“We’re always promoting and marketing our books or their authors, but what about the dedicated book clubs that gather to share, discuss, challenge, criticize, laugh, and find community? “Here are our free book club gatherings for September,” says, owner of Bethel’s Byrd’s Books, Alice Hutchinson. “And I invite you to join us and thank you for being a part of our community.”
Sapiens: A Graphic History
Byrd’s Books’ History Book Group meets every 2nd Thursday of the month, 7:30 pm to 9:00 pm. Sapiens: A Graphic History by Yuval Noah Harari, now available as a beautifully packaged paperback, is this month’s selection and will be discussed on Thursday, September 8th, 7:30pm to 9:00 pm. Open to all.
The Summer Reading Pick for President Barack Obama, Bill Gates, and Mark Zuckerberg, Sapiens: A Graphic History by Yuval Noah Harari, now available as a beautifully packaged paperback, is a groundbreaking narrative of humanity’s creation and evolution—a #1 international bestseller—that explores the ways in which biology and history have defined us and enhanced our understanding of what it means to be “human.”One hundred thousand years ago, at least six different species of humans inhabited Earth. Yet today there is only one—homo sapiens. What happened to the others? And what may happen to us?
Featuring 27 photographs, 6 maps, and 25 illustrations/diagrams.
Prof. Yuval Noah Harari is a historian, philosopher, and the bestselling author of Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind, Homo Deus: A Brief History of Tomorrow, 21 Lessons for the 21st Century, and Sapiens: A Graphic History, with renowned comics artists David Vandermeulen and Daniel Casanave, to create a radical adaptation of the original Sapiens into a graphic novel series. His books have sold over 35 million copies in 65 languages, and he is considered one of the world’s most influential public intellectuals today. The Guardian has credited Sapiens with revolutionizing the non-fiction market and popularizing “brainy books”.
Braiding Sweetgrass: Indigenous Wisdom
Byrd’s Books General Book Group meets every third Thursday of the month, 7:30pm to 9:00pm. Braiding Sweetgrass: Indigenous Wisdom, named a Best Essay Collection of the Decade by Literary Hub, is this month’s selection and will be discussed on Thursday, September 15th, 7:30pm to 9:00pm. Open to all.
As a botanist, Robin Wall Kimmerer has been trained to ask questions of nature with the tools of science. As a member of the Citizen Potawatomi Nation, she embraces the notion that plants and animals are our oldest teachers. In Braiding Sweetgrass: Indigenous Wisdom, Kimmerer brings these two lenses of knowledge together to take us on "a journey that is every bit as mythic as it is scientific, as sacred as it is historical, as clever as it is wise" (Elizabeth Gilbert, author of Eat, Pray, Love).
Drawing on her life as an indigenous scientist, and as a woman, Kimmerer shows how other living beings--asters and goldenrod, strawberries and squash, salamanders, algae, and sweetgrass--offer us gifts and lessons, even if we've forgotten how to hear their voices. Robin Wall Kimmerer is a mother, scientist, decorated professor, and enrolled member of the Citizen Potawatomi Nation. She is a SUNY Distinguished Teaching Professor of Environmental Biology, and the founder and director of the Center for Native Peoples and the Environment.
Alice Hutchinson notes, that Zoom links are available for those who are not yet ready to sit in a store environment. Book club selections are available at the store, and Byrd’s Books has them on hand in paperback.
Byrd’s Books is located at 178 Greenwood Avenue, across from the Bethel Public Library. Author discussions and Book Group gatherings are regularly added to Byrd’s Books’ calendar of events at ByrdsBooks.com Hours are Tuesdays through Saturdays 10:00am to 6:00pm and Sundays 12:00 noon to 4:00pm. For directions to the store or more information, call Byrd’s Books at 203-730-2973. To review the shop’s expanded catalog of new titles, go to ByrdsBooks.com
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