What to read?

[Peter]

Just to get the ball rolling, here are some potential books for our group:

A Sand County Almanac and Sketches Here and There
The Sixth Extinction: An Unnatural History
The Invention of Nature: Alexander von Humboldt's New World
Pilgrim at Tinker Creek
Desert Solitaire
This Changes Everything: Capitalism vs. The Climate
Between Pacific Tides
Beyond Words: What Animals Think and Feel
The Unsettling of America: Culture and Agriculture

I want to hear your suggestions!

[Bennae]

Great choices Peter! Here's some other possibilities:

Refuge: An Unnatural History of Family and Place

The Last Unicorn: A Search for One of Earth's Rarest Creatures

The Hour of Land: A Personal Topography of America's National Parks

Half-Earth: Our Planet's Fight for Life

[Peter]

Thanks, Bennae. Great suggestions.

We're still looking for a moderator to lead this group, but you're stuck with me until someone else steps forward. I just learned that the author of The Nature Fix: Why Nature Makes us Happier, Healthier, and More Creative will be in Provo in early December, possibly speaking at an LDS Earth Stewardship event. With that in mind, I propose that we make that book our inaugural selection. What do you folks say? Can we read that one first, before moving to others on the list?

[Carlee Jane]

What an opportunity! That sounds good to me :)

[Ian]

That makes sense to me.

[Rebecca]

I'm nearly half way through this book, and her arguments for spending time in nature are very persuasive... and appealing.

[Carlee Jane]

Some more title for possible future rounds:
- The Geography of Childhood: Why Children Need Wild Places,
by Gary Paul Nabhan, Stephen Trimble
- The Seven Pillars of Creation: The Bible, Science, and the Ecology of Wonder, by William P. Brown
- The Consumer's Guide to Effective Environmental Choices: Practical Advice from The Union of Concerned Scientists, by Michael Brower, Warren Leon
- The Environmental Imagination: Thoreau, Nature Writing, and the Formation of American Culture, by Lawrence Buell
- The Secret Knowledge of Water : Discovering the Essence of the American Desert, by Craig Childs
- Rivers of Empire: Water, Aridity, and the Growth of the American West, by Donald Worster
- Cadillac Desert: The American West and Its Disappearing Water, Revised Edition, by Marc Reisner
- The Ecocriticism Reader: Landmarks in Literary Ecology,
by Cheryll Glotfelty, Harold Fromm
- The World Without Us, by Alan Weisman
- Last Child in the Woods: Saving Our Children From Nature-Deficit Disorder, by Richard Louv
- When Smoke Ran Like Water: Tales Of Environmental Deception And The Battle Against Pollution, by Devra Davis
- Merchants of Doubt: How a Handful of Scientists Obscured the Truth on Issues from Tobacco Smoke to Global Warming, by Naomi Oreskes, Erik M. Conway

[Peter]

These are some great suggestions, and I don't think we would go wrong with any of them. In general, I think it makes sense for the person who recommends a book to be the person who leads the discussion of the book. With that in mind, who would like to lead a discussion of one of these books?

Once a few people have offered to lead discussions of specific books, we can take a poll to decide which to read first.

[Merikay]

An additional book suggestion: Darke, R. and D. W. Tallamy. 2014. The Living Landscape; Designing for Beauty and Biodiversity in the Home Garden. Timber Press. Doug Tallamy's previous book, Bringing Nature Home, has been very influential, particularly in the eastern U.S. Dr. Tallamy is an entomologist for the University of Delaware. Though the plants mentioned are native to the eastern U.S. the concepts are true regardless of location. Perhaps if this book is chosen a companion book focusing on the plants of the intermountain West could be read by those in Utah.

Peter, it might be worth making a list of suggested books and posting it on the LDS ES FB page with another invitation for folks to join the book group and to read The Nature Fix and/or attend the meeting LDS ES is hosting with its author. Could that meeting be videotaped and streamed live on FB as the Rasband talk was?

[Merikay]

Another book to consider: Evolving Faith: Wanderings of a Mormon Biologist by Steven Peck.

[Carlee Jane]

Oh dear, you make me wish I hadn't suggested so many! haha XD But I think that's fair for the most part. If others want to lead out on one I put, I will happily let them be delegated.

