Book Discussion Group
Our humanist book discussion group meets at 2:00 p.m. on the FIRST Sunday of each month. The location is BARNES & NOBLE, 11112 San Jose Blvd., Suite 8, Jacksonville, FL 32223. Phone: 904-886-9904.
Books sometimes may be found in the library, may be purchased from local book stores, or purchased online. The First Coast Freethought will receive a small remuneration, at no additional cost to you, if you go through our home page and click the Amazon link.
For further information, leave a message at 904-996-1553 or
This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it
. Hope you can join us!
Reading List
- November 7, 2010 - A representative of AU will lead, book not yet chosen.
- October 3, 2010 - Good Without God: What a Billion Non-Religious People Believe, by Greg M. Epstein. (Bill Howes will lead.)
- September 5, 2010 - Hot, Flat and Crowded, by Thomas L. Friedman (to be held in a private home in September only, contact info above. Jane Flesher will lead.)
- August 1, 2010 - Rigging The Game: How Inequality is Reproduced in Everyday Life, by Michael Schwalbe (Sociologist Lance Stoll will lead)
- July 4, 2010 - Freethought periodical or article of choice
- June 6, 2010 - Where Was God: Evil, Theodicy, and Modern Science, by Gary A. Stilwell, Ph.D. Note: Author and Humanist Gary Stilwell is the featured speaker at the FCFS June 21 monthly meeting. (Follow the "Meetings" link for details.) Hear him, meet him, talk with him! (He will have books available at the meeting.)
- May 2, 2010 - The Closing of the Western Mind, by Charles Freeman (led by Fred Hill)
- April 4, 2010 - The Imperial Cruise, by James Bradley (led Bill Howes), now meeting at BARNES & NOBLE at 11112 San Jose Blvd.
- March 7, 2010 - The True Believer, by Eric Hoffer (led by John Ruskuski)
- February 7, 2010 - Book or magazine article of your choice
- January 3, 2010 - Night, by Elie Wiesel; and God on Trial, a Masterpiece Theater presentation of a play written by Elie Wiesel
- December 6, 2009 - Coal Country, a documentary about mountaintop removal (to be held in a private home in December only, contact info above)
- November 1, 2009 - When Atheism Becomes Religion, by Chris Hodges
- October 4, 2009 - Christianity: 5000 Years of History and Development, by Gary A. Stilwell, Ph.D. Note: Author Gary Stilwell is the featured speaker at the FCFS October monthly meeting!! (Follow the "Meetings" link for details.) Hear him, meet him!
- September 6, 2009 - The Tyranny of Dead Ideas, by Matt Miller
- August 2, 2009 - Article of choice from http://atheism.about.com/
- July 5, 2009 - The Jesuit and the Skull: Teilhard De Chardin, Evolution, and the Search for Peking Man, by Amir D. Aczel. ($16)
- June 7, 2009 - Three Cups of Tea: One Man's Mission to Promote Peace... One School at a Time, by Greg Mortenson and David Oliver Relin
- May 3, 2009 - 1434: The Year a Magnificent Chinese Fleet Sailed to Italy and Ignited the Renaissance, by Gavin Menzies
- April 5, 2009 -There are a great many high-quality magazines, newspapers, and newsletters devoted to humanism, skepticism, and state/church separation in the USA. To become familiar with them, for the April discussion buy a couple of samples. You will be helping to support some great organizations while keeping abreast of the latest religious foolishness. Suggestions:
- The Skeptical Review, Freethought Today
- Free Inquiry (published by the Council for Secular Humanism)
- American Atheist Magazine
- The Humanist (published by the American Humanist Association)
- The Skeptical Inquirer
- Reason
- Church and State.
- March 1, 2009 - Doubt: A History - The great doubters and their legacy of innovation from Socrates and Jesus to Thomas Jefferson and Emily Dickenson - by Jennifer Michael Hecht
- February 1, 2009 - Sleeping with Extra-Terrestrials: The Rise of Irrationalism and the Perils of Piety, by Wendy Kaminer (Note: Borders will not stock this book. Go to http://www.firstcoastfreethoughtsociety.org/ and click the Amazon link.
- January 4, 2009
- Humanist Manifesto III
- Any article on the definition of humanism
- Both can be found at www.americanhumanist.org. Search for "Humanist Manifesto" and "what is humanism?"
- December 7, 2008 - Becoming Evil, by James Waller (to be held in a private home in December only, contact info above)
- November 2, 2008 - Book of your choice. Come and tell us about a good Humanist book or magazine article you have read recently. (We will divide the time among the people who want to present.)
- October 19, 2008 - The Age of Unreason, by Susan Jacoby - NOT available at Borders. If you purchase from Amazon.com, please use the Amazon link on the FCFS home page!!
