LGBT+ Bookworms -- Forest Euphoria

Last month we discussed reading a non-fiction science book for a change of pace. Check out our September pick -- Forest Euphoria: The Abounding Queerness of Nature by Patricia Ononiwu Kaishian. Growing up in the Hudson Valley, author Patricia Kaishian felt most at home in the swamps and culverts near her house. In snakes, snails, and fungi she saw her own developing identities as a queer, neurodivergent person reflected back at her -- and in them she found a personal path to a life of science. In Forest Euphoria, Kaishian traces the story of how she became a scientist and introduces readers to the queerness, literal and otherwise, of all the life around us. Fungal species, we learn, commonly encompass more than two biological sexes -- and some as many as twenty-three thousand. Some intersex slugs mutually fire calcium carbonate "love darts" at each other during courtship. Nature, Kaishian shows us, is filled with the unusual, the overlooked, and the marginalized -- and they have lessons for us all. Wide-ranging, richly observant, and full of surprises, Forest Euphoria will open your eyes and change how you look at the world. Published this year, Forest Euphoria was recognized by Harper's Bazaar as one of The 25 Best Books Coming Out This Spring and has received praise from acclaimed authors. Robin Wall Kimmerer describes Kaishian's work as "an antidote to the loneliness of our species." Margaret Renkl writes that Forest Euphoria is "a master class in how to love the world." Forest Euphoria is 255 pages and is available in local libraries, online and in audio form narrated by Aven Shore. Come join us at the end of September to talk about this wonderful book!