Book club meets Wednesday, January 14, 2026 at 3:00 p.m.
BCAS Book Club Selections
The Black Canyon Audubon Book Club will meets every second Wednesday of each month at 3:00 p.m. Meetings will be virtual (usually in the fall and winter) or in-person in Montrose (usually in Spring and Summer). Contact Bruce Ackerman for more details. Please check back with this website, as times, locations and book choices may change to accommodate the participants. Please join us, even if you haven’t read the book yet! Let Bruce Ackerman know if you would like to be on the separate email list specifically for the Book Club.
January 14, 2026. The Courage of Birds and the Often-Surprising Ways They Survive Winter, by Pete Dunne and illustrated by David Allen Sibley (2024). This is an engaging exploration of how birds manage to survive the unforgiving winter months. From tiny Black-capped Chickadees enduring snowstorms to the formidable Snowy Owl thriving on the Arctic tundra, Dunne writes a compelling narrative about the resilience of wintering birds.
February 11, 2026. Tenacious Beasts: Wildlife Recoveries That Change How We Think about Animals by Christopher J. Preston (2023). Over 900 species have been exterminated since industrialization. However, there is hope. The author discusses the success stories of humpback and sperm whales, bears, wolves, and several other species. Preston discusses changing the way we think about animals, and what we can learn from studying the species that make a comeback. Special note: the author will be speaking at our March 5 annual meeting in Montrose!
MAR 11 The Narrow Edge: A Tiny Bird , an Ancient Crab & an Epic Journey by Deborah Cramer (2015). An account of an amazing bird – the Red Knot - and its intricate connection to the horseshoe crab. Cramer gives us insight into the astounding 18,000 mile annual/round trip migratory route from the tip of South America to the expanses of tundra.
APR 08 Birding to Change the World: A Memoir by Trish O'Kane (2024). In this uplifting memoir, a professor and activist shares what birds can teach us about life, social change, and protecting the environment. The author is a colleague of Alison’s at U of Vermont.
MAY 13 An Immense World: How Animal Senses Reveal the Hidden Realms Around Us by Ed Yong (2021). A thrilling, dazzling tour of the different ways that animals perceive the world that will fill you with wonder and forever alter your perspective.
JUN 10 Leave It as It Is: A Journey Through Theodore Roosevelt’s American Wilderness by David Gessner (2020) tells the story of a road trip to revisit the wild places Roosevelt envisioned as our National Parks and why his efforts were so critical to our country both then and now.
JUL 08 The Wild Dark: Finding the Night Sky in the Age of Light by Craig Childs (2025). Seeking not darkness, but the presence of the universe, this master storyteller sets out to bike from the blinding lights of the Las Vegas Strip to one of the darkest spots in North America.
AUG 12 The Ghost Forest by Greg King. (2023). The complete, well-researched history of the lost thousands of acres of California redwood trees and how politicians and wealthy companies gamed the system while fronting as a 'save the redwoods' organization.
SEP 09 The Bird Singers: How Two Boys Discovered the Magic of Birdsong by Jean Boucault (2025). This book opened up a whole world of 'bird singing' and bird singer competitions that I knew nothing about. It follows two adolescent boys in France as they enter the world of bird singing competitions.
OCT 14 A Walk in the Park: The True Story of a Spectacular Misadventure in the Grand Canyon (2024). by Kevin Fedarko. The author, with his best friend, a National Geographic photographer, embark on an end-to-end traverse of the Grand Canyon—a journey that the friend promised, would be “a walk in the park” - NOT!
NOV 11 The Feather Detective: Mystery, Mayhem, and the Magnificent Life of Roxie Laybourne by Chris Sweeney (2025). The fascinating and remarkable true story of the world’s first forensic ornithologist—Roxie Laybourne, who broke down barriers, solved murders, and investigated death with a microscope and a few fragments of feathers.
DEC 09 Monkey Wrench Gang by Edward Abbey (1975). “A motley crew of saboteurs wreaks havoc on the corporations destroying America's Western wilderness in this "wildly funny, infinitely wise" classic.” (The Houston Chronicle).