UU Non-Fiction Readers

Who Are UU Non-Fiction Readers? 

UU Non-Fiction Readers are intellectually curious folks who enjoy reading non-fiction, especially books that deepen our understanding of UU principles and beliefs.  We read one book per month and meet for discussion on the third Saturday of each month, from 10:30 - 12:00 am, in the Living Room (downstairs) of the Jones Community Building. We select our reads every 6 months or so from books nominated by group members, and we take turns facilitating discussions. Our meetings are lively and informal. 

Please drop in if a particular book interests you; no need to sign up in advance. We do not have official "members" per se, just interested participants.

​For more information and to be put on our email list, contact Peter Aitken at [email protected].


  • Jan. 18: Damon Tweedy, Black Man in a White Coat: A Doctor’s Reflections on Race and Medicine (Kathy Carrao, discussion leader)
  • Feb. 15: Tim Alberta, The Kingdom, the Power and the Glory: American Evangelicals in an Age of Extremism (Dean Peterson)
  • Mar. 15: Jaclyn Moyer, On Gold Hill: A Personal History of Wheat, Farming, and Family, from Punjab to California (Doug Shier)
  • Apr. 19: Cat Bohannon, Eve: How the Female Body Drove 200 Million Years of Human Evolution (Leslie Zeldin)
  • May 17: Frank Bruni, The Age of Grievance (Joy Blevins)
  • June 21st: The Project by David A. Graham (Ed Steffes)
  • July 19th: Medicine River by Mary Annette Pember (Peter Aitken)
  • August 16th: White Poverty by Reverend Dr. William Barber et al. (Joy Blevins)
  • September 20th: Everyone Who is Gone is Here by Jonathan Blitzer (Doug Shier)
  • October 18th: Streets of Gold by Ran Abramitzky and Leah Boustan (Ed Steffes)
  • November 15th: Sway by Ori Brafman and Rom Brafman (Doug Shier) 
  • (We do not meet in December)​

How We Choose Books  

Participants select books twice a year by nominating books and then voting in a ranked-choice procedure. Nominations are wide open as long as a book is non-fiction. Again, we try to focus on material that can help us deepen our understanding of and involvement with UU principles. For cost reasons, books must be available in paperback or Kindle.
​
We usually start with a brief, informal check-in.  The facilitator (the person who nominated the book) will have provided a handout of questions, quotations, and other material to assist our discussion. Discussion lasts as long as we want it to, keeping in mind that we close at 12:00.

During the last 5-10 minutes we each assign a rating to the book and explain briefly why we gave that rating. Our rating scale is (yes, fractions are OK!):
  1. 1. Disliked, just could not get into the book
  2. 2. Book was OK but nothing special
  3. 3. I liked the book, it was a good read
  4. 4. I really liked the book, it stood out from most others
  5. 5. Outstanding, I loved the book

Meeting Ground Rules
  • Let’s keep social discussion for before/after meeting, and stay focused on book during our discussion time
  • Let’s share air time equitably
  • Come when you can. We want to welcome newcomers, so our membership will remain open. If we grow too large for a good discussion (more than 16 attending regularly), we will look for ways to split into two groups.

​2024
  • Jan. 20: Ariva Chomsky, Central America’s Forgotten History (Ed Steffes)
  • Feb. 17: John McWhorter, Woke Racism (Peter Aitken)
  • Mar. 16: Abhigit V. Benergee and Esther Duflo, Good Economics for Hard Times (Barbara Dennis)
  • Apr. 20: Mikal Gilmore, Shot in the Heart (Jane Mellin)
  • May 18: David Zucchino, Wilmington’s Lie (Doug Shier)
  • Jun. 15: Jennifer Ackerman, The Genius of Birds (Peter Aitken)
  • Jul. 20: David Grann, The Lost City of Z (Jane Mellin)
  • Aug. 17: Jonathan Haidt. The Happiness Hypothesis (Mike Goodyear)
  • Sept. 21: Amy Sohn, The Man Who Hated Women (Ed Steffes)
  • Oct. 19: Suleika Jaouad, Between Two Kingdoms (Peter Aitken)
  • Nov. 16: Michael Lewis, The Undoing Project (Doug Shier)
  • ​​

