Not Another Book Group @ Main
a book group that's a little bit different
 
Facilitated by RPL librarians, the book group meets at Urban Hang Suite (304 E. Broad St. RVA 23129), the last Monday of every month from 7:00-9:00.  
 
Registration strongly suggested.  Sign up here
 
Check out a copy from the library or pick one up at Urban Hang Suite.
 
FEBRUARY 2019 SELECTION
meeting:  February 29th
 
 
White Fragility : Why it's So Hard for White People to Talk About Racism
 
by Robin J DiAngelo

Groundbreaking book exploring the counterproductive reactions white people have when discussing racism that serve to protect their positions and maintain racial inequality. Original.
MARCH 2019 SELECTION
meeting: March 25th
 
What You Are Getting Wrong About Appalachia

by Elizabeth Catte

An insider's perspective on Appalachia, and a frank, ferocious assessment of America's recent fascination with the people and the problems of the region
APRIL 2019 SELECTION
meeting:  April 29th
 
American Fire : Love, Arson, and Life in a Vanishing Land

by Monica Hesse

A man was charged with dozens of counts of arson in rural Virginia county.  Shares insight into the perpetrator's struggles with addiction, his relationship with his accomplice girlfriend and the impact of the fires on their community.
MAY 2019 SELECTION
meeting: May 20th - library closed May 27th for Memorial Day holiday
 
Thick : and Other Essays

by Tressie McMillan Cottom

A collection of essays shedding light on the trait of being "thick," both in form and in substance, while dissecting society and culture from beauty to Obama to pumpkin-spice lattes.
 
JUNE 2019 SELECTION
meeting:  June 24th
 
Heavy : an American Memoir

by Kiese Laymon

An essayist and novelist explores what the weight of a lifetime of secrets, lies and deception does to a black body, a black family and a nation teetering on the brink of moral collapse.
 
also available in Large Print, and as an audio CD
JULY 2019 SELECTION
meeting:  July 29th
 
Don't Call Us Dead : Poems
 
by Danez Smith

A collection of works that opens with a heartrending sequence that imagines an afterlife for black men shot by police — a place where suspicion, violence and grief are forgotten and replaced with the safety, love and longevity they deserved here on earth. 
AUGUST 2019 SELECTION
meeting August 26th
 
An American Summer : Love and Death in Chicago

by Alex Kotlowitz

Examines the humanity and brutality of Chicago's most turbulent neighborhoods through a series of deeply intimate profiles that illuminate the firsthand realities of gun violence in today's America.
SEPTEMBER 2019 SELECTION
meeting September 30th
 
Dopesick : Dealers, Doctors, and the Drug Company That Addicted America

by Beth Macy

In a book that includes deeply human and unforgettable portraits of the families and first responders affected, the author takes readers into the epicenter of its America's more than 20-year struggle with opioid addiction. 
 
also available as an audio CD
OCTOBER 2019 SELECTION
meeting:  October 28th
 
Men We Reaped : a Memoir
 
by Jesmyn Ward

The author recounts the loss of five young men in her life to drugs, accidents, suicide and the bad luck that can follow people who live in poverty, particularly black men, sharing her experiences of living through the dying as she searches through answers in her community.
NOVEMBER 2019 SELECTION
meeting:  November 25th
 
Evicted : Poverty and Profit in the American City

by Matthew Desmond

A Harvard sociologist examines the challenge of eviction as a cause of poverty in America, revealing how people are forced from their homes and reduced to cycles of extreme disadvantage that are reinforced by legal systems.
 
also available as an eBook.
DECEMBER 2019 SELECTION
meeting:  December 30th
 
Delicious Foods

by James Hannaham

A young widow with an addiction is lured away to a remote farm by a shady company called Delicious Foods, where she is held captive and forced into hard labor while she struggles to become reunited with her young son.
JANUARY 2020 SELECTION
meeting:  January 27th
 
They Can't Kill Us Until They Kill Us : Essays
 
by Hanif Willis-Abdurraqib

A collection of literary essays using music and culture as a gauge for better understanding the world, the self and the challenges of today.