We are excited to welcome back Family Story Time as a mainstay here at Glendora Bookshop! Every Friday morning from 11-12pm EST we will hold a themed Story Time for you and your little ones to enjoy, so be sure to come on down to the shop!

Help us spread the word for this fun-filled family event, and thank you as always for supporting your local, independent bookshop.

Calling all Romantasy lovers! Glendora Bookshop is excited to host our very first Romantasy Book Club, Dragon Dreams! Co-led by book friends and community members Lauryn & Michaela, Dragon Dreams meets every second Wednesday of the month.

Sign up for book clubs at Glendora Bookshop by email, call/text, or just stop in and inquire. Dragon Dreams also mingles on FB so be sure to join our group to keep in touch.

June’s Dragon Dreams selection continue’s down the ACOTAR path with A Court of Mist and Fury by Sarah J. Maas. Be sure to snag your copy at Glendora Bookshop (book club members take 10% off book club reads!) and join us in June to discuss!

*****

The seductive and stunning #1 bestselling sequel to Sarah J. Maas's spellbinding A Court of Thorns and Roses.

Feyre has undergone more trials than one human woman can carry in her heart. Though she's now been granted the powers and lifespan of the High Fae, she is haunted by her time Under the Mountain and the terrible deeds she performed to save the lives of Tamlin and his people.

As her marriage to Tamlin approaches, Feyre's hollowness and nightmares consume her. She finds herself split into two different people: one who upholds her bargain with Rhysand, High Lord of the feared Night Court, and one who lives out her life in the Spring Court with Tamlin. While Feyre navigates a dark web of politics, passion, and dazzling power, a greater evil looms. She might just be the key to stopping it, but only if she can harness her harrowing gifts, heal her fractured soul, and decide how she wishes to shape her future-and the future of a world in turmoil.

Bestselling author Sarah J. Maas's masterful storytelling brings this second book in her dazzling, sexy, action-packed series to new heights.

Join us for Facing Change Book Club, a group that examines todays events through non-fiction and helps address the question of “What is happening?!” Facing Change meets (loosely) every first Sunday of the month.

Sign up for book clubs at Glendora Bookshop by email, call/text, or just stop in and inquire.

This month, Facing Change is reading Tyranny of the Minority: Why American Democracy Reached its Breaking Point by Steven Levitsky and Daniel Ziblatt. Be sure to snag your copy at Glendora Bookshop (book club members take 10% off book club reads!) and join us in June to discuss!

*****

ONE OF THE CALIFORNIA REVIEW OF BOOKS’ TEN BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR • A NEWSWEEK BEST BOOK OF THE YEAR

America is undergoing a massive experiment: It is moving, in fits and starts, toward a multiracial democracy, something few societies have ever done. But the prospect of change has sparked an authoritarian backlash that threatens the very foundations of our political system. Why is democracy under assault here, and not in other wealthy, diversifying nations? And what can we do to save it?

With the clarity and brilliance that made their first book, How Democracies Die, a global bestseller, Harvard professors Steven Levitsky and Daniel Ziblatt offer a coherent framework for understanding these volatile times. They draw on a wealth of examples—from 1930s France to present-day Thailand—to explain why and how political parties turn against democracy. They then show how our Constitution makes us uniquely vulnerable to attacks from within: It is a pernicious enabler of minority rule, allowing partisan minorities to consistently thwart and even rule over popular majorities. Most modern democracies—from Germany and Sweden to Argentina and New Zealand—have eliminated outdated institutions like elite upper chambers, indirect elections, and lifetime tenure for judges. The United States lags dangerously behind.

In this revelatory book, Levitsky and Ziblatt issue an urgent call to reform our politics. It’s a daunting task, but we have remade our country before—most notably, after the Civil War and during the Progressive Era. And now we are at a crossroads: America will either become a multiracial democracy or cease to be a democracy at all.

We are excited to welcome back Family Story Time as a mainstay here at Glendora Bookshop! Every Friday morning from 11-12pm EST we will hold a themed Story Time for you and your little ones to enjoy, so be sure to come on down to the shop!

Help us spread the word for this fun-filled family event, and thank you as always for supporting your local, independent bookshop.

