Reading Clubs

The English Department at St. Lawrence Seminary works together to offer students the opportunity to read and discuss books beyond those that they read for class. English teachers let the students know what book is going to be read at their grade level, and students can sign up to borrow a copy of the book. Mr. Wappel is the advisor to the club. The idea for this club came from students themselves.

Some students read a few chapters a week which are discussed at the weekly meeting, while others read faster and, after discussing the first book, take another one from the books that are offered. Each grade has its own club with age-appropriate books. The freshmen start in January–other classes start in August.

The selections cover a variety of books. Some are classics, like The Grapes of Wrath (U.S.), The Lord of the Flies (England), Crime and Punishment (Russia), The Stranger (Algeria/France), or The Count of Monte Cristo (France). Others are more recent classics, like Pedro Páramo (Mexico), Siddhartha (Germany/India), One Hundred Years of Solitude (Colombia), The Name of the Rose (Italy), or Midnight’s Children (India).

We try to add a new book each year. Some recent additions have been The Kite Runner (Afghanistan) and The Rule of Four (U.S.).

Some reading club meetings feature as many as thirty students exchanging views, while other meetings may be just one student discussing a book with the reading club advisor.

There are times when the majority of the students in a class are all reading the same book at the same time, so that they can talk about the book together all week, not just at the reading club meetings. They also encourage each other in their reading.

The reading clubs are an opportunity for reading improvement for the students, as well as a chance for them to widen their knowledge of the literary world.