The Hoosier Authors Book Club began as part of our Indiana State Bicentennial programming for 2016. The Museum’s 2016 exhibit discussed the Golden Age of Indiana Literature. This Golden Age began with the publication of Lew Wallace’s Ben-Hur. It included prominent novelists such as Crawfordsville native Meredith Nicholson, Gene Stratton-Porter, and others. The book club has proven to be popular, so it has been extended. Over the years the book club has hosted discussions with some of the authors, including Susan Crandall and Kelsey Timmerman. This continued in 2021 when author Ray E. Boomhower joined the March discussion of his biography of suffragist May Wright Sewall.
The book club meets in our ADA-accessible Carriage House.
Copies of the books are usually available for checkout beforehand at the Carriage House. To RSVP or for more information call 765-362-5769 or email tmeeks@ben-hur.com.
2025 Book Discussions
The first Hoosier Authors Book Club will meet on Thursday, April 17, to discuss famed Crawfordsville author Mary Hannah Krout’s Hawaii and a Revolution. Within, Krout lays out her personal experiences as a journalist and correspondent for the Chicago Inter-Ocean during the 1893 revolution in Hawaii. The book is available for $17.99 here.
On Thursday, May 22, the Hoosier Authors Book Club will meet to discuss Kelly O’Dell Stanley’s memoir The Artist, Ladoga, Indiana. In this memoir, the brushstrokes of the author’s father, Rob O’Dell, echo long after his passing in 2017. As Kelly moves into his restored turn-of-the-century building in a small Indiana town, she finds herself wandering the same roads he once traversed, enveloped by the vibrant landscapes he painted and the emotional landscapes of her own heart. In her quest to understand her father’s legacy, Kelly dives deep into his art, discovering that its true beauty lies not just in technique, but in the broken and the overlooked, reminding us of all the power of being seen and celebrated.
The third book club selection of the 2025 Hoosier Authors Book Club is Meredith Nicholson’s The Port of Missing Men and will meet on June 26. Published in 1907, the story is set in the early 1900s and follows the life of a wealthy young man named John Keith, who embarks on a sea voyage to the Philippines in search of adventure and romance. Things take a dark turn when Keith’s ship is wrecked on a deserted island, and he becomes stranded with a group of survivors. As they struggle to survive, Keith begins to uncover a sinister plot involving a group of missing men who were last seen in the same area. With the help of a beautiful young woman named Hope, Keith sets out to unravel the mystery and uncover the truth behind the missing men. The novel is a thrilling adventure story that explores themes of love, betrayal, and redemption. It also delves into the complexities of human nature and the lengths that people will go in order to achieve their goals. The Port of Missing Men is a classic tale of survival and intrigue that will keep readers on the edge of their seats until the very end.
The book is available for purchase here.
Past Books Discussed
- Shakespeare Saved My Life by Laura Bates
- Hoosier Public Enemy: A Life of John Dillinger by John A. Beineke
- You Should See Me in a Crown by Leah Johnson
- An Abundance of Katherines by John Green
- The Magic Garden – Gene Stratton-Porter
- The Magnificent Ambersons – Booth Tarkington
- The House of a Thousand Candles – Meredith Nicholson
- The Hoosier School-Master – Edward Eggleston
- Sister Carrie – Theodore Dreiser
- Prince of Graustark – George B. McCutcheon
- The Storied Sea – Susan E. Wallace
- Alice of Old Vincennes – Maurice Thompson
- The Fault in Our Stars – John Green
- A Girl of the Limberlost – Gene Stratton-Porter
- The Friendly Persuasion – Jessamyn West
- God Bless You, Mr. Rosewater – Kurt Vonnegut
- On Her Own Ground: The Life and Times of Madam C.J. Walker – A’Lelia Bundles
- Ben-Hur: A Tale of the Christ – Lew Wallace
- The Massacre at Fall Creek – Jessamyn West
- The Flying Circus – Susan Crandall
- So Cold the River – Michael Koryta
- Dune Boy – Edwin Way Teale
- An American Tragedy – Theodore Dreiser
- Brave Men – Ernie Pyle
- What This River Keeps – Greg Schwipps
- Where Am I Wearing? A Global Tour to the Countries, Factories, and People Who Make Our Clothes – Kelsey Timmerman
- Staying Put: Making a Home in a Restless World – Scott Russell Sanders
- Sailing the Inland Sea: On Writing, Literature, and Land – Susan Neville
- Divided Paths, Common Ground: The Story of Mary Matthews and Lella Gaddis, Pioneering Purdue Women Who Introduced Science into the Home – Angie Klink
- A Conservationist Manifesto – Scott Russell Sanders
- Invincible, Indiana – Nate Dunlevy
- Fighting for Equality: A Life of May Wright Sewall – Ray Boomhower
- The Poisonwood Bible – Barbara Kingsolver
- Bento Box in the Heartland: My Japanese Girlhood in Whitebread America – Linda Furiya
- Whistling Past the Graveyard – Susan Crandall
- Riverine: A Memoir From Anywhere But Here – Angela Palm
- The Life List of Adrian Mandrick – Chris White
- The Anthropocene Reviewed: Essays from a Human-Centered Planet – John Green
- Braiding Sweetgrass: Indigenous Wisdom, Scientific Knowledge, and the Teachings of Plants – Robin Wall Kimmerer
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