WE ENGAGE COMMUNITIES ON A LEARNING JOURNEY IN HISTORY AND SCIENCE

Free monthly book clubs!

Sloan Museum of Discovery Historical Book Club

Every first Thursday of the Month at 6 p.m., Sloan Museum of Discovery hosts a free book club (included with museum general admission) in one of our learning labs. All books are affiliated with Flint's storied history. The evening will conclude with a special guided tour through the Sloan Museum History Gallery where club members can connect with the book's historical references through real-life museum artifacts. This is a free gathering, included with Museum Admission. Advance registration is requested; walk-ins accepted.

Longway Planetarium's "Books & Stars" Book Club

Longway Planetarium hosts a free astronomy-related book club once Thursday a month. The featured book of the month will relate to the live Cultural Astronomy presentations that take place earlier in the month. Following the book discussion guests are welcomed to attend a  planetarium show in the dome that relates to the book (general admission ticket required for planetarium show). This is a FREE book club. Advance registration is requested; walk-ins accepted.

Many of the featured books can be purchased in our Museum Store inside Sloan Museum, or from our Online Store.

Meet your Book Club host, Jacquie Richardson, Educator

HISTORICAL BOOK CLUB

April's Featured Book

Summer of '68 - The Season That Changed Baseball, and America, Forever, by Tim Wendel
Date: Thursday, April 6, 2023
Time: 6-7:30 p.m.
Location: Sloan Museum of Discovery, 1221 E. Kearsley St., Flint, MI 48503

From the beginning, ’68 was a season rocked by national tragedy and sweeping change. Opening Day was postponed and later played in the shadow of Martin Luther King, Jr.’s funeral. That summer, as the pennant races were heating up, the assassination of Robert Kennedy was later followed by rioting in Chicago. But even as tensions boiled over and violence spilled into the streets, something remarkable was happening in major league ballparks across the country and many began hailing ’68 as “The Year of the Pitcher.”

Register Here

May's Featured Books

Hidden History of Flint | Lost Flint (*Author Gary Flinn will be on-site for book discussion and to sign both books)

Hidden History of Flint
Lost Flint

both books by Gary Flinn, who will be at book club for discussion and signing

Date: Thursday, May 4, 2023
Time: 6-7:30 p.m.
Location: Sloan Museum of Discovery, 1221 E. Kearsley St. | Flint, MI

Hidden History of Flint
Flint is a city full of legacies overshadowed by tragedy. Read the stories of the innovations and surprising elements of the city's past.
Lost Flint
Flinn uncovers the abandoned places and lost traditions from the Vehicle City's past.

REGISTER HERE

BOOKS & STARS BOOK CLUB

March Books & Stars Featured Book


Greek Mythology: The Gods, Goddesses, Heroes Handbook: From Aphrodite to Zeus by Liv Albert
Date: Thursday, March 16, 2023
Time: 6-7:30 p.m.
Location: Longway Planetarium, 1310 E. Kearsley St., Flint, MI 48503

In Greek Mythology, you will discover the backstories of the heroes, villains, gods, and goddesses that enjoy popularity in today’s shows and films. With comprehensive entries that outline each character’s name, roles, related symbols, and foundational myths, you can get to know the roots of these personas and better understand the stories they inspire today. With this character-focused, handy reference, you will never be confused about Ancient Greece!

REGISTER HERE

April Books & Stars Featured Book


Inca Mythology; Captivating Inca Myths of Gods, Goddesses, and Legendary Creatures by Matt Clayton
Date: Thursday, April 27, 2023
Time: 6-7:30 p.m.
Location: Longway Planetarium, 1310 E. Kearsley St., Flint, MI 48503

Inca Mythology: Captivating Inca Myths of Gods, Goddesses, and Legendary Creatures
invites you to go on a startling journey and discover: Stories of the Gods, Inca political myths, five Andean folktales an Inca play, and tales involving the mythologized deeds of Inca emperors and their interactions with divine beings.

REGISTER HERE

May Books & Stars Featured Book


TBD

Date: Thursday, May 18, 2023
Time: 6-7:30 p.m.
Location: Longway Planetarium, 1310 E. Kearsley St., Flint, MI 48503

Check back soon for the March Book & Stars featured book!

REGISTER HERE

Past Books

March Featured Book

Monuments Men: Allied Heroes, Nazi Thieves, and the Greatest Treasure Hunt in History, by Robert M. Edsel
Date: Thursday, March 2, 2023
Time: 6-7:30 p.m.
Location: Sloan Museum of Discovery, 1221 E. Kearsley St. | Flint, MI

At the same time Adolf Hitler was attempting to take over the western world, his armies were methodically seeking and hoarding the finest art treasures in Europe. The Fuehrer had begun cataloguing the art he planned to collect as well as the art he would destroy: "degenerate" works he despised. Focusing on the eleven-month period between D-Day and V-E Day, this fascinating account from Robert Edsel and Bret Witter follows six Monuments Men and their impossible mission to save the world's great art from the Nazis.

