The VINE Book Club meets monthly to discuss books of interest to animal advocates who work within an ecological awareness of the linkages between animal exploitation and other forms of injustice.
Most months, we all read the same book and then meet together to discuss it, often with the author or another expert in attendance.
Some months, we all read different books on the same theme, and then meet to teach each other what we learned.
Everyone is welcome to every meeting! Sign up for notifications to receive a monthly message letting you know the book or theme as well as the date and time for that month’s Zoom meeting.
Upcoming Books
| DATE | BOOK | GUEST(s) | NOTES |
|---|---|---|---|
| June 29 | The Nap-Away Motel by Debbie Urbanski | Nadja Lubiw-Hazard | VINE Book Club member Nadja Lubiw-Hazard has written a queer-themed book perfect for VINE’s array of June events associated with the Pride Month Vegan Challenge. In her novel The Nap-Away Motel, three dwellers of a derelict building manage to forge a friendship over a litter of stray kittens. Together, they find joy in ruin, and hope when everything seems lost. Discuss this book with Nadja, other book club members, and participants in the Pride Month Vegan Challenge. Register now, and we’ll remind you the day before |
| July 27 | Disability-related readings by various authors | TBA | We will continue our tradition of reading disability-related texts in July in recognition of Disability Pride Month. Past picks have included Disabled Ecologies, Disability and Animality, and Beasts of Burden. This year, we will be providing a free PDF of several short readings. By reading and discussing those pieces, you will help VINE prepare a briefing on ableism for vegan and animal rights activists. Mark your calendar for July 27 at 3PM EDT. Sign up for the club mailing list, so that you will receive the PDF when it is ready. |
| August 31 | The Omnivore’s Deception by John Sanbonmatsu | John Sanbonmatsu | Philosopher John Sanbonmatsu is a longtime friend of the sanctuary. His new book includes a description of a visit to the sanctuary. Angela Davis says that The Omnivore’s Deception “offers the most compelling arguments yet for abolishing capitalist animal agriculture, urging us to question whether consuming animal products is an ethical way of inhabiting our worlds.” Mark your calendar for August 31 at 3PM EDT to discuss this book with John and other members of the club. |
| TBA | Gender and Animals in History edited by Sandra Swart et al | TBA | This book is open access! Snag your free PDFs here. |
| TBA | Wild and Wilful by Neha Sinha | Neha Sinha | The author has agreed to join us, but we have not yet set a date. |
| TBA | Walking with the Gorillas by Gladys Kalema-Zikusoka | Gladys Kalema-Zikusoka | In Walking with the Gorillas, Dr. Gladys Kalema-Zikusoka, Uganda’s first wildlife veterinarian, tells the remarkable story from her animal-loving childhood to her career protecting endangered mountain gorillas and other wild animals. The author has agreed to join us for a meeting, but we have not yet set a date. |
Past Books
| MONTH | BOOK |
|---|---|
| July 2020 | The Oxen at the Intersection by pattrice jones |
| August 2020 | Entangled Empathy by Lori Gruen |
| September 2020 | The Cow with Ear Tag #1389 by Katie Gillespie |
| November 2020 | Beasts of Burden: Animal and Disability Liberation by Sunara Taylor |
| February 2021 | The Sexual Politics of Meat by Carol J. Adams |
| March 2021 | Undrowned: Black Feminist Lessons from Marine Mammals by Alexis Pauline Gumbs |
| June 2021 | Let the Record Show by Sarah Schulman |
| July 2021 | Saving Animals by Elan Abrell |
| August 2021 | Afro-Dog: Blackness and the Animal Question by Bénédicte Boisseron |
| November 2021 | Anti-Racism in Animal Advocacy |
| February 2022 | The Nation of Plants by Stefano Mancuso |
| March 2022 | Ecofeminism edited by Carol J. Adams and Lori Gruen |
| April 2022 | Hummingbird Salamander by Jeff Vandermeer |
| May 2022 | Animal Languages by Eva Meijer |
| June 2022 | High-Risk Homosexual by Edgar Gomez |
| July 2022 | Shimmer: Flying Fox Exuberance in Worlds of Peril by Deborah Bird Rose |
| September 2022 | The Animals In That Country by Laura Jean McKay |
| November 2022 | Summertime: Reflections on a Vanishing Future by Dany Celermajer |
| January 2023 | Tending Sanctuary (PDF) by Rebecca Shen |
| February 2023 | Staging Tourism (PDF) by Jane Desmond |
| March 2023 | The Good It Promises, The Harm It Does: Critical Essays on Effective Altruism edited by Carol J. Adams, Alice Crary, and Lori Gruen |
| April 2023 | If Nietzsche Were a Narwhal: What Animal Intelligence Reveals about Human Stupidity by Justin Gregg |
| May 2023 | Mother Cow, Mother India: A Multispecies Politics of Dairy in India by Yamini Narayanan |
| June 2023 | Charlotte and the Chickenman by Aina Hunter |
| July 2023 | Disability and Animality: Crip Perspectives in Critical Animal Studies edited by Stephanie Jenkins, Chloë Taylor, and Kelly Struthers Montford |
| August 2023 | The Creative Lives of Animals by Carol Gigliotti |
| January 2024 | Bird’s-Eye Views: Queer Queries About Activism, Animals, and Identity by pattrice jones |
| February 2024 | The Ethics of Captivity edited by Lori Gruen |
| March 2024 | The Most Costly Journey |
| May 2024 | Birding While Indian by Thomas C. Gannon |
| July 2024 | Disabled Ecologies by Sunaura Taylor |
| August 2024 | Pedaling Resistance edited by Carol J. Adams and Michael Wise |
| September 2024 | Meet the Neighbors by Brandon Keim |
| October 2024 | Writing for Animals edited by John Yunker |
| December 2024 | Routledge Companion to Gender and Animals edited by Chloe Taylor (PDF here) |
| January 2025 | Transfarmation by Leah Garcés |
| February 2025 | Sanctuary chapters from Routledge Companion to Gender and Animals (PDF here) |
| March 2025 | Animaladies edited by Lori Gruen & Fiona Probyn-Rapsey (PDF here) |
| April 2025 | Multispecies Assemblies by Eva Meijer |
| May 2025 | After World by Debbie Urbanski |
Past Choose-Your-Own-Book Themes
| MONTH | BOOK |
|---|---|
| April 2021 | Novels with animal protagonists |
| May 2021 | Book Pile Challenge (read the introduction and first chapter of one book that’s been on your to-read pile for too long) |
| September 2021 | Learn about Animals |
| December 2021 | Wonders of the Wider-than-Human World |
| August 2022 | Return of the Book Pile Challenge |
| October 2022 | Books authored, co-authored, edited, or co-edited by ecofeminist philosopher and animal liberation activist Lori Gruen, in honor of her 60th birthday |
| December 2022 | Special no-reading-required session on tuning into the larger-than-human world with special guest LoriKim Alexander |
| September 2023 | Return of the Book Pile Challenge |
| November 2023 | Catch Up on Your Reading |
| April 2024 | Reading to Write with Joy Castro |
| June 2024 | Queer Fiction with Breeze Harper |