Address
College Park Community Library, 9704 Rhode Island Ave, College Park, MD 20740 View mapOur theme is literary non-fiction by women, though we have been known to read a novel or something by a man. Our meetings are informal and you are welcome even if you did not finish the book! Currently meeting on Zoom.
Some of our favorite books have included: Alex and Me, by Irene Pepperberg (a scientist writes about the amazing parrot she worked with for 28 years); Reading Lolita in Tehran, by Azar Nafisi (an Iranian professor of English Literature writes about her experience of the Revolution and her belief in the importance of English literature); Fun Home, by Alison Bechdel (an illustrated autobiography, comic book style); Persepolis, by Marjane Satrapi (another “graphic novel” by another Iranian woman). We sometimes go on outings as well, including trips to see movies including “Julie and Julia” and “Hidden Figures.”
If you are interested, please RSVP by emailing info@cpae.org.
Our schedule is subject to change.
Books for 2025:
Jan. 21: Antarctic Pioneer: The Trailblazing Life of Jackie Ronne, by Joanna Kafarowski.
Feb. 18: Our Hidden Conversations: What Americans Really Think About Race and Identity, by Michele Norris.
Mar. 18: In Defense of Witches: The Legacy of the Witch Hunts and Why Women Are Still on Trial, by Mona Chollet, translated by Sophie R. Lewis.
April 15: Hitler’s Last Hostages: Looted Art and the Soul of the Third Reich by Mary Lane.
May 20:. Fashionopolis, by Dana Thomas.
June 17: The Orphans of Davenport: Eugenics, the Great Depression, and the War over Children’s Intelligence, by Marilyn Brookwood.
July 15: Bag man: the wild crimes, audacious cover-up & spectacular downfall of a brazen crook in the White House, by Rachel Maddow and Michael Yarvitz.
Books for 2024:
Jan 16: The Age of Dignity, Preparing for the Elder Boom in a Changing America, by Al-Jen Poo. Sociology.
Feb 20: Unfollow: A Memoir of Loving and Leaving the Westboro Baptist Church by Megan Phelps-Roper. Memoir, Religion.
Mar 19: We are not here to be bystanders: a memoir of love and resistance, by Linda Sarsour (2020). Memoir, Islam and Feminism.
Apr. 16: Root Shock: How Tearing Up City Neighborhoods Hurts America, and What We Can Do About It, by Mindy Fullilove.
May 21: Untold Power: The Fascinating Rise and Complex Legacy of First Lady Edith Wilson, by Rebecca Boggs Roberts. 320 pages
June 18: Ducks: Two Years in the Oil Sands, by Kate Beaton. Illustrated memoir by Canadian cartoonist. 436 pages.
July 16: Damnation Island: Poor, Sick, Mad, and Criminal in 19th-Century New York, by Stacy Horn. 320 pages
Sept 17: How to Say Babylon: A Memoir, by Safiya Sinclair. Rastafarian. 349 pages.
Oct 15: The rebellious Life of Mrs. Rosa Parks by Jeanne Theoharis. 336 pages.
Nov 19: The Great Stewardess Rebellion: How Women Launched a Workplace Revolution at 30,000 Feet, by Nell McShane Wulfhart. 320 pages.
Dec. 17: A Chance to Harmonize: How FDR’s Hidden Music Unit Sought to Save America from the Great Depression―One Song at a Time, by Sheryl Kaskowitz.
Books for 2023:
JAN 17: Help, Thanks, Wow: The Three Essential Prayers, by Anne Lamott
FEB 21: A Long Walk to Water: Based on a True Story, by Linda Sue Park
MARCH 21: The Child Is the Teacher: A Life of Maria Montessori, by Cristina De Stefano
APRIL 18: Conditional Citizens: On Belonging in America, by Laila Lalami
MAY 16: The Man Who Could Move Clouds: A Memoir, by Ingrid Rojas Contreras
JUNE 20: Finding the Mother Tree: Discovering the wisdom of the forest, by Suzanne Simard
JULY 18: The neuroscience of you: how every brain is different and how to understand yours, by Chantel Spring Prat
AUGUST 15: Did I Say That Out Loud?: Midlife Indignities and How to Survive Them, by Kristin van Ogtrop
SEPT 19: The Moor’s Account by Laila Lalami
Oct 17: House of Glass: The Story and Secrets of a Twentieth-Century Jewish Family, by Hadley Freeman. Jewish History.
Nov 21: All That She Carried: The Journey of Ashley’s Sack, a Black Family Keepsake, By Tiya Miles. African-American History.
Dec 19: Origin: A Genetic History of the America, by Jennifer Raff. Anthropology.
Books for 2022:
Jan 18: Amity and Prosperity: One Family and the Fracturing of America, by Eliza Griswold. 2019 Pulitzer for General Nonfiction.
