stephen said.
They added that the spring event will allow people who were involved in the book club, as well as others who want to attend, to engage in programming related to the book and its themes.
Book clubs that exist within campus organizations help strengthen values within these communities and foster relationships, according to stephen.
“So much of what the work that Marsha P. Johnson and Sylvia Rivera, her friend, (have done) is grounded in mutual aid and harm reduction,” stephen said. “Meeting people where they’re at and helping people across lines of difference applies to anybody who’s interested in being a part of a community.”
Email: [email protected]
Related Stories:
— MSA Queer Book Club, APIDA Book of the Quarter to hold discussions in winter
— Away from campus, students connect to each other through virtual book clubs
— What’s New At NU: Books & Breakfast bridges Evanston education community
