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2023-2024 UW Alumni Book Club Archive

Personal stories, timely topics, transformative fiction… We love to dig into amazing books together! Below is an archive of the books and related events from the 2022–2023 reading season. The UW Alumni Book Club is a collaboration between UWAA, the UW Libraries, the University Book Store — and passionate readers like you.

See the current book list

2023-2024 Reading List

Reading Period:
Aug. 4–Oct. 6

Reading Period:
Oct. 13–Dec. 15

Reading Period:
Jan. 5–Mar. 8

Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow book cover

Reading Period:
Mar. 15–May 17

Reading Period:
May 24–July 26

2023-2024 UW Alumni Book Club Archive

Readers’ Choice:
“The Maid: A Novel”
by Nita Prose

The votes are in and Book Club readers are ready to meet the maid! Molly Gray struggles with social skills. She misreads people’s intentions and is frequently mocked by her co-workers. But no matter — Molly still adores her job working as a maid in a classy, historic hotel. When she finds a famous guest dead in his bed, Molly’s reactions strike the police as a little unusual. Soon, they have targeted her as the lead suspect in their murder investigation! This cozy mystery will have you rooting for our hero through every twist and turn of the plot.

“A heartwarming mystery with a lovable oddball at its center.”

–Real Simple, UK

The Maid: Campus Connections

Campus Connections:

Recognizing service workers

The idea of this novel came to author Nita Prose after she stepped into her hotel room one morning and startled the maid who was in the midst of cleaning. “I began to think about what it would be like to live as Molly, to be invisible in plain sight,” explains Prose.

From the UW campus to a national scale, get to know to activists who are helping advance the rights of custodians and other essential workers whose contributions too often go unrecognized.

Caring for custodians

Custodial workers have served diligently, even during the chaos and uncertainty at the beginning of the COVID pandemic. Evalynn Romano, ’10, ’21, thinks it’s time they got some appreciation. UW Magazine reports.

May Day: Women and Equality

This past spring, the UW Office of Public Lectures welcomed Ai-Jen Poo, the president of the National Domestic Workers Alliance. Watch the video of her talk about the status of today’s labor movement and its impact on women. Bonus: watch Ai-Jen Poo’s 2019 TED Talk, “The work that makes all other work possible.”

UW Autism Center

While author Nita Prose never directly states that the character of Molly Gray is on the autism spectrum, she has stated that she wanted to show “what it means to be the same as everyone else and yet entirely different.”

The UW Autism Center is a nationally recognized leader in autism services, professional training, and research.

Neurodiversity

The UW Autism Center provides resources that increase understanding and awareness of neurodiversity. Check out these useful resources about neurodiversity, sourced from a wide range of voices.

Adult Resources

Have you felt different from other people your entire life? Learn about the pros and cons of seeking a formal autism evaluation as an adult, and explore strategies and resources you can use without an official diagnosis.

Readers’ Choice:
“Gilead”
by Marilynne Robinson

Readers’ Choice! Marilynne Robinson, ’77, is one of the world’s premiere fiction writers. In this Pulitzer Prize-winning novel, John Ames, an Iowan preacher with a terminal illness, writes a letter to his young child, chronicling his own life and that of his forefathers. As Ames writes, he captures important moments in history and fleeting experiences of everyday life in a plainspoken but poetic way. This tender, meditative tale explores the accumulation of wisdom and the precious bonds between fathers and sons.

“’Gilead’ is a beautiful work — demanding, grave and lucid.”

–NYT Book Review

Gilead: Campus Connections

Campus Connections:

Meet the Author

In 2023, Marilynne Robinson, ’77, spoke with UW Magazine about how her Northwest connections played a big part on her path to becoming one of the most important authors of our time.

Read the interview

Alumna Suma Laude Dignata

Marilynne Robinson visited the UW in June 2023 to accept the Alumna Summa Laude Dignata Award — the highest award an alum can earn. UW Magazine published her thoughtful insights on the value of education in our modern times.