Feb 15: Lady Bird Johnson: Hiding in Plain Sight, by Julia Sweig.
March 15. Crying in H Mart: A Memoir, by Michelle Zauner. 256 pages.
April 19. Braiding Sweetgrass: Indigenous Wisdom, Scientific Knowledge and the Teachings of Plants, by Robin Wall Kimmerer. 408 pages.
May 17. Four Lost Cities: A Secret History of the Urban Age, by Annalee Newitz. 320 pages.
June 21. Susan, Linda, Nina & Cokie: The Extraordinary Story of the Founding Mothers of NPR, by Lisa Napoli. 352 pages.
July 19. Mudlark: In Search of London’s Past Along the River Thames, by Lara Maiklem. 336 pages.
August 16. The Boston Massacre: a family history, by Serena R. Zabin. 323 pages.
Sept. 20. The Daughters of Kobani, A Story of Rebellion, Courage, and Justice, by Gayle Tzemach Lemmon. 288 pages.
Oct. 18. The Haunting of Alma Fielding: A True Ghost Story, by Kate Summerscale. 368 pages.
Nov. 15. Secondhand Time: The Last of the Soviets, by Svetlana Alexievich. 496 pages.
Dec. 20. Without You, There Is No Us: Undercover Among the Sons of North Korea’s Elite, by Suki Kim. 322 pages.
Books for 2021:
Jan 19 : The River of Doubt: Theodore Roosevelt’s Darkest Journey, by Candice Millard.
Feb 16: The Yellow House, A Memoir, by Sarah M. Broom.
Mar 16: The Other Madisons: the lost history of a president’s Black family, by Bettye Kearse (2020) 272 pp
April 20: Caste: The Origins of Our Discontents, by Isabel Wilkerson. 496 pp
May 18: The Doctors Blackwell: How Two Pioneering Sisters Brought Medicine to Women and Women to Medicine, by Janice P. Nimura 331 pp.
June 15: Kindred: Neanderthal Life, Love, Death and Art, by Rebecca Wragg Sykes. 400 pages
July 20: In the Country of Women; A Memoir, by Susan Straight. 384 pp
Aug 17: Zora Neale Hurston: Folklore, Memoirs, & Other Writings. 1001 pages
Sept 21: You’ll Never Believe What Happened to Lacey: Crazy Stories about Racism, by Amber Ruffin and Lacey Lamar.
Oct 19: What the Eyes Don’t See: A Story of Crisis, Resistance, and Hope in an American City, by Dr. Mona Hanna-Attisha. Maryland First Year Book 2021.
Nov 16: The Source of Self-Regard: Selected Essays, Speeches, and Meditations, by Toni Morrison.
Dec 21: Old In Art School: A Memoir of Starting Over, by Nell Irvin Painter.
Books for 2020:
Jan. 21: All you Can Ever Know, by Nicole Chung
Feb. 18: The Assassin’s Accomplice: Mary Surratt and the plot to kill Abraham Lincoln, by Kate Clifford Larson
Mar. 17: A Woman of No Importance by Sonia Purnell.
Apr. 21: The Girls of Atomic City: The Untold Story of the Women who Helped Win Word War II, by Denise Kiernan.
May 19: Life Undercover: Coming of Age in the CIA, by Amaryllis Fox.
June 16: Maid: Hard Work, Low Pay, and a Mother’s Will to Survive, by Stephanie Land.
July 21: Rough Magic: Riding the World’s Loneliest Horse Race, by Lara Prior-Palmer.
Aug 18: The Education of an Idealist, by Samantha Power.
Sept 15: Song in a Weary Throat: An American Pilgrimage, by Pauli Murray.
Oct 20: Furious House: Murder, Fraud, and the Last Trial of Harper Lee, by Casey Cep.
Nov 17: When I Fell from the Sky, by Juliane Koepcke
Dec 15: The Year of Living Danishly: Uncovering the Secrets of the World’s Happiest Country, by Helen Russell.
