Know Thy Shelf is Hamilton’s one and only contemporary book club. Photo courtesy of Alex Kropenava ’25.
What do free books, cute club leaders and vigilant email-watching all have in common? They are essential components of the Know Thy Shelf club! Led by Alex Kropaneva ’25 and Elise Mizerak ’25, Know Thy Shelf gives students the opportunity to read new books, eat good food and engage in lively discussion. The club is Hamilton’s only contemporary book club and prefers reading recently released fiction from any genre.
Know Thy Shelf began as a Writing Center operation among tutors who were craving a space to discuss their recent reads. Club President Kropaneva and Treasurer Mizerak started the club as a way to “expand [their] back-of-the-writing-center conversations to the larger Hamilton community.” Their efforts succeeded given the club’s popularity and the growing number of people who attend monthly meetings. Despite the heavy reading load of many Hamilton students, Know Thy Shelf members muster both the time and the drive to regularly read and discuss books outside of class.
Each month, Know Thy Shelf charitably offers anywhere from five to eight copies of the chosen book for free. To get one of the free books, members have to fill out a Google form as soon as they see the email. Since the books are on a first-come-first-serve basis, the competition is fierce. Kropaneva stated that she was “dumbstruck by the almost feral speed at which people will hop on an opportunity to recieve a free book.” The moment the email is sent, the spots are filled in less than a minute. The lucky few who receive a free copy are strongly encouraged to attend the book discussions, while the rest are placed on a waitlist. Know Thy Shelf partners with Burke Library so students who were unable to secure a copy still have the opportunity to partake in the club discussions.
The monthly meetings are another exciting feature of Know Thy Shelf. Kropaneva describes the meetings “like a sleepover with your bookish best friends.” The club offers hot tea, cookies, chips and other snacks (graciously provided by Mizerak) for members to consume during book discussions. The meetings provide a space for members to express their thoughts about the book in a casual way.
One member of the club felt grateful because “the monthly club meetings force [her] to be accountable and actually read for fun instead of putting it off to scroll through social media instead.” Furthermore, members who attend book club meetings come from a variety of backgrounds. While a substantial amount are literature and creative writing majors, others with concentrations in history and environmental science also attend. Overall, the environment is friendly, welcoming and all-around fun.
For Sept., Kropaneva and Mizerak offered three choices for the monthly book:
Yellowface
by R. F. Kuang,
In Ascension
by Martin Maccines and
Study for Obedience
by Sarah Bernstein. In a landslide vote, readers chose
Yellowface
.
Yellowface
features a critique of the publishing industry through the story of unsuccessful young author June Hayward who publishes the work of her tal ented dead friend. Hayward finds herself accepted by the industry but resorts to publishing the book under an Asian-American name to avoid controversy, only to face accusations of cultural appropriation and plagiarism. The book’s meta-fiction nature, its immersive first-person perspective and the inclusion of social media tackle questions of diversity, racism and cultural appropriation.
Previous books featured in the club include:
Nettle and Bone
by T. Kingfisher,
The Book of Goose
by Yiyun Li and
Sea of Tranquility
by Emily St. John Mandel. If you are interested in reading similar books and participating in fun discussions, be sure to join Know Thy Shelf! The club leaders are also looking to onboard more e-board members to increase club operations and campus reach, so look out for an email about applications.