Join the Active Hope Book Club Discussions for 2025

It's time again for the (virtual) Active Hope Book Club, hosted by the Stowell Library in Cornish. A short series about hopeful solutions to the many environmental issues facing our planet.

The Active Hope Book Club takes place over ZOOM, so it is open to everyone far and wide. The Cornish (NH) Library will have books available for local residents, and folks from other towns will need to find their own copies, but all should be readily available on various streaming services. Everyone is welcome to come and just listen if that suits you better.

Here's the schedule! Please register in advance using the link for the date you'd like to attend.

Tuesday, Feb. 18, 7 pm -  Year of No Garbage, Evo O. Schaub

Link to Register

Tuesday, March 4 - 7 pm - Biomimicry: Innovation Inspired by Nature

Link to Register

Tuesday, March 18 - 7 pm - Not Too Late, Rebecca Solnit & Thelma Young Lutunatabua

Link to Register

Tuesday, April 15 - 7 pm - Black Earth Wisdom, Leah Penniman

Link to Register

Eve O. Schaub, Year of No Garbage

In this book Eve O. Schaub, humorist and stunt memoirist extraordinaire, tackles her most difficult challenge to date: garbage. Convincing her husband and two daughters to go along with her, Schaub attempts the seemingly impossible: living in the modern world without creating any trash at all. For an entire year. And- as it turns out- during a pandemic. 

Eve O. Schaub is a published author and speaker who writes 'stunt' memoirs in order to illuminate the ills of contemporary society in a relatable and engaging way. Schaub has written for publications such as Hyperallergic, VTDigger, Vermont Life, Vermont Magazine, Everyday Health, and the Boston Globe online. A graduate of both Cornell University (BA, BFA) and the Rochester Institute of Technology (MFA),

she lives in Vermont with her family and an ever-fluctuating number of chickens.

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Janine Benyus, Biomimicry: Innovation Inspired By Nature

Biomimicry: Innovation Inspired by Nature, is a profound and accessible book,written by Biomimicry 3.8 co-founder Janine Benyus, details how designers and scientists are studying nature’s genius to solve our toughest 21st-century problems. The practice of biomimicry allows us to study nature’s best ideas: photosynthesis, brain power, and shells–and adapt them for human use. They are revolutionising how we invent, compute, heal ourselves, harness energy, repair the environment, and feed the world. 

Janine Benyus is a biologist and serves on the U.S. Green Building Council Board of Directors, the advisory board for the Ray C. Anderson Foundation, the advisory board for Project Drawdown and is an affiliate faculty member at The Biomimicry Center at Arizona State University. Janine has received numerous awards including the 2016 Feinstone Environmental Award, an Edward O. Wilson Biodiversity Technology Pioneer Award in 2015, The Gothenburg Award for Sustainable Development 2013, The Heinz Award 2011, Time Magazine’s Hero for the Planet Award 2008, United Nations Environment Programme’s Champion of the Earth for Science and Technology 2009, the Rachel Carson Environmental Ethics Award, the Lud Browman Award for Science Writing in Society, and the Barrows and Heinz Distinguished Lectureships. 

Not Too Late, Rebecca Solnit & Thelma Young Lutunatabua

Not Too Late is the book for anyone who is despondent, defeatist, or unsure about climate change and seeking answers. These dispatches from the climate movement around the world feature the passionate voices of organizers, and guided by Rebecca Solnit's typical clear-eyed wisdom and enriched by photographs and quotes, Not Too Late leads readers from discouragement to possibilities, from climate despair to climate hope.

Writer, historian, and activist Rebecca Solnit is the author of more than twenty books on feminism, western and urban history, popular power, social change and insurrection, wandering and walking, hope and catastrophe. She writes regularly for the Guardian and recently launched the climate project Not Too Late (nottoolateclimate.com).

Thelma Young Lutunatabua is a digital storyteller and activist. She is the co-founder of Not Too Late. She currently works at The Solutions Project, and before that she worked in various roles supporting the global climate movement, as well as other human rights endeavors.

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Black Earth Wisdom, Penniman

A soulful collection of illuminating essays and interviews that explore Black people’s spiritual and scientific connection to the land, waters, and climate, curated by the acclaimed author of Farming While Black. Leah Penniman reminds us that ecological humility is an intrinsic part of Black cultural heritage. This thought-provoking anthology brings together today’s most respected and influential Black environmentalist voices —leaders who have cultivated the skill of listening to the Earth —to share the lessons they have learned.

Leah Penniman (all pronouns) is a Black Kreyol farmer, mother, soil nerd, author, and food justice activist from Soul Fire Farm in Grafton, NY. She co-founded Soul Fire Farm in 2010 with the mission to end racism in the food system and reclaim our ancestral connection to land. Leah has been farming since 1996, holds an MA in Science Education and a BA in Environmental Science and International Development from Clark University, and is a member of clergy in West African Indigenous Orisa tradition. The work of Leah and Soul Fire Farm has been recognized by the Soros Racial Justice Fellowship, Fulbright Program, Pritzker Environmental Genius Award, Grist 50, and James Beard Leadership Award, among others. 

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