The Taproot Book Club is currently on-hold.  Keep your book suggestions coming, and we look forward to starting up again in the future. 

The Taproot Book Club reads books that address issues relevant to the Taproot mission of bringing children and adults closer to nature and sustainable living. We gather to discuss what we've read and share a potluck meal. The book club discussion -- primarily geared toward adults, but open to including mature young readers as well -- will not be focused on analysis of the writing; rather, it will be a relaxed time to visit about the ideas and information presented in the books, and talk about ways in which we can implement the books’ ideas in our community.

Our first book was Richard Louv's Last Child in the Woods: Saving our Children from Nature Deficit Disorder. Many consider this book to be one of the most important in starting the current trend of re-connecting people - especially children - with the natural world. Our discussion of Last Child in the Woods was on Sunday, February 22 from 2-4 p.m. at the beautiful home of Rebecca and Mathew Chackalackal. Children sledded in the wooded backyard with adult supervision while their parents discussed the book inside.

Upcoming books and discussion

We would love to hear your suggestions on books to include in the future. Some people have suggested books already; they include: Omnivore’s Dilemma or In Defense of Food both by Michael Pollan, Gaia’s Garden by Toby Hemenway, The Green Collar Economy: How One Solution Can Fix Our Two Biggest Problems (Hardcover) by Van Jones. We will be picking future books at book club meetings.

Finally, we would appreciate your help in spreading the word of our book club beyond those on our contact list. If you know someone who might who might be interested in participating, please pass this information on. We have been working with Prairie Lights Bookstore to make sure they have copies of books on our reading list on hand. If they happen to be out of one of these titles they are always happy to order books for customers. Please join us in support of this Iowa City treasure.

Thank you so much. We look forward to sharing these books with you, and even more to spending some time talking with you about ways we can live more closely in harmony with the natural world.