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Why join a book club as a physics major?
Humanities complements STEM! Reading together can spark curiosity, empathy, and global sensibility while building skills like critical thinking and storytelling - all important skills in making technical work impactful [Amanda Hirsch, 2025]. This is an effort to build a cool cohort of well-rounded physicists. If you love to read or would like to read more, please join. :3
What type of books are we reading?
All kinds of books! :) Books will be nominated and voted on by members. Book nominations are for April 2026 are shown below! Voting link will be sent out via our Signal groupchat. To join please fill out this form.
How often will Pagemasters & Physicists meet?
Pagemasters & Physicists will meet once a month virtually via Signal to discuss the entirety of the selected book. We will try to post discussion questions ahead of time on this website. This is to allow readers to digest the book on their own time and in preparation for group discussion.
How do I join?
To join, you must 1) Read and agree to the Community Guidelines written below 2) Fill out this form to submit your contact information. For our first meet up, two hours is allocated to allow discussion time on the Community Guidelines below.
Community Guidelines
Community Agreements serve the function to shape the way in which the community — that is, the book club participants — behaves during shared time [University of Washington]. They are very important in order to maintain a fun, healthy discussion among diverse voices. For our first meeting, we will review these community guidelines and have an opportunity for participants to edit or change the language of the agreement. What has been drafted below was inspired by guidelines created at the University of Washington, UC Berkeley, newschool.org.
One mic. Don’t interrupt or engage in private conversations while others are speaking. Be courteous.
Practicing active listening. This means rather than thinking about what you are going to say in response, actually focusing on what’s being said and then asking yourself, does something need to be said here? And am I the one to say it?
Share responsibility for including all voices in the discussion. If you have much to say, try to hold back a bit. If you are hesitant to speak, look for opportunities to contribute.
Respect others’ rights to hold opinions and beliefs that differ from your own. When you disagree, challenge the idea, not the person.
We will make “I” statements: I can speak only from what I know, I think, I feel, I hear, as in ‘I heard you say’ rather than ‘well, you said’, which is an invitation to an argument rather than an opening to discussion. Because ‘I heard you say’ is usually followed by ‘Well, that’s not what I meant…’
Recognize intent, acknowledge impact: Because while your intent may have been benign or even supportive, if the impact was hurtful, offensive, dismissive of another’s experience and what they were communicating, then intent, while relevant perhaps, is superseded by its impact.
Be respectful – of your own feelings and those of others, as well as of all races, cultures, sexual orientations, gender identities, religions, class backgrounds, abilities, body sizes and perspectives when speaking.
Agree to disagree, but not to disengage: Listen with the intent of understanding. You do not have to agree or believe anything shared; your job is to listen for understanding. Disagree with the statement, not the person if you must disagree.
Remember that we are working toward a common goal: have fun reading and learning new perspectives! No one knows everything, we all know something and together we know a lot.
Beware of tangents! Don't let them kill the discussion, unless everyone is actively interested in it. Avoid if it leads away from the discussion unless actively adds to discussion.
Everyone is responsible to moderate, but moderator steps in for timekeeping.
Person who chooses book has first dibs to being moderator. They don't have to, but they get first dibs if they want to.
Books of the Month
MARCH 2026 : Piranesi by Susanna Clarke
Meeting: Tuesday March 31st, 5 - 7 PM via Signal.
Discussion Questions
We are not limited to these questions for our discussion. They are provided as guides to support your reading and to help you prepare for our first meeting. The questions were sourced from the Cherry Hill Public Library.
What were your initial impressions of Piranesi? Did he seem lonely? Sane? Content?
Piranesi is a novel with some elements of fantasy. In spite of this, do you feel that it resonates with our experience of the world today?
What do you think of Piranesi's unique way of recording time?
Do you think Piranesi's descriptions of the halls and statues were helpful?
Did you like the journal entry reading experience?
Ketterley is motivated by what he calls the 'Great and Secret Knowledge'. What do you think he is hoping to achieve by carrying out his investigations?
How does the previous questions compare to Raphael?
Is Arne-Sayles (the Prophet) a villain, seer, wise man, sociopath, magician, or all of these?
What is the relationship between science, philosophy, and magic in Piranesi?
‘The Beauty of the House is immeasurable; its Kindness infinite.’ Now that you have finished the novel, how do you feel about the House? Is it a particularly good or bad place? In what way does the novel comment on the relationship between humans and their environments?
In the first part of the book, Piranesi explains his understanding of the world based on a serious examination of all of the evidence he has at his disposal. He calls himself a scientist, and he has carefully observed his surroundings to reach his conclusions, even though these turn out to be incorrect. Does this make him less of a scientist? How does this change your understanding of evidence and truth in storytelling?
Would you have trusted the new person if you were Piranesi?
‘I owe so much to the Other’s generosity. Without him I would not sleep snug and warm in my sleeping bag in winter.’ What were your initial impressions of the Other, and of the relationship between him and Piranesi? How did these impressions change as the story progressed? Would you have trusted The Other if you were Piranesi?
After Piranesi is visited by the police, his understanding of the world and his place within it change dramatically. Do you have greater sympathy for Piranesi before or after the police’s rescue attempt?
A reviewer for the Observer commented that ‘the end of the novel doesn’t exactly provide justice, and closure is only provisional’. Do you agree? What did you make of the ending?
When Matthew Rose Sorenson, his disappearance is framed as mental health-related. Is this in someway true? Might other delusional realities still count as realities to the person experiencing them?
‘If I leave, then the House will have no Inhabitant and how will I bear the thought of it empty? Yet the simple fact is that if I remain in these Halls I will be alone.’ What would you have done if you were in Piranesi’s position?
Would you recommend this book?
Could you see this novel as a movie or television series?
APRIL 2026 : BOOK NOMINATIONS
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