Nonfiction Book Club
The Nonfiction Book Club was the first to join our new selection of book clubs in early 2019 and this group reads exclusively nonfiction, but across many genres. From history and science to nature and biography, they read it all! The Nonfiction Book Club is led by Towne manager Sarah and she would love for you to stop by and join in on their discussions!
Nonfiction Book Club meets on the 4th Wednesday of the month at 7pm.
Upcoming Meetings and Selections
Wednesday, September 22, 2021: American Sherlock by Kate Winkler Dawson
Wednesday, November 3, 2021: A Woman of No Importance by Sonia Purnell
Wednesday, December 1, 2021: Mrs. Sherlock Holmes by Brad Ricca
Wednesday, January 26, 2022: Drunk Flies and Stoned Dolphins by One R. Pagan
Previous Selections
August 2021: The Disappearing Spoon by Sam Kean
July 2021: Black Flags, Blue Waters by Eric Jay Dolin
June 2021: Midnight in Chernobyl by Adam Higginbotham
May 2021: The Last Castle by Denise Kiernan
April 2021: The Indifferent Stars Above by Daniel James Brown
March 2021: The Five by Hallie Rubenhold
February 2021: Darkly by Leila Taylor
January 2021: Say Nothing by Patrick Radden Keefe
November 2020: The Water Will Come by Jeff Goodall
October 2020: The Last Pirate of New York by Rich Cohen
September 2020: A Bookshop in Berlin by Francoise Frankel
From the cup of coffee that jumpstarts the day to dangerously addictive drugs, the recreational use of plants with psychoactive properties has a long history among humans.
But, as with many things, it turns out that other animals got there first.
Nominated for the Edgar Award for Best Fact Crime!
This is the shocking and amazing true story of the first female U.S. District Attorney and traveling detective who found missing 18-year-old Ruth Cruger when the entire NYPD had given up.
A NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER
Chosen as a BEST BOOK OF THE YEAR by NPR, the New York Public Library, Amazon, the Seattle Times, the Washington Independent Review of Books, PopSugar, the Minneapolis Star Tribune, BookBrowse, the Spectator, and the Times of London
Winner of the Plutarch Award for Best Biography
A gripping historical true crime narrative that "reads like the best of Conan Doyle himself" (Karen Abbott, author of The Ghosts of Eden Park), American Sherlock recounts the riveting true story of the birth of modern criminal investigation.
From New York Times bestselling author Sam Kean comes incredible stories of science, history, finance, mythology, the arts, medicine, and more, as told by the Periodic Table.
Why did Gandhi hate iodine (I, 53)? How did radium (Ra, 88) nearly ruin Marie Curie's reputation? And why is gallium (Ga, 31) the go-to element for laboratory pranksters?
With surprising tales of vicious mutineers, imperial riches, and high-seas intrigue, Black Flags, Blue Waters is “rumbustious enough for the adventure-hungry” (Peter Lewis, San Francisco Chronicle).
A New York Times Best Book of the Year
A Time Best Book of the Year
A Kirkus Reviews Best Nonfiction Book of the Year
2020 Andrew Carnegie Medals for Excellence Winner
From journalist Adam Higginbotham, the New York Times bestselling “account that reads almost like the script for a movie” (The Wall
A New York Times bestseller with an "engaging narrative and array of detail” (The Wall Street Journal), the “intimate and sweeping” (Raleigh News & Observer) untold, true story behind the Biltmore Estate—the largest, grandest private residence in North America, which has seen more than 120 years of history pass by its front door.
Th
From the #1 bestselling author of The Boys in the Boat and Facing the Mountain comes an unforgettable epic of family, tragedy, and survival on the American frontier
Five devastating human stories and a dark and moving portrait of Victorian London—the untold lives of the women killed by Jack the Ripper
Polly, Annie, Elisabeth, Catherine, and Mary Jane are famous for the same thing, though they never met. They came from Fleet Street, Knightsbridge, Wolverhampton, Sweden, and Wales.
A fascinating journey into the dark heart of the American gothic that analyzes the ways it relates to race in twenty-first-century America
Haunted houses, bitter revenants and muffled heartbeats under floorboards—the American gothic is a macabre tale based on a true story.
NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • Winner of the National Book Critics Circle Award
From the author of the New York Times bestseller Empire of Pain—a stunning, intricate narrative about a notorious killing in Northern Ireland and its devastating repercussions
What if Atlantis wasn't a myth, but an early precursor to a new age of great flooding? Across the globe, scientists and civilians alike are noticing rapidly rising sea levels, and higher and higher tides pushing more water directly into the places we live, from our most vibrant, historic cities to our last remaining traditional coastal villages.
Was he New York City’s last pirate . . . or its first gangster? This is the true story of the bloodthirsty underworld legend who conquered Manhattan, dock by dock—for fans of Gangs of New York and Boardwalk Empire.
A PEOPLE BOOK OF THE WEEK
WINNER OF THE JQ–WINGATE LITERARY PRIZE
“A haunting tribute to survivors and those lost forever—and a reminder, in our own troubled era, never to forget.” —People
An “exceptional” (The Wall Street Journal) and “poignant” (The New York T