Book Club
Adkins Arboretum's Book Club promotes the Arboretum's mission through monthly book discussions about conservation issues. Readings include nonfiction, fiction, essays, biography, and poetry, and will focus on horticulture, natural history, science, ecology, history, and environmental issues.
Mission of the Adkins Arboretum Book Club
Members of the book club deepen their understanding, appreciation, and enjoyment of the Chesapeake Bay region’s native landscapes, including indigenous flora and wildlife, by selecting and discussing relevant literature of the region, the country, and the world.
The Book Club meets every other month at Adkins' Visitor's Center. The schedule is occasionally adjusted to accommodate other activities at the Arboretum.
In December, there is a special meeting which includes a potluck luncheon, special readings, and book suggestions for the upcoming year. Members are encouraged to bring book recommendations and voting commences.
Book Club participants must be Arboretum members. Book club selections are available for purchase in the Adkins Arboretum Gift Shop. Contact Club facilitator Sharon Andrews at shatim216@gmail.com for more information.
2025 Book Club Schedule
Tuesday, January 21, 2:45 pm – RESCHEDULED FOR APRIL 15
What an Owl Knows by Jennifer Ackerman
Tuesday, March 18, 2:45 pm
Braiding Sweetgrass by Robin Wall Kimmerer
Tuesday, April 15, 2:45 pm
What an Owl Knows by Jennifer Ackerman
Tuesday, May 20, 2:45 pm
Book selection TBD
Tuesday July 15, 2:45 pm
Book selection TBD
Tuesday September 16, 2:45 pm
Book selection TBD
Tuesday November 18, 2:45 pm
Book selection TBD
Tuesday December 16, 12:00 pm
Book Suggestions for 2026 & Gathering
Tuesday January 20, 2:45 pm
Book selection TBD
Tuesday March 17, 2:45 pm
Book selection TBD
Book Club Selections 2004–2024
Adkins Arboretum's Book Club has existed for 20 years! The following is a complete list of the books read by the Club since its inception.
2004
Botany of Desire by Michael Pollan
Sand County Almanac by Aldo Leopold
Orchid Thief by Susan Orlean
2005
Silent Spring by Rachel Carson
Coming Out of the Woods by Wallace Kaufman
Prodigal Summer by Barbara Kingsolver
North with the Spring by Edwin Way Teale
Stirring the Mud by Barbara Hurd
Ship Fever by Andrea Barrett
Diversity of Life by E.O. Wilson
Encounters with the Archdruid by John McPhee
How to Grow Wildflowers & Wild Shrubs & Trees in Your Own Garden by Hal Bruce
2006
Pilgrim at Tinker Creek by Annie Dillard
Bay Country by Tom Horton
Plants, People, Culture by Michael Balick and Paul Cox
Underground by Yvonne Baskin
Book of Bees by Sue Hubbell
Last Child in the Woods by Richard Louv
Voyage of the Beagle by Charles Darwin
Suburban Safari by Hannah Holmes
Omnivore's Dilemma by Michael Pollan
2007
Winter World by Bernd Heinrich
Light on Snow by Anita Shreve
Gaia's Garden: a Guide to Home-scale Permaculture by Toby Hemenway
Beautiful Swimmers by William Warner
Teaching the Trees by Joan Maloof
Cloudspotters Guide by Gavin Pretor-Pinney
Second Nature, by Michael Pollan
Song of the Meadowlark: Exploring Values for a Sustainable Future by James Eggert
A Forest Journey, Role of Wood in the Development of Civilization by John Perlin
Ecology of a Cracker Childhood by Janisse Ray
There's a Hair in My Dirt by Gary Larson
2008
Old Herbaceous by Reginald Arkell
Animal, Vegetable, Mineral by Barbara Kingsolver
Gathering Moss by Robin Wald Kimmerer
Bringing Nature Home by Douglas Tallamy
Crickets and Katydids, Concerts and Solos by Vincent Dethier
Letters from Eden by Julie Zickefoose
