By Karen England, for Let's Talk Plants! March 2024.
Join us on March 4, 2024, at 4:30p/5p on Zoom to discuss the book Birnam Wood by Eleanor Catton, 2013.
FROM GOODREADS ABOUT BIRNAM WOOD:
Birnam Wood is on the move . . .
Five years ago, Mira Bunting founded a guerrilla gardening group: Birnam Wood. An undeclared, unregulated, sometimes-criminal, sometimes-philanthropic gathering of friends, this activist collective plants crops wherever no one will notice: on the sides of roads, in forgotten parks, and neglected backyards. For years, the group has struggled to break even. Then Mira stumbles on an answer, a way to finally set the group up for the long term: a landslide has closed the Korowai Pass, cutting off the town of Thorndike. Natural disaster has created an opportunity, a sizable farm seemingly abandoned.
But Mira is not the only one interested in Thorndike. Robert Lemoine, the enigmatic American billionaire, has snatched it up to build his end-times bunker--or so he tells Mira when he catches her on the property. Intrigued by Mira, Birnam Wood, and their entrepreneurial spirit, he suggests they work this land. But can they trust him? And, as their ideals and ideologies are tested, can they trust each other?
A gripping psychological thriller from the Booker Prize-winning author of The Luminaries, Birnam Wood is Shakespearean in its wit, drama, and immersion in character. A brilliantly constructed consideration of intentions, actions, and consequences, it is an unflinching examination of the human impulse to ensure our own survival.
Upcoming SD Hort Book Club meeting:
April 1, 2024, 4:30p/5p on Zoom, The Signature of All Things by Elizabeth Gilbert, 2014, novel.
SD HORT BOOK CLUB'S Previously Read List:
January 2021 - The Language of Flowers by V. Diffenbaugh. 👍
February 2021 - The Food Explorer by D. Stone. 👍👍
March 2021 - Green Mansions by W. H. Hudson. 👍
April 2021 - A Memory of Violets by H. Gaynor. 👍
May 2021 - Founding Gardeners by A. Wulf. 👍👍
June 2021 - Elizabeth and Her German Garden by E. von Arnim. 👍
July 2021 - In Praise of Tomatoes by S. Shepherd. 👍👍
August 2021 - Undaunted Courage by S. Ambrose. 👍👍
September 2021 - Around the World in 80 Plants/Trees both by J. Drori. 👍👍
October 2021 - American Eden by V. Johnson. 👍
November/December 2021 – Finding The Mother Tree by S. Simard. 👍👍
January 2022 – Braiding Sweetgrass by R. Kimmerer. 👍👍
February/March 2022 - The Seed Keeper by D. Wilson. 👍
April 2022 - In Search f Lost Roses by T. Christopher. 👍👍
May 2022 - Turn Here Sweet Corn by A. Diffley. 👍👍
June/July 2022 - The Arbornaut by M. Lowman. 👍👍
August 2022 – Orwell’s Roses by R. Solnit. 👍
September 2022 - The Nature of Oaks by D. Tallamy. 👍👍
October 2022 - Vanilla: Travels in Search of the Ice Cream Orchid by T. Ecott. 👍
November 2022 - The Complete Writings f Kate Sessions in California Garden – New Edition - San Diego Floral Association. U👍👍
December 2022 - The Multifarious Mr. Banks: From Botany Bay to Kew, The Natural Historian Who Shaped the World by T. Musgrave. 👍
January 2023 – the Botanist’s Daughter by K. Nunn. 👍.5
February 2023 – Eating to Extinction by D. Saladino. 👍👍
March 2023 - The Natures of John and William Bartram by T. Slaughter. U👎
June 2023 - The Plant Hunter by C. Quave. U👍👍
July 2023 - The Overstory by R. Powers. 👍.3125...
August 2023 - Tulipomania by M. Dash. 👍.21428...
September 2023 - Garden Spells by S. Addison Allen. 👍
October 2023 - Agave Spirits by G. P. Nabhan Ph.D., & D. S. Piñera. 👍.5
November 2023 - The Oak Papers by J. Canton. U👍👍
December 2023 - The Last Garden in England by J. Kelly. 👍.21428...
February 2024 - Brave the Wild River by Melissa L. Sevigny. U👍👍
Our Ratings System Explained -
👍👍 Two thumbs up = excellent
👍 One thumb up = good
✔️ No thumbs up or down = okay
👎 One thumb down = bad
👎👎 Two thumbs down = awful
U The letter U = unanimous vote
Karen England is the head muckety-
muck of the SD Hort book club.
If you enjoyed reading this article, consider joining (or renewing your membership with) the San Diego Horticultural Society.
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