Introducing a new (bi-)monthly series : Book Club
Introducing a new (bi-)monthly series : Book Club
This post explains the new monthly post(s) I will create inviting subscribers to participate in a digital book club and monthly review / discussion of a single book voted on by subscribers
Hello everyone!
I am gonna create a monthly poll that presents several books on a particular topic and invites subscribers to vote in a poll as to which book we should all read the following month and provide a means for subscribers to also suggest adding books to the list for a given month.
After we vote on which book we will all read, I will post a review of that book one month later and invite everyone who participated in reading the book to offer their own thoughts, reviews and comments so we can all learn together (synergistically and symbiotically).
This monthly series called Book Club that is intended to stack the following functions:
Through many of us reading the same book and interpreting its contents through the unique kaleidoscope of consciousness that each of us possess (an unrepeatable lens of perception that is defined by our cumulative memories/life experiences, intellectual knowledge, intuitive capacity and our soul’s unique essence) and then discussing it together afterwards we will all be able to glean valuable insights, assess alternative viewpoints and perhaps contemplate previously overlooked perspectives that we would not be able to access via simple reading the book on our own.
Through opening up the possible books that we can vote on to suggestions from subscribers we give everyone the opportunity to offer their own hidden literary gems to the list (giving obscure authors covering pertinent subject matter a chance to shine and enriching all our minds through a “cross-pollination of literary seeds”, if you will).
As we learn about these topics together as a group, we can help each other connect the dots between seemingly disparate topics, concepts and pathways of learning contributing towards a reciprocal “ecosystem of knowledge” that is comprised of members contributing towards each other’s mutual well being in a sort of gift economics, like how the old growth trees are interconnected through the mycorrhizae.
On a more personal note, this series will give me an excuse to research what new books have been published on a given topic and perhaps invite me to go outside my comfort zone and be exposed to different ideas if you all vote for a book / author I may not have discovered without subscriber suggestions :)
some more books from my library How it will work:
I will post the monthly poll that announces the topic of the book club for the month sometime before the 20th of each month with my suggested books in a poll. After which I will check the comments for suggestions as much as I can for the next few days and add them to a separate poll (or polls) in the same post.
Near the end of the month I will tally the votes and announce the book of the month which we will be reading the next month. Then I will create a post one month later, sharing my thoughts on that book and offering the opportunity for subscribers to share their thoughts as well.
Okay, since this is a new idea that I feel has a lot of dormant potential and this is the time of year for stratification, scarification and germination I feel it would be apt for the first topic for our book club to be Seeds!
Here are the books I offer up as my suggestions for this month:
these three I already own, but I would love to read them again with a fresh set of eyes! 1. Every Seed Tells a Tale - Stories of Plants, People & Places That Have Contributed to Canada's Seed Heritage by “Seeds of Diversity”
2. Seed to Seed : Seed Saving and Growing Techniques for Vegetable Gardeners by Suzanne Ashworth
3. The Unlikely Peace at Cuchumaquic : The Parallel Lives of People as Plants: Keeping the Seeds Alive by Martín Prechtel
4. The Triumph of Seeds: How Grains, Nuts, Kernels, Pulses, and Pips Conquered the Plant Kingdom and Shaped Human by Thor Hanson
5. The Book of Seeds: A Life-Size Guide to Six Hundred Species from around the World by Paul Smith
6. Seeing Seeds: A Journey into the World of Seedheads, Pods, and Fruit by Teri Dunn Chace
7. The Complete Guide to Saving Seeds: 322 Vegetables, Herbs, Fruits, Flowers, Trees, and Shrubs by Robert E. Gough
8. The Seed Keeper: A Novel by Diane Wilson
9. The Seed Saving Bible: Seasoned Gardening Wisdom to Effortlessly Harvest, Dry, Store, & Germinate Seeds on a Budget | Learn How to Grow Natural & Healthy Fruit, Vegetables, Plants and Herbs by Benjamin Johnson (I could not find a non-amazon book source for this one)
Please offer your own suggestions for additions to the poll for which book (that has a central focus on the topic of seeds) will be chosen for next month’s Book Club in a comment below. I will create another poll with any pertinent suggested books in the next couple days.
I look forward to reading (and re-reading) many books along side all of you and having enriching discussions about the books.
It is my hope this community symbiosis based way of learning can help us all to hone and unlock our own unique gifts and passions so that we may put them into use in service of life and leave this world a little bit more free, biodiverse, ecologically literate, honest and beautiful than it was when we got here for those who will call this place home after we are gone.
As a gardener in my spare time, this is interesting as I’m sewing my organic veg seeds for the coming summer season, I will consider the books and place my vote.
I love the almost Tardis (Dr Who) like quality of seeds, a compressed piece of magic that can become an entire plant, a harvest of fruit or flowers or even eventually a forest.