

Books & Brews is an author series focused on discussions with writers from our area. This series is a collaboration with Pale Fire Brewing Company in Harrisonburg, who provide a wonderful space to explore these topics together.
The Books & Brews season runs from September to May and is currently scheduled for the second Tuesday of every other month.

We welcome suggestions and if you have an author in mind for a future Books & Brews, please send a note to our series host, Mary Katharine Froehlich.
WMRA's Books & Brews series is made possible thanks to the support of Gaines Group Architects, our official sponsor. The Gaines Group has offices in Charlottesville and Harrisonburg.
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WMRA’s February Books & Brews features Dr. Bruce Greyson, discussing his book, "After: A Doctor Explores What Near-Death Experiences Reveal about Life and Beyond".
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We all have a lot of stuff. But for some people, they have so much stuff that it begins to take over their lives. For author Jennifer Howard, she faced clutter head on when she cleaned out her mother’s home – a traumatizing experience that she shares in her book Clutter – An Untidy History.
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WMRA’s January Books & Brews featured Jennifer Howard, discussing her book, Clutter: An Untidy History.
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In the late nineteenth century, a group of German-speaking Mennonites traveled from Russia into Central Asia, where their charismatic leader predicted Christ would return. Over a century later, local author Sofia Samatar followed their path, and chronicles their story in her new book The White Mosque.
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WMRA’s December Books & Brews features two authors. Sofia Samatar discussing her memoir, "The White Mosque", and Lucy Bryan discussing her work, "In Between Places: A Memoir in Essays."
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Author Maggie Marangione writes about the history of the Blue Ridge Mountains in her new novel, which explores the social and political changes of industrialization, women's equality, and the removal of families to form the Shenandoah National Park.
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WMRA’s November Books & Brews featured author M.S. Marangione discussing her book, "Across The Blue Ridge Mountains," which is set in the early twentieth century in Elkton and explores the social and political changes of industrialization, women’s equality, the Eugenics movement, and the removal of mountain families for the Shenandoah National Park.
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Author Jocelyn Nicole Johnson’s new book “My Monticello” features a series of stories with one being set in a future version of Charlottesville where things have broken down.
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WMRA’s October 2022 Books & Brews featured author Jocelyn Nicole Johnson discussing her book, My Monticello, a collection of five short stories that, as one NPR reviewer put it, “grapples with the past, present and future of American Racism“
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Author Jonathan M. Katz writes about the history of American imperialism in his new book Gangsters of Capitalism through the eyes of Smedley Butler, an often forgotten Marine.