A book group for non-fiction...

[neotoma]

I was talking to ellen_fremedon at Small Press Expo (more on that later) and in the course of our meandering discussion, I came to the realization that I really want to talk about non-fiction books with other fans in an organized setting. I want to found a book group!

Mostly, I'm thinking about history, anthropology, and science books for the interested layperson and maybe the more accessible academic texts. Given that it takes a while to read these kind of non-fiction books, I think that such a group would only meet every other month.

ellen_fremedon and I brainstormed a list of books that we think might be interesting to read and discuss:

• The Horse, the Wheel, and Language: How Bronze-Age Riders from the Eurasian Steppes Shaped the Modern World by David W. Anthony


• The Guns of August by Barbara Tuchman


• 1491: New Revelations of the Americas Before Columbus by Charles C Mann


• Albion's Seed: Four British Folkways in America by David Hackett Fischer


• Servants of the Dynasty: Palace Women in World History edited by Anne Walthall


• Viking Age Iceland by Jesse Byock
  

Personally, I'd like to get read more by female researchers and more on non-Western cultures.

I'd be willing to organize such a group, and host it part of the time -- so who in the Washington Metro area think this sounds interesting? Or you can just give me suggestions for books to read.

ETA: Jesse Byock's Viking Age Iceland, which is fascinating

Comments

[neotoma]

Hmmm... I'd have to set up a Skype account, but I'll see if that's at all feasible. I'd definitely create a DW comm to coordinate and maybe post summaries of our discussions, just so the online people can get in on the fun.

Ellen mentioned 1493 -- we're going to wait on that until it's out in trade paperback, because it's likely that many of these books will only be of limited availability from public libraries, and I'd like to keep the cost to participants as low as possible.

Thanks for the recs for the other books. They sound interesting, and they're not something I would have found on my own.

[fyrdrakken]

Oddly enough, I've been having thoughts lately regarding needing to set up a Skype account at some point just so I'll know how it works and how to work it, and then have it available as a communication method in future. The thing that's been stopping me has been the lack of a purpose for connection to someone else on Skype.