Erie Reader Book Club: February 2026

Penguin Random House

The Erie Reader Book Club will be meeting to discuss the work of two-time Pulitzer Prize winner Colson Whitehead with his novel Harlem Shuffle, in correspondence with our Black History Month issue.

SUNDAY, FEB. 22

The Erie Reader Book Club will be reading and discussing the novel Harlem Shuffle by Colson Whitehead in conjunction with the Black History Month Erie Reader issue.

Selecting a Colson Whitehead novel to read for this book club was inevitable – the author's writing style and storytelling prowess check every box when it comes to our club's taste in books, making this choice perfect for discussion.

Set in 1960s Harlem, the story centers on Ray, a semi-reformed crook who is trying to make an honest living as an upstanding salesman of reasonably priced furniture. With his wife expecting their second child, Ray is just trying to make ends meet and to keep his less-than-honorable past from surfacing in their 125th Street neighborhood. So what if his cousin Freddie occasionally drops off jewelry of unknown origin? Ray knows exactly who to take it to where they won't ask questions.

But when Freddie falls in with a bad crew and volunteers Ray's services as a fence for their planned heist, things begin to go more awry than normal. With the heist not going to plan, Ray finds himself with a slew of new clientele from shady cops to local gangsters and all the other assorted characters in between.

Now, Ray must choose between the two lives pulling him in opposite directions – will he continue to strive for the life he's been building as an honest man, or fall back into his former ways of deceit and crookedness? Can he avoid being killed, save his cousin, and still make it big? Or will it all come crashing down on him in the end?

1 p.m. // Werner Books and Coffee, 2608 Liberty St. // Free to Join, cost of book not included // For more info: wernerbooks.com