Book Club Discussion for December 2025
Added 2025-12-20 21:48:24 +0000 UTCDear Book Club Readers ---
You've had such a phenomenal reading year and you should be intensely proud of your reading accomplishments. It would be so wonderful to hear about the books you've been enjoying during this festive season.
Your comments in the book club continue to reveal your deep love of great literature, and we would love to hear about how your reading is treating you right now.
So, tell us what your December has been looking like.
What are you reading at the moment?
Let us know anything that's on your mind, your literary loves, and anything you wish to share or sharpen your thoughts about.
Author details
Seasonal reads
Areas to explore
Your current Big Read
Complementary art forms
Questions about literature
Favourite lines and passages
Things you're finding difficult
Things that are giving you joy
Rewarding literary rabbit holes
Musings, notes, and marginalia
Things you want to recommend
Resonant character descriptions
General life updates (we're interested)
This is the place to put anything bookish you like, and get other readers weighing in on your thoughts!
Our wonderful Book Club community continues to be a literary oasis thanks to your thoughtful appreciations of the Great Books.
So thank you so much for being a part of the family, and I hope your month continues to be filled with exciting bookish adventures.
Happy reading, everybody!
Comments
I absolutely loved the sonnets!
Anne M
2026-01-09 09:55:15 +0000 UTCShakespeare's works A midsummers night dream Romeo and Juliet Henry IV (Boring XD) Sonnets and Poems (Underrated)
Excitableblizzard
2026-01-08 13:29:01 +0000 UTCHowling Dark by Christopher Ruocchio. Planning to juggle between classics and sci-fi this year, would be starting with Lonesome Dove from next week.
Sourav Mondal
2026-01-06 04:54:09 +0000 UTCI've been wanting to join one of the patrion levels for a couple ears now. This year, I took the dive, and I'm so excited for this year's line up! I started Lonesome Dove during my winter vacation, and I've been enjoying everything about it. I'm usually a bit intimidated when authors have so many characters, but McMurtry makes each one of the memorable right from the first introduction. I'm loving the dialogue and personality of Gus especially. I feel he's a mentor for me to relax and enjoy the ride. I'm also reading a few pages of the King James Bible to finally understand its influence on literature and art. So many questions are coming up as I read that. Thrilled to be a part of this wonderful group of people who really want to discuss great literature!
Jenny Speck-Sherson
2026-01-05 23:38:24 +0000 UTCI’m starting Lonesome Dove and I’m reading The Hobbit to my nine-year old. (We’ve been listening to the Percy Jackson series on some long car rides and I really enjoyed them.)
David Stone
2026-01-04 19:06:01 +0000 UTCI just finished “Stoner,” by John Williams. I’d never heard of the book until I came across it in a post on Instagram. I really enjoyed it. I was surprised it was written in the 1960s, as it seems to be much more modern. The theme of a lonely, somewhat wasted, loveless life seems to pop up in many new books I’ve read. ( The Namesake; The History of Love.). I’m not sure why I enjoy these books so much. They’re so sad, but I find them so beautiful.
David Stone
2026-01-04 17:49:29 +0000 UTCWelcome to our book club Liana. Currently we are just reading a bit of the beginning of Lonesome Dove (though many of us are enjoying it so much that we may be getting ahead). This coming Sunday evening Ben will post the first lecture of the book and give next week’s suggested reading portion. I believe we will upon the following week begin alternating between Lonesome Dove and the three Greek plays. So until you get the alert of Ben’s “How to read Lonesome Dove” video just begin a bit as you like. The video lecture will be accompanied by a text which includes the reading assignment for next week.
Lily
2026-01-03 11:50:31 +0000 UTCHello! I just joined. I bought Lonesome Dove, and I’m a bit lost , are the titles meant to be read together? This is my first time here.
Liana
2026-01-03 00:22:14 +0000 UTCI’m reading War and Peace and watching the BBC Series as I read and listening to Ben’s lectures. All of it together is making it a very impactful reading. I’ve been on the outside of Patreon for a while, looking in via the limited YouTube videos, reading many of the book list titles. So many wonderful reads.
David
2026-01-01 19:42:04 +0000 UTCBen, you hooked me in with War and Peace. Reading great literature has always been a passion, but never more meaningful than when reading with HLBC. Your lectures, curation, extra resources, and the wealth of knowledge and book-passion you bring makes all the difference. I tell every book-lover I know about you and the HLBC experience. Sincere thanks.
Deborah E
2026-01-01 17:53:42 +0000 UTCHi Shana, I loved Middlemarch. A modern and really good book is ...And Ladies of the Club. It was written in 80s and focuses on two young ladies growing up in America just after the civil war. I am looking for another ' Middlemarch as I really enjoy it...us I learn a lot about the era.
Danielle Dean
2026-01-01 15:50:00 +0000 UTCI don't know if this site has moderators or editors but if a member recommends a good read would it be possible to high light it in some way. Caps or Colours? I have just spent 15 mins looking for a book someone kindly recommended .
Jeanya
2025-12-31 16:47:15 +0000 UTCI am near the end of Middlemarch, which I have been reading serially since April. I absolutely loved both the book and the serial approach, which was new to me (and I was honestly skeptical about). Is there another book in the back catalog that you recommend for a serial read? Middlemarch will be a tough act to follow! I appreciate your recommendations. I am very grateful for Ben’s lectures and the book clubs discussion.
Shana Z
2025-12-31 14:56:18 +0000 UTC
