Nonfiction book club (frustration)

NorthernLight

NorthernLight

Well-known Member
Location
Northern BC
We decided to start a nonfiction book club at our library. The "book club sets" (5 copies of the same book) at our library are all fiction, but the librarian said we could use nonfiction books that are available online. If we want free, this means public domain (old books).

Of course hard copies are preferable. Personally I can't afford to buy books. Those who can afford them would have to buy them online, as our town has no bookstores.

We found out that we can order nonfiction book club sets from the regional library system. Yay! But. Turns out they're all memoirs, with the exception of one pop psychology book. I do not want to read about Michelle Obama, or someone's personal battles with addiction, poverty, etc. And neither do the others.

I looked online to see what books other nonfiction book clubs are reading, and it's the same kind of thing.

We live in a small backwater. There are 5 of us. How is it that we're the only people in Canada who want to read great works (classic or modern) about science, anthropology, philosophy, etc?

/rant. Thank you for reading.
 

@George1959 So far we've done Schopenhauer, Communist Manifesto, and Art of War. Those who didn't already have a hard copy could get these online through gutenberg.org or elsewhere.

I'd like to read Darwin, social history, art history, cosmology, economics, etc. All the things that people (including me) pretend to know a bit about but don't.

I'd like to read Guns, Germs, and Steel, which offers a theory of Eurasian hegemony. Another member suggested a different (more recent) book about the development of human history, also interesting. He also suggested a book on racism and one on recent political developments, as well as a book on how modern society affects individual psychology.

When referring to Amazon Wish List, do you mean hoping that others will buy books for me? I don't have anyone who would do that, and it would be unreliable/unpredictable. Much easier to buy the book myself!

Thank you for your thoughts.
 
NorthernLight said:
@George1959 So far we've done Schopenhauer, Communist Manifesto, and Art of War. Those who didn't already have a hard copy could get these online through gutenberg.org or elsewhere.

I'd like to read Darwin, social history, art history, cosmology, economics, etc. All the things that people (including me) pretend to know a bit about but don't.

I'd like to read Guns, Germs, and Steel, which offers a theory of Eurasian hegemony. Another member suggested a different (more recent) book about the development of human history, also interesting. He also suggested a book on racism and one on recent political developments, as well as a book on how modern society affects individual psychology.

When referring to Amazon Wish List, do you mean hoping that others will buy books for me? I don't have anyone who would do that, and it would be unreliable/unpredictable. Much easier to buy the book myself!

Thank you for your thoughts.
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Having read, The Manifesto, you should have hopped into the thread I was just on, @NorthernLight, "What is Socialism." ;)
 
I can't offer advice but I see you are the intelligent type that needs to explore the workings of great minds. You need brain food, stimulation, new concepts and ideas to read about. Is there a continuing education program in your area? That might be give you opportunities to meet others of a similar desire. I could not help, I read fiction for the most part but the junior college here has many classes that I think would appeal to you.
 
Thank you, @Jace . I had a closer look at what's available through interlibrary loan. In some cases there are 5 or 6 copies of a book scattered around the province. Maybe the librarian could help us coordinate something.

Thank you, @Blessed . Unfortunately, the offerings at the college here are very employment oriented (e.g., nursing, business, trades). I checked when I moved here, and I checked again tonight. I did see a couple of physical geography courses that looked interesting! They're 5 hours a week though, which might be a bit much for ol' me.
 
Hope you find a solution to your problem.
One of my pleasures is the NonFiction book club I'm involved with.

Wanting books by Darwin, Jared Diamonds-Guns, Germs and Steel are great choices.

So far in our group, we have discussed Mark Kurlansky's 'Salt' and numerous books by Dava Sobel starting with 'Longitude'
and 'Galileo's Daughter: A Historical Memoir of Science, Faith and Love" and many others.

Before Covid, we met at the main Library downtown, but switched to Zoom since then.
I miss sitting across from my fellow members seeing their passion for certain passages of the books discussed.
 
@Feelslikefar Yes, being able to discuss the books and ideas is the best part. If I tried to discuss such things with anyone else, I'd get a blank stare and a change of subject.