Books for 2019:
Jan. 15, These Truths: A History of the United States, by Jill Lepore
Feb. 19, Becoming, by Michelle Obama
Mar. 19, Dopesick: Dealers, Doctors and the Drug Company that Addicted America, by Beth Macy
Apr. 16, Running on Red Dog Road: And Other Perils of an Appalachian Childhood, by Drema Hall Berkheimer
May 21, American Fire: Love, Arson, and Life in a Vanishing Land, by Monica Hesse
June 18, Barracoon: The Story of the Last “Black Cargo,” by Zora Neale Hurston
July 16, White Trash: The 400-Year Untold History of Class in America, by Nancy Isenberg
Sept. 17: Harriet Tubman: the road to freedom, by Catherine Clinton
Oct. 15: Heartland: A Memoir of Working Hard and Being Broke in the Richest Country on Earth, by Sarah Smarsh
Nov. 19: Leaving the Witness: Exiting a Religion and Finding a Life, by Amber Scorah
Dec. 17: Heart Berries: A Memoir, by Terese M. Mailhot
Books for 2018:
Jan. 16: Code girls: the untold story of the American women code breakers who helped win World War II, by Liza Mundy
Feb. 20: Unorthodox AND/OR Exodus, by Deborah Feldman
Mar. 20: Madame President: The Extraordinary Journey of Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, by Helene Cooper
Apr. 17: From Cradle to Stage: Stories from the Mothers Who Rocked and Raised Rock Stars, by Virginia Hanlon Grohl
May 15: I Was Told There’d Be Cake: Essays, by Sloan Crosley
June 19: Dorothy Day: The World Will Be Saved by Beauty: An Intimate Portrait of My Grandmother, by Kate Hennessy
July 17: I’m Looking Through You: Growing Up Haunted, A Memoir, by Jennifer Finney Boylan
Dec. 18: Women in the World of Frederick Douglass, by Leigh Fought
Books for 2017:
Jan. 17: Hidden Figures, by Margot Lee Shetterly. MOVIE NIGHT MONDAY JAN. 16 AT GREENBELT THEATRE 8 PM.
Feb. 21: Lafayette in the Somewhat United States, by Sarah Vowell.
Mar. 21: On My Own, by Diane Rehm.
Apr. 18: Oneida: From Free Love Utopia to the Well-Set Table, by Ellen Wayland-Smith.
May 16: Find a Way, by Diana Nyad.
June 20: The Hour of Land: A Personal Topography of America’s National Parks, by Terry Tempest Williams.
July 18: Daughters of the Samurai: a Journey from East to West and back, by Janice P. Nimura.
Sept. 19: Entwined: Sisters and Secrets in the Silent World of Artist Judith Scott, by Joyce Wallace Scott
Oct. 17: Never Caught: the Washingtons’ Relentless Pursuit of their Runaway Slave, Ona Judge, by Erica Armstrong Dunbar
Nov. 21: Boys In the Trees, by Carly Simon
Dec. 19: The Genius of Birds, by Jennifer Ackerman
Books for 2016:
Jan. 19: Accidental Saints: Finding God in All the Wrong People, by Nadia Bolz-Weber
Feb. 16: Book of Ages: The Life and Opinions of Jane Franklin, by Jill Lepore,
Mar. 15: I Am Malala: The Girl Who Stood Up for Education and Was Shot by the Taliban, by Malala Yousafzai
Apr. 19: H is for Hawk, by Helen Macdonald
May 17: The Witches: Salem, 1692, by Stacy Schiff
Jun. 21: The Whistleblower, by Kathryn Bolkovac.
July 19: Furiously Happy: A Funny Book About Horrible Things, by Jenny Lawson
August TBD: Circling the Sun, historical novel by Paula McClain about Beryl Markham.
Sept. 20: White Rage: The Unspoken Truth of Our Racial Divide, by Carol Anderson
Oct. 18: All the single ladies: unmarried women and the rise of an independent nation, by Rebecca Traister
Nov. 15: Lab Girl, by Hope Jahren
Dec. 13: The Faraway Nearby, by Rebecca Solnit
Books for 2015:
Jan. 20: Jill Lepore, The Secret History of Wonder Woman – A book about the feminist professor who came up with the character of Wonder Woman
Feb. 17: Nura Maznavi & Ayesha Mattu, Love, InshAllah: The Secret Love Lives of American Muslim Women
Mar. 17: Edith H. Beer & Susan Dworkin, The Nazi Officer’s Wife: How One Jewish Woman Survived The Holocaust
Apr. 21: Roz Chast, Can’t We Talk About Something More Pleasant? New Yorker cartoonist’s memoir about her parents’ life and death
May 19: Alison Bechdel, Are You My Mother? graphic novel memoir by the 2014 recipient of the MacArthur “Genius” Award.
Jun. 16: Abigail Thomas, A Three Dog Life, a woman’s life after her husband is institutionalized for traumatic brain injury
July 21: Susannah Cahalan, Brain on Fire: My Month of Madness
Aug. 18: Dorothy Wickenden, Nothing Daunted: the Unexpected Education of two Society Girls in the West
Sept. 15: The Sixth Extinction: An Unnatural History, by Elizabeth Kolbert
Oct. 20: H is for Hawk, by Helen Macdonald
Nov. 17: On Her Own Ground: The Life and Times of Madam C.J. Walker, by A’Lelia Bundles
Dec 15: Simple Dreams: A Musical Memoir, by Linda Ronstadt
