lifelong learning

2021–2022 UW Alumni Book Club Archive

Personal stories, timely topics, transformative fiction… We love to dig into amazing books together! Below is an archive of the books and related events from the 2021-2022 reading season. The UW Alumni Book Club is a collaboration between UWAA, the UW Libraries, the University Book Store — and passionate readers like you.


2021-2022 UW Alumni Book Club Archive


"While Justice Sleeps" book cover

From celebrated national leader and bestselling author Stacey Abrams, “While Justice Sleeps” is a gripping thriller set within the halls of the U.S. Supreme Court — where a young law clerk finds herself embroiled in a shocking mystery plotted by one of the most preeminent judges in America.

“[Abrams] displays her considerable talent for fiction in this gripping legal thriller. Shadowy figures… earth-shattering consequences… [a] deadly knot of deception…” —Booklist

Recorded Event


"Cloud Cuckoo Land" book cover

From Anthony Doerr, the Pulitzer Prize-winning author of “All the Light We Cannot See,” comes the highly anticipated “Cloud Cuckoo Land.” The characters include residents of fifteenth-century Constantinople, a library volunteer in present-day Idaho, and a little girl on a spaceship travelling between the stars — all of whom are connected by an ancient Greek fable.

“A wildly inventive novel that teems with life, straddles an enormous range of experience and learning, and embodies the storytelling gifts that it celebrates.” —New York Times

Recorded Event


"Interior Chinatown" book cover

From Charles Yu, screenwriter for HBO’s “Westworld” and author of “How to Live Safely in a Science Fictional Universe,” comes “Interior Chinatown.” This darkly hilarious novel explores how pop-culture stereotypes impact our identities. Written as a screenplay, this playful and heartfelt book sends-up Hollywood clichés and explores what it could mean to break free. “Interior Chinatown” was the winner of the 2020 National Book Awards for Fiction!

“One of the funniest books of the year… a delicious, ambitious Hollywood satire.” —The Washington Post

Recorded Event


"We Are Each Other's Harvest" book coverFrom Natalie Baszile, author of the novel “Queen Sugar,” comes “We Are Each Other’s Harvest” — a vivid collection of interviews, photographs, essays and poems that celebrate African-American farmers, land and legacy. From untold histories to profiles of modern farmers, Baszile assembles a chorus of voices that explore food justice, land stewardship and intergenerational wealth. At the core of each of these stories, beyond the mouth-watering musings on food itself, is an exploration of the courage and strength it takes to look after each other.

“This insightful, eye-opening collection helps to reimagine what it means to be dedicated to the land.” —Alice Waters

Recorded Event


"Klara and the Sun" book cover

From Kazuo Ishiguro, the Nobel Prize-winning author of “The Remains of the Day” comes “Klara and the Sun” — a novel that hinges on empathy, mortality and love. This near-future world is interpreted through the eyes of Klara, a humanized robot who has an appetite for observing and learning. When she is chosen to serve as a child’s companion, her robotic interpretation of family dynamics and societal norms shines a light on the limits of our own human understanding.

“Ishiguro leaves us suspended over a rift in the presumptive order of things. Whose consciousness is limited, ours or a machine’s? Whose love is more true?”— The Atlantic

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