SFU Reads is a virtual book club created to connect alumni—and the greater SFU community—with one another over the discussion of books. There is no cost to join. All you need is the book and some reading time. Check out our current book below!
Why should you join?
- Connect with fellow alumni—and SFU community members—across industries, generations and countries in an online social environment.
- Discover new books! It’s an opportunity to experience new authors and explore different genres. You’ll even get a chance to vote on which upcoming titles you want to read.
- Reading is good for you!
How it works
- Sign up for the book club—it’s free!
- Pick up a copy of the current book and start reading. Book selections are read over eight weeks; a suggested reading schedule is provided.
- Sign into the forum and join the discussion, guided by a moderator. Access to discussions are available 24/7—you can participate from anywhere in the world.
Join us in reading Pulitzer Prize-winning-author Geraldine Brooks' novel, Horse. Based on the remarkable true story of the record-breaking thoroughbred Lexington, Horse is a novel of art and science, love and obsession, and our unfinished reckoning with racism.
READING PERIOD: January 3 - February 28
Suggested reading schedule:
- On January 3, visit Before the Book in our forum and begin reading Horse
- By January 17, finish reading through Chapter 12
- By January 24, finish reading through Chapter 20
- By January 31, finish reading through Chapter 31
- By February 14, finish reading through Chapter 44
- By February 21, finish reading the book and join in on our After the Book forum discussion
About the book
A discarded painting in a junk pile, a skeleton in an attic, and the greatest racehorse in American history: from these strands, a Pulitzer Prize winner braids a sweeping story of spirit, obsession, and injustice across American history.
Kentucky, 1850. An enslaved groom named Jarret and a bay foal forge a bond of understanding that will carry the horse to record-setting victories across the South. When the nation erupts in civil war, an itinerant young artist who has made his name on paintings of the racehorse takes up arms for the Union. On a perilous night, he reunites with the stallion and his groom, very far from the glamor of any racetrack.
New York City, 1954. Martha Jackson, a gallery owner celebrated for taking risks on edgy contemporary painters, becomes obsessed with a nineteenth-century equestrian oil painting of mysterious provenance.
Washington, DC, 2019. Jess, a Smithsonian scientist from Australia, and Theo, a Nigerian-American art historian, find themselves unexpectedly connected through their shared interest in the horse—one studying the stallion’s bones for clues to his power and endurance, the other uncovering the lost history of the unsung Black horsemen who were critical to his racing success.
By using this service, you acknowledge that you have read and understood the privacy statement at the bottom of the page and that you consent to the storage and access of your personal information, as described below, outside of Canada solely for those purposes.
Privacy statement
SFU uses PBC Guru, a third-party service provider hosted outside of Canada (specifically in the USA), in order to provide the Online Book Club as a service to SFU alumni. Your use of the Online Book Club is voluntary.
In order to confirm your eligibility and provide you access to PBC Guru, PBC Guru will collect your name, e-mail address, the year you graduated from SFU, the program of study in which you graduated, and a password.
PBC Guru may ask you for additional personal information, such as personal preferences to allow you to customize your user session profile, or to subscribe you to notifications, etc. It is your choice whether or not to provide this additional information, and you are solely responsible for ensuring you have read and understood PBC Guru’s privacy policy in regards to any information you have chosen to provide them.
PBC Guru may share some of the information you provide with SFU, such as your name and email address; and general categories or topics of books you are interested in. SFU collects this information under the authority of section 26(c) of BC’s Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act (FIPPA).
SFU may use your contact information to update its donor and alumni mailing lists, which are used by SFU to inform donors and alumni about University news, events and initiatives, including fundraising.
By using this service, you acknowledge that you have read and understood the above privacy statement and that you consent to the storage and access of your personal information, as described above, outside of Canada solely for those purposes.
Should you have any questions or concerns regarding the information collected and used, or the privacy and security of your personal information, please contact us alumni@sfu.ca.
Our funding partner
About PBC Guru
PBC Guru manages professional book clubs for companies, libraries and alumni associations. They will moderate our book club to help make this program a great experience for all participants. If you have any questions, please email them info@pbc.guru or visit their website at http://www.pbc.guru
SFU book club bursary
Our goal is for all SFU community members have access to this initiative. If you would like to access one of a limited number of books through our no questions asked bursary program, please email alumni@sfu.ca