The FTPML BIG BOOK CLUB—sometimes called the Great Big Book Club—was founded in 2009 to discuss great works of literature from the world written throughout history. After selecting a book, a scholar or expert on the author or the work presents a lecture about the book to book club participants. Discussion of the book then continues over multiple sessions every other week.

The Big Book Club discusses a great book in the spring and fall of the year. Recent discussions have included Vanity Fair by William Makepeace Thackery and Palace Walk by Naguib Mahfouz. In the past the Big Book Club has read War and Peace, Bleak House, Moby Dick, The Iliad, Les Misérables, and the Book of Genesis.

The FRIENDS BOOK GROUP spans country and time, exploring literature through historical and contemporary fiction, mysteries and science fiction, and graphic novels for more than 15 years. Authors have included Kenzaburo Oe, W. G. Sebald, Chinua Achebe, and Mo Yan, as well as Mark Twain, Graham Greene, Willa Cather, and Margaret Atwood.

The Friends Book Group meets every other month for discussions. Occasionally, books are selected by theme, for example, the group focused on contemporary fiction one year. It has also read novels with climate as a theme under the genre of Cli-Fi. The group recently read Little Scarlet by Walter Mosely, The Haunting of Hill House by Shirley Jackson, and The Story of Lucy Gault by William Trevor.

Books for both the Big Book Club and the Friends Book Group are available to borrow from the library before the discussion.

To find out what books we are currently reading, and when our book clubs are meeting next, see our upcoming events page.

You can find a complete list of books read by the Big Book Club and the Friends Book Club here.