American Chestnut by Susan Frienkel
John and William Bartram's America edited by Helen Gere Cruickshank
Teaming with Microbes by Jeff Lowenfels & Wayne Lewis
The Golden Spruce by John Vaillant
2009
Sand County Almanac by Aldo Leopold
The Wild Trees by Richard Preston
Undaunted Courage by Stephen Ambrose
Teaching a Stone to Talk by Annie Dillard
In Defense of Food by Michael Pollan
The Forgotten Pollinators by Stephen L. Buchmann and Gary Paul Nabhan
The Meadow by James Galvin
1491 by Charles Mann
The Naturalist by E.O. Wilson
2010
What Are People For? by Wendell Berry
Hot, Flat and Crowded by Thomas Friedman
Naming Nature: The Clash Between Instinct & Science by Carol Yoon
The Brother Gardeners: Botany, Empire and the Birth of an Obsession by Andrea Wulf
The Invisible Garden by Dorothy Sucher
Fireflies, Honey, Silk by Gilbert Waldbauer
Summer World: A Season of Bounty by Bernd Heinrich
In Hovering Flight by Joyce Hinnefeld
Rosalie Edge, Hawk of Mercy: The Activist Who Saved Nature from the Conservationists by Dyana Furmansky
Footprints Across the South: Bartram's Trail Revisited by James Kautz
2011
The End of Over-Eating: Taking Control of the Insatiable American Appetite by David Kessler
Broadsides from the Other Orders: A Book of Bugs by Sue Hubbell
The Dirty Life: On Farming, Food and Love by Christin Kimball
In the Company of Crows and Ravens by John Marzluff, Tony Angell and Paul Ehrlich
Founding Gardeners: The Revolutionary Generation, Nature, and the Shaping of the America Nation by Andrea Wulf
Ant Hill: A Novel by E.O. Wilson
Changes in the Land: Indians, Colonists, and the Ecology of New England by William Cronon
The River of Doubt: Theodore Roosevelt’s Darkest Journey by Candice Millard
Weeds: In Defense of Nature’s Most Unloved Plants by Richard Mabey
Mr. Wilson’s Cabinet of Wonder: Pronged Ants, Horned Humans, Mice on Toast, and Other Marvels of Jurassic Technology by Lawrence Weschler
2012
People of the Mist: A Novel of North America's Forgotten Past by Kathleen O. Gear and W. M. Gear
The Moon by Whale Light: And Other Adventures Among Bats, Penguins, Crocodilians, and Whales by Diane Ackerman
Among the Ancients: Adventures in Eastern Old Growth Forests by Joan Maloof
Story of Charlotte's Web: EB White's Eccentric Life in Nature & Birth of an American Classic by Michael Sims
Nesting Season by Bernd Heinrich
Chasing Venus: The Race to Measure the Heavens by Andrea Wulf
Nabokov's Blues: The Scientific Odyssey of a Literary Genius by Kate Johnson and Steve Coates
1493: Uncovering the New World Columbus Created by Charles Mann
Folks, this Ain't Normal: A Farmer's Advice for Happier Hens, Healthier People, and a Better World by Joel Salatin
Essential Earthman: Henry Mitchell on Gardening by Henry Mitchell
2013
State of Wonder by Ann Patchett
Animal Dialogues: Uncommon Encounters in the Wild by Craig Childs
Wild: From Lost to Found on the Pacific Crest Trail by Cheryl Strayed
The Forest Unseen: A Year's Watch in Nature by David George Haskell
Horseshoe Crabs & Velvet Worms by Richard Fortey
What the Robin Knows by Jon Young
American Canopy: Trees, Forests, and the Making of a Nation by Eric Rutkow
Genius of Place: The Life of Frederick Law Olmstead by Justin Martin
Darwin, Portrait of a Genius Paul Johnson
My Family and Other Animals by Gerald Durrell
2014
King Solomon's Ring by Konrad Lorenz
The Right Hand Shore by Christopher Tilghman
Beatrix Potter's Gardening Life: The Plants and Places that Inspired the Classic Children's Tales by Marta McDowell
A Garden of Marvels: How We Discovered that Flowers Have Sex, Leaves Eat Air, and Other Secrets of Plants by Ruth Kassinger
