Über uns
Welcome to UNREAD – the mostly utopian book club, happening virtually via Zoom. We strive to understand the complex new world around us better, through casual discussion and exchanging experiences. This book club is not focused on a particular genre, instead we alternate between novels and non-fiction books, which have a utopian leaning. We like sci-fi, eye-opening popular science and occasionally revel in the absurd, but don’t shy away from classics either.
The book club has been going strong since August 2017, with a core group of returning participants, but also new faces joining each time. Usually we end up being between six and twelve people who show up.
We discuss in English. Don’t worry if you aren’t fluent … we’ll make it work! You definitely don’t need a literature degree to participate either! It’s important to us to listen to each other, to treat everyone with respect and to create an inclusive setting.
The book club meets digitally via Zoom – the link will be added to the event on the day it happens. It doesn’t matter if you have actually finished the book – everyone is welcome, as long as they have read at least a few pages and bring their impression.
Books we have read so far:
- “The Dispossessed” by Ursula K. LeGuin
- “Kafka on the Shore” by Haruki Murakami
- “Positioning” by Al Ries and Jack Trout
- “Borderliners” by Peter Høeg
- “Sapiens” by Yuval Noah Harari
- “Uncommon Type” by Tom Hanks
- “Homo Deus” by Yuval Noah Harari
- “Measuring the world” by Daniel Kehlmann
- “Why we sleep” by Matthew Walker
- “Song of Achilles” by Madeline Miller
- “Invisible Women” by Caroline Criado Perez
- “Shikasta” by Doris Lessing
- “How to do Nothing” by Jenny Odell
- “The Testaments” by Margaret Atwood
- “Because Internet” by Gretchen McCulloch
- “Educated” by Tara Westover
- “You Look Like a Thing and I Love You” by Janelle Shane
- “Americanah” by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
- “The Future We Choose” by C. Figueres, T. Rivett-Carnac
- “The Overstory” by Richard Powers
- “User Friendly” by Cliff Kuang
- “Klara and the Sun” by Kazuo Ishiguro
- “The New Breed” by Kate Darling
- “Dune” by Frank Herbert
- “I didn’t do the thing today” by Madeline Dore
- “The Ministry for the Future” by Kim Stanley Robinson
- “A Field Guide to Getting Lost” by Rebecca Solnit
- “The Wall” by Marlen Haushofer
- “Goodbye, Again” by Jonny Sun
- “Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow” by Gabrielle Zevin
- “The Sixth Extinction” by Elizabeth Kolbert
- “The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet” by Becky Chambers
- “Everyday Utopia” by Kristen Ghodsee
- “Julia” by Sandra Newman
- “Doppelganger” by Naomi Klein
- “Moonbound” by Robin Sloan
- “Technofeudalism” by Yanis Varoufakis
- “Piranesi” by Susanna Clarke
- “Microcosmos” / “Symbiotic Planet” by Margulis + Sagan
- “A Door Into Ocean” by Joan Slonczewski
- “The Mushroom at the End of the World” by Anna Tsing
- “The Word for World is Forest” by Ursula K. LeGuin
- “Automation and the Future of Work” by Aaron Benanav
- “What We Can Know” by Ian McEwan
- “The Dawn of Everything” by Graeber/Wengrow
The next book is always decided on the spot at the meeting, by the people who attend, or afterwards here on meetup – so bring suggestions! These days we gravitate towards books by authors from underrepresented groups!
Kommende Veranstaltungen
1
“The Female Man” by Joanna Russ – let’s read and discuss!
·OnlineOnlineWelcome back, readers! For this round we’ve chosen a feminist classic, first released in 1975: “The Female Man” by Joanna Russ!
Here’s a brief summary:
> “The Female Man” is a suspenseful, surprising and darkly witty chronicle of what happens when Jeannine, Janet, Joanna, and Jael—four alternative selves from drastically different realities—meet.Library of America writes:
> “The Female Man”: a multivoiced, multidimensional voyage that challenges readers’ sense of gender and reality—introduces four remarkable women: Jeannine, a librarian from an alternate-reality New York in which the Great Depression never ended; Joanna, a 1970s activist who in some ways resembles the author; Janet, from the utopian, all-female future planet Whileaway; and Jael, a black-clad, steel-fanged warrior from embattled Womanland, who has brought the other three together to enlist them in a liberatory war against patriarchy in every dimension.It’s quite a short read, at just over 200 pages. As always, you can find more information and reviews on the novels’s GoodReads page and due to its classic status it also has a Wikipedia entry (beware of plot spoilers though).
Curious to join us? Order a copy at your local book shop or online:
- The book on Bookshop
- The book on Amazon
- Search for used copies on Abebooks (many old editions with amazingly goofy 70s covers)
An e-book is also available, along with translations into various languages. If you’re curious about more of Joanna Russ’s writing and you’re reading in English, consider getting her “Library of America” volume (LOA #373), which contains multiple novels and short stories.
Our meeting is scheduled for June 9, 2026 and we usually discuss in English for 1.5-2 hours. You definitely don’t need a literature degree to participate! It’s important to us to listen to each other, to treat everyone with respect and to create a safe setting.
The discussion takes place virtually in Zoom and the meeting link will be added to this event on the day it happens. Just check back here half an hour before the meetup starts!
It doesn’t matter if you have actually finished the book or whether you’ve attended before – everyone is welcome, as long as you have read at least a few pages and bring your impression.
8 Teilnehmer
Vergangene Veranstaltungen
41