REGISTER HERE

February's Books & Stars Featured Book


"27 Stars, 27 Gods: The Astrological Mythology of Ancient India"
by Vic DiCara
Date: Thursday, February 23, 2023
Time: 6-7:30 p.m.
Location: Longway Planetarium, 1310 E. Kearsley St., Flint, MI 48503

With the blessings and guidance of a swami , a babaji, and a Sanskrit scholar, Vic DiCara presents you the world's most definitive, simple and completely awesome explanation of the mythology and meaning within the 27 stars of ancient Indian astrology! If you are an astrologer or a fan of astrology, you will be transformed by Vic's radically clear and straightforward explanations of Sanskrit, Vedic mythology, and mastery of intuitive symbolism.

REGISTER HERE

February's Featured Book

Switchboard Soldiers, by Jennifer Chiaverini
Date: Thursday, February 2, 2023
Time: 6-7:30 p.m.
Location: Sloan Museum of Discovery, 1221 E. Kearsley St. | Flint, MI

From New York Times bestselling author Jennifer Chiaverini, a bold, revelatory novel about one of the great untold stories of World War I--the women of the U.S. Army Signal Corps, who broke down gender barriers in the military and battled a pandemic as they helped lead the Allies to victory.

REGISTER HERE

January's Books & Stars Featured Book


"The Old Magic of Christmas: Yuletide Traditions for the Darkest Days of the Year,"
by Linda Raedisch
Date: Thursday, January 26, 2023
Time: 6-8 p.m.
Location: Longway Planetarium, 1310 E. Kearsley St., Flint, MI 48503

In The Old Magic of Christmas, you'll rub elbows with veiled spirits, learn the true perils of elves, and discover a bestiary of enchanted creatures. Rife with the more frightful characters from folklore and the season's most petulant ghosts, this book takes you on a spooky sleigh ride from the silvered firs of a winter forest to the mirrored halls of the Snow Queen. Along the way, you'll discover how to bring the festivities into your home with cookie recipes and craft instructions, as well as tips for delving more deeply into your relationship with the unseen.

January Book Club

Deadly Aim: The Civil War Story of Michigan's Anishinaabe Sharpshooters

Deadly Aim: The Civil War Story of Michigan's Anishinaabe Sharpshooters, by Sally M. Walker
Date: Thursday, January 5, 2023
Time: 6-7:30 p.m.
Location: Sloan Museum of Discovery, 1221 E. Kearsley St. | Flint, MI

In Deadly Aim, Sally M. Walker explores the extraordinary lives of Michigan’s Anishinaabe sharpshooters. These brave soldiers served with honor and heroism in the line of duty, despite enduring broken treaties, loss of tribal lands, and racism. Walker celebrates the lives of the soldiers whose stories have been left in the margins of history for too long with extensive research and consultation with the Repatriation Department for the Little Traverse Bay Bands of Odawa Indians, the Eyaawing Museum and Cultural Center, and the Ziibiwing Center of Anishinaabe Culture and Lifeways.

BUY IT HERE

December Book Club

Midnight In Vehicle City

Midnight In Vehicle City: General Motors, Flint, and the Strike that Created the Middle Class, by Edward McClelland
Date: Thursday, December 1, 2022
Time: 6:00-8:00 p.m.
Location: Sloan Museum of Discovery, 1221 E. Kearsley St. | Flint, MI

Midnight in Vehicle City tells the gripping story of how workers defeated General Motors, the largest industrial corporation in the world. Their victory ushered in the golden age of the American middle class and created a new kind of America, one in which every worker had a right to a share of the company's wealth.

November Book Club

The Women of the Copper Country

The Women of the Copper Country, by Doria Russell
Date: Thursday, November 3, 2022
Time: 6:00-8:00 p.m.
Location: Sloan Museum of Discovery, 1221 E. Kearsley St. | Flint, MI

This novel based on the real life of labor activist Annie Clements traces the consequences of the 25-year-old's decision in 1913 to stand up for herself and the entire copper-mining town of Calumet, Michigan, where men risked their lives for meager salaries underground and the women worked for a similar pittance in the houses of the elite.

October Book Club

Chevy in the Hole

Chevy in the Hole, by Kelsey Ronan
Date: Thursday, October 6, 2022
Time: 6:00-8:00 p.m.
Location: Sloan Museum of Discovery, 1221 E. Kearsley St. | Flint, MI

An unlikely romance develops in the shadows of post-industrial Flint, Michigan. After a near-fatal drug overdose in 2014, August Molloy moves from Detroit back to his hometown of Flint. There, he picks up work at a nonprofit community garden, where he meets Monae Livingston.

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