The 2025 Short Great Books Reading Group
Join business manager Erik Rostad in a Great Books reading group! We’ll discuss short, 2-5 hour reads in person at Landmark Booksellers. Details on joining, dates, and monthly books below.
How it works: The only requirement is to purchase the book being discussed from Landmark Booksellers. If you already have the book, just purchase any other book in the store and that’s your ticket in! Open to all ages.
2025 Reading List
January 13th
The Epic of Gilgamesh
Version: Stephen Mitchell Version | Purchase from Landmark
This is one of the earliest stories we have. It’s fascinating and even contains a flood epic within the main epic!
February 10th
Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass
Version: Signature Classics | Purchase from Landmark
This is an account of the early life of Frederick Douglass and is one you will never forget. This is one of the most impactful books from my entire reading project.
March 17th
Agamemnon by Aeschylus
Version: Penguin / Robert Fagles Translation | Purchase from Landmark
Let’s kick off the Greek Tragedies with one of the most famous stories in literature, Agamemnon’s return from the Trojan War.
April 14th
The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald
Version: Any Authorized Edition | Purchase from Landmark
You read it in high school. If you were like me, you hated being forced to read it. It’s time to revisit it. You may even like it this time around.
May 19th
Philoctetes by Sophocles
Version: Hackett / Peter Meineck & Paul Woodruff Translation | Purchase from Landmark
This is such an amazing tragedy play by the second great Greek tragedy playwright, with themes of truth/lies and deliberation/force.
June 16th
The Old Man and the Sea by Ernest Hemingway
Version: Any Version | Purchase from Landmark
This is one of my favorite books and it was book #2 for this reading list back in 2017.
July 21st
The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde
Version: The Gothic Chronicles Collection | Purchase from Landmark
I read this 20+ years ago and it has stuck with me. An incredible story.
August 11th
Theo of Golden by Allen Levi
Version: Any Version | Purchase from Landmark | Location: St. Paul’s Episcopal Church
The author, Allen Levi, will be coming to Franklin in September. This reading group will get you prepared.
September 8th
Poetics by Aristotle
Version: Penguin Classics / Malcolm Heath Translation | Purchase from Landmark
It’s back to school time. Let’s dig into Aristotle as he comments on Greek Tragedy.
October 13th
Man’s Search for Meaning by Viktor Frankl
Version: Any Version | Purchase from Landmark
One of the most impactful books I’ve read. A survivor of the concentration camps asks how to survive hell on earth.
November 10th
White Nights by Fyodor Dostoevsky
Version: Penguin Classics / Ronald Meyer Translation | Purchase from Landmark
This will be my first reading of this short Dostoyevsky novel.
December 8th
A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens
Version: Rabbit Room Edition | Purchase from Landmark
Is it even possible to read something other than A Christmas Carol in December?