The Milken Scholars Book Club

Published 03/24/2023 in Alumni Features, Program Updates
Written by David Tang-Quan | 03/24/2023

Starting in May 2020, soon after the coronavirus pandemic swept across the world and shut down many in-person connections, Milken Scholars began connecting over a shared love of books as well as a desire to continue engaging with one another virtually. Since that time almost three years ago, the group has read over ten different books across a multitude of genres, from non-fiction to comedy.

Through monthly virtual meetings, Book Club Scholars gather to discuss selected literary material and how it relates to our experiences as Milken Scholars as well as how we view it within our current contemporary moment. In the process, Book Club members also share their broader thoughts, beliefs, and experiences about humanity, the world, and how we interact with each other. Moreover, the books serve as a springboard for Scholars to commiserate about our daily lives, listening to each other’s inspirations, triumphs and struggles and providing support and advice to each other. 

Our priority for selecting books often centered around the experience of marginalized peoples, from nonfiction outlining key moments of history like Killers of the Flower Moon detailing the experiences of the Osage tribe in the mid-1900s to fiction by marginalized authors, like Britt Bennet’s The Vanishing Half. For some meetings, each scholar would select a book of their own choosing to read and then present their learnings to the group.

Possibly our most ambitious Book Club project was reading former President Barack Obama’s presidential autobiography (Volume 1), A Promised Land. One of the most memorable conversations from the group was about the function of the memoir- was he writing to remember history or re-write it? Some of the Scholars remembered vividly the housing crisis and the pain that shadowed Obama’s early presidency, but some of the younger Book Club members had to rely on Obama’s recounting of that time due to a lack of personal memories. 

During Book Club we also make sure to have fun, which often means linking each book back to prior discussions, and there’s always a couple of topics that seem relevant no matter the book being discussed. For example, all conversations always seem to loop back in some way to Oprah, The Crown, and the British Royal Family (if Francis Poon is present). On a deeper note, every conversation also addresses the shared experiences and different perspectives of each community member, allowing us to connect while dismantling inequity in both literature discussion and general discourse about topics pertaining to marginalized communities. Even though we don’t always make it through a book, we still are able to thoroughly enjoy the time in community and shared experience.

Below, we’ve listed some of the selections read by the group, in case any pique your interest. We’d love to hear your own thoughts for those who have read some of these books, and look forward to engaging further in the coming year.

Books Read

  • My Beautiful Country by Qian Julie Wang
  • A Promised Land by Barack Obama
  • The Vanishing Half by Brit Bennett
  • Killers of the Flower Moon: The Osage Murders and the Birth of the FBI by David Graham
  • My Brilliant Friend by Elena Ferrante
  • The Story of a New Name by Elena Ferrante
  • Call Us What We Carry by Amanda Gorman
  • Winner Take All by Anand Giridharadas
  • An American Marriage by Tayari Jones
  • The Dutch House by Ann Patchett
  • Crying in H-Mart by Michelle Zauner
  • Infinite Country by Patricia Engel
  • Individual scholar choices (selected): Be Not Afraid of Love by Mimi Zhu, Spare by Prince Henry, Know My Name by Chanel Miller, Once I Was You by Maria Hinojosa