What we’re about
The Morristown Book Club
For those interested in our in-person Book Club Meetups, they are now listed on Bookclubs.com, as the "Florham Park Readers Group". You can join us at this link: https://bookclubs.com/clubs/6022268/join/fb34f2/
History of this group:
Founded in 2011 by the manager of Zebu Forno (now closed but it was a great place on South Street); we have since had a stint at Atlanta Bread in Madison – now also closed – and after that Panera Bread in Morristown (until it also closed) , then the one in Florham Park. Now, we have switched to the Florham Park Diner, across the street – it is much quieter, and the temperature is more moderate. See above to join us.
We started as a typical book club – reading mostly "literary" best-sellers with some non-fiction sprinkled in, all suggested by members. Then we had a phase where we each picked books that had special meaning for us, and discussed them with the group. Also we did a string of great YA fiction... We then tried a "featured writer" approach, first Haruki Murakami (our members are called "Laikas" in remembrance of "Sputnik Sweetheart"), then Pat Conroy, and finally Virginia Woolf. Now we are picking books from the NYT list of the best books of this century, and all have been winners!
The Summit Sunday Book Club
We started up in 9 years ago in the winter of 2014. For the first couple of years, we met at the lovely Summit home of our founder, Amy P., always on Sunday afternoons.
Amy envisioned a sort of salon where we’d gather to discuss literary books over tea and cookies. She did a great job of selecting a diverse mix of books as well as moderating our discussions.
After Amy left in 2016 it took a few of us to fill her shoes. Suzanne organized and led us in choosing books while others pitched in to host us and/or provide the treats we had come to enjoy. We met less and less often, finding home hosting a challenge to schedule. But we soldiered on until COVID nearly shut us down.
That’s how we ended up online. At first we just exchanged recommendations for books, movies, TV, and local outdoor escapes to help us get through the lockdown. Last year we returned to our tradition of choosing/discussing individual books with more of us getting involved. Through our reading we traveled all over the place and back and forward in time.
We still meet virtually. We continue to look to the experts in the book biz for recommendations. They include reviewers, critics, and literary organizations from all sorts of media. All their output makes it much easier to find books that are likely to be interesting, informative and “discussion-worthy”.
Over the years we’ve learned that everyone’s book preferences are very different. It’s folly to promise you’ll love every book we choose. Instead, by choosing a wide variety of great books, we hope sooner or later to come up with some that intrigue you and a few that really inspire you. To learn more about us please join us at our next meeting.
The Everywhere Else Book Club
During the pandemic, we started to do Shakespeare readings over Zoom, and acquired members who are from elsewhere and who can't attend in-person gatherings. We are expanding the Zoom meetings to do more Shakespeare, and other authors. These are mostly "read-together" meetups; come-as-you-are; no pre-reading needed.
The Shakespeare readings are named in honor of our long-time participant, Milt Commons.
Upcoming events (4+)
See all- Read-Aloud: "Life of Galileo", by Bertholdt BrechtLink visible for attendees
(In our readalouds, the text is screen-shared.)
In all Brecht’s work there is no more substantial and significant landmark than the first version of Galileo, which he wrote in three weeks of November 1938, not long after the Munich agreement had opened the door of Eastern Europe to Hitler. As is well known, it inaugurated the series of major plays whose writing occupied him until his return to Germany some ten years later: from Mother Courage to The Days of the Commune, those great works of his forties on which his reputation largely rests.
Brecht, Bertolt. Brecht Collected Plays: 5: Life of Galileo; Mother Courage and Her Children (World Classics) (p. 9). Bloomsbury Publishing. Kindle Edition.
Image from 2017 Young Vic production.
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Latecomers (unless we know you) will generally NOT BE ADMITTED once the reading starts.
If this is your first time with us, consider joining five minutes early, so we can work out any technical issues you may be having.
- Readaloud: "Will in the World" by Stephen GreenblattLink visible for attendees
This is a read-aloud session, with all text shared on-screen. You do not need to purchase the book for yourself, although we encourage you to do so.
For the foreseeable future, we will be reading from a selection of works about William Shakespeare and his plays. Our primary works are Marjorie Garber's "Shakespeare After All" and Stephen Greenblatt's "Will in the World: How Shakespeare Became Shakespeare". We will be focusing on Greenblatt's book for the next several months.
The starting point for the current session will generally be given in a pinned comment on the event page.
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[Amazon]: Stephen Greenblatt, the charismatic Harvard professor who "knows more about Shakespeare than Ben Jonson or the Dark Lady did" (John Leonard, Harper's), has written a biography that enables us to see, hear, and feel how an acutely sensitive and talented boy, surrounded by the rich tapestry of Elizabethan life; full of drama and pageantry, and also cruelty and danger; could have become the world's greatest playwright. A young man from the provinces―a man without wealth, connections, or university education―moves to London. In a remarkably short time he becomes the greatest playwright not just of his age but of all time. His works appeal to urban sophisticates and first-time theatergoers; he turns politics into poetry; he recklessly mingles vulgar clowning and philosophical subtlety. How is such an achievement to be explained?
Will in the World interweaves a searching account of Elizabethan England with a vivid narrative of the playwright's life. We see Shakespeare learning his craft, starting a family, and forging a career for himself in the wildly competitive London theater world, while at the same time grappling with dangerous religious and political forces that took less-agile figures to the scaffold. Above all, we never lose sight of the great works―A Midsummer Night's Dream, Romeo and Juliet, Hamlet, Macbeth, and more―that continue after four hundred years to delight and haunt audiences everywhere. The basic biographical facts of Shakespeare's life have been known for over a century, but now Stephen Greenblatt shows how this particular life history gave rise to the world's greatest writer. Bringing together little-known historical facts and little-noticed elements of Shakespeare's plays, Greenblatt makes inspired connections between the life and the works and deliver "a dazzling and subtle biography" (Richard Lacayo, Time). Readers will experience Shakespeare's vital plays again as if for the first time, but with greater understanding and appreciation of their extraordinary depth and humanity.
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Late-comers, unless we know you, will generally not be admitted, as it disrupts the reading. However, it's fine for attendees to drop off at any time they want.
- Milt Commons Shakespeare: "Henry VI, Part 2"Link visible for attendees
Join us in reading Shakespeare plays out loud; no prior experience needed. We assign roles by scenes, and discuss the scenes after.
You only need a copy of the play to participate; we use the Folger's online version: https://shakespeare.folger.edu/shakespeares-works
We will commence or resume our reading of our current play from where we left off the previous week.
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After the play reading, for those who are interested, we will show the scenes we have just read from a RSC production.***
A quick overview of Shakespeare: https://www.broadwayworld.com/article/The-Plays-of-Williams-Shakespeare--A-Complete-Guide-20240317An article about the Folger Shakespeare Collection reopening: https://wapo.st/4c5w4vc
The Shakespeare readings are named in honor of our long-time participant, Milt Commons.
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Click on the link at right to join the Zoom meeting. You may need to install/update the Zoom software on your device. We usually open the room a little early in case you want to test your settings.Image of the Folger Shakespeare Library Reading Room by Jennifer Chase for the Washington Post.
Late-comers, unless we know you, will generally not be admitted, as it disrupts the reading. However, it's fine for attendees to drop off at any time they want.
