Introducing the Michael Moore Book Club

Nothing Is More Dangerous to those in Power Than a Curious, Informed Public

Friends,

I’m a reader. I always have been. When I was a kid, the local library had a limit of how many items you could check out per week. In those days, it was a total of 11 books. Every week, I dutifully took out the maximum. By the end of the week, I’d have read them all and gone back to pick 11 more.

I have a dozen bookcases in my home now, and they can’t contain all my books. They’re stacked everywhere. I totally understood the young man in this recent New York Times story who said, “I need every one of my books.” The story focused on how he got evicted for having 10,000 books in his New York apartment. I understood how he felt, even though my bookcases aren’t close to that full.

So it saddens me to keep seeing stories lamenting that people are reading fewer books for pleasure these days.

I figured maybe I could do something about that. I mean, if Texas can insist kids read only certain classics (not to mention the Bible), maybe I could interest people in some other tomes. And that’s how I settled on this new addition to my Substack, and why today I am launching the Michael Moore Book Club.

This book club isn’t about what’s trendy or new or even on the bestseller list. Some are familiar titles many of you may have already read. It’s about books that matter, books that can help us understand how power works, how to understand the moment and the madness of the world we live in, and how history keeps trying to teach us lessons we refuse to learn. I will always include one of my favorite novels as I find sometimes the most powerful way to understand life is through great storytelling. Often, fiction often tells the best truths.

Not everyone has the same taste in books, and not everyone has the same time to devote to them. Hence the mix of length, subject and even genre. Some of these books are from another generation. Some are funny. Some are uncomfortable. That’s the point. Books can expand our perspectives and help us think differently about the world we’re in. And maybe, just maybe, that thinking leads to doing something about it. Books matter. They always have.

Pick one or two, or read them all. There are no hard and fast rules. I reserve the right to shift the rules of this book club if needed, since it’s the first time I’ve tried this. The plan is that I’ll do a live chat once a month to discuss one, two or maybe all five of the titles. And, I believe in the Democratic process (!), so ahead of the discussion, we’ll send out a poll to find out which of these titles the majority of you read and want to discuss the most.

Where to get your books

A couple of the books on this list are available for free to download. I’ve added a note when this is the case. The rest should be available in your local library. Haven’t used it lately? Not sure where the closest one is located? Check Library.org and go check it out! These days, libraries have so much more than books. They have music, DVDs, actual films, ebooks and audio books — not to mention book-loving crazy smart librarians who have been helping people learn stuff before ChatGBT!

Or, you can find a local, independent bookstore near you. See if they have these titles in stock. Of this month’s group it’s very likely. If not, they’ll be happy to order whatever you want and you can anticipate the forgotten joy of anticipation. You’ll be supporting a local business run by your neighbors. Like librarians, booksellers are brainy rock stars who can turn you on to other books, too!

I’ve also provided links to order via Bookshop.org, a non-profit that donates a portion of all book sales to local, independent bookstores. And in a win-win, I’ll donate modest commission from the Bookshop.org the affiliate program to FirstBook.org, a non-profit that helps get books into kids hands to help them develop the habit of reading for pleasure.

I’m going to make a real effort to include a variety of voices into this conversation, especially those who have too often been ignored, but I’m also not going to reject a good book or an important idea simply because it came from an otherwise overlooked or unknown voice.

Now, about this month’s authors. Let’s just say that none were members of the comfortable elite.

Thomas Paine was a working-class immigrant, revolutionary and enemy of inherited privilege. John Kennedy Toole was a troubled New Orleans native and military vet whose Pulitzer Prize-winning novel was published only after his suicide at age 31. Albert Camus grew up in poverty in colonial Algeria and later wrote for the French Resistance. Omar El Akkad is an Egyptian-born immigrant who pursued journalism, focused on finding moral clarity about war, displacement and the people the powerful would prefer we forget.

