lifelong learning
2024-2025 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 2023–2024 reading season. The UW Alumni Book Club is a collaboration between UWAA, the UW Libraries, the University Book Store — and passionate readers like you.
2024-2025 Reading List
Reading Period:
Aug. 2–Oct. 4
Reading Period:
Oct. 11–Dec. 13
Reading Period:
Jan. 3–Mar. 7
Reading Period:
Mar. 14–May 16
Reading Period:
May 23–July 25
2024-2025 UW Alumni Book Club Archive
Reader’s Choice:
“Remarkably Bright Creatures”
by Shelby Van Pelt
New York Times Bestseller! Tova, a stubborn widow, is on the cleaning crew of her small town’s aquarium. Marcellus, a snarky octopus, is a keen observer of humanity. Set in Puget Sound, this quirky bestselling novel follows their cross-species friendship as it sends ripples across the community.
Campus Connections: “Remarkably Bright Creatures”
The Mysterious Mind of the Octopus
Octopus Self-Destruct System
“James”
by Percival Everett
New York Times Bestseller! Revisit Mark Twain’s classic tale from the point of view of Jim, the enslaved man who escapes down the Mississippi River with Huck Finn. This audacious reimagining shows Jim to be a masterful code-switcher, navigating perilous situations with layers of nuance and insight. Funny, philosophical and terrifying by turns, Everett shines a light on the tactical brilliance that our hero uses to move through a dangerous world.
“James” was awarded the 2024 National Book Award!
Campus Connections: “James”
“Bear: A Novel”
by by Julia Phillips
Reader’s Choice! Two sisters living in the San Juan Islands are impatient to make better lives for themselves. Sam sells coffee on the Washington State Ferry while Elena tends bar at the local golf club. Both tend to their ailing mother in the run-down home in which they were raised. This grinding routine is shaken up when a bear appears in their front yard. Each sister has a very different reaction to the bear. Will the arrival of this wild animal knock their plans for the future (and their tight family connections) off course?
Campus Connections: “Bear”
“There’s Always This Year:
On Basketball and Ascension”
by Hanif Abdurraqib
This 1990’s basketball memoir thrums with a rich current of popular music, a heartfelt homage to family, a profound musing on the passage of time and a fierce loyalty to Columbus, Ohio. Ultimately a shout-out to all underdogs, this wise and poetic book explores what it really means to “make it,” whether or not you happen to be LeBron James.
Campus Connections: “There’s Always This Year”
“The Berry Pickers”
by Amanda Peters
Readers’ Choice! Ruthie, a four-year-old Mi’kmaq girl, goes missing from the blueberry fields of Maine. Her whole family is heartbroken, but Ruthie’s brother Joe is especially upset — over the years, he feels his life unraveling from the grief and injustice of her loss. Meanwhile, in a quiet town in southern Maine, a young girl named Norma wonders why she never quite feels like she fits in with her family… This heartfelt novel brings unique perspectives on family, identity and redemption.
Campus Connections: “The Berry Pickers”
Past UW Alumni Book Club Archives
Curious what books we have read before? Use the links below to access our book club archives, which include recorded events and resource lists.
Share Your Book Ideas!
Have suggestions for upcoming book club titles?
Submit your ideas to our Book Club Suggestion Form.
Check out the books that have already been suggested.
The UW Alumni Book Club is a collaboration between UWAA, the UW Libraries, the University Book Store — and passionate readers like you.
