Alumni Book Club
Personal stories, timely topics, transformative fiction鈥� Let鈥檚 dig into some amazing books together! All curious readers are welcome at the UW Alumni Book Club. Together, we read a book about every two months. Choose just one or all five 鈥� whatever works for you.
The Frozen River
Readers鈥� Choice!听 Bundle up for an historical mystery set in 18th-century Maine. The body of a local man is found in the frozen Kennebeck River. Martha Ballard, the local midwife, suspects that this death is not an accident 鈥� and her detailed diaries of local life are full of clues. Will she weather the scandals unleashed by her pursuit of the truth?
鈫� Inspired by historic events!
Join the Discussion
The free online forum has suggested timelines and prompts for online discussion. Join us and take the conversation to the next level!
鈥淎 vivid, exciting page-turner from one of our most interesting authors of historical fiction.鈥�
鈥擪irkus Reviews
Campus Connections
Martha Ballard, the narrator of our novel, was a real person who delivered more than 800 babies in colonial Maine. The UW School of Nursing celebrates this year with profiles of current students and look at what midwifery looks like in practice today.
Campus Connections
Throughout this novel, characters use herbal remedies to treat various health issues. Did you know that the UW has its own medicinal herb garden, first planted in 1911? Managed by the UW Department of Biology, you can read from curator and gardener Keith Possee.
Campus Connections
The main character of our novel deals with sex and relationships in her village as well as childbirth. Nicole McNichols teaches a popular for the UW Department of Psychology, using student questions about their bodies, dating and consent to shape the curriculum.
In the author’s own words
NPR spoke with author Ariel Lawhon about “The Frozen River” in 2023. In this , hear what sparked the author’s interest in this historical era, and how she navigated the path between historical facts and creative license as she crafted this novel.
“We think of the Puritans as very straight-laced and pure 鈥� turns out, not so much.”
Dive into the primary source material
Martha Ballard wrote in her diary nearly every day, from 1785 to 1812. Explore (and toggle to a typed version if the handwriting poses a challenge.)
2025-2026 Reading List
Reading Period Aug 1-Oct. 3
Reading Period Oct. 10-Dec. 12
Reading Period Jan. 2-March 6
Reading Period March 13- May 15
Reading Period May 22-July 24
Reader Benefits
University Book Store
Seattle-area readers, save 20% on 鈥淭he Frozen River!鈥� Visit Barnes & Noble at University Book Store (located on The Ave) and mention the UW Alumni Book Club discount at checkout.
Inspired by Martha Ballard’s journal-keeping habits? University Book Store carries a great selection of and , available for purchase in-person and online.
Seattle Arts & Lectures
UWAA members and book club participants save 20% on tickets for all events in the Seattle Arts & Lectures 2025/26 season! Use the code UWAA20 to save on in-person and online passes.
University Libraries
UWAA members are eligible for a free UW Libraries Borrower’s Card.
The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue
Readers鈥� Choice!听 A young woman in 18th-century France feels trapped by an arranged marriage and the limited horizons of her backwater village. In a moment of despair, she makes a magical bargain that lets her live forever 鈥� while always being forgotten be everyone she meets. She struggles to adapt as the centuries tick slowly by, until she crosses paths with a bookstore clerk who remembers her name.
鈫� A New York Times Bestseller!
Birding to Change the World
Trish O鈥橩ane worked for decades as an investigative journalist, boldly visiting war zones and fighting for justice. When she evacuates from Hurricane Katrina and returns to see the devastation of her beloved New Orleans neighborhood, she is shaken to her core 鈥� and then turns into an 鈥渁ccidental ornithologist!鈥� This upbeat memoir, chock full of amazing natural history facts, chronicles how birdwatching helped her find courage and community in the face of a rapidly changing world.
Resources
The Four Winds
Readers鈥� Choice! Author (and UW alum) Kristin Hannah, 鈥�83, highlights the struggles of the working poor during the Great Depression in this novel. Elsa is an awkward wallflower who is raising her two children on the family farm. As the Dust Bowl hits, she must choose between weathering the climate catastrophe in Texas or moving her family west to follow rumors of jobs in California.
Resources
The Buffalo Hunter Hunter
Brace yourself for a gripping historical novel from a master of literary horror! A lecturer at the University of Wyoming comes across the diary that her great-great-grandfather kept in 1912. The entries include a series of interviews with the survivor of a massacre of hundreds of Blackfeet Indians鈥� a survivor who has had an unusually long life, and who may just be out for revenge.
Resources
Chronicles from the Land of the Happiest People on Earth
Readers鈥� Choice! A mix of mystery and political satire written with biting gallows humor, this novel takes aim at corruption in modern Nigeria. Two old friends decide to investigate a local cartel that traffics in human body parts. But in a country where religious charlatans and dishonest officials abound, can they trust anyone in their search?听鈫� Nobel Prize-Winning Author!
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