Who we are
Book Club for the Planet is a virtual (and soon, in-person!) book club about the climate crisis. We read a mix of non-fiction, novels, essays, speculative fiction, sci-fi and graphic novels that provide a diverse lens on the people, places, and spaces that are affected by our changing climate.
Our book club was born in the summer of 2020 as smoke from California and Oregon wildfires was clouding the skies above Washington, D.C. We shared feelings of panic, loss, rage, isolation and hopelessness, with a collective desire to do something. For us, reading books—ones that teach us about the issues and challenge dominant, fatalist paradigms—is a big part of the solution. Especially when we do it as part of a community where we value many perspectives and backgrounds and hold space for processing. Facing the climate crisis is easier with friends.
We come from all over and from many backgrounds and levels of familiarity with climate. Since we started, over fifty of us from California, Canada, Norway, Iowa, Florida, and even a sailboat in the Pacific have joined Zoom meet-ups, author talks, hikes, and sharing and connecting between reads. You don’t need to be a scientist or consider yourself an “activist” to join. Read as much of a book as you can, join a Zoom or in-person meet-up, and contribute or listen in whatever way feels accessible to you.
Oh, and hey—I’m Jess. I organize the book club, select our books, and lead our discussions. I just finished a graduate degree in Sustainability from Harvard at the end of 2022 and served as Communications Lead of my local Sunrise Movement chapter in Baltimore, Maryland during the 2020 election cycle. My career is in content strategy and social media marketing (i.e. I’m not a scientist or climate reporter). I love books and organizing this book club is one of my favorite things!
How it works
We read 6-8 books a year, or one book every other month. Books are selected by me but informed by you and what you’re interested in reading about. Check out our reading list from 2021 and from 2022 to get a flavor for the kinds of books we read—it includes non-fiction, novels, and prioritizes the voices of women, BIPOC, LGBTQIA+ folks and international writers.
Borrow your book from the library or your local bookstore, listen to it on Libro.fm or the Libby app, or order it online. All methods of reading are welcome here.
Every two months, we meet on Zoom to talk about the book together. Private Zoom links are shared through a Mailchimp newsletter. If you sign up for this Substack, you’ll be automatically added to that newsletter as well. Show up for whatever book you’d like to read, whether that’s only one book on the list or all 6-8. We’re a pretty low-pressure, low-commitment book club.
Ready to join? Sign up, get your book, and start reading!
