The New York Times best-selling book Braiding Sweetgrass: Indigenous Wisdom, Scientific Knowledge, and the Teachings of Plants is an invitation to celebrate the gifts of the earth. Author Robin Wall Kimmerer awakens a wider ecological consciousness which includes both the acknowledgment and the celebration of our reciprocal relationship with the rest of the living world. As a botanist, she was trained to ask questions of nature with the tools of science; as a member of the Citizen Potawatomi Nation, she embraces the notion that plants and animals are our oldest teachers.

Join us for Kestrel Reads, a quarterly discussion group to help you delve deeper into books pertaining to nature, environmental issues, and people’s relationship to the land. For our winter nonfiction selection, we’ll discuss this highly acclaimed book on Wednesday, February 8 from 6:30-8:30 pm at the Kestrel House. Kestrel member Cheri LeBlond will moderate. The following week, on February 15 at  5:00 pm, the public is invited to see Robin Wall Kimmerer speak in person at Smith College as part of their Presidential Colloquium Series.

Like so many of the arts, the written word has the power to inform but also to reach the heart. Research shows that fiction readers, by immersing themselves in another person’s perspective, tend to be more compassionate. Book clubs expand on this experience by providing a common, respectful, creative space to listen and be heard, as well as to amiably disagree.

Book lovers who share and explore ideas with each other become better readers, writers, and collaborators. Unpacking a good book deepens and enriches the story or content, giving you insights you’ll carry into the next read, creative endeavor, or conversation. Reading is a pleasure, but a solitary one. Discussing the book afterwards is the best of both worlds.

About the Moderator: Often lost in a good book, Cheri LeBlond has moderated book clubs for almost ten years. A former bookstore owner, she’s had the pleasure of exploring the joys and pitfalls of storytelling with avid readers, dedicated writers, and persnickety publishers. Formerly of Kansas City, she now resides in Amherst and is delighted to live in the trees and walk Kestrel’s many trails.

Registration required. Limited to 15 participants.