Chevy Chase
Neighborhood Library

Nonfiction for the English Major in All of Us

or Literary History

Delve into the history around some of your favorite literary works, figures, and time periods. Ever wonder how so many great authors and works of literature came to be? These books will take you on a journey of literary history.

Cozy Mysteries for Bibliophiles

Each of these mysteries features a librarian, bookstore owner or employee, author, or other bookish character or setting along with the usual murder and mayhem.

Get Your Gears Turning with these Steampunk Books

Where Fantasy and History Meet - and Twist

Are you a fantasy reader who has never found a historical novel you liked? Or the opposite – a historical fiction lover left cold by most fantasy novels? Steampunk might be just the genre for you! Steampunk is blatant historical anachronism, blending and bending history and fantasy to great effect. Try one of these books for a trip back in time - with a twist.

Obama Master Reading List 2008-2016

One thing I'm going to miss about President Obama: the man reads. The busiest man in the world still makes time to read. He is a role model for us all. He reads good stuff too. So in honor of the Reader-in-Chief, I have compiled a master list of all the books that the president was reported to have read from 2008 until the present. Please let me know if I have missed any. 2016

Funny Pop Culture Books

Beach season may be over, but the need for "beach reads" never goes away. For me, a beach read is rarely a novel. My ideal relaxation book is usually light, funny, non-fiction and usually about some aspect of pop culture. (I realize that this a very specific genre.) I've picked some of my favorites below. If you aren't in the mood for fiction the next time you go on vacation give one of these a try!

Herman Melville in Fiction

It happens more than you think....

Fans of Herman Melville are an interesting group. To quote playwright Tony Kushner, ''One falls in love with him, and I certainly have, completely, as most of the other Melville freaks have". Fans include Maurice Sendak, Moby, and the current President of the United States of America.

Rebel Readers

Uncensored books for the uncensored mind

Explicit language, homosexuality, politics, violence. Just a few reasons why certain books are deemed unsuitable for society by the "conservative" reader. Imagine what our world be like if we did not have those who dared to push the envelope? As Banned Books Week approaches, let us take some time out of our busy day to honor those authors who not only crossed the line, but erased it. But let's not limit that acknowledgement to authors in the United States. Let's cross our borders and look at writers around the world who shook things up in their homeland. Enjoy!

Crime and Punishment Lecture Series

The Chevy Chase DC Library will begin its yearly lecture/discussion series on September 20, 2016. The theme for the 2016-2017 series will be "Crime and Punishment." In this series, we will be reading 10 works of fiction from different eras and genres that explore humankind's struggle for systems of justice that work for all. Every meeting features a lecture from a guest professor from a local college, followed by a discussion of the work. The guest lecturers appear courtesy of the Friends of the Chevy Chase Library.

Adults

Chevy Chase Library Book Club

'Station Eleven' by Emily St. John Mandel

The September selection for the Chevy Chase Library's Book Club is Station Eleven by Emily St. John Mandel. Station Eleven takes place in a post-pandemic America, where a troupe of actors and musicians travel the country to perform for the survivors. We will meet on Tuesday, September 6 at 7 p.m., upstairs in the meeting room.

ICEBERGS -- Upper Elementary (4th-8th Grade) Children's Summer Reading List

In partnership with National Building Museum

Through September 5, 2016, the National Building Museum is a one-of-a-kind destination with ICEBERGS, designed by James Corner Field Operations. Representing a beautiful, underwater world of glacial ice fields spanning the Museum’s enormous Great Hall, the immersive installation emphasizes current themes of landscape representation, geometry, and construction.

Chevy Chase Neighborhood Library