Connect with Spartans and friends in a vibrant online community united by a love of reading. Join engaging discussions on a variety of topics — from the comfort of your own space. It’s easy to participate; simply borrow the book from your library or purchase a copy.
With a new book selection every two months and the flexibility to join or skip sessions as you like, this offers a fun, low-pressure way to stay connected with and inspired by fellow Spartans.
There are no meetings — participate whenever and wherever it’s convenient for you! As long as you have internet access, you can join the discussion. See the details below to learn more about how the program works.
We’d love to hear from you! We’re compiling a list of Spartan authors and their book(s) to share. To provide your information, email Elizabeth Wheeler.
In fairness to all Spartan authors, please understand that we currently do not plan to feature any Spartan authors as a book club selection.
Have a suggestion for a book you'd like us to consider reading? Email Elizabeth Wheeler. Our preferred genres are fiction, historical fiction, mystery/thriller, biography and history.
Throughout her childhood, Safiya Sinclair’s father, a volatile reggae musician and militant adherent to a strict sect of Rastafari, became obsessed with her purity, in particular, with the threat of what Rastas call Babylon, the immoral and corrupting influences of the Western world outside their home. In an effort to keep Babylon outside the gate, he forbade almost everything. Safiya’s mother gave Safiya and her siblings the gift of books, including poetry, to which Safiya latched on for dear life. Safiya’s rebellion against her father’s rules set her on an inevitable collision course with him.
“How to Say Babylon” is both a universal story of a woman finding her own power and a unique glimpse into a rarefied world we may know how to name, Rastafari, but one we know little about.
“The book grabs the reader because of the beauty of its words, but it sticks because of the thorniness and complexity of its ideas.”—The Washington Post
Safiya Sinclair is a Jamaican-born writer and the award-winning author of the memoir “How to Say Babylon” and poetry collection “Cannibal.” Her work has received widespread critical acclaim, including the National Book Critics Circle Award and a Guggenheim fellowship, and she is an associate professor of creative writing at Arizona State University.