I have a question, as you mentioned discussing certain passages. I was disappointed in our last meeting, as I felt we talked "around" the book (politics and world happenings), rather than discussing the book itself (a political theory). I had reread the book several times, trying to make sense of it, and was looking forward to discussing what was in the book.

What do you do to stay on track?
 
@NorthernLight Keeping things on track can be very hard sometimes, as you stated.
Someone always seems to steer things back to the main purpose of the book.

Most times, hearing what another reader felt was a turning point event in a book, has taken me down another thought path.
What I thought might be small connections, turn out to be major ones. (when dealing with historical events)
When discussing something like 'The Communist Manifesto', it is hard for many, including myself, to see all of events that led up to it being written.

Sorry, that probably didn't answer your question.
 
@Feelslikefar Maybe now that I know how things can go astray, I'll know to speak up next time. I also mentioned it in our email exchanges.

SeniorBen said:
I've been wanting to join a nonfiction book club. There's a website for book clubs that might be useful:
https://bookclubs.com/

... the nonfiction book clubs:
https://bookclubs.com/join-a-book-club/non-fiction
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Thank you for the resources! These look useful.

Maybe you can start your own book club. It doesn't take much to start one, although things can get tricky later.

I'm beginning to think that with (or even without) the librarian's help, we can cobble together our own interesting "book club sets" through interlibrary loan. Single copies of good books are scattered throughout the system. Going through the librarian might also enable us to keep the books for longer than the usual checkout period.
 
NorthernLight said:
@Feelslikefar Maybe now that I know how things can go astray, I'll know to speak up next time. I also mentioned it in our email exchanges.


Thank you for the resources! These look useful.

Maybe you can start your own book club. It doesn't take much to start one, although things can get tricky later.

I'm beginning to think that with (or even without) the librarian's help, we can cobble together our own interesting "book club sets" through interlibrary loan. Single copies of good books are scattered throughout the system. Going through the librarian might also enable us to keep the books for longer than the usual checkout period.
Click to expand...
I think I'll just join several and participate when there's a book I'm interested in and see how that goes. I've never been in a book club before, so one step at a time. :)
 
NorthernLight said:
We decided to start a nonfiction book club at our library. The "book club sets" (5 copies of the same book) at our library are all fiction, but the librarian said we could use nonfiction books that are available online. If we want free, this means public domain (old books).

Of course hard copies are preferable. Personally I can't afford to buy books. Those who can afford them would have to buy them online, as our town has no bookstores.

We found out that we can order nonfiction book club sets from the regional library system. Yay! But. Turns out they're all memoirs, with the exception of one pop psychology book. I do not want to read about Michelle Obama, or someone's personal battles with addiction, poverty, etc. And neither do the others.

I looked online to see what books other nonfiction book clubs are reading, and it's the same kind of thing.

We live in a small backwater. There are 5 of us. How is it that we're the only people in Canada who want to read great works (classic or modern) about science, anthropology, philosophy, etc?

/rant. Thank you for reading.
Click to expand...
Have you considered Project Gutenberg? They have tons of stuff that might ne fodder for a book club. Yes, they are going to be electronic copies not paper, but old people like me can't see well enough to read paper books comfortably anymore, so reading them via computer or tablet doesn't seem like it would be a hardship, certainly not to most people my age (81). Anyway, here's the link: Enjoy! https://www.gutenberg.org/
 
Thank you, @sch404 . So far, we have been getting our books on gutenberg.org . There certainly is a lot on there, if we want to stick with public domain works. I'm thinking Darwin next.

The other book club members are in their 30s and maybe 20s. One of them expressed a preference for hard copy, and I'd prefer it too.

For one thing, I don't have a computer or tablet; I do all my online reading on my smartphone. Also, I find that I see things better on paper. As long as the type is not too small, the paper not too yellowed, etc. Hmm.
 
MarkD said:
I agree with everyone else about that book. One I hold in equal esteem though very different in not depending so much on history is The Righteous Mind: Why Good People are Divided by Politics and Religion, a 2012 social psychology book by Jonathan Haidt.
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I also like E O Wilson's work. Particularly his book "The Creation" Wilson, a famous evolutionary biologist, tries to find common ground with Christians who do not believe in evolution. A good read.

Edward O. Wilson, Bridging Science and Religion
https://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=5788810

E. O. Wilson
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/E._O._Wilson
 

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