What we’re about
WARNING: There’s a scammer out there impersonating us, trying to get authors to pay a fee to get their book spotlighted in our book club. This is a scam – we would never ask anyone to pay us money to pick their book. We have nothing to do with this, don’t pay them anything. If this happens to you, please let us know!
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Welcome to UNREAD – the mostly utopian book club, happening virtually via Zoom. We strive to understand the complex new world around us better, through discussion and exchanging experiences. This book club is not focused on a particular genre, instead we alternate between novels and non-fiction books. 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 four and twelve people who show up.
We discuss in English and/or German, depending on which languages are present. 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
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!
Upcoming events
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•Online“The Dawn of Everything” by Graeber/Wengrow – let’s discuss chapters 1-8!
OnlineWelcome back, readers! For this round we’ve chosen “The Dawn of Everything: A New History of Humanity” by David Graeber and David Wengrow. It’s Graeber’s final book and arguably his most ambitious.
Here’s the book’s official description:
> A dramatically new understanding of human history, challenging our most fundamental assumptions about social evolution—from the development of agriculture and cities to the origins of the state, democracy, and inequality—and revealing new possibilities for human emancipation.
> For generations, our remote ancestors have been cast as primitive and childlike—either free and equal innocents, or thuggish and warlike. Civilization, we are told, could be achieved only by sacrificing those original freedoms or, alternatively, by taming our baser instincts. David Graeber and David Wengrow show how such theories first emerged in the eighteenth century as a conservative reaction to powerful critiques of European society posed by Indigenous observers and intellectuals. Revisiting this encounter has startling implications for how we make sense of human history today, including the origins of farming, property, cities, democracy, slavery, and civilization itself.
> The Dawn of Everything fundamentally transforms our understanding of the human past and offers a path toward imagining new forms of freedom, new ways of organizing society. This is a monumental book of formidable intellectual range, animated by curiosity, moral vision, and a faith in the power of direct action.
Sounds like we’ll have a lot to talk about! As always, you can find more information and reviews on the book’s GoodReads page, and its Wikipedia page is also worth checking out.
Now, it has to be said, this one is an intimidating brick at first sight, but don’t worry, it looks thicker than it actually is: The total page number may be around 700, but the actual text is just ~520 pages (without notes, index and bibliography). But even that is still a lot, so we’re doing something new: We’ll only discuss the first half, everything up to and including the eighth chapter, titled “Imaginary cities”. In the English hardcover version that’s until page 327. At the end of our discussion we’ll then decide whether we want to meet again for the remainder. You’re of course free to read ahead, but we’ll focus the discussion on chapters 1-8.
Curious to join us? Order a copy at your local book shop or online:
An e-book is of course also available, along with audio versions and translations into various languages.
Our meeting is scheduled for February 17, 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.11 attendees
Past events
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