The GLC Book Club meets virtually four times a year to discuss natural history and environmentally focused books. To join in the book club’s virtual discussions please email director@GratiotLakeConservancy.org for the link. All discussions take place on Saturdays from Noon to 1:30 Eastern Time on Zoom.. Although participants are encouraged to read the book ahead of the discussion, it is not a requirement. Also, there is no expectation for book club members to participate in the discussion for every book.

January 25^th: “The Light Eaters: The Unseen World of Plant Intelligence Offers A New Understanding of Life on Earth”  by Zoe Schlanger. 304 pages. Published in 2024. This is a well researched examination of plants and their survival adaptations. The book has received glowing reviews from sources as diverse as the The Wall Street Journal, Nature, Kircus Review, The New Yorker, and Scientific American. Schlanger was included in 2022 Best American Science and Nature Writing anthology. She received the 2017 National Association of Science Writers’ reporting award.

March 29th “The Death and Life of the Great Lakes” by Dan Eagan. 364 pages. Published in 2017. According to recent metrics of the US EPA, the Great Lakes hold about 84% of North America’s fresh surface water and 21% of the world’s supply of fresh water. The book  touches on the extraordinary aspects of the freshwater sea, history of human use and misuse of these waters,  many environmental threats impacting them, and efforts to protect their ecology.  Egan is a former reporter covering the Great Lakes at the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel and now is journalist in residence at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee's School of Freshwater Sciences.

June 21st “The Sound of a Wild Snail Eating” by Elisabeth Tova Bailey. 208 pp. Published in 2010. This memoir is a stunning account of the power of connection with nature in healing and happiness. A land snail may be an unlikely bedside companion but one became a friend and focus in Bailey’s months of recovery from a mysterious illness. Bailey’s keen observations and meticulous research about her gastropod companion both delights and amazes. Bailey is a Winner of the William Saroyan International Prize for Writing, the John Burroughs Medal and the National Outdoor Book Award in Natural History Literature.

October 25th “What an Owl Knows: The New Science of the Worlds Most Enigmatic Birds” by Jennifer Ackerman. Published in 2023. 352 pp. The GLC Book Club enjoyed reading Ackerman’s “The Genius of Birds” in 2022.  It is a deep dive into the natural history of owls and also touches on how owls have been viewed culturally. Ackerman goes into the field with researchers and also includes her own observations. It was a New York Times Notable Book and bestseller and named a Best Book in 2023 by Publisher’s Weekly.