Nonfiction Book Group

Our nonfiction book group, which was launched in 2018, originally focused on history and social and political life in the Western hemisphere, but now is open to books on any topic of interest to book group members. Books are chosen by participants. All are welcome to join with the hope that participants will impact each other through discussion and community.

The group meets via ZOOM. Meetings are held monthly on Monday evenings at 6pm with discussions lasting 60 to 90 minutes. Meetings are on the fourth Monday of the month, unless changed to avoid holidays. The style of the group is informal with the conversation moving about the group naturally.

Sign up for the monthly e-newsletter or check the library website for dates and selected titles. For more information and to be added to the group’s email list for notices contact programs@hudsonarealibrary.org.

Book club selections are available to borrow through the library, often in multiple formats including large print, ebook, and e-audio.

Upcoming:

•  April 22, 2024 – How the World Really Works: A Scientist’s Guide to Our Past, Present and Future by Vaclav Smil
  
  “An essential analysis of the modern science and technology that makes our twenty-first century lives possible–a scientist’s investigation into what science really does, and does not, accomplish. We have never had so much information at our fingertips and yet most of us don’t know how the world really works. This book explains seven of the most fundamental realities governing our survival and prosperity. From energy and food production, through our material world and its globalization, to risks, our environment and its future, How the World Really Works offers a much-needed reality check–because before we can tackle problems effectively, we must understand the facts. In this ambitious and thought-provoking book we see, for example, that globalization isn’t inevitable–the foolishness of allowing 70 per cent of the world’s rubber gloves to be made in just one factory became glaringly obvious in 2020–and that our societies have been steadily increasing their dependence on fossil fuels, such that any promises of decarbonization by 2050 are a fairy tale. For example, each greenhouse-grown supermarket-bought tomato has the equivalent of five tablespoons of diesel embedded in its production, and we have no way of producing steel, cement or plastics at required scales without huge carbon emissions. Ultimately, Smil answers the most profound question of our age: are we irrevocably doomed or is a brighter utopia ahead? Compelling, data-rich and revisionist, this wonderfully broad, interdisciplinary guide finds faults with both extremes. Looking at the world through this quantitative lens reveals hidden truths that change the way we see our past, present and uncertain future”-