Many groups choose to use readings from anthologies published by the Great Books Foundation:
The Traditional Series represents some of the most influential and profound thinking of the Western world. The series includes substantial works of literature and philosophy by such authors as Dostoevesky, Freud, Kafka, Plato, and Shakespeare.
The 50th Anniversary Series consists of nine anthologies combining works of classic and modern authors from around the world.
An Introduction to Great Books is a three-volume series containing works by many of the same important authors featured in the other anthologies, but the selections are shorter.
In addition to the above series, the Foundation has recently published several single-volume anthologies:
Great Conversations 1 is a collection of works by classic and modern authors ranging from Gilgamesh to the present.
Great Conversations 2 contains fifteen outstanding selections suitable for book groups and study in college humanities courses.
Great Conversations 3 contains fifteen selections, discussion guides for The Prince and Jane Eyre, as well as a thematic guide for reading selections across genres and disciplines.
Modern American Poetry is a collection of works by more than 40 American poets from the mid-1800s to the present.
The Nature of Life: Readings in Biology encourages inquiry-based discussion of original writings representing a wide range of work in the field of biology.
Keeping Things Whole: Readings in Environmental Science is a collection of 21 selections by writers in the field of environmental science.
A Latino National Conversation: Readings on Assimilation is a collection that aims to introduce traditional book groups to a new body of literature and to draw new communities into the discussion. The short selections are written in English, by Latino authors, reflecting their experiences in the United States.
The Soul of the Text: An Anthology of Jewish Literature is a collection of readings from the Jewish literary tradition.
The Will of the People: Readings in American Democracy brings together some of the most important texts in the history of American democracy, with fourteen selections reflecting the essence of American democratic ideals.
And Justice For All contains selections that foster discussion of the origin and concept of rights both for individuals and for specific groups and peoples.