After Recess Book Club
A loving community of lifelong learning for guests, locals, and friends near & far.
After Recess Book Club is a virtual, year-long reading and conversation series hosted by Recess Inn Bed & Breakfast. Inspired by the building’s first life as a rural schoolhouse, the club invites readers to slow down, stay curious, and reconnect with the stories that shape who we are and where we come from.
Each month in 2026, we read a thoughtfully chosen book—rooted in Missouri, the Midwest, or the broader American experience—and gather online for guided conversation that blends literature, history, and lived experience. Some selections are familiar classics; others are newer voices that invite us to see familiar places in fresh ways.
This is not homework. It’s after recess—the moment when curiosity deepens, questions grow richer, and learning becomes something we choose.
Join us virtually the last Wednesday of each month, from 7pm - 8pm.
***We ask all participants to review and agree to the Book Club Charter prior to joining our conversations.***
Questions, comments, or concerns? We'd love to talk with you.
2026 Theme: From River Towns to Reckoning - Missouri Stories Across Time
An Important Note on Our Reading Choices:
The After Recess Book Club is rooted in curiosity, care, and community. Our book selections explore history, place, and the lived experiences of people in Missouri who came before us—sometimes honestly, sometimes imperfectly, and sometimes uncomfortably.
Some books include language or themes that reflect the time in which they were written or the realities they portray. Certain passages may feel challenging or unfamiliar to modern readers. We include these works not to shock or provoke, but to engage with history thoughtfully—so we can better understand where we’ve been, how stories shape culture, and how meaning deepens when we read together with care.
Participation is always a choice. Readers are welcome to join for one month or many, to listen as much as they speak, and to engage at their own pace.
How We Read Together
After Recess discussions are guided, respectful, and community-centered. We approach each book with curiosity rather than judgment and honor a wide range of perspectives and lived experiences.
This is not a space for confrontation or debate, but for listening, reflection, and shared learning. No prior literary background is required—just a willingness to read thoughtfully and engage kindly.
Is After Recess Right for You?
After Recess is for readers who enjoy stories connected to place, history, and lived experience—and who value thoughtful conversation in a welcoming setting.
There is no requirement to read every book or to agree with every perspective. If a particular selection doesn’t feel like the right fit, you are always welcome to skip a month and rejoin later.
Above all, After Recess is about hospitality—welcoming people and ideas with care, honesty, and respect.
Book Selections:
January 28
Pudd'nhead Wilson
by Mark Twain
A sharp satire of identity, race, and social order in a Missouri river town, this novella exposes the dangerous absurdities of inherited status and assumed truths.
Content Note: Contains racial slurs, depictions of enslavement, and satirical treatment of race and identity. The language and themes require contextual discussion.
February 25
Granger's Crossing
by Mark Tiedemann
Set in post–Civil War Missouri, this novel follows a young man navigating loss, loyalty, and reconciliation in a landscape still shaped by conflict and change.
March 25
Ours by Phillip B. Williams
A lyrical and imaginative novel that blends history and speculative fiction to examine race, freedom, and belonging, asking what it truly means to build a just community.
April 29
Sin Killer by Larry McMurtry
A dark, sweeping frontier tale of violence, faith, and survival, this novel confronts the brutal realities behind America’s westward expansion and the myths we tell about it.
May 27
Boone's Lick by Larry McMurtry
Set in early Missouri, this frontier novel captures the grit, ambition, and fragile hope of families pushing west, revealing how the American dream was forged—and fractured—on unsettled land.
June 24
The Adventures of Tom Sawyer by Mark Twain
A celebration of boyhood, imagination, and small-town life along the Mississippi, this classic captures the freedom and mischief of youth while subtly revealing the values of its time and place.
Content Note: Contains outdated language, racial stereotypes, and depictions of violence.
July 29
The Adventures of Hucklberry Finn by Mark Twain
A mischievous boy, a runaway slave, and the Mississippi River form one of America’s most enduring stories—an honest, uncomfortable, and often funny exploration of freedom, conscience, and moral growth.
Content Note: Contains racial slurs, stereotypes, and depictions of enslavement reflective of its time.
August 26
James by Percival Everett
A bold reimagining of Huckleberry Finn told from Jim’s perspective, this novel restores voice, agency, and complexity to a character long denied both, reframing a classic American journey.
Content Note: Includes explicit language, racial slurs, violence, and depictions of racial trauma.
September 30
Enemy Women by Paulette Jiles
During the Civil War in Missouri, a young woman is imprisoned for suspected Confederate sympathies, illuminating the blurred lines between loyalty, survival, and womanhood in a divided border state.
October 28
A Good American by Alex George
A sweeping, tender novel following a German immigrant family in rural Missouri across generations, A Good American explores belonging, love, ambition, and the quiet ways people try to live a good life in a changing America.
December 2 (shifted due to Thanksgiving)
Stoner by John Williams
The quiet, devastating story of a Missouri farm boy turned literature professor, Stoner explores love, disappointment, and dignity in an ordinary life lived with quiet persistence.
December 29 (shifted due to staff conflict)
Can't Wait to Get to Heaven by Fannie Flagg
Warm, humorous, and deeply human, this novel follows an unforgettable small-town woman whose life ripples outward, reminding us that kindness and community leave lasting marks.