HAVEN'T READ IT

For my special topics paper I was interested in exploring book clubs as a tool for social change: It’s primary season in America, and a virus is spreading sickness and panic. Society is contending with homelessness, poverty, the opioid crisis, an influx of immigrants fleeing corrupt regimes, climate change, rising gun violence, and more. Tensions are high, and it can sometimes feel, reading comments on local news stories or watching televised debates, like we have lost our collective ability to relate to one another. The internet promised to make us more connected than ever, but it “seems that, even as our Facebook friend circles expand into the hundreds and even thousands, our real-life circles of comrades and kindred spirits are steadily dwindling” (Olmstead, 2018, para. 5). Places where community can flourish without commodification are scarce. One such “place” is the book club. An estimated five million Americans meet in living rooms, bars, bookstores, online forums, and lib...