In partnership with the Vermont Veterinary Medical Association, the Athenaeum will host a book discussion group on David Quammen's Spillover: Animal Infections & the Next Human Pandemic, a gripping investigation of animal to human pathogen transmission as it has played out in the past with diseases like Ebola, Sars, Avian Flu and Lyme disease, and as it may play out in the future with an as-yet-unknown pandemic. Copies of Spillover will be available for check out at the Athenaeum. Speak to a librarian to request one.

Join us to read and discuss Brown Girl Dreaming by Jacqueline Woodson.  The Vermont Reads 2017 book choice is a beautifully written memoir in verse that tells the story of a African American girl growing up in the 1960s and 1970s and her growing awareness of the Civil Rights movement and her experience with the remnants of Jim Crow.

Copies of Brown Girl Dreaming are available for checkout at the circulation desk.

Visit vermonthumanities.org for more information about the book and about Vermont Reads.

Refreshments will be served.

For the November meeting of the Athenaeum's non-fiction book discussion group, we will read and discuss Bury the Chains: Prophets and Rebels in the Fight to Free an Empire's Slaves, by Adam Hochschild, a narrative of the struggle to abolish the slave trade in the British Empire.

We have multiple copies available for check out at the circulation desk. If you would like to reserve a copy,  speak with any circulation staff, or email librarian Christian Collins at ccollins@stjathenaeum.org.

Refreshments will be served.

Thanks to everyone who took part in our September non-fiction book discussion about Shackleton and the voyage of the Endurance. Our next meeting will be Wednesday, October 26th at 6:30 pm. We will be exploring the theme of presidential leadership, and the qualities that make some U.S. presidents stand out as visionary and effective leaders, with a particular focus on U.S. presidents up through the early 20th century.

You are encouraged to choose a book from the list below-- or another one from our collection or your personal library-- read it, and come prepared to share the insights you've gleaned about presidential leadership.

Refreshments will be served.

Suggested Reading:

-Chernow, R. (2010). Washington: A life.

-Ellis, J. J. (1997). American sphinx: The character of Thomas Jefferson.

-Foner, E. (2010). The fiery trial: Abraham Lincoln and American slavery

-Goodwin, D. K. (2013). The bully pulpit: Theodore Roosevelt, William Howard Taft, and the Golden Age of journalism.

-Gordon-Reed, A., & Onuf, P. S. (2016). "Most blessed of the patriarchs": Thomas Jefferson and the empire of the imagination.

-Gordon-Reed, A. (2008). The Hemingses of Monticello: An American family       

-McCullough, D. G. (2001). John Adams.

-Meacham, J. (2008). American Lion: Andrew Jackson in the White House.

-Russell, F. (2005). Adams, an American dynasty. Edison, N.J: Castle Books.

-Shlaes, A. (2013). Coolidge. 

-Vidal, G. (2003). Inventing a nation: Washington, Adams, Jefferson

-White, R. C. (2009). A. Lincoln: A biography.