The Untold Story of the World's Greatest Nuclear Disaster As a book club, we are fascinated by science history and radioactivity it seems. Once I watched the HBO show Chernobyl, it rekindled my interest in the disaster. We had two Chernobyl books to choose from, and while I wanted to read Svetlana Alexievich's oral history,… Continue reading Midnight in Chernobyl by Adam Higginbotham
Category: Book Club
Black Flags, Blue Waters by Eric Jay Dolin
The Epic History of America's Most Notorious Pirates As a well known lover of pirates, this book had been on my TBR for quite some time. When Nonfiction Book Club was disappointed by the lack of pirateyness in The Last Pirate of New York, I suggested we read this real pirate book! Synopsis From the… Continue reading Black Flags, Blue Waters by Eric Jay Dolin
The Disappearing Spoon by Sam Kean
And Other True Tales of Madness, Love, and the History of the World from the Periodic Table of the Elements This was one of my selections for Nonfiction Book Club! Continuing on my obsession with radiation and chemistry, it was a most enthralling read. Synopsis From the publisher marketing:From New York Times bestselling author Sam Kean comes… Continue reading The Disappearing Spoon by Sam Kean
American Sherlock by Kate Winkler Dawson
Murder, Forensics, and the Birth of American CSI When a member of Nonfiction Book Club put this book forth for voting I admittedly did not want it to get voted through to an actual selection. When it was, I dreaded reading it, but was quite pleasantly surprised. Synopsis From the publisher marketing:Berkeley, California, 1933. In… Continue reading American Sherlock by Kate Winkler Dawson
The Five by Hallie Rubenhold
The Untold Lives of the Women Killed by Jack the Ripper Another Nonfiction Book Club selection! This one was a highly anticipated read for many of our members. Synopsis From the publisher marketing:Five devastating human stories and a dark and moving portrait of Victorian London—the untold lives of the women killed by Jack the Ripper.… Continue reading The Five by Hallie Rubenhold
Say Nothing by Patrick Radden Keefe
A True Story of Murder and Memory in Northern Ireland It's another Nonfiction Book Club selection! This one was put forth for voting by Mary Anne and we were all pretty excited to read it. We tend not to stray towards current or former bestsellers, but this was a topic everyone wanted to know more… Continue reading Say Nothing by Patrick Radden Keefe
The Water Will Come by Jeff Goodell
Rising Seas, Sinking Cities, and the Remaking of the Civilized World I have never been interested in reading about things that currently are a realistic threat to me (i.e. pandemics, cancer and global warming). However, as I do not have sole determination of the books we read for book club and pretty much everyone else… Continue reading The Water Will Come by Jeff Goodell
The Last Pirate of New York by Rich Cohen
A Ghost Ship, a Killer, and the Birth of a Gangster Nation It's another Nonfiction Book Club selection! This was one that I put forth to the group for voting and it was definitely a compelling read. Synopsis From the publisher marketing:Handsome and charismatic, Albert Hicks had long been known in the dive bars and… Continue reading The Last Pirate of New York by Rich Cohen
A Bookshop in Berlin by Francoise Frenkel
The Rediscovered Memoir of One Woman's Harrowing Escape from the NazisPublished originally as No Place to Lay One's Head This is another Nonfiction Book Club selection! As a club that reads exclusively nonfiction, eventually we were going to make our way to WWII, either by reading a memoir or history book. We decided to go… Continue reading A Bookshop in Berlin by Francoise Frenkel
Best of Nonfiction Book Club
The Nonfiction Book Club has now been meeting for about a year and a half and in that time, we've stumbled on quite a few hidden gems of nonfiction. Our upcoming selections (we've picked through April 2021!) all sound spectacular, so I figured I'd do a recap of the favorites so far before we dive… Continue reading Best of Nonfiction Book Club