In July 2003, Spero Forum started a reading circle with the book Introduction to the Devout Life by St. Francis De Sales. The link takes you to the forum dicussion.

The discussion eventually petered out after the third chapter. Why did it not continue? What would we need to change if we continued?

Reviving the Reading Circle

Diana Holberg said she would be interested in leading the Spero Reading Circle if she had some advice. I think that's a great idea. (Diana Holberg actually said she would "help maintain" it, but you know Astralis... )

It would be good to choose another book that is available online. I'm looking through the sites below for something appropriate. Join me?

• Bartleby.com
• Bibliomania
• CCEL
• Early Christian Writings
• Free Online Inspirational Books
• ICLnet
• Prayer for All People
• threshold

The biggest hurdles to overcome is order, brevity of text, and having small goals for the readers. "Introduction to the Devout Life" is a marvelous book, but I think it may have been a bad choice for the reading circle because it was so complex; it had so much content to deal with that keeping order was an impossible task for the moderator. Each sentence was filled was so much thought that we could discuss weeks per paragraph. This might be addressed by having a discussion question posted for the main discussion, then asking readers to start other threads for other subjects.

Additionally, there was so much reflecting to do that without any order, people went in their own directions and may have had a hard time relating that to the other members. Again, I think this would be okay if the other directions were taken in separate threads, keeping the main discussion on track.

Was it a failure or a success? I actually believe it was a success because everyone acquired the text, opened it, and started reading it. The reports I received is that it helped change peoples' lives. It changed mine and I could clearly say after reading it what my purpose on earth is for. I also know it changed Alcovey because St. Francis de Sales is his patron saint.

Selecting a book

If we revive the circle, I believe that we should select a short book that is not as intellectually dense as St. Francis de Sales. I would recommend short books, like Antoine de Saint-Exupery's Wind, Sand, and Stars which is secular. It only has 240 pages and is actually like a journal, so it's non-fiction but we should also consider works of fiction. I think that finding the sacred in the profane is something that is a blessing and taught by St. Francis de Sales so we shouldn't limit ourselves to non-fiction.

Key thought:

• Keep it short

Should the moderator read the book in advance?

I do not have a clear answer for this but I can see the benefits of having the moderator read it in advance to be able to lead everyone through the discussions. But, at the same time, I think moments of discovery that are shared by the moderator and the circle at the same time can be beneficial. Because the moderator needs to organize the reading and provide goals for the readers along the way, reading it in advance may be essential. But, there are many reading guides available for reading circles on the internet. And they're free. We can use these for the books we read, or emulate them for the books that don't have reading guides available.

Key thought:

• Moderator needs to keep it interesting and ordered

Sample Reader Guides

The following are some sample reader's guides available freely online:

• Barnes and Noble Reading Circle
• What to do when there's no guide available
• Readinggroupguides.com Advice and Ideas
• Year of Wonders (basic)
• BBC Bookclub (listen to a bookclub)
• Harper Collins Reader's Guides (basic)
• Hyperion Book Guides (basic)
• Random House Guides (basic)
• Simon and Schuster Reading Guides (basic)