Ginko: The Tree That Time Forget by Peter Crane
What a Plant Knows: A Field Guide to the Senses by Daniel Chamovitz
The Snow Leopard by Peter Matthiessen
Galileo's Daughter: A Historical Memoir of Science, Faith and Love by Dava Sobel
Good Poems/American Places by Garrison Keillor
The Sea Around Us by Rachel Carson
The Drunken Botanist: The Plants That Create the World's Great Drinks by Amy Stewart
2015
Elizabeth's Field: Historical Fiction, by Barbara Lockhart
The Trees in My Forest by Bernd Heinrich
Grandma Gatewood's Walk: The Inspiring Story of the Woman Who Saved the Appalachian Trail by Ben Montgomery
Tales from the Underground: A Natural History of Subterranean Life by David Wolf
Desert Solitaire: A Season in the Wilderness by Edward Abbey
The Human Age: The World Shaped by Us by Diane Ackerman
Basin and Range by John McPhee
A Reverence for Wood by Eric Sloane
2016
Blue Mind: The Surprising Science That Shows How Being Near, In, On, or Under Water Can Make You Happier, Healthier, More Connected, and Better at What You Do by Wallace Nichols
Welcome to Subirdia: Sharing Our Neighborhoods with Wrens, Robins, Woodpeckers, and Other Wildlife by John Marzluff
Elizabeth's Field: Historical Fiction by Barbara Lockhart
The Invention of Nature: Alexander von Humboldt's New World by Andrea Wulf
New and Selected Poetry, Vol. 2 by Mary Oliver
Walking the Appalachian Trail by Larry Luxenberg
Emily Dickinson's Gardens: A Celebration of a Poet and Gardener by Marta McDowell
Braiding Sweetgrass: Indigenous Wisdom, Scientific Knowledge and the Teachings of Plants by Robin Wall Kimmerer
Pawpaw: In Search of America's Forgotten Fruit by Andrew Moore
Cape Cod by Henry David Thoreau
Field Notes from a Catastrophe: Man, Nature, and Climate Change by Elizabeth Kolbert
2017
February - The Cracker Barrel, by Eric Sloane
March - Seeing Trees: Discovering the Extraordinary Secrets of Everyday Trees, by Nancy Ross Hugo (photographs by Robert Llewellyn)
April - How to Read Water: Clues and Patterns from Puddles to the Sea, by Tristan Gooley
May - How Not to Be Eaten: The Insects Fight Back, by Gilbert Waldbauer
June - A Buzz in the Meadow: The Natural History of a French Farm, by David Goulson
July - The Songs of Trees: Stories from Nature’s Great Connectors, by David Haskell
September - The Wilderness Warrior: Theodore Roosevelt and the Crusade for America, by Douglas Brinkley
October - One Wild Bird at a Time: Portraits of Individual Lives, by Bernd Heinrich
November - The End of Nature, by Bill McKibben and/or Coming of Age at the End of Nature: A Generation Faces Living on a Changed Planet, by Julie Dunlap and Susan Cohen, editors
2018
February - Thank You for Being Late: An Optimist’s Guide for Thriving in the Age of Accelerations, by Thomas L. Friedman
April - The Sound of a Wild Snail Eating, by Elisabeth Tova Bailey
May - The Humane Gardener: Nurturing a Backyard Habitat for Wildlife, by Nancy Lawson
June - Seasons of America Past, by Eric Sloane
July - American Wolf: A True Story of Survival and Obsession in the West, by Nate Blakeslee
August - Rivers of the Eastern Shore, by Hulbert Footner
September - Charles Darwin: The Naturalist Who Started a Scientific Revolution, by Cyril Aydon and The Reluctant Mr. Darwin: An Intimate Portrait of Charles Darwin and the Making of His Theory of Evolution, by David Quammen
October - Chrysalis: Maria Sibylla Merian and the Secrets of Metamorphosis, by Kim Todd
November - Soda Politics: Taking on Big Soda (and Winning), by Dr. Marion Nestle
