Preface:

Inspired by the eighth episode of the original Twilight Zone television series, the H.B.B.C. was founded by a pair of farmer’s market produce clerks who started discussing books to help pass the time. Ted Chiang’s amazing short story collection, Exhalation, kicked off a long line eclectic reads, and eventually membership grew to include people
of all ages hailing from multiple states. A close knit bunch, we hold weekly Zoom meetings (usually Mondays) to discuss roughly 100 pages of reading material. We adjust our schedule and page count, as needed, to accommodate as many members as possible. We also ask that members refrain from online research prior to each week’s reading. The goal is not to parrot the thoughts of others, but to discover our own observations, ideas and feelings about each selected work.

Our Current Book!

From Porter Shreve’s review in the Washington Post: ”Imagines a future not purely dystopian, not centered so much on elaborate world-building as on how human beings adapt, survive, and continue to seek beauty, solace and communion in the face of the relentless challenges of an increasingly inhospitable environment ... McConaghy keeps the novel moving at a blustery pace, thanks to her deft plotting and shared point of view ... Exceptionally imagined, thoroughly humane.”

H.B.B.C. Co-Founder

Etched in the heart by evolutionary forces that predate human existence, the universe continues to manifest itself in increasingly higher orders of magnitude. We often mistake ourselves as being the pinnacle of those expressive forces, but in truth, we are more likely to serve as absurdist obstacles. To the delight of his many fans, Rod Serling expertly mined that “twilight zone” of contradiction, and in doing so, inadvertently opened the door to the juggernaut that is the H.B.B.C.. While our start might have been humble - an original membership of two - we quickly rose to dizzying heights when our incessant lobbying finally brought another coworker into our ranks. Looking back on those early days, it’s a wonder we survived, but survive we did, consuming a steady diet of authors like: Chiang, Makkai, Haig, Turnbull, Armstrong, Campbell, and Graham Jones. Eventually, after making complete pests of ourselves, we roped in family members and a few friends to create a bibliosphere of truly epic dimensions.

Twenty-six titles and counting!

H.B.B.C. Co-Founder

“Perhaps the greatest pleasure that language affords is the act of surrendering to the metaphors of a skilled writer and thereby inhabiting the consciousness of another person.” - - Steven Pinker

Henry Bemis Book Club

Bookshops We Like

Vermont Bookshop
Galaxy Bookshop
Bridgeside Books

Websites We Like

Arts & Letters Daily
Literary Hub
Aeon

Misc.

Vermont Public
BBC News
Prohibition Pig