​2023
  • January 21: Chris Thomas, Inheritors of the Earth (Mary Hulett)
  • February 18: Chris Murphy, The Violence Inside Us (Joy Blevins)
  • March 18: Maxine Bédat, Unraveled: The Life and Death of a Garment (Doug Shier)
  • April 15: Meik Wiking, The Little Book of Hygge (Rita Jankovich)
  • May 20: Lisa Servon, The Unbanking of America (Jeff Blass)
  • Jun. 17: Sweet, John Wood. The Sewing Girl’s Tale: A Story of Crime and Consequences in Revolutionary America (facilitator Joy Blevins, with guest author John Wood Sweet)
  • Jul. 15: Yong, Ed. An Immense World: How Animal Senses Reveal the Hidden Realms Around Us (Steve McNeary)
  • Aug. 19: Strozier, Charles. Your Friend Forever, A. Lincoln: The Enduring Friendship of Abraham Lincoln and Joshua Speed (Maureen Magner)
  • Sept. 16: Darity, William A. and A. Kirsten Mullen. From Here to Equality: Reparations for Black Americans in the 21st Century. 2nd Edition (Carolyn Holt)
  • Oct. 21: Fernandez, Belén. Inside Siglio XXI: Locked Up in Mexico’s Largest Detention Center (Mary Hulett)​
  • Nov. 18: Kraut, Alan M. Goldberger’s War: The Life and Work of a Public Health Crusader (Barbara Dennis)


2022
  • January 15: Timothy Snyder, The Road to Unfreedom (discussion leader: Jeff Blass)
  • February 19: Mark Bittman, Animal, Vegetable, Junk (Glenn Davis)
  • March 19: Geeta Kapur, To Drink from the Well (Mary Hulett)
  • April 16: Stephanie Kelton, The Deficit Myth (Ed Steffes)
  • May 21: Elizabeth Economy, The Third Revolution (Kari Andrade)
  • June 18: Gilbert King, Devil in the Grove (Joy Blevins)
  • July  16: Nancy Isenberg, White Trash: The 400 Year Untold History of Class in America (Ed Steffes)
  • August 20: Peter Zeihan, Disunited Nations: The Scramble for Power in an Ungoverned World (Glenn Davis)
  • September 17: Jay Dolin, A Furious Sky: The Five-Hundred-Year History of America's Hurricanes (Mary Hulett)
  • October 15: Nina Jankowicz, How to Lose the Information War: Russia, Fake News, and the Future of Conflict (Judy Lechner)
  • November 19: Matthew Beaumont, The Walker: On Finding and Losing Yourself in a Modern City (Glenn Davis)

​
2021
  • January 16: Isabel Wilkerson. Caste; Leader: Glenn D.
  • February 20: Matthew Desmond. Evicted; Leader: Ed S.
  • March 20:  John Medina. Brain Rules for Aging Well; Leader: Laurence K.
  • April 17: Timothy Snyder. On Tyranny; Leader: Joy B.
  • May 15: Stephen Greenblatt. The Swerve; Leader: Mary H.
  • June 19: Alan Weisman. The World Without Us; Leader: Lila B.
  • July 17: Binyamin Appelbaum. The Economists' Hour; Leader: Ed S.
  • August 21: Bart Ehrman. Heaven and Hell; Leader: Glenn D.
  • September 18: Charles C. Mann. 1491; Leader: Steve M.
  • October 16: C.S. Gwynne. Empire of the Summer Moon; Leader: Kari A.
  • November 20: Nicole Perloth. This is How They Tell Me the World Ends; Leader: Laurence K. 
2020
  • January 18: Leslie Chang. Factory Girls: From Village to City in a Changing China; Leader: Steve M.
  • February 15: Francisco Cantu. The Line Becomes a River: Dispatches from the Border; Leader: Carolyn H.
  • March 21:  Nadia Murad. The Last Girl: My Story of Captivity, and My Fight against the Islamic State; Leader: Mary H.
  • April 18: Robin DiAngelo & Michael Eric Dyson. White Fragility: Why It’s So Hard for White People to Talk about Racism; Leader: Jan P.
  • May 16: Stephen Kinzer. Overthrow: America’s Century of Regime Change from Hawaii to Iraq; Leader: Lila B.
  • June 20: Steven Waldman. Sacred Liberty: America’s Long, Bloody and Ongoing Struggle for Religious Liberty; Leader: Ed S.
  • July 18: David Reich. Who We Are and How We Got There: Ancient DNA and the New Science of the Human Past;Leader: Glenn D.
  • August 15: Dirk Philipsen. The Little Big Number: How GDP Came to Rule the World and What to Do about It;Leader: Doug S.
  • September 19: Paul Collier. The Future of Capitalism: Facing the New Anxieties; Leader: Ed S.
  • October 17: Richard Rothstein. The Color of Law; Leader: Mary H.
  • November 21: Ozzie Zehner. Green Illusions: The Dirty Secrets of Clean Energy and the Future of Environmentalism;Leader: Carolyn H.

