2025 Book Club Reading Schedule
An invitation to reclaim your attention, sharpen your mind and forge friendships.
In an age dominated by short form content consumption, reading books from start to finish is becoming increasingly more difficult.
Studies indicate a significant decline in human attention span, dropping from an average of 12 seconds in 2000 to just 8 seconds in 2020. Research by Dr. Gloria Mark reveals that the average attention span when using digital devices has decreased from 2.5 minutes in 2004 to only 47 seconds today.
The average person now engages with their phone 228 times a day, with each session lasting about 10 seconds.
"A wealth of information creates a poverty of attention." —Herbert Simon 1977
If you want your attention span to continue to diminish below goldfish levels, do nothing. But the fact that you’re still reading this already means you are already an exception.
In February 2024, I launched The Reversion Book Club, inviting my readers to join together to sharpen our minds by reading challenging literature. In just 11 months, we read through 8 books from start to finish. I believe we can do much better in 2025.
By just reading 15 pages per day, you can read roughly 18 books in a year.
For 2025, I decided to curate a more diverse mix of literature including philosophy, history, politics, non-fiction and prophecy with the recurring themes of eschatology, technology, liberalism and esotericism. Members who participated in 2024 are well aware of how these themes are all closely intertwined, this year we will dig deeper.
2025 BOOK CLUB READING SCHEDULE
Big Read
Demons: A Novel in Three Parts [Dostoyevsky]
This will be an ongoing book we will read and discuss throughout the year alongside our monthly readings.
January–February
The UFO Deception [Fr. Spyridon Bailey]
February—March
The Making of Holy Russia: The Orthodox Church and Russian Nationalism Before the Revolution [John Strickland]
March—April
TechGnosis: Myth, Magic, and Mysticism in the Age of Information [Erik Davis]
April—May
King of Dogs: Life Is The Training Ground For Death (Novel) [Andrew Edwards]
May—June
Jewish History, Jewish Religion: The Weight of Three Thousand Years [Israel Shahak]
Against Our Better Judgment: The Hidden History of How the U.S. Was Used to Create Israel [Alison Weir]
June—July
The Underground History of American Education, Volume I: An Intimate Investigation Into the Prison of Modern Schooling [John Taylor Gatto]
July—August
The Crisis of the Modern World [René Guénon]
August—September
The Eschatological Visions of The Blessed: End Times Prophecies of Elders & Saints of The Orthodox Church [Eschaton Vigil]
September—October
Reflections of a Russian Statesman [Konstantin Petrovich Pobyedonostsev]
October—November
Fr. Arseny: Priest, Prisoner, Spiritual Father [Vera Bouteneff]
November—December
Papal Magic: Occult Practices Within the Catholic Church [Simon]
HOW IT WORKS:
Write your thoughts, insights and reviews in the comments section for each book when it gets posted here on Substack.
Collect any questions you have for author/expert guest Q&As
Engage in ongoing discussions and live voice chats in our Discord community.
Refer your friends and parishioners to earn free monthly subscriptions.
WHAT MEMBERS ARE SAYING
“The book club definitely encouraged me to read books and take notes to some extent. Participants were so well-read and contributed significantly to the analysis, I truly take my hat off to them. The guest conversations were phenomenal. It definitely inspired me to read more books and improved my note-taking skills.” –Paten
“The Reversion Book Club has helped me learn a lot about Orthodoxy and I hope this continues far into the future.” —Clordway
"I read and listen to a lot of books, but this book club is uniquely both strengthening and challenging. The quality of what we read and discuss is drastically different from everything else in modern publishing, which produces so much terrible content. Having a group where you can find something challenging both mentally and spiritually is great. Even if I don't finish all the books, I'm always happy to catch up on what I miss." —Vladimir
PAID MEMBERSHIP BENEFITS:
This is guaranteed to be like no other book club you’ve seen. Should you chose to join us, on top of the fellowship, you’ll gain valuable insights to better understand the spiritual forces and worldviews that influence western man, through an Orthodox Christian lens.
Improve your reading, writing and research skills
Access exclusive discussion boards and resources in our Discord community
Weekly Russian language learning classes with a professional instructor
Full access to The Reversion archive
30+ hours of live recordings from all previous sessions
Weekly live voice calls where we will discuss our readings, share notes and insights and off-topic discussion
Live Q&A’s with book authors and experts on the topics covered in readings
BACK-CATALOGUE OF BOOK CLUB CONTENT:
We have hundreds of hours of exclusive content at this point, and the great books on last year's schedule are still gaining attention today. So take advantage of the content and the community and let's keep the conversation going for the books listed here:
Book Club Archive
The Reversion Book Club is a reader-supported community. To become a member and join the discussions, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.
FAQS
What if I already read any of these books?
Great! I encourage you to still join and gain a fresh perspective. Many of our members have already purchased some of the assigned books and have either never got around to reading them or didn’t finish them. The book club acts as a forcing function to keep you accountable to finishing and more importantly, understanding the literature by engaging in discussions and writing reviews.
What if I am behind on the readings?
That is perfectly fine. Discussions for our readings will be ongoing and you can engage at your own pace. You’ll still gain the knowledge and key insights in each book even if you don’t read a single page.
How much will it cost?
Membership is the price of a sandwich ($7/mo). If you wish to follow along with our readings, each book will cost around $20 on average. PDFs will also be provided if available.
Technically, you don’t need to buy anything other than a $10 subscription fee to join. You’ll get well over $10 per month in value just from being part of the exclusive community.
I am looking forward to another year of learning and strengthening this amazing community with you all.
–Anthony
Could you elaborate on the "Weekly Russian language learning classes with a professional instructor"?