Narrative Non-Fiction Book Group
Narrative Nonfiction Book Club 2026!
Consider this your invitation to read and discuss narrative nonfiction with us! We will be reading across the genres of nonfiction, from history to adventure, memoir/biography, and beyond with books that read like a novel. You can view our past book club picks by clicking here. Please note that we are currently on hiatus until May 2026.
From June through November, our book club meets on the 1st Friday of the month (with the exception of July and October) from 4:00pm to 5:00pm in the Hermann meeting room. Copies of the book pick will be available one month prior to our book club meeting date at both the circulation and adult service desks. Stop on by to pick up a copy and to register to attend our book club meeting. You can also register online by going to our event calendar. Please contact the Adult Services department at 508-457-2555 x 7 or info@falmouthpubliclibrary.org for any questions.
Narrative Nonfiction Book Club 2026 Book Picks
| Date | Book |
|---|---|
| June 5, 2026 | Is A River Alive? by Robert Macfarlane (Longlisted for the 2026 Andrew Carnegie Medal for Excellence in Nonfiction) "Is a River Alive? is a joyful, mind-expanding exploration of an ancient, urgent idea: that rivers are living beings who should be recognized as such in imagination and law. Macfarlane takes readers on three unforgettable journeys teeming with extraordinary people, stories, and places: to the miraculous cloud-forests and mountain streams of Ecuador, to the wounded creeks and lagoons of India, and to the spectacular wild rivers of Canada -- imperiled respectively by mining, pollution, and dams. Braiding these journeys is the life story of the fragile chalk stream a mile from Macfarlane's house, a stream who flows through his own years and days. Powered by dazzling prose and lit throughout by other minds and voices, Is a River Alive? will open hearts, challenge perspectives, and remind us that our fate flows with that of rivers -- and always has." |
| July 10, 2026 | 1929: Inside The Greatest Crash In Wall Street History And How It Shattered A Nation by Andrew Ross Sorkin (NYT Bestseller) "In 1929, the world watched in shock as the unstoppable Wall Street bull market went into a freefall, wiping out fortunes and igniting a depression that would reshape a generation. But behind the flashing ticker tapes and panicked traders, another drama unfolded—one of visionaries and fraudsters, titans and dreamers, euphoria and ruin. With unparalleled access to historical records and newly uncovered documents, New York Times bestselling author Andrew Ross Sorkin takes readers inside the chaos of the crash, behind the scenes of a raging battle between Wall Street and Washington and the larger-than-life characters whose ambition and naïveté in an endless boom led to disaster." |
| August 7, 2026 | Quiet: The Power Of Introverts In A World That Can't Stop Talking by Susan Cain (NYT Bestseller) "What are the advantages of being an introvert? They make up at least one-third of the people we know. They are the ones who prefer listening to speaking; who innovate and create but dislike self-promotion; who favor working on their own over working in teams. It is to introverts—Rosa Parks, Chopin, Dr. Seuss, Steve Wozniak—that we owe many of the great contributions to society. In Quiet, Susan Cain argues that we dramatically undervalue introverts and shows how much we lose in doing so. Passionately argued, impeccably researched, and filled with indelible stories of real people, Quiet has the power to permanently change how you see yourself." |
| September 4, 2026 | Dinner With King Tut: How Rogue Archaeologists Are Re-Creating The Sights, Sounds, Smells, And Tastes Of Lost Civilizations by Sam Kean (Finalist for the 2026 PEN/E.O. Wilson Literary Science Writing Award) "Whether it's the mighty pyramids of Egypt or the majestic temples of Mexico, we have a good idea of what the past looked like. But what about our other senses: The tang of Roman fish sauce and the springy crust of Egyptian sourdough? The boom of medieval cannons and the clash of Viking swords? The frenzied plays of an Aztec ballgame...and the chilling reality that the losers might also lose their lives? History often neglects the tastes, textures, sounds, and smells that were an intimate part of our ancestors' lives, but a new generation of researchers is resurrecting those hidden details, pioneering an exciting new discipline called experimental archaeology. These are scientists gone rogue: They make human mummies. They investigate the unsolved murders of ancient bog bodies. They carve primitive spears and go hunting, then knap their own obsidian blades to skin the game. They build perilous boats and plunge out onto the open sea--all in the name of experiencing history as it was, with all its dangers, disappointments, and unexpected delights. Lively, offbeat, and filled with stunning revelations about our past, Dinner with King Tut sheds light on days long gone and the intrepid experts resurrecting them today, with startling, lifelike detail and more than a few laughs along the way." |
| October 9, 2026 | Elon Musk by Walter Isaacson (Shortlisted for the Financial Times and Schroders Business Book of the Year) "From the author of Steve Jobs and other bestselling biographies, this is the astonishingly intimate story of the most fascinating and controversial innovator of our era--a rule-breaking visionary who helped to lead the world into the era of electric vehicles, private space exploration, and artificial intelligence. Oh, and took over Twitter." |
| November 6, 2026 | The Rush: California Gold, The Civil War, And The Making Of The Modern World by Nathaniel Philbrick "In January 1848, a carpenter spotted flecks of gold in a shallow stream at Sutter’s Mill in California—triggering the greatest voluntary migration in U.S. history and jolting a fragile republic already sliding toward crisis. In The Rush, Nathaniel Philbrick transforms the Gold Rush from a tale of sudden riches into the origin story of America’s modern contradictions: capital consolidated at dizzying speed, democracy in thrall to private power, xenophobia weaponized in the name of liberty—and a stubborn belief in the American experiment that refuses to die. The Rush is alive with characters whose choices still reverberate: a searing, panoramic epic that captures both the fury and the promise of America." |