Read her speech

Readers’ Choice:
“Killers of the Flower Moon”
by David Grann

Reading Period: Jan. 5–March 8, 2024

The year is 1921. Oil has been discovered in the Osage territory of Oklahoma, and the Osage are now the wealthiest people per capita in the world. But when more and more tribal members start turning up dead, will the country’s fledgling justice system be able to get to the bottom of the murders? Journalist David Grann presents a true-crime mystery that is engrossing and meticulously researched, and whose shocking revelations still echo into the present day.

“With the help of contemporary Osage tribe members, Grann illuminates a sickening conspiracy that goes far deeper than those four years of horror. It will sear your soul.”

–The New York Times

Killers of the Flower Moon: Campus Connections

“Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow”
by Gabrielle Zevin

Reading Period: March 15–May 17, 2024

Is this a love story about… video games? Samson and Sadie were childhood pals whose friendship came to an awkward end. They cross paths again as scrappy, creative college students and end up making a blockbuster video game together. However, instant wealth and fame bring all sorts of new challenges to this duo. Much like a video game allows for infinite lives, does real life give our friendships infinite chances to start again?

“A thoroughly enjoyable novel about friendship — a trip down memory lane for the millennial gamers among us and a manifesto for the art of play.”

–Harvard Review

Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow: Campus Connections

Campus Gaming Connections:

UW Minecraft Mini Campus Tour

The UDub Minecraft Club has built a detailed copy of the UW campus online! Watch their video and enjoy the scenery, cherry blossoms and all.

Take the Tour

With Psychology, a Gaming Career

Armed with his UW psychology degree, Jeff Lin, ’12, uses his understanding of human behavior to improve video games.

Applied Research

Atari Women

In 2019, professor Daniela Rosner lead her students in a project documenting the roles of women engineers in the early days of the video game industry.

A Creative Legacy

Readers’ Choice:
“Demon Copperhead”
by Barbara Kingsolver

Reading Period: May 24–July 26, 2024

Winner of the 2023 Pulitzer Prize! This fast-paced novel is a modern retelling of “David Copperfield,” set in the Appalachian Mountains. Our young hero braves the modern perils of foster care and derelict schools — all with a bright spark of resourcefulness, a wry sense of humor and a deep love for his rural home.

“I absolutely loved Barbara Kingsolver’s ‘Demon Copperhead,’ an Appalachian retelling of Charles Dickens’s ‘David Copperfield.’ Kingsolver attends to the ecology of the woods and hollows, and the cadences of their language. The result is a novel that looms up around you and seems more real than the world. If you know Dickens, you will love the way Kingsolver reimagines his characters… But if you don’t, the book absolutely stands on its own. Thus, don’t put off reading ‘Demon Copperhead’ until you finally get around to ‘David Copperfield.’ Trust me, it’s OK. Dickens isn’t going anywhere. Your Victorian literature professor from West Virginia said so.”

—Jesse Oak Taylor, UW Department of English

Demon Copperhead: Campus Connections

Recorded Author Talk:

SAL/on air: Barbara Kingsolver

Recorded event from October 16, 2023

Seattle Arts and Lectures welcomed Kingsolver to Benaroya Hall in 2023 for a discussion of her Pulitzer Prize-winning masterpiece, “Demon Copperhead.” You can listen to the audio from her lecture at the link below. (Podcast length: 1 hour 27 minutes)

Listen Now

Campus Connections:

ADAI Institute

“Demon Copperhead” takes place in a community that is wracked with issues of addiction. The UW’s Addictions, Drug and Alcohol Institute advances research, policy, and practice in order to improve the lives of individuals and communities affected by alcohol and drug use and addiction.

Learn about their research projects and community programs at the ADAI website, via the link below.

Learn More

UW Champions Program

The lead character in “Demon Copperhead” grows up in the challenging environment of the foster care system. The UW Champions Program was established in 2011 to serve foster care youth and alumni at the UW, and has since expanded to include students who experienced unaccompanied homelessness as youth. Melissa Raap, ’11, shares how she draws on her own experience as the first in her family to attend college to support the students in this program. And Barbara Lord MacLean, ’80, talks with UW Magazine about how she rallies her social circle to give the Champions extra support around the holidays.