Booked for Lunch

Above: members of the Booked for Lunch book club discuss "Solito", the September 2023 book.

The Booked for Lunch book club comes together to read, watch, and discuss literature and other materials on diversity, equity, inclusion, social justice, and professional development.

This group of "diversified thinkers" was founded in 2017 and has more than 100 members from across the University of Maryland, Baltimore community and meets every other month for dialogue, awareness, and collaborative thinking as it reviews literature and other materials.

All are welcome to join.

Join the Club

The club meets in person, and books are provided to members in advance (while supplies last). Lunch will be provided by local women and minority vendors from West Baltimore.

Our Meetings:

The Booked for Lunch book club offers a safe space for honest and organic conversations. An alternative to the conventional diversity and inclusion training typically offered in organizations, the club provides an inclusive and safe space that allows for raw conversations that promote awareness and build rapport while creating opportunities for collaborative thinking through the review and discussion of a variety of diverse reading and media materials.

Upcoming Meetings:

Currently Reading:

Book Cover	Book Title and Author
	Braiding Sweetgrass: Indigenous Wisdom, Scientific Knowledge, and the Teachings of Plants Robin Wall Kimmerer   To be reviewed in November 2024.

Our History:

• 2020: The book club received a 2020 Inspiring Affinity Group Award from Insight Into Diversity magazine.
• 2017: The book club was founded by Mishawn Smith, MPA, in the UMSON Office of the Dean and Office of Equity, Diversity ,and Inclusion.

Past Events and Collaborations:

• July 2021: Hosted author Victoria D. Stubbs for discussion of her book, Untangled: A Black Woman's Journey to Personal, Spiritual, and Sexual Freedom.
• April 2021: Partnered with UMB's Office of the President to lead a campuswide reading and discussion of Ibram X. Kendi's How to Be an Anti-Racist. 
• Feb. and June 2020: Hosted author Chris Wilson for discussions of his book, The Master Plan.
• Jan. 2020: Private viewing and discussion of the film Just Mercy, based on the book by Brian Stevenson, at The Charles Theatre with University of Maryland School of Law.
• Feb. and June 2020: Hosted author Chris Wilson for discussions of his book, The Master Plan.
• April 2021: Partnered with UMB's Office of the President to lead a campuswide reading and discussion of Ibram X. Kendi's How to Be an Anti-Racist. 

Books We've Read:

Book Cover	Book Title and Author
	For Brown Girls with Sharp Edges and Tender Hearts Prisca Dorcas Mojica Rodriguez
	Aftershock (dir.) Paula Eiselt, Tonya Lewis Lee
	Saving Stella: Notes from a Nurse Turned Legislator Shirley Nathan-Pulliam
	Madness: Race and Insanity in a Jim Crow Asylum Antonia Hylton
	The Black Angels: The Untold Story of the Nurses Who Helped Cure Tuberculosis Maria Smilios
	Algorithms of Oppression: How Search Engines Reinforce Racism Safiya Noble
	Solito Javier Zamora
	Strangers in their Own Land Arlie Russell Hochschild
	Revisioning History: An Indigenous People’s History of The United States Roxanne Dunbar-Ortiz
	The Origins of Our Discontents Isabel Wilkerson
	Open Veins of Latin America: Five Centuries of the Pillage of a Continent Eduardo Galeano
	The 1619 Project: A New Origin Story Nikole Hannah Jones
	Our Kind of People Lawrence Otis Graham
	Lead from the Outside: How to Build Your Future and Make Real Change Stacey Abrams
	Untangled: A Black Woman’s Journey to Personal, Spiritual, and Sexual Freedom Victoria D. Stubbs Stubbs is a clinical instructor at the University of Maryland School of Social Work.
	How to Be an Antiracist Ibram X. Kendi
	The Other Wes Moore: One Name, Two Fates Wes Moore
	Why Are All of the Black Kids Sitting Together in the Cafeteria Beverly Tatum
	Hillbilly Elegy J.D. Vance
	Look Me in the Eye: My Life with Asperger’s John Elder Robinson
	Born a Crime Trevor Noah
	Not in My Neighborhood: How Bigotry Shaped a Great American City Antero Pietila
	The Bondwoman’s Narrative Hannah Crafts
	In Order to Live: A North Korean Girl’s Journey to Freedom Yeonmi Park with Maryanne Vollers
	Blind Spot: Hidden Biases of Good People Mahzarin R. Banaji and Anthony G. Greenwald
	I Am Malala: The Girl Who Stood Up for Education and Was Shot by the Taliban Christina Lamb and Malala Yousafzai
	Between the World and Me Ta-Nehisi Coates
	The Good Immigrant: 26 Writers Reflect on America by Nikesh Shukla and Chimene Suleyman
	Just Mercy: A Story of Justice and Redemption Brian Stevenson
	The Master Plan: My Journey from Life in Prison to a Life of Purpose Chris Wilson
	Becoming Michelle Obama