- September 21, 2008 - The Botany of Desire, by Michael Pollan
- August 17, 2008 - The Atheist Bible: An Illustrious Collection of Irreverent Thoughts, edited by Joan Konner
- July 20, 2008 - Book of your choice
- June 15, 2008 - The Future of Life, by Edward O. Wilson
- May 18, 2008 - The Portable Atheist, edited by Christopher Hitchens
- April 20, 2008 - Cool It: The Skeptical Environmentalist’s Guide to Global Warming, by Bjorn Lomborg
- March 16, 2008 - Robbing Us Blind, by Steve Brouwer and Matt Wuerker
- February 17, 2008 - Dark Ages: The Final Phase of Empire, by Morris Berman
- January 20, 2008 - Book or article of your choice.
- December 16, 2007 - Christ Stopped at Eboli, by Carlo Levi
- November 18, 2007 - The Gospel of the Flying Spaghetti Monster, by Bobby Henderson. Note, in November the group is meeting at Barnes & Noble, 9282 Atlantic Blvd., in Jacksonville. (Books will be held behind the cash register under the name of "Humanist.")
- October 21, 2007 - Any book by Kurt Vonnegut
- September 16, 2007 - The Assault on Reason, by Al Gore
- August 19, 2007 - Infidel, by Ayaan Hirsi Ali
- July 15, 2007 - Book of choice - Come prepared to discuss the latest book you have read.
- June 17, 2007 - Breaking the Spell, by Daniel Dennett
- May 20, 2007 - Affirmations: Joyful and Creative Exuberance, by Paul Kurtz
- April 15, 2007 - A Rulebook for Arguments, by Anthony Weston
- March 18, 2007 - The March reading selections are found on the website: www.positiveatheism.org/tochtwai.htm. There you will find printable writings of Mark Twain (Samuel Clemens).
- February 18, 2007 - The Moral Animal: Why We Are, the Way We Are: The New Science of Evolutionary Psychology, by Robert Wright
- January 21, 2007 - The God Delusion, by Richard Dawkins
- December 17, 2006 - Letter to a Christian Nation, by Sam Harris
- November 19, 2006 - Humanism as the Next Step, by Lloyd and Mary Morain
- October 15, 2006 - Free Inquiry Magazine, Oct/Nov 2006 edition
(This publication should be available in all public libraries. Please let the board know if it is not.)
September 17, 2006 - Civil Liberties vs. National Security in a Post 9/11 World, edited by Katherine B Darmer, Stuart E. Rosenbaum, and Robert M. Baird - August 20, 2006 - Values and Virtue in a Godless Universe, by Erik J. Weilenberg
- July 16, 2006 - Confessions of an Economic Hit Man, by John Perkins
- June 18, 2006 - Lolita in Tehran, by Azar Nafisi
- May 21, 2006 - God Versus the Gavel, by Marci A. Hamilton
- April 16, 2006 - One Planet, One People, by Carl Coon
- March 19, 2006 - The Selfish Gene, by Richard Dawkins
- February 19, 2006 - The Crisis of Islam, by Bernard Lewis
- January 15, 2006 - Life, Sex, and Ideas: The Good Life without God, by A.C. Grayling
- December 18, 2005 - The End of Faith: Religion, Terror, and the Future of Reason, by Sam Harris
- November 20, 2005 - The Happy Heretic, by Judy Hayes
- October 16, 2005 - Atheism: The Case Against God, by George H. Smith
- September 18, 2005 - Aug/Sept issue of Free Inquiry magazine
- August 21, 2005 - July issue of Skeptic Magazine
- July 17, 2005 - May/June issue of The Humanist
- June 19, 2005 - Why People Believe Weird Things, by Michael Shermer
- May 15, 2005 - The Fundamentals of Extremism, by Kimberly Blaker, Ed.
- April 17, 2005 - Shadows of Forgotten Ancestors, by Carl Sagan and Ann Druyan
- March 20, 2005 - Dumbth: The Lost Art of Thinking, by Steve Allen
- February 05, 2005 - Age of Reason by Thomas Paine
January 16, 2005 - The Philosophy of Humanism, by Corliss Lamont - December 19, 2004 - Drug Crazy, by Mike Gray
- November 21, 2004 - Best of Robert Ingersoll: Selections From His Writings and Speeches - by Rober E. Greeley, ed
- October 17, 2004 - Continuation of previous discussion on the Bush administration and implications for November elections. Book of your choice. Recommended: The New American Empire. - by Rodrigue Tremblay
- September 15, 2004
- The Bush-Hater's Handbook, by Jack Huberman
- The Despoiling of America, by Katherine Yurica
- August 15, 2004 - Writings On An Ethical Life, by Peter Singer