And yet I'll add another, which has more of an ecotheological bent (at least in the last chapter): The Great Derangement: Climate Change and the Unthinkable (Berlin Family Lectures) by Amitav Ghosh

I volunteer to lead out on The Great Derangement and/or The Seven Pillars of Creation :)

[Peter]

We have had a lot of great suggestions for books to read, but I believe only person has volunteered to lead a discussion (Carlee Jane). Carlee, would you be able to lead a discussion of one of your recommendations on Wednesday, February 7? If so, we'll get it on the calendar now so that people have adequate time to read the book before we meet.

For everyone else, we are looking for volunteers to lead book discussions after February. Thanks!

[Peter]

Just a reminder that the LDS Earth Stewardship book group will be meeting on the first Wednesday of each month. Those who are able to join us at Weller Book Works in Salt Lake City on January 3 are invited to do so. Those who can not join us in person will be able to participate through Google Hangouts.

January's subject is The Nature Fix: Why Nature Makes us Happier, Healthier, and More Creative, but the books for succeeding months have not been selected. We've nominated a long list of candidates, but no discussions will occur unless we also have volunteers to lead them. (Although this first meeting will be n Salt Lake City, subsequent discussions can be wherever each discussion leader chooses.)

Please let me know if you are able to lead a discussion in one of the coming months. The sooner we know book selections, the sooner people can begin reading them. (For long books, it might be best to stretch the book over several monthly discussions.)

Thanks!

[Peter]

February's selection is Blue Mind: The Surprising Science That Shows How Being Near, In, On, or Under Water Can Make You Happier, Healthier, More Connected, and Better at What You Do. We will be meeting again at Weller Book Works, in Salt Lake City. The date is Wednesday, February 7.

Please consider purchasing the book from our host, Weller Book Works. Thanks, and see you in February!

[Peter]

Don't forget that our February selection is Blue Mind: The Surprising Science That Shows How Being Near, In, On, or Under Water Can Make You Happier, Healthier, More Connected, and Better at What You Do. If you haven't yet obtained a copy, now would be a good time. The February meeting will be at Weller Book Works in Salt Lake City.

Our March selection is The Great Derangement: Climate Change and the Unthinkable. Ordering a copy now will allow plenty of time to read it before we meet on March 7. Thanks!

[Peter]

[Update] Our schedule has been pushed back a month, and we've changed location. We will dive into Blue Mind on March 7 at a private residence near Temple Square.

Our April 4 selection is The Great Derangement. (This one is a little tricky to find, so order it now.)

[Peter]

Just a reminder that the book group will be meeting Wednesday (March 7) at 6:30 at a private residence near Temple Square. Email info@ldsearthstewardship.org for directions. Feel free to join us even if you haven't read the book. (We'd like to hear your suggestions for future topics.)

[Peter]

Join us at 7:00 on August 8 at the Provo Library to discuss The Unsettling of America by Wendell Berry. This is an important and provocative book, and should support a lively discussion.

Meanwhile, we should also turn our thoughts to our next selection. Many good titles have been suggested, but we can't have a discussion without a leader. Ideally, we could identify our next discussion leader and book selection prior to our August 8 meeting. (That way we could announce it on August 8.) Any volunteers?

[Peter]

We've scheduled books to discuss through May 2021, but are unscheduled after that. If you would like to choose the book and lead the discussion for July, September, or November, please volunteer. Many great titles have been suggested above, but don't feel limited. The reward for volunteering to lead a discussion is that you get to choose the book!

[Peter]

Still looking for suggestions for our next (July) book. Our "to-read" list is extensive, but now we just need to pick one...

https://www.goodreads.com/group/books...

[Peter]

Don't forget that we'll be choosing our September book next week. I particularly recommend and would be willing to lead the discussion on the Bill Gates climate book, Secondhand, and Beloved Beasts, (all on our "to-read" list).

[Peter]

We'll choose our January 2022 book tonight when we meet to discuss "The Earth Will Appear as the Garden of Eden." Please join us by Zoom (https://us02web.zoom.us/j/85293907719...) to help us choose well. Thanks.

[Joseph]

What is the book for April 2023?

[Annette]

I’ve always wanted to read Desert Solitaire….but maybe for July or August to give everyone plenty of time.

[Joseph]

Happy Easter!

[Joseph]

Desert Solitaire sounds like a good book.