Online Modern Novel Study Group

Please join us for Year Eight of the Modern Novel Group. This is an informal discussion group of committed readers who want to better understand each book’s history, context, assumptions, and resonance. Free and open to the public. Meets on Zoom.

This group will meet on the third Thursday of each month, from September to June, 10:30am-12pm. Group members can expect to read one novel each month, and members of the group will share responsibility for introducing books and leading discussions. Books can be requested from the library.

Philip Weinstein, a well-known and highly respected literature teacher on our Island and Professor Emeritus at Swarthmore College, is the co-organizer of this discussion group. Phil will not lecture or formally teach the group, but he will be an active member.

Space is limited. If you are interested in becoming a member in this group, please contact co-organizer Jeff Nason. You can reach Jeff at 617-285-3160 or jnasonmd@gmail.com.

Modern Novel Study Group 2025-26 Schedule:

September 18, 2025. James Joyce – Dubliners (1914).  

October 16, William Butler Yeats, selected poems, TBD. 

November 20, Samuel Beckett, Molloy (1947).

December 18. Roddy Doyle, Paddy Clarke Ha Ha Ha. (1993).

January 15, 2026. William Trevor, The Story of Lucy Gault (2002). 

February 19, John Banville, The Sea. (2005).

March 19, Anne Enright, The gathering, (2007). 

April 16, Emma Donaghue, The Pull of the Stars (2020).

May 21, Claire Keegan, Small Things Like These (2022) and Donald Ryan, The Queen of Dirt Island (2022).

June 18, Sally Rooney, Intermezzo, (2024).