Join us for Rotating Reads Book Club, a reading group that explores fiction, non-fiction, memoir/biography and classics every first Thursday of the month. For a fun twist, one of these months will also be a freestyle "book report" where everyone reads something different, and shares what they read with the group.

Every month, a different volunteer will serve as the “host”. Their role will be to select the book, guide the discussion, and bring any fun insights or background about the author or genre. 

Sign up for book clubs at Glendora Bookshop by email, call/text, or just stop in and inquire!

For the month of June, Rotating Reads Book Club is on the Fiction round! Join your hosts to discuss The Names by Florence Knapp.

*****

The extraordinary novel that asks: Can a name change the course of a life?

In the wake of a catastrophic storm, Cora sets off with her nine-year-old daughter, Maia, to register her son's birth. Her husband, Gordon, respected in the community but a controlling presence at home, intends for her to follow a long-standing family tradition and name the baby after him. But when faced with the decision, Cora hesitates...

Spanning thirty-five years, what follows are three alternate and alternating versions of their lives, shaped by Cora’s last-minute choice of name. In richly layered prose, The Names explores the painful ripple effects of domestic abuse, the messy ties of family, and the possibilities of autonomy and healing.

Through a prism of what-ifs, Florence Knapp invites us to consider the "one . . . precious life" we are given. Full of hope, this is the story of three names, three versions of a life, and the infinite possibilities that a single decision can spark. It is the story of one family and love’s endless capacity to endure, no matter what fate has in store.

The book’s brilliantly imaginative structure, propulsive storytelling, and emotional power are certain to make The Names a modern classic.

We are excited to welcome back Family Story Time as a mainstay here at Glendora Bookshop! Every Friday morning from 11-12pm EST we will hold a themed Story Time for you and your little ones to enjoy, so be sure to come on down to the shop!

Help us spread the word for this fun-filled family event, and thank you as always for supporting your local, independent bookshop.

Outside/Underground Book Club is a bi-monthly reading group for those who want to learn more about the fascinating world around us . O/U explores topics around science and nature through memoir, poetry, non-fiction & more. We meet every other LAST Thursday of the month.

Sign up for book clubs at Glendora Bookshop by email, call/text, or just stop in and inquire.

This month’s O/U Book Club selection is Raising Hare by Chloe Dalton. Be sure to snag your copy at Glendora Bookshop (book club members take 10% off book club reads!) and join us in May to discuss.

*****

“A perfect testimony to the transformative power of love.”—Margaret Renkl, author of The Comfort of Crows

Imagine you could hold a baby hare and bottle-feed it. Imagine that it lived under your roof and bounded around your bedroom at night, drumming on the duvet cover when it wanted your attention. Imagine that, more than two years later, it still ran in from the fields when you called it and slept in your house for hours on end. For political advisor and speechwriter Chloe Dalton, who spent lockdown deep in the English countryside, far away from her usual busy London life, this became her unexpected reality.

In February 2021, Dalton stumbles upon a newborn hare—a leveret—that had been chased by a dog. Fearing for its life, she brings it home, only to discover how difficult it is to rear a wild hare, most of whom perish in captivity from either shock or starvation. Through trial and error, she learns to feed and care for the leveret with every intention of returning it to the wilderness. Instead, it becomes her constant companion, wandering the fields and woods at night and returning to Dalton’s house by day. Though Dalton feared that the hare would be preyed upon by foxes, weasels, feral cats, raptors, or even people, she never tried to restrict it to the house. Each time the hare leaves, Chloe knows she may never see it again. Yet she also understands that to confine it would be its own kind of death.

Raising Hare chronicles their journey together while also taking a deep dive into the lives and nature of hares, and the way they have been viewed historically in art, literature, and folklore. We witness firsthand the joy at this extraordinary relationship between human and animal, which serves as a reminder that the best things, and most beautiful experiences, arise when we least expect them.

Join us on May 23rd to hear from poets Marci Rae Johnson and Tania Runyan!

