Actor Burton Starts A Book Club With Fable

LeVar Burton has launched a book club!

The storied actor created the LeVar Burton Book Club in partnership with Fable, as described on its app and website as a means to discover, read and discuss books, and help build “human connections,” according to Yahoo News.

“As a lifelong advocate for literacy, the opportunity to launch my book club on Fable’s wonderful new platform is extremely exciting and timely,” Burton said in a statement Tuesday. “This partnership will help foster the importance of storytelling while sharing my love of reading.”

Burton, whose advocacy and encouragement of literacy created in young viewers the love of books with PBS’ “Reading Rainbow,” now hosts the podcast “LeVar Burton Reads.”   Burton chose James Baldwin’s “Go Tell It on the Mountain” as his first selection for Fable. Octavia Butler’s “Parable of the Sower” and “The Fire This Time,” a poetry and essay collection edited by Jesmyn Ward are next on his list.

In addition to starting a book club, Burton will serve as a guest host on Jeopardy.

RELATED: LeVar Burton Will Guest Host ‘Jeopardy’

The quiz show, which lost its longtime host Alex Trebek to cancer last November, has yet to announce a successor. Fans of Burton have lobbied for him to be the permanent replacement, with a petition drive attracting more than 250,000 signatures so far.