Books can connect us with history in new and exciting ways. Each fiction and non-fiction book club series focuses on a subject that relates to the history of the Los Angeles region between 1830 and 1930. Museum staff will occasionally share items from the museum's collection that pertain to the subject of a book.

We ask that participants read the assigned book in time for each meeting.

Non-Fiction Book Club

Women: Politics, Religion, & Vocation

Friday, February 1
Friday, March 1
Friday, April 5

• 10 a.m. to 12 p.m.
• Free; space is limited and advance registration is recommended. Click HERE to reserve your spot.

February 1: Women of Valor: Clara Barton and the Civil War by Stephen B. Oates

March 1: Seneca Falls and Origins of the Women's Rights Movement by Sally Gregory McMillen

April 5: Aimee Semple McPherson and the Resurrection of Christian America by Matthew Avery Sutton

Fiction Book Club

The Birth of Noir

Wednesday, February 20
Wednesday, March 20
Wednesday, April 19

• 7 to 9 p.m.
• Free; space is limited and advance registration is recommended.Click HERE to reserve your spot.

February 20: The Maltese Falcon by Dashiell Hammett

March 20: The Kept Girl by Kim Cooper

April 17: Double Indemnity by James M. Cain

Upcoming Book Club Themes

Non-Fiction Book Club

 U.S. History: Race, Gender, & Modernity

June 7: Rebirth of a Nation: The Making of Modern America, 1877-1920 by Jackson Lears

July 12: Passion and Principle: John and Jessie Fremont, the Couple Whose Power, Politics, and Love Shaped Nineteenth-Century America by Sally Denton

August 9: Slave in a Box: The Strange Career of Aunt Jemima by Maurice M. Manring

California & the West

October 4: California: A History by Kevin Starr

November 1: The Fragmented Metropolis: Los Angeles, 1850-1930 by Robert M. Fogelson

December 6: Kearny's March: The Epic Creation of the American West: 1846-1847 by Winston Groom

Fiction Book Club

History Mash Up

June 19: Locked Rooms: A Novel of Suspense Featuring Mary Russell and Sherlock Holmes by Laurie R. King

July 17: Black Hats: A Novel of Wyatt Earp and Al Capone by Patrick Culhane

August 21: Django/Zorro by Quentin Tarantino, Matt Wagner

Bestsellers of the 1920s

October 16: The Shiek (1921) by E.M. Hull

November 20: Wanderers of the Wasteland (1923) by Zane Grey

December 18: Twilight Sleep (1927) by Edith Warton

 Past Book Club Themes

Fiction:

Fall 2018: WWI in Different Mediums 

• October 17: Journey's End a play by R.C. Sherriff
• November 14: Goddamn this War! a graphic novel by Jacques Tardi and Jean-Pierre Verney
• December 19: All Quiet on the Western Front a novel by Erich Maria Remareque

Summer 2018: A Fantastical Look at California 

• June 20: Kindred by Octavia Butler
• July 18: The Girl with Ghost Eyes by M.H. Boroson
• August 15: The Lonesome Gods by Louis L'Amour

Non-Fiction:

Fall 2018: Varied Views of Los Angeles

• October 5: Towers of Gold: How One Jewish Immigrant Named Isaias Hellman Created California by Frances Dinkelspiel
• November 2: Whitewashed Adobe: The Rise of Los Angeles and the Remaking of Its Mexican Past by William Deverell
• December 7: The King and Queen of Malibu: The True Story of the Battle for Paradise by David K. Randall

Summer 2018: California's Nineteenth-Century Economy: The Big Picture

• June 1: The Age of Gold: The California Gold Rush and the New American Dream by H. W. Brands
• July 13: The Associates: Four Capitalists Who Created California by Richard Rayner
• August 3: River of Shadows: Eadweard Muybridge and the Technological Wild West by Rebecca Solnit