About Marci: “I'm an editor, writer, and poet who currently works as the managing editor for a Christian publisher. I have editing experience in a wide variety of genres including academic books and journals, poetry, news and culture articles, book reviews and book-related articles, and religious and literary books and publications. Past editing clients have included a variety of individuals as well as Salon.com, William James Studies, and Sparkhouse. I previously edited poetry for WordFarm press and The Cresset, and I’m currently the poetry editor for The Windhover.”

About Tania: Tania Runyan is the author of the poetry collections What Will Soon Take Place, Second Sky, A Thousand Vessels, Simple Weight, and Delicious Air, which was awarded Book of the Year by the Conference on Christianity and Literature. Her first book of creative nonfiction, Making Peace With Paradise: An Autobiography of a California Girl, was released in 2022. Tania’s manuscript in progress, a collection of poems written in the voice of Jesus, can be found on Substack at Poet Jesus.

We are excited to welcome back Family Story Time as a mainstay here at Glendora Bookshop! Every Friday morning from 11-12pm EST we will hold a themed Story Time for you and your little ones to enjoy, so be sure to come on down to the shop!

Help us spread the word for this fun-filled family event, and thank you as always for supporting your local, independent bookshop.

We are excited to welcome back Family Story Time as a mainstay here at Glendora Bookshop! Every Friday morning from 11-12pm EST we will hold a themed Story Time for you and your little ones to enjoy, so be sure to come on down to the shop!

Help us spread the word for this fun-filled family event, and thank you as always for supporting your local, independent bookshop.

Calling all Romantasy lovers! Glendora Bookshop is excited to host our very first Romantasy Book Club, Dragon Dreams! Co-led by book friends and community members Lauryn & Michaela, Dragon Dreams meets every second Wednesday of the month.

Sign up for book clubs at Glendora Bookshop by email, call/text, or just stop in and inquire. Dragon Dreams also mingles on FB so be sure to join our group to keep in touch.

May’s Dragon Dreams selection is the megahit A Court of Thorns and Roses by Sarah J. Maas. Be sure to snag your copy at Glendora Bookshop (book club members take 10% off book club reads!) and join us in May to discuss!

*****

The sexy, action-packed first book in the #1 bestselling Court of Thorns and Roses series from global phenomenon Sarah J. Maas.

When nineteen-year-old huntress Feyre kills a wolf in the woods, a terrifying creature arrives to demand retribution. Dragged to a treacherous magical land she knows about only from legends, Feyre discovers that her captor is not truly a beast, but one of the lethal, immortal faeries who once ruled her world.

At least, he's not a beast all the time.

As she adapts to her new home, her feelings for the faerie, Tamlin, transform from icy hostility into a fiery passion that burns through every lie she's been told about the beautiful, dangerous world of the Fae. But something is not right in the faerie lands. An ancient, wicked shadow is growing, and Feyre must find a way to stop it, or doom Tamlin-and his world-forever.

From bestselling author Sarah J. Maas comes a seductive, breathtaking book that blends romance, adventure, and faerie lore into an unforgettable read.

Join us for a reading & book signing with author Rebecca Lehmann from her debut novel, The Beheading Game. Books are available as always in store and on Bookshop.org!

*****

​Rebecca Lehmann is an award-winning poet and essayist. She has an MFA in poetry from the Iowa Writers’ Workshop. Her writing has appeared in American Poetry Review, The Kenyon Review, NPR’s The Slowdown, and the Academy of American Poets’ Poem-a-Day. She lives in South Bend with her family and is an associate professor of English and Gender and Women’s Studies at Saint Mary’s College.

Join us for Rotating Reads Book Club, a reading group that explores fiction, non-fiction, memoir/biography and classics every first Thursday of the month. For a fun twist, one of these months will also be a freestyle "book report" where everyone reads something different, and shares what they read with the group.

Every month, a different volunteer will serve as the “host”. Their role will be to select the book, guide the discussion, and bring any fun insights or background about the author or genre. 

Sign up for book clubs at Glendora Bookshop by email, call/text, or just stop in and inquire!

For the month of May, Rotating Reads Book Club is on the History round! Meeting on a Friday this month, join your hosts to discuss The Wager: A Tale of Shipwreck, Mutiny and Murder by David Grann.

