IRISES BOOK CLUB
Inspiring reads in science, Environment, and sustainability
Welcome to TWIG's 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 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 TWIG members Allie Omens and Kim Bailey, and input from members is always appreciated.
On Pause until 2023
Sign up for the IRISES newsletter to receive book club updates, and check out our previous book selections below along with our GoodReads list. Happy reading!
Let's hear your feedback about our meetings and the next book club pick!
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
Spring 2021
Book: Lab GIrl by Hope Jahren
Summer 2021
Women Adventurer Books:
Grandma Gatewood's Walk by Ben Montgomery
Honouring High Places by Junko Tabei
Pink Boots and a Machete by Mireya Mayor
Service Activity: I Play Like A Girl Power Packs
Fall/Winter 2021
Forest Themed Books
Service Activity: TBD
Spring 2022
Wild Spectacle
Service Activity: iNaturalist biodiversity counts for the City Nature Challenge