About us
Don't get us wrong: who doesn't love a good beach read? But you don't need nearly as much motivation for that as you do to finish (or start) something like James Joyce's Ulysses. That's the point of this group--to give you accountability, and company, to tackle more challenging literature.
We’re here for novels, nonfiction, and essays that spark deep thought and great conversation--in a chill and unpretentious way (despite how pretentious our title might sound!)
We’ll focus on prize-winners, longlisted titles, modern and classic literature, translated works, and books that critics and serious readers can’t stop talking about. Meetings will be relaxed but substantive: expect thoughtful discussion, differing opinions, and space to disagree respectfully.
Whether you’re trying to read more “serious” books, finally get to those intimidating titles on your shelf, or just meet other readers who enjoy a challenge, you’re welcome here.
Featured event
"Kindred" Brunch Potluck
Butler was a groundbreaking Black woman in science fiction, a genre long dominated by white men. In Kindred, she turns time travel into an unflinching confrontation with slavery, survival, and the past’s hold on the present.
It's tense and deeply unsettling novel about Dana, a Black woman in 1970s California who is suddenly and repeatedly transported to a pre–Civil War Maryland plantation.
Each return binds Dana more closely to Rufus, the white boy who will become her ancestor, and makes the past harder to escape.
Genre: Science fiction/historical fiction
Author: Octavia E. Butler
Pages: ~265–290
Year of publication: 1979
This is a potluck and BYOB. Please bring a dish, snack, or beverage to share, and sign up for that on this Google sheet.
Upcoming events
2
- $1.00
![[SOLD OUT] Potluck Discussion: "The Idiot"](https://secure.meetupstatic.com/photos/event/4/e/7/b/highres_535220091.jpeg)
[SOLD OUT] Potluck Discussion: "The Idiot"
home of host, Vaidehi, in Ukranian Village, Chicago Avenue & Washtenaw Avenue, Chicago, IL, USJoin us for a potluck book club discussion of The Idiot by Elif Batuman (2017) -- a finalist for the Pulitzer! This will be lead by various alumni of the University of Chicago, so it will be a good intellectual discussion! The book was a recommendation of an alumna and one of our members.
We’ll talk about its sharp, funny take on first‑year student life at Harvard in the mid‑1990s—language, love, the early days of email, and what it means to come of age in a world that doesn’t quite make sense.
This is a potluck and BYOB. Please bring a dish, snack, or beverage to share, and sign up for that on this Google sheet.
19 attendees "Kindred" Brunch Potluck
home of host, Vaidehi, in Ukranian Village, 839 N Washtenaw Ave, Chicago, IL, USButler was a groundbreaking Black woman in science fiction, a genre long dominated by white men. In Kindred, she turns time travel into an unflinching confrontation with slavery, survival, and the past’s hold on the present.
It's tense and deeply unsettling novel about Dana, a Black woman in 1970s California who is suddenly and repeatedly transported to a pre–Civil War Maryland plantation.
Each return binds Dana more closely to Rufus, the white boy who will become her ancestor, and makes the past harder to escape.Genre: Science fiction/historical fiction
Author: Octavia E. Butler
Pages: ~265–290
Year of publication: 1979This is a potluck and BYOB. Please bring a dish, snack, or beverage to share, and sign up for that on this Google sheet.
8 attendees
Past events
4
