Book Oblivion
Reading Groups
Tracing the histories of ideas through literature, philosophy, art, and beyond.
For curious minds who love to discover the hidden influences in literature, Book Oblivion offers an all access community for readers who want to explore beyond the printed page.
Join Our Community
We have an incredible community of avid readers passionate about literature and philosophy. Each group includes live talks, an online community, and access to seasonal workshops.
“Ah, how good it is to be among people who are reading.” – Rainer Maria Rilke
Read with us
We invite you to read more with our Book Oblivion Community. We have several reading groups that meet live to read and discuss some of the best ideas in the world.
Here is what we are reading this month.
Read a new book every season in our Book Oblivion Book Club. We discuss it in our community forum and in a live video call.
- Ali Smith, Spring
Read and finish the most challenging books on the planet with an expert reading guide and community accountability. We average 100 pages a week and meet live online every three weeks.
- Thomas Pynchon, Gravity’s Rainbow
Read one philosopher a month in a loose chronological order to trace the development of ideas over time. We focus on one text from each thinker and meet for one live talk per month.
- David Markson, Wittgenstein’s Mistress
Read the seven-volume, 4,215 page masterpiece, In Search of Lost Time. We read 30 pages a week and discuss them in our online forum. Live talks coming soon.
- Marcel Proust, Sodom and Gomorrah
Read beyond Murakami by delving into some of the theories and philosophies hidden in his works. We meet once a season to discuss a specific concept like time, memory, metaphor, the unconscious, and more. Live talks return in 2020!
- Haruki Murakami, Blind Willow, Sleeping Woman
Live Talks
Live talks
We host one live talk a month or season for each reading group. Participants unable to attend are able to watch the recording after.
Community Forum
We connect in our community forum, posting articles, sharing thoughts, and staying engaged with the books and each other.
supplemental resources
Articles, videos, reading guides, podcasts and more, including specific reading strategies to aid comprehension.
Reading schedules
Read along with our community by sticking to the recommended pages for each book that are broken down by week, month, and season.
RECENT ARTICLES
Kate Mascarenhas’s The Psychology of Time Travel
Four women will invent time travel. Three will make their mark on history. Two will do anything to be remembered. One will not survive. THE …
Narrative Architecture in Jane Alison’s Meander, Spiral, Explode
“The wave is one. There’s a reason we’re drawn to it, whether viewing or watching entranced as one wave after another breaks on shore: a …
How to Read More by Creating a Reading Habit
“The habit of reading is the only enjoyment in which there is no alloy; it lasts when all other pleasures fade.” Anthony Trollope For most …
How Time and Space Converge to Evoke Walter Benjamin’s Aura
“The concept of aura which was proposed above with reference to historical objects may usefully be illustrated with reference to the aura of natural ones. …
Walter Ong’s Psychodynamics of Orality and the Reader
“Until writing was invented, men lived in acoustic space: boundless, directionless, horizonless, in the dark of the mind, in the world of emotion, by primordial …
10 Books That Celebrate Diversity
“The book industry is focusing more on diverse voices and stories: a reflection of the real demographic of the United States, allowing all to find …
Frequently Asked Questions
Book Oblivion is a global online community of readers who are passionate about literature and philosophy. We trace the way ideas connect to each other and over time through reading literature, philosophy, art, and rhetorics. Many of us are academics gone rogue. We are here to nerd out over books and ideas, ask questions, and grow intellectually.
Participants enroll from all over the world, including the United States, Spain, Australia, Hong Kong, India, Canada, Mexico, and more. Most participants are college graduates, but this is not a requirement. Several participants are retired, some are working professionals, others are graduate students, or some are stay at home parents. The only requirement is a humble, intellectual curiosity and a desire to connect with others over books.
Jessica launched Book Oblivion with a desire to rescue books from oblivion and return them to the center of culture and conversation. We work really hard to create space and time for these conversations to take place and are often one of the only intellectual outlets for our participants.
Conversations take place in English, but we have participants reading in languages from all over the world. Discussions on translation choices make things really interesting.
Book Oblivion is a global online community of readers. Contact Us
