Books chosen for our 2025 Nature Book Club discussions.
Next Nature book club meeting: Jan. 27, 2025
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Jan. 27, 2025: Wildlife Wars: The Life and Times of a Fish and Game Warden, Terry Grosz, 2015. A natural storyteller, Grosz writes about the remarkable characters he met-on both sides of the law-as he matched wits with elk poachers, salmon snaggers, commercial-market duck hunters, and a host of other law-breakers. Best of all, though, these stories are so remarkably entertaining you won't want to put them down. Wildlife Wars is the winner of the 2000 National Outdoor Book Award, Nature and the Environment Category. LaDorna Pfaff will lead the discussion.
Previously reviewed books:
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Jan. 27, 2025: Wildlife Wars: The Life and Times of a Fish and Game Warden, Terry Grosz, 2015. A natural storyteller, Grosz writes about the remarkable characters he met-on both sides of the law-as he matched wits with elk poachers, salmon snaggers, commercial-market duck hunters, and a host of other law-breakers. Best of all, though, these stories are so remarkably entertaining you won't want to put them down. Wildlife Wars is the winner of the 2000 National Outdoor Book Award, Nature and the Environment Category. LaDorna Pfaff will lead the discussion. Meeting at the Middle Susquehanna Riverkeeper office at 112 Market Street, Sunbury, PA, and on Zoom. 7 p.m.
March 31, 2025: The Chesapeake Watershed: A Sense of Place And A Call to Action, Ned Tillman, 2009. The book talks about how BIG and fragile the watershed is and reminds us to protect it. The author informs, entertains, and inspires readers with stories of the rich history of this area, growing up around the Bay, and ideas on how you can help restore the bay to the national treasure it once was. Kathy Henne will lead discussion. Meeting at the Middle Susquehanna Riverkeeper office at 112 Market Street, Sunbury, PA, and on Zoom. 7 p.m. May 19, 2025: In Praise of Poison Ivy: The Secret Virtues, Astonishing History and Dangerous Lore of the World’s Most Hated Plant, Anita Sanchez, 2016. This Environmental Educator with the New York State Dept. of Conservation includes humor to cover how the early naturalists and botanists thought about this plant, including medicinal values and its once common popularity as landscape plantings at big European estates. Sanchez also writes about the ecological role of poison ivy, and people’s relations to (other) plants. Dave Hafer will lead discussion. Meeting at the Shikellamy State Park Marina pavilions and Zoom. 7 p.m. July 28, 2025: Eager: The Surprising, Secret Life of Beavers and Why They Matter, Ben Goldfarb. This is an informative, entertaining, and powerful story about one of the world’s most influential species, how North America was colonized, how our landscapes have changed over the centuries, and how beavers can help us fight drought, flooding, wildfire, extinction, and the ravages of climate change. Ultimately, it’s about how we can learn to coexist, harmoniously and even beneficially, with our fellow travelers on this planet. Don Krech will lead discussion. Meeting at the Shikellamy State Park Marina pavilions and Zoom. 7 p.m. September 29, 2025: On Time and Turtles: Mending the World, Shell by Shattered Shell, Sy Montgomery. 2023. Compassionate and deeply researched, warm and astonishing, this book is an invitation to slip into turtle time. It's a story that shows us a way to mend a world beset with unprecedented perils, shell by shattered shell. Sandy Costello will lead discussion. Meeting at the Middle Susquehanna Riverkeeper office at 112 Market Street, Sunbury, PA, and on Zoom. 7 p.m. November 24, 2025: Casting Homeward: An Angler and Naturalist's Journey to America's Legendary Rivers, Steve Ramirez, 2024. As writer, naturalist and educator, Ramirez takes the reader on a physical and philosophical journey to some of the most legendary rivers and wild landscapes in America. Imbued with fly-fishing throughout, this journey seeks to explore what makes certain places feel magical and meaningful. How do we define “iconic” when considering wild places that have seemingly held the ability to restore our souls and fill them with feelings of peace, belonging, awe, and gratitude? Three chapters (of 21) are dedicated to streams in Pennsylvania, including: the Little Juniata and Penns Creek. Ann Fisher will lead discussion. Meeting at the Middle Susquehanna Riverkeeper office at 112 Market Street, Sunbury, PA, and on Zoom. 7 p.m. |