​2019
  • Jan 19 - The Dalai Lama, Desmond Tutu and Douglas Carlton Abrams. The Book of Joy: Lasting Happiness in a Changing  World.  Leader: Jeannie Z. 
  • Feb 16 - Mir Tamim Ansary.  Destiny Disrupted: A History of the World through Islamic Eyes. Leader: Steve M.
  • Mar 16 - Barbara Ehrenreich.  Natural Causes: An Epidemic of Wellness, the Certainty of Dying and Killing Ourselves to Live Longer. Leader: Ivy B.
  • Apr 20 - Yuval Noah Harari.  Sapiens: A Brief History of Human Kind. Leaders: Carolyn H and Joe S.
  • May 18 - Steven Brill. Tailspin: The People and Forces Behind America’s Fifty-Year Fall—and Those Fighting to Reverse It. Leader: Ed S.
  • Jun 15 - Madeleine Albright.  Fascism: A Warning. Leader: Jeff B.
  • Jul 20 - Jon Meacham. The Soul of America: The Battle for Our Better Angels. Leader: Lila B.
  • Aug 17 - John Barry. The Great Influenza:The Story of the Deadliest Pandemic in History. Leader: Steve M.
  • Sep 21 - Susan Quinn. Eleanor and Hick: The Love Affair that Shaped a First Lady. Leader: Carolyn H.
  • Oct 19 - Colin Mayer. Prosperity: Better Business Makes the Greater Good. Leader: Ed S.
  • Nov 16 - Elaine Pagels. Why Religion? A Personal Story. Leader: Mike G.
2018
  • Jan 20 - Haidt, Jonathan. The Righteous Mind:  Why Good People are Divided by Politics and Religion.  2012.   Leader: Mike G. 
  • Feb 17 - Tolan, Sandy.  The Lemon Tree.  2007. Leader: Mary H.
  • Mar 17 - Coates, Ta-Nehisi.  We Were Eight Years in Power.  2017. Leader: Mary  L.
  • Apr 21 - Dunbar-Ortiz, Roxanne.  An Indigenous Peoples’ History of the United States.  2014. Leader: Carolyn
  • May 19 - Woodard, Colin.  American Nations:  A History of the Eleven Rival Regional Cultures of North America.  2012. Leader: Laurence
  • Jun 16 - Hochschild, Arlie.  Strangers in Their Own Land:  Anger and Mourning on the American Right, A Journey to the Heart of our Political Divide.  Leader: Ed
  • Jul 21 - Roach, Mary. Gulp. Leader: Mary H.
  • Aug  18 - Almond, Steve. Bad Stories. Leader: Jeannie Z.
  • * Sept 22 (rescheduled from Sept 15) - Al-Sharif, Manal. Daring to Drive. Leader: Carolyn H.
    Oct 20 - Godwin, Peter. When a Crocodile Eats the Sun. Leader: Betsy K.
  • Nov 17 - Friedman, Thomas L. Thank You for Being Late. Leader: Ed S.

