New Focus and Book Club
Head in the Clouds, Hands in the Dirt
Learning About Our World While Building My Own
Three Springs Nature Preserve, Door County, Spring 2021
It’s been a while! Mostly because I’ve been focused on my novel, which is in the final revision stages before its beta reading. This is also the start of a new focus for this newsletter, and if it’s not your cup of tea I understand, but I hope you’ll give it a chance.
Welcome to “Head in the Clouds, Hands in the Dirt: Learning About Our World While Building My Own” which is everything it says in the title, plus a focus on taking action to protect this incredible world of ours.
My novel, Rootbound, has two main settings to start—a magical library and a farm at the edge of a very special forest. I’ve haunted a few libraries in my day, but I’ve only ever lived in cities, so I needed to do some research for that farm setting. Turns out, I love to read books about farming. Even better, I learned about regenerative farming, which can help us with climate change.
I have been so depressed about climate change, but reading about these problems and understanding solutions exist has helped. So I’m starting a book club, Our Backyard Book Club, and you’re invited.
Dwarf Trillium and Dwarf Lake Iris, Door County, Spring 2021
Our Backyard Book Club will read nonfiction books related to your home—from the land right outside your door to the planet itself—to deepen understanding, create community, foster hope, and motivate action.
Every month I’ll share the book we’re reading and send you another email or two with related articles and notes. Comment on the posts or email me directly to tell me what you think! I’d also be happy to talk virtually or in person. Or you could start a chapter of the book club in your own community and chat with your local friends and neighbors about these books. (That’s what I’ll be trying to do this summer.)
There are a lot of reasons not to talk about tough things anymore—we don’t know where to start, we don’t want to offend, and we’re so busy already—but I have to believe it’s worth it. I recently forced myself to post in my neighborhood Facebook group. Landscaping companies had been putting pesticides on their customers’ sidewalks. This wasn’t good for a number of reasons, but especially for dogs being taken on walks. I sat on my message for a full 24 hours. I was worried about the right way to say something, that someone would tell me I was a jerk for calling this out or worried about nothing. I ended up with 8 likes and not a single negative comment.
We’re not alone worrying about these things, and we can do more—and feel better—together.
Next Time
Our first book, The Humane Gardener by Nancy Lawson is available as a Nook or Kindle ebook for $2.99, as a hardcover through your bookstore, and (hopefully) through your local library. There doesn’t appear to be an audiobook edition.
Guilty, but unrepentant Annie
Last year we tore down our dilapidated garage and put up a shed instead, which means I have a lot of empty yard to fill with plants this year—and I’m taking you along for the ride in the next email. There’s a lot of mud and straw on my boots already, providing seasonal entertainment for the cat if nothing else.
See you soon!
Leigh
Our Backyard Book Club Reading List
(subject to change)
April
The Humane Gardener: Nurturing a Backyard Habitat for Wildlife
Nancy Lawson
May
A Precautionary Tale: How One Small Town Banned Pesticides, Preserved Its Food Heritage, and Inspired a Movement
Philip Ackerman-Leist
June
Regenesis: Feeding the World Without Devouring the Planet
George Monbiot
July
This Contested Land
McKenzie Long
August
Locally Laid: How We Built a Plucky, Industry-Changing Egg Farm – From Scratch
Lucie B. Amundsen
September
The Death and Life of the Great Lakes
Dan Egan
October
The End of Night
Paul Bogard
November
Garbage Land: On the Secret Trail of Trash
Elizabeth Royte
December
I Contain Multitudes
Ed Yong
