OLD Book Club

OLD Book Club–obscure, lesser-known, and, hopefully, divine–aims to explore the diverse array of books we call “classic” and to discuss the malleable bounds of the category while also making an often intimidating genre feel both more accessible and more fun. The selection of books intentionally covers a broad range of nationalities, experiences, cultures, and time-periods to broaden the traditionally narrow parameters of classic literature. Most importantly, we’re here to have a good time. Put on your most UNpretentious (figurative) pants and come talk OLD books!

This month we are reading Orlando by Virginia Woolf The OLD Book club will meet at 6 PM on Friday, June 6th.

Virginia Woolf’s fantastical novel about an Elizabethan nobleman who lives for three centuries and transitions into a woman, with a new introduction by Carmen Maria Machado.

The long-lived protagonist of Orlando begins as a passionate teenage aristocrat, whose days are spent in rowdy revelry at the colorful Tudor court of Queen Elizabeth and his nights in writing earnest poetry. A favorite of the elderly queen, he falls in love with and is jilted by a wayward Russian princess. Two kings later, now in his thirties, Orlando is sent to serve as ambassador to Constantinople, where he awakens one day to find himself in the body of a woman. The Lady Orlando takes this circumstance in stride. She returns to England, engages in love affairs with both men and women, consorts with the famous poets of each age, finds happiness with a gender-nonconforming husband, and at last achieves publication of her own epic poem in the year 1928. A playful and exuberant romp through history, Orlando is Woolf’s most lighthearted and unusual novel.

Purchase a copy to read, or grab it from the library, and join us for discussion at Dog-Eared Books at 6 PM, on Friday, June 6th. This book club is free to anyone who wishes to participate, no registration required

Also, for 20 minutes after each club meeting, you will receive 20% off all books and merchandise!

Content Warnings for OLD Books Club 2025
Content Warnings for Orlando
Content Warnings for The Year of the Hare
Content Warnings for I Who Have Never Known Men
Content Warnings for Bless Me, Ultima
Content Warnings for The Women’s Courtyard
Content Warnings for Ceremony
Content Warnings for Ice