Welcome to the Northfield Public Library's Science Fiction Book Club! We're thrilled to have you join us on the last Monday of every month at 7pm for our lively discussions on all things science fiction. In the summertime, we take advantage of the beautiful weather and gather at Odd Fellows Park for our meetings. As the weather cools off in the fall, we move our meetings back indoors to the library. To confirm the location of our meetings, please check the library calendar.
If you're curious about what we're currently reading, take a look at the list to the right. And if you have any questions or concerns, please don't hesitate to reach out to our club coordinator, Steve Maus, at steve.maus@ci.northfield.mn.us. We can't wait to dive into the worlds of science fiction with you!
We read all different subgenres, from space operas to cyberpunk, alternate histories to dystopian futures. Some popular subgenres we've delved into include time travel, artificial intelligence, post-apocalyptic worlds, and extraterrestrial encounters.
Our book selections come from a wide range of decades, from classic novels like H.G. Wells' "The Time Machine" and Isaac Asimov's "Foundation" series, to more contemporary works like Nnedi Okorafor's "Binti" and Andy Weir's "The Martian." We believe that by exploring books written across different decades, we can better appreciate how the genre has evolved over time.
Our goal is to take chances and to really explore the entire catalog of what science fiction has to offer. Whether it's a well-known classic or a lesser-known gem, we approach each book with an open mind and a willingness to engage with the ideas and themes it presents. We look forward to welcoming you to our community of fellow science fiction enthusiasts!
2022 | ||
MONTH | TITLE | AUTHOR |
January | The Light Brigade | Kameron Hurley |
February |
Children of Time |
Adrian Tchaikovsky |
March | Axiom's End | Lindsay Ellis |
April | Red Rising | Pierce Brown |
May | Project Hail Mary | Andy Weir |
June | Providence | Max Barry |
July | Stranger in a Strange Land | Robert Heinlein |
August | This is How You Lose the Time War | Amal El-Mohtar and Max Gladston |
September | We Are Legion (We Are Bob) | Dennis E. Taylor |
October | When Gravity Fails | George Alec Effinger |
November | Hominids: Volume One of the Neanderthal Parallax | Robert J. Sawyer |
December | Binti | Nnedi Okorafor |
2021 | ||
MONTH | TITLE | AUTHOR |
January | Arkwright | Allen Steele |
February |
After Atlas |
Emma Newman |
March | Way Station | Clifford D. Simak |
April | Timescape | Gregory Benford |
May | Waste Tide | Qiufan Chen |
June | Pandora's Star | Peter F. Hamilton |
July | Qualityland | Marc-Uwe Kling |
August | The Stars My Destination | Alfred Bester |
September | The Lesson | Cadwell Turnbull |
October | Trading in Danger | Elizabeth Moon |
November | The Forever War | Joe Haldeman |
December | Contact | Carl Sagan |
2020 | ||
MONTH | TITLE | AUTHOR |
January | Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep | Philip K. Dick |
February |
Six Wakes |
Mur Lafferty |
March | Grass | Sheri S. Tepper |
April | Group did not meet | Group did not meet |
May | Group did not meet | Group did not meet |
June | Group did not meet | Group did not meet |
July | Group did not meet | Group did not meet |
August | The Long way to a Small, Angry Planet | Becky Chambers |
September | Stories of Your Life and Others | Ted Chiang |
October | A Memory Called Empire | Arkady Martine |
November | Flowers for Algernon | Daniel Keyes |
December |
All Systems Red |
Martha Wells |
2019 | ||
MONTH | TITLE | AUTHOR |
January 01.21 | Caves of Steele | Asimov, Isaac |
January 01.29 |
Nexus |
Ramez Naam |
February | Blindsight | Peter Watts |
March | Dragon's Egg | Robert L. Forward |
April | Timeline | Michael Crichton |
May | Dark Matter: A Novel | Blake Crouch |
June | Old Man's War | John Scalzi |
July | Shards of Honor | Lois Mcmaster Bujold |
August | Ninefox Gambit | Yoon Ha Lee |
September | Influx | Daniel Suarez |
October | The Calculating Stars | Mary Kowal Robinette |
November | Semiosis | Sue Burke |
December | A Lot Like Christmas | Connie Willis |
2018 | ||
MONTH | TITLE | AUTHOR |
January | The Book of Strange New Things | Michel Faber |
February | Too Like the Lightning | Ada Palmer |
March | Gateway | Frederik Pohl |
April | Darwin's Radio | Greg Bear |
May | The God's Themselves | Isaac Asimov |
June | The Windup Girl | Paolo Bacigalupi |
July | Never Let Me Go | Kazuo Ishiguro |
August | Ringworld | Larry Niven |
September | All the Birds in the Sky | Charlie Jane Anders |
October | World War Z | Max Brooks |
November | Off Armageddon Reef | David Weber |
2017 | ||
MONTH | TITLE | AUTHOR |
January | The Time Machine | H.G. Wells |
February | The Dead Lands | Benjamin Percy |
March | The Hydrogen Sonata | Iain Banks |
April | 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea | Jules Verne |
May | Foreigner | C.J. Cherryh |
June | Martian Time-Slip | Philip K. Dick |
July | The Handmaid's Tale | Margaret Atwood |
August | The Three-Body Problem | Cixin Liu |
September | Blue Remembered Earth | Alastair Reynolds |
October | Snow Crash | Neal Stephenson |
November | Among Others | Jo Walton |
2016 | ||
MONTH | TITLE | AUTHOR |
January | Firebird | Jack McDevitt |
February | The Boat of a Million Years | Poul Anderson |
March | Station Eleven | Emily St. John Mandel |
April | Spin | Robert Charles Wilson |
May | Leviathan Wakes | S.A. Corey |
June | Discount Armageddon | Seanan McGuire |
July | Parable of the Sower | Octavia Butler |
August | The Rapture of the Nerds | Cory Doctorow and Charles Stross |
September | A Princess of Mars | Edgar Rice Burroughs |
October | Sleeping Giants | Sylvain Neuvel |
November | Rendezvous with Rama | Arthur C. Clarke |
2015 | ||
MONTH | TITLE | AUTHOR |
January | Ready Player One | Ernest Cline |
February | The Moon is a Harsh Mistress | Robert Heinlein |
March | A Fire Upon the Deep | Vernor Vinge |
April | The Sparrow | Mary Doria Russell |
May | Manifold: Time | Stephen Baxter |
June | Nine Princes in Amber | Roger Zelazny |
July | Robopocalypse | Daniel Wilson |
August | Cat's Cradle | Kurt Vonnegut |
September | Beggars in Spain | Nancy Kress |
October | The Martian Chronicles | Ray Bradbury |
November | Red Mars | Kim Stanley Robinson |
2014 | ||
MONTH | TITLE | AUTHOR |
January | A Hymn Before Battle | John Ringo |
February | Red Planet Blues | Robert J. Sawyer |
March | Kiln People | David Brin |
April | Wool | Hugh Howey |
May | Foundation | Isaac Asimov |
June | Ancillary Justice | Ann Leckie |
July | The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy | Douglas Adams |
August | The Martian | Andy Weir |
September | Helliconia Spring | Brian Aldiss |
October | *Various short stories* | H.P. Lovecraft |
November | Out of the Silent Planet | C.S. Lewis |