IRISES BOOK CLUB
Inspiring reads in science, Environment, and sustainability
Welcome to TWIG's brand new book club! We are pleased to offer this book club to current TWIG members. The Iris is the Tennessee State Flower, and a fitting acronym for what we hope to read together!
What's so different about our book club? Each meeting we will meet and discuss what we've read AND we will pair a service activity to go along with each book to support a local non-profit or sustainability initiative in Tennessee! This activity will occur on the weekend after we meet.
Meetings are every other month with a rotating location. The book club is led by Renee Barker and Leah Sherry, and input from members is always appreciated.
Let's hear your feedback about our meetings and the next book club pick!
Currently Reading
All We Can Save is a collection of essays from women at the forefront of the climate movement who are harnessing truth, courage, and solutions to lead humanity forward.
Choose 1-2 essays to share with the group at the next Irises meeting!
There is a renaissance blooming in the climate movement: leadership that is more characteristically feminine and more faithfully feminist, rooted in compassion, connection, creativity, and collaboration. While it’s clear that women and girls are vital voices and agents of change for this planet, they are too often missing from the proverbial “table.” More than a problem of bias, it’s a dynamic that sets us up for failure. To change everything, we need everyone.
Intermixing essays with poetry and art, this book is both a balm and a guide for knowing and holding what has been done to the world, while bolstering our resolve never to give up on each other or our collective future. We must summon truth, courage, and solutions, to turn away from the brink and toward life-giving possibility. Curated by two climate leaders, this book is a collection and celebration of visionaries who are leading us on a path toward all we can save.
“Women of all backgrounds—artists, writers, scientists, policy makers, and others—are at the forefront of climate action, and with this exquisite anthology, marine biologist Dr. Ayana Elizabeth Johnson and editor-in-chief of Project Drawdown, Dr. Katharine Wilkinson, bring their voices together.” – LitHub
“A welcome anthology, in prose and verse, of women’s writings on climate change…. A well-curated collection with many ideas for ways large and small to save the planet.” – Kirkus Reviews
next activity details
Coming soon!
Looking back...
September 2018
Book: Braiding Sweetgrass by Robin Wall Kimmerer
Service Activity: National Public Lands Day at Old Stone Fort State Park
November 2018
Book: Reason for Hope by Jane Goodall
Service Activity: Pet Community Center in East Nashville
January 2019
Book: The Lamentations of Zeno by Ilija Trojanow
Service Activity: Warner Parks Winter Birding: cleaning and citizen science bird count
March 2019
Book: Garbology by Edward Humes
Service Activity: Pickup for a Pint with Turnip Green Creative Reuse and Jackalope Brewery
June 2019
Book: Enlightenment Now by Steven Pinker
Service Activity: Helping at Glencliff High School Garden, a teaching and learning hub for volunteers, students, and community partners! The garden serves as a vibrant resource for students and volunteers to grow gardening skills, learn about healthy eating choices and gain an understanding of food access in our community, as well as create an effective learning environment for students at Glencliff.
August 2019
Book: The Fate of Food by Amanda Little
Service Activity: Assisting with meal prep tasks at The Nashville Food Project's commercial kitchen. Their mission is bringing people together to grow, cook and share nourishing food, with the goals of cultivating community and alleviating hunger in our city.
October 2019
Book: Where the Crawdads Sing by Delia Owens
Service Activity: Unfortunately the service event was canceled due to weather
March 2020
Book: Women Who Run With The Wolves
Service Activity: Weed Wrangle with The Nashville Zoo!
April 2020
Book: Inconspicuous Consumption
Service Activity: iNaturalist and Flowering Dogwoods Cloned Plant Project
June 2020
Book: Untamed: The Wildest Woman in America and the Fight for Cumberland Island
Service Activity: Check out Wild Cumberland, and email us for their specific asks for volunteers!
September 2020
Book: Black Faces, White Spaces; Reimagining the Relationship of African Americans to the Great Outdoors
Service Activity: Outreach to a company of your choice to sign the Outdoor CEO pledge, and volunteer opportunity with Trap Garden fresh veggie delivery