By Michelle Seitz Staff Writer
Book Club at the Brew Pub will hold its last meeting of the semester on Wednesday, Nov. 30 at 9 p.m.
The meeting will be held at the Selin’s Grove Brewing Co. in Selinsgrove, Pennsylvania.
The club will be discussing “Fun Home, A Family Tragicomic” by Alison Bechdel, a graphic novel based on Bechdel’s life growing up in rural Pennsylvania that focuses on her complex relationship with her father.
Book Club at the Brew Pub formed earlier this semester and is sponsored by the Student Library Advisory Committee, a student-run club that is supervised by Ryan Ake, outreach and collection development librarian.
“Fun Home, A Family Tragicomic” was chosen after club members made suggestions as to what they wanted to read. A survey was then sent out asking other members their preference of what to read. The majority of what the club reads is short stories and book chapters.
Ake said, “Most [college students] don’t have time to read a 600-page novel in the middle of a semester, so we want to make the readings short but still impactful.”
So far, meetings have gone well, according to organizers.
Close to 20 people have attended the past two meetings. The book club is open to Selinsgrove community members as well as Susquehanna students.
Senior Elieen Gonzalez has been in attendance at the previous meetings.
“The pub readings are a way of bringing students, faculty and staff together to laugh and talk without having the traditional power dynamic of the classroom,” Gonzalez said.
“It’s casual and outside what we normally read for class so we can talk and analyze them in a way that creates a community of readers and thinkers, without the new scholarly critic in the New York Times reviews,” she added.
Meetings are held at the Selin’s Grove Brewing Co., which has been “very accommodating to our large group and are always happy and receptive to bringing us in and making us feel welcome,” Ake said.
Club members can enjoy delicious food as well as discuss the literature reading.
Susquehanna faculty members also attend the club meetings. Ake looks forward to working with them, as the club has read fiction published by faculty members. They also provide in-depth analyses to the readings.
Book Club at the Brew Pub is open to anyone, regardless of whether or not the person has previously attended an event.
“I’m excited to see if we can grow our community group and work to build strong relationships between the university, its students and the town in which we live,” Ake said.
Senior Jess Deibert helped create the club earlier this semester with Ake. If interesetd in further information about the event, contact Deibert.
The Student Library Advisory Committee is also involved in planning the library’s Chill Out event on Dec. 9.