December - The Lost Words, by Robert MacFarlane, illustrations by Jackie Morris
2019
January - Urban Forests: A Natural History of Trees and People in the American Cityscape, by Jill Jonnes
February - Edible Landscaping with a Permaculture Twist: How to Have Your Yard and Eat it Too, by Michael Judd
March - Nature’s Temples: The Complex World of Old-Growth Forests, by Joan Maloof
April - Astoria: Aster and Jefferson’s Lost Pacific Empire, by Peter Stark
May - Around the World in 80 Trees, by Jonathan Drori
June - Nature Wars, by Jim Sterba
July - On Trails: An Exploration, by Robert Moor
August - summer break; no reading
September - The Beak of the Finch: A Story of Evolution in our Time, by Jonathan Weiner
October - The Soil Will Save Us, by Kristin Ohlson
November - An Island Out of Time: A Memoir of Smith Island in the Chesapeake, by Tom Horton
December - Diary of the Early American Boy: Noah Blake, 1805, by Eric Sloane
2020
January - The Tangled Tree: A Radical New History of Life, by David W. Quammen
February - Naked Mountain: A Memoir, by Marcia Mabee
April - Dark Enough to See the Stars in a Jamestown Sky, by Connie Lapallo
May - Wesley the Owl: The Remarkable Love Story of an Owl and His Girl, by Stacey O’Brian
June - The Overstory: A Novel, by Richard Powers
September - The Wizard and the Prophet: Two Remarkable Scientists and Their Dueling Visions to Shape Tomorrow's World, by Charles C. Mann
October - Teaching the Trees: Lessons from the Forest, by Joan Maloof
November - The House Without Windows, by Barbara N. Follett; Illustrated by Jackie Morris
2021
January - Killing Mr. Watson, by Peter Mattheissen
February - The Unlikely Through Hiker, by Dereck Lugo
March - The Living Great Lakes, by Jerry Dennis
April - Weeds, by Richard Mabey
May - Slime, by Ruth Kassinger
June - The Secrets of Wildflowers, by Jack Sanders
July - Dancing with Bees, by Brigit Strawbridge Howard
September - Why Fish Don't Exist, by Lulu Miller
October - Spying on Whales, by Nick Pyenson
November - Underland: A Deep Time Journey, by Robert MacFarlane
December - Larvae of the Nearest Stars, by Catherine Carter
2022
January - The Feather Thief, by Kirk Wallace Johnson
February - The Wild Trees, by Richard Preston
March - Finding the Mother Tree: Discovering the Wisdom of the Forest, by Suzanne Simard
April - A World on the Wing, by Scott Weidensaul
May - Wilding: The Return of Nature to a British Farm, by Isabella Tree
June - Entangled Life: How Fungi Make Our Worlds, Change Our Minds and Shape Our Futures, by Merlin Sheldrake
July - Thirteen Ways to Smell a Tree: Getting to Know Trees Through the Language of Scent, by David Haskell
September - Old Growth: The Best Writing About Trees from Orion Magazine, by Robin Kimmerer
October - One Day at Teton Marsh, by Sally Carrighar
November - The Book of Hope: A Survival Guide for Trying Times, by Jane Goodall
2023
Arctic Dreams, by Barry Lopez
Under the White Sky: The Nature of the Future, by Elizabeth Kolbert
Old Growth, selections from Orion Magazine; foreword by R.W. Kimmerer
The Nature of Oaks, by Douglas Tallamy
River of the Gods, by Candace Millard
The Mind of a Bee, by Lars Chittka
Our Native Bees, by Paige Embrey
Hurricane Lizards and Plastic Squid, by Thor Hanson
Demon Copperhead by Barbara Kingsolver
The Earth Moved, by Amy Stewart
Hope is the Thing with Feathers, by Christopher Cokinos
2024
An Immense World by Ed Yong
Sounds Wild and Broken by David George Haskell
Fen, Bog, and Swamp by Annie Proulx
The Journals of Lewis & Clark by Bernard Devoto, Ed.
The Johnstown Flood by David McCullough
