By L. David Herman '11

In a changing society where many students would much rather turn to video games or television for entertainment, Mr. Robert Davies, English Department Chair, directs a program that brings the timeless joy of reading back to R-MA. The Alpha Readers club meets for monthly discussions of books chosen by Mr. Davies. The club includes students and adults who love to read.  “Alpha Readers is an intellectually stimulating club which brings students together for the sake of good food and good literature,” comments Devon Barr '10.
 
English Chair and Alpha Readers founder Mr. Davies remarks, “Alpha Readers is in its fourth year and more lively than ever. Over the years we have read twenty-five great books by authors such as Voltaire, Turgenev, Vonnegut, and Sartre, as well as by contemporary writers. We enjoy lavish meals prior to each discussion.” Because these students are pressed by an already grueling academic and extra-curricular schedule, most of the novels are reasonably short.
 
Math Chair Eric Barr comments, “I think it encourages reading just for the sake of reading.  They are not given a quiz or test on the book.  It is not for extra credit.  It is reading for fun and discussing the book with other people to get different views.  I think it also exposes them to material they would not have chosen to read otherwise but still find that they enjoy.  It expands their scope of interest.”

It has been a well-received program at Randolph-Macon Academy, a co-ed college-prep military boarding school in Virginia.

Here is a list of the books the club has read over the last few years:

Selections, 2006-2007

Candide by Voltaire

First Love by Ivan Turgenev

The Final Solution by Michael Chabon

Ali and Nino by Kurban Said

The Time Machine by H. G. Wells

Cat’s Cradle by Kurt Vonnegut

The Code of the Woosters by P. G. Wodehouse

Summer:  The Stolen Child by Keith Donohue

Selections, 2007-2008

The Thirty-nine Steps by John Buchan

No Exit by Jean-Paul Sartre

Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland and Though the Looking-Glass by Lewis Carroll

How Green Was My Valley by Richard Llewellyn

Mariette in Ecstasy by Ron Hansen

Summer:  Old School by Tobias Wolff

Selections, 2008-2009

A Whole New Mind by Daniel Pink

The Brief and Frightening Reign of Phil by George Saunders

The Box of Delights by John Masefield

Mister Pip by Lloyd Jones

The Clockwork Teddy by John J. Lamb

Firmin:  The Adventures of a Metropolitan Lowlife by Sam Savage

Summer:  A Princess of Roumania by Paul Park

Selections, 2009-2010

Cane by Jean Toomer

Pinocchio by Carlo Collodi

The Violent Bear It Away by Flannery O’Connor

Meet Mr. Mulliner by P. G. Wodehouse

Amusing the Million by John F. Kasson

The Things They Carried by Tim O’Brien

Summer:  The Rector of Justin by Louis Auchincloss