What we’re about
Are you passionate about climate change and want to engage with the topic through a more literary perspective? Or an avid reader who has just started getting more interested in reading and discussing climate change/environment-related books with like-minded folks? If so, welcome! You're in the right place. Virtual/online-friendly Meetup!
We read a combination of nonfiction and fiction books related to climate change and the environment and meet once a month to discuss them (some past books include Braiding Sweetgrass, Weather, The Value of a Whale). We also do periodic movie discussions to take a break between books (usually films available on Netflix).
I'm based in LA and our meetings are run on Pacific Standard Time (usually Saturdays at 11 am PST), but since we meet virtually over Zoom, members from all over the globe are welcome!
Upcoming events (1)
See all- July Climate & Environment Book Club: Tilt by Emma PatteeLink visible for attendees
Hi, climate/book friends!
This month, we'll be reading the novel Tilt by Emma Pattee. A brief summary of the book below:
Annie is nine months pregnant and shopping for a crib at IKEA when a massive earthquake hits Portland, Oregon. With no way to reach her husband, no phone or money, and a city left in chaos, there’s nothing to do but walk.
Making her way across the wreckage of Portland, Annie experiences human desperation and kindness: strangers offering help, a riot at a grocery store, and an unlikely friendship with a young mother. As she walks, Annie reflects on her struggling marriage, her disappointing career, and her anxiety about having a baby. If she can just make it home, she’s determined to change her life.
A propulsive debut, Tilt is a primal scream of a novel about the disappointments and desires we all carry, and what each of us will do for the people we love.
This novel is a harrowing examination of the tension between self-preservation/survival and community/shared humanity in the wake of natural disaster. It also presents an opportunity to discuss the impending "Big One" and anxiety surrounding disaster in the age of climate change.
You can find the book on Bookshop (support local bookstores -- they now offer cheaper ebooks), Amazon (get it used to save some trees), at your local library, or you can purchase the audiobook on Libro.fm and support an indie bookstore of your choosing.
Bonus: Optional, but you can read The New Yorker article "The ReallyBig One" about a future earthquake in the Pacific NW, which the author used in her research.
Hope to see you then. Happy reading!
