Alumni Book Club

Personal stories, timely topics, transformative fiction… Let’s dig into some amazing books together! All curious readers are welcome at the UW Alumni Book Club. Together, we read a book about every two months. Choose just one or all five — whatever works for you.

Now Reading

Chronicles from the Land of the Happiest People on Earth by Wole Soyinka

March 13–May 15, 2026

Readers’ Choice! A mix of mystery and political satire written with biting gallows humor, this novel takes aim at corruption in modern Nigeria. Two old friends decide to investigate a local cartel that traffics in human body parts. But in a country where religious charlatans and dishonest officials abound, can they trust anyone in their search?

→ Nobel Prize-Winning Author!

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Wole Soyinka is a prolific author, playwright, poet and political activist. Born in Nigeria in 1934, Soyinka has taught at many universities, including Harvard, Yale, Cambridge and Oxford. He was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1986 — the first African author to receive this distinction.

Join the Discussion

The free online forum has suggested timelines and prompts for online discussion. Join us and take the conversation to the next level!

“In true Soyinka fashion, the writing tosses you right into the middle of Nigerian life.”

—NPR

Campus Connections

Wole Soyinka at the University of Washington

In April 1973, Wole Soyinka visited the UW campus and spoke to packed audiences of students and faculty. See photos, hear audio recordings and read the transcripts of each of his historic talks in the UW Libraries Digital Collections!

Campus Connections

Quiz Yourself!

The Alumni Book Club voted between three authors who had won Nobel Prizes in Literature for this round of reading — inspired by a Fall 2025 course called “Literature and the Nobel Prize.” What do you know about Alfred Nobel? How do you think the Nobel Laureates spend their prize money? Test your knowledge with these fun online quizzes!

Author Interview

“I enjoy my solitude enormously.”

Wole Soyinka turned 90 years old in July 2024. In this short interview with CNN, he reflects on how his priorities have shifted since he was a young revolutionary. Get a tour of his home (which is packed with artwork) and see the reforestation project he started in his hometown in Nigeria.

2025-2026 Reading List

Reading Period Aug 1-Oct. 3

Reading Period Oct. 10-Dec. 12

Reading Period Jan. 2-March 6

Book Cover: Chronicles from the Land of the Happiest People on Earth

Reading Period March 13- May 15

Reading Period May 22-July 24

Reader Benefits

Seattle Arts & Lectures

UWAA members and book club participants save 20% on tickets for all events in the Seattle Arts & Lectures 2025/26 season! Use the code UWAA20 to save on in-person and online passes. See the calendar of events.

Barnes & Noble at University Book Store

Seattle-area readers, have you checked out how University Book Store is partnering with Barnes & Noble to expand their General Books department? Book clubbers can save 20% on “Chronicles from the Land of the Happiest People on Earth” when they visit the Barnes & Noble at University Book Store location and mention the UW Alumni Book Club discount at checkout.

University Libraries

UWAA members are eligible for a free UW Libraries Borrower’s Card.

Up Next

The Frozen River by Ariel Lawhon

Reading Period: May 22–July 24, 2026

Readers’ Choice! Bundle up for a historical mystery set in 18th-century Maine. The body of a local man is found in the frozen Kennebeck River. Martha Ballard, the local midwife, suspects that this death is not an accident — and her detailed diaries of local life are full of clues. Will she weather the scandals unleashed by her pursuit of the truth?

Inspired by historic events!

Previous Reads

Birding to Change the World by Trish O’Kane

Reading Period: Aug. 1-Oct. 3

Trish O’Kane worked for decades as an investigative journalist, boldly visiting war zones and fighting for justice. When she evacuates from Hurricane Katrina and returns to see the devastation of her beloved New Orleans neighborhood, she is shaken to her core — and then turns into an “accidental ornithologist!” This upbeat memoir, chock full of amazing natural history facts, chronicles how birdwatching helped her find courage and community in the face of a rapidly changing world.

Resources

Previous Reads

The Four Winds by Kristin Hannah, ’83

Reading Period: Oct. 10–Dec. 12

Readers’ Choice! Author (and UW alum) Kristin Hannah, ’83, highlights the struggles of the working poor during the Great Depression in this novel. Elsa is an awkward wallflower who is raising her two children on the family farm. As the Dust Bowl hits, she must choose between weathering the climate catastrophe in Texas or moving her family west to follow rumors of jobs in California.

Resources

Previous Reads

The Buffalo Hunter Hunter by Stephen Graham Jones

Reading Period: Oct. 10–Dec. 12

Brace yourself for a gripping historical novel from a master of literary horror! A lecturer at the University of Wyoming comes across the diary that her great-great-grandfather kept in 1912. The entries include a series of interviews with the survivor of a massacre of hundreds of Blackfeet Indians… a survivor who has had an unusually long life, and who may just be out for revenge.