Spartan Book Club

The Spartan Book Club encourages alumni, faculty, staff, students and friends to virtually connect with each other to read and discuss books on a range of topics. Participation in the online forum is free — simply purchase the book or borrow it from your local library. A new book will be chosen approximately every two months. You can join at any time and do not have to participate in every reading session.

Our current book is "James" by Percival Everett.

How It Works

There are no meetings of the Spartan Book Club — you can participate at your convenience and from anywhere you have Internet access

The book club is entirely online and connects through a private forum moderated by PBC Guru.
All discussions and networking take place in the forum.
The moderator poses questions to the group, shares relevant articles and facilitates conversation on topics in the book based on where members should be in the reading schedule. Generally, you’ll receive a weekly email from the moderator throughout the reading period.
Members are encouraged to post in the forum and share as well. 
Participation in the online forum is free — simply purchase the book or borrow it from your local library.
The book club reads a new book approximately every two months. We vote among several options each period and select a book based on participant interests. 
You do not have to participate in every book reading and your level of participation in the discussion is entirely up to you.

Even if you’ve already read the book, you’re encouraged to still participate by contributing to the conversation — one of the most valuable aspects of this book club is the opportunity to discuss the book with others in the Spartan community.

Benefits of Participation

Connect with fellow Spartans. The Spartan Book Club introduces you to MSU alumni, faculty, staff, students and friends from various backgrounds, geographies, generations and professions. Meet new people and gain different perspectives while reading and discussing the book.
Embrace lifelong learning. The Spartan Book Club will help you learn and grow with fellow Spartans as you enjoy regular discussions and share personal insights.
Reading is good for you. Reading can reduce stress, help you sleep better and improve your relationships [1]. Did we mention it also makes you smarter? Reading increases your verbal intelligence, your emotional intelligence and your creativity [2].

Details

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2025 Books and Reading Schedule

Jan. 3 - March 7: "James" by Percival Everett

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. If you're a Spartan author, in fairness to all Spartan authors, please understand that we currently do not plan to feature any Spartan authors as a book club selection.

About the Current Book Selection

When the enslaved Jim overhears that he is about to be sold to a man in New Orleans, separated from his wife and daughter forever, he decides to hide on nearby Jackson Island until he can formulate a plan. Meanwhile, Huck Finn has faked his own death to escape his violent father. As all readers of American literature know, thus begins the dangerous and transcendent journey by raft down the Mississippi River toward the elusive and too-often-unreliable promise of the Free States and beyond.

“James” is a retelling of Mark Twain's “The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn” from the perspective of Jim and radically illuminates Jim's agency, intelligence and compassion as never before. A powerful story of family, home and freedom. Percival Everett has flipped the script on an American classic as Huck Finn steps to the side and Jim — James — takes center stage.

“James” won the 2024 Kirkus Prize and the National Book Award for Fiction and was a finalist for the Booker Prize. Everett is a Distinguished Professor of English at USC. His most recent books include “Dr. No” and “The Trees”. He has received the National Book Critics Circle’s Ivan Sandrof Life Achievement Award. In 2023, the film “American Fiction” was released and is adapted from his novel, “Erasure.”