lifelong learning
UW 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.
The free online forum has suggested timelines and prompts for online discussion. Join us for special events that take the conversation to the next level!
“So often we think of reading as a solo activity, but with discussion it improves and elevates the experience.” —Marilyn Conover Watt, ’76, ’81
Now Reading:
“Cloud Cuckoo Land” by Anthony Doerr
Reading period: Oct. 14–Dec. 17, 2021
From the Pulitzer Prize-winning author of “All the Light We Cannot See,” perhaps the most beloved literary fiction of our time, 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.
“Cloud Cuckoo Land” is in the running for the 2021 National Book Award for Fiction!
“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
Get your copy:
Book events:
Storytelling Across Millenia
Tuesday, Dec. 7, 2021 | 5-6 p.m.
UW Alumni Book Club is currently reading “Cloud Cuckoo Land” by Anthony Doerr, a story that weaves together three tales — one in historic Constantinople, one in present day Idaho and one in the future with a character who has never been to Earth. What connects them? The shared (albeit fictional) classic story of Aethon. Join UW Classics Professor Chris Waldo in a conversation about studying Classics in 2021. How are these stories and cultures still relevant today? What makes us come back to these tales for generations?
No spoilers! You don’t need to have finished Cloud Cuckoo Land to participate in this event.
“Cloud Cuckoo Land ” Book Chat
Wed. Dec. 15, 2021 | 5–6 p.m.
Join the UW Alumni Book Club for a conversation about this complex and energetic novel!
2021-2022 Reading List
Reading Period:
Aug. 5–Oct. 7, 2021
Reading Period:
Oct. 14–Dec. 17, 2021
Reading Period:
Jan. 6–Mar. 10, 2022
Reading Period:
Mar. 17–May 19, 2022
Reading Period:
May 26–July 28, 2022
Plan Ahead:
“Interior Chinatown” by Charles Yu
From the author of “How to Live Safely in a Science Fictional Universe” comes this darkly hilarious novel that explores how pop-culture stereotypes impact our identities. Charles Yu will speak at a Seattle Arts & Lectures event on Tuesday, Feb. 15. UWAA members and UW Alumni Book Club participants get a 20% discount on tickets!
2021-2021 UW Alumni Book Club Archive
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
Civics 101: The Judicial SystemShare 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.