Harryette Mullen is an acclaimed Black American poet and English professor at UCLA. Her funny, inventive work uses wordplay to explore race, gender, consumer culture and the politics of language.

These authors, like all of them I hope to share with you understood a common thing. We all must read like our Democracy depends on it. Because it does.

I have more podcasts and stories cued up, but this is important to me, which is why I am launching it now.

AUGUST 2026 BOOK CLUB TITLES

Short Attention Span Shelf
Common Sense by Thomas Paine (free digitally via this link)
The fiery pamphlet that helped convince ordinary people they could challenge an empire and build something better. Still feels remarkably current.

The World, Explained (Non-Fiction)
One Day, Everyone Will Have Been Against This by Omar El Akkad
I was moved by his devastating reckoning with the mass killing and displacement in Gaza and his take on the leaders, politicians, institutions and pundits who continue to enable or excuse it. Don’t let the intensity of the subject intimidate you or keep you away. At around 200 pages, it’s relatively short and written in clear, beautiful prose that will sweep you from one page to the next. You’ll never regret reading Omar’s words, nor will you ever forget them.

Great American Novel (Fiction)
A Confederacy of Dunces by John Kennedy Toole
One of my favorite books, and arguably one of the funniest novels ever written. Beneath the absurdity is a biting satire about American culture, ego, and the people who think they’re smarter than everyone else. You may also find yourself deeply craving a Lucky Dog hot dog.

Context for a Dark Time (Non-Fiction Essays)
Resistance, Rebellion, and Death by Albert Camus (free digital version)
You go to a protest. You carry a sign. You speak out. But does any of it actually make a difference? Camus wrestles with the moral question of what ordinary people owe one another in the face of injustice. Essential reading for anyone wondering what resistance really means, and why it’s something we still need to feel, and why we need to fight for things that are important to us in the moment we’re in. It feels weightier than the other books this month, but trust me, if you give it some time, you’ll feel what I did. What’s the point of life, if not to care for one another?

Poetry, for those those Who Don’t Read Poetry
Sleeping with the Dictionary by Harryette Mullen
This book takes the language used to manipulate us, from advertisements to government doublespeak to fairy tales, and just tears it apart. Puns, slang, broken spelling. She shows you how “proper” English is rigged to keep you from seeing what’s really going on. Some of these entries will make you laugh. Others will make your head spin and wonder. That’s OK, it’s the point. She wants you to to look at words and consider what they truly mean. This slim book was a National Book Award finalist and it deserved it.

How My Book Club Will Work

I’ll announce new books at the start of each month. There will be a chat thread dedicated to them. Debate, discuss at will. At the end of the month, usually on a Saturday or Sunday, I’ll hold a live Q&A so we can discuss them together. I’ll post the video and the transcript for all to read, consider and perhaps give these books a go.

** In order to have a troll-free, hate-free comments section — and because if there’s one thing I know about my crazy haters, they would rather spend three years in a Brooklyn brownstone listening to hedge fund bros explain how taxing billionaires is "economically illiterate" than give me $5 — my Comments section here on my Substack is limited to paid subscribers. However, free subscribers can still share and consume the comments.

For the same reasons, the book club chat thread and asking questions on the monthly live Q&A will also be open only to paid subscribers, just to keep the space civil and focused on the books at hand. However, all subscribers will be able to view the Q&A and everyone will be able to read the transcript, the comments, and curated portions of the chat thread will be available to all online. I believe in open and fair discussion, and want to keep things as open for everyone, but keep the tone as respectful as possible.

And, not to worry, anyone can send me their comments, opinions and thoughts by writing to me at mike@michaelmoore.com. I read every one of them, though obviously I can’t respond to all. The solution here is not optimal but it has worked and my Comments section has become a great meeting place for people wanting to discuss the ideas and issues I raise here. There is debate and disagreement, but it is refreshing to have it done with respect and civility, unfettered by the stench of bigotry and toxic levels of willful misinformation found elsewhere.