2017
  • Jan 21 - Konner, Melvin.  Women After All:  Sex, Evolution, and the End of Male Supremacy.  Leader: Ed  
  • Feb 18 - Wangari, Maathai.  Unbowed:  A Memoir.  Leader: Jeanne
  • Mar 18 - Barber, William.  The Third Reconstruction.  Leader: Mary
  • Apr 15 - Klein, Naomi.  This Changes Everything:  Capitalism vs. The Climate.  Leader: Ivy
  • May 20 - Ford, Martin.  The Rise of the Robots:  Technology and the Threat of a Jobless Future.  Leader: Ed
  • Jun 17 - McCullough, David.  The Wright Brothers.  Leader: Steve
  • Jul 15 - Wilkinson, Richard, and Kate Pickett.  The Spirit Level:  Why Greater Equality Makes Society Stronger.  Leader: Lila
  • Aug 19 - Muir, Frederic, Editor.  Turning Point:  Essays on a New Unitarian Universalism.  Leader: Carolyn
  • Sept 16 - Marshall, Tim.  Prisoners of Geography:  Ten Maps that Explain Everything about the World.  Leader: Steve
  • Oct 21 - Mayer, Jane.  Dark Money:  The Hidden History of the Billionaires behind the Rise of the Radical Right. Leader: Carolyn.
  • Nov 18 - Partanen, Anu.  The Nordic Theory of Everything:  In Search of a Better Life. Leader: Jeanne.
  • Dec - No meeting
  • ​
​2016
  • Jan 16 - Coates, Ta-Nehisi. Between the World and Me. Leader: Carolyn
  • Feb 20 - Diamond, Jared. The World Until Yesterday. Leader: Steve
  • Mar 19 - Cose, Ellis. Bone to Pick: Of Forgiveness, Reconciliation, Reparation and Revenge. Leader: Ivy
  • Apr 16 - Milanovic, Branko. The Haves and the Have-Nots: A Brief and Idiosyncratic History of Global Inequality. Leader: Marya
  • May 21 - Stevenson, Bryan. Just Mercy. Leader: Lila
  • Jun 18 - McCullough, David. The Path Between the Seas: The Creation of the Panama Canal, 1870-1914. Leader: Laurence
  • Jul 16 - Cain, Susan. Quiet. Leader: Judy
  • Aug 20 - Boyer, Paul and Stephen Nissenbaum. Salem Possessed: The Social Origins of Witchcraft. Leader: Lila
  • Sep 17 - Tribe, Lawrence and Joshua Matz. Uncertain Justice: The Roberts Court and the Constitution. Leader: Kathryn
  • Oct 15 - Nawaz, Maajid. Radical: My Journey Out of Islamist Extremism. Leader: Carolyn
  • Nov 19 - White, Courtney. Grass, Soil, Hope: A Journey Through Carbon Country. Leader: Jeanne
​
2015
  • Jan 17 - Harris, Mark. Grave Matters: A Journey through the Modern Funeral Industry to a Natural Way of Burial.
  • Feb 21 - Powers, William. Twelve by Twelve: A One-Room Cabin off the Grid and Beyond the American Dream.
  • Mar 21 - Sommers, Tamler. A Very Bad Wizard: Morality Behind the Curtain.
  • Apr 18 - Morris, Jan. Conundrum.
  • May 16 - Kolbert, Elizabeth. The Sixth Extinction: An Unnatural History.
  • June 20 - Demick, Barbara. Nothing to Envy: Ordinary Lives in North Korea.
  • July 18 - Alexander, Michelle. The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness.
  • Aug 15 - Gawande, Atul. Being Mortal: Medicine and What Matters at the End of Life.
  • Sept 19 - Reston, James. Dogs of God: Columbus, the Inquisition, and the Defeat of the Moors.
  • Oct 31 - Marshall, Megan. Margaret Fuller: A New American Life. Leader: Carolyn H.
  • Nov 21 - Kurlansky, Mark. Cod: A Biography of the Fish that Changed the World. Leader: Steve M.
  • Dec 19 - Prothero, Stephen. God is Not One: The Eight Rival Religions That Run the World. Leader: Marya I.