*****

“Riveting...Reads like a thriller, tackling a multilayered history—and imperialism—with gusto.” —Time

On January 28, 1742, a ramshackle vessel of patched-together wood and cloth washed up on the coast of Brazil. Inside were thirty emaciated men, barely alive, and they had an extraordinary tale to tell. They were survivors of His Majesty’s Ship the Wager, a British vessel that had left England in 1740 on a secret mission during an imperial war with Spain. While the Wager had been chasing a Spanish treasure-filled galleon known as “the prize of all the oceans,” it had wrecked on a desolate island off the coast of Patagonia. The men, after being marooned for months and facing starvation, built the flimsy craft and sailed for more than a hundred days, traversing nearly 3,000 miles of storm-wracked seas. They were greeted as heroes.

But then ... six months later, another, even more decrepit craft landed on the coast of Chile. This boat contained just three castaways, and they told a very different story. The thirty sailors who landed in Brazil were not heroes – they were mutineers. The first group responded with countercharges of their own, of a tyrannical and murderous senior officer and his henchmen. It became clear that while stranded on the island the crew had fallen into anarchy, with warring factions fighting for dominion over the barren wilderness. As accusations of treachery and murder flew, the Admiralty convened a court martial to determine who was telling the truth. The stakes were life-and-death—for whomever the court found guilty could hang.

The Wager is a grand tale of human behavior at the extremes told by one of our greatest nonfiction writers. Grann’s recreation of the hidden world on a British warship rivals the work of Patrick O’Brian, his portrayal of the castaways’ desperate straits stands up to the classics of survival writing such as The Endurance, and his account of the court martial has the savvy of a Scott Turow thriller. As always with Grann’s work, the incredible twists of the narrative hold the reader spellbound.

We are excited to welcome back Family Story Time as a mainstay here at Glendora Bookshop! Every Friday morning from 11-12pm EST we will hold a themed Story Time for you and your little ones to enjoy, so be sure to come on down to the shop!

Help us spread the word for this fun-filled family event, and thank you as always for supporting your local, independent bookshop.

Join us at River St. Joe on May 5th for a book fair for ALL AGES from 5-7pm. We will have a selection for children to adults covering spring-time topics and more. More information soon.

Join us for Facing Change Book Club, a group that examines todays events through non-fiction and helps address the question of “What is happening?!” Facing Change meets (loosely) every first Sunday of the month.

Sign up for book clubs at Glendora Bookshop by email, call/text, or just stop in and inquire.

This month, Facing Change is reading The Beginning Comes After the End: Notes on a World of Change by Rebecca Solnit. Be sure to snag your copy at Glendora Bookshop (book club members take 10% off book club reads!) and join us in May to discuss!

*****

Rebecca Solnit offers a thrilling account of the sheer breadth and scale of social, political, scientific, and cultural change over the past three quarters of a century.

In this sequel to her enduring bestseller Hope in the Dark, Solnit surveys a world that has changed dramatically since the year 1960. Despite the forces seeking to turn back the clock on history, change is not a possibility; it is an inevitability.

The changes amount to nothing less than dismantling an old civilization and building a new one, whose newness is often the return of the old ways and wisdoms. In this rising worldview, interconnection is a core idea and value. But because the transformation is obscured within a longer arc of history, its scale is seldom recognized.

While the white nationalist and authoritarian backlash drives individualism and isolation, this new world embraces antiracism, feminism, a more expansive understanding of gender, environmental thinking, scientific breakthroughs, and Indigenous and non-Western ideas, pointing toward a more interconnected, relational world.

Have a poem you want to share? A short story you want to workshop? What about reciting some gorgeous writing from a book you love? Join us for our monthly OPEN MIC as we gather to celebrate and support our collective creativity, risk-taking, and generosity.

Come in a few minutes before start time to sign-up if you wish to read - time slots are usually 5-8 mins long depending on participation. 18+ as some material may be challenging for youthful ears (stay tuned, though, as we’re planning to host quarterly family open mics for the younger writers among us!)

Losing a loved one is difficult. Processing the many feelings about the loss is different for everyone.

Studies show that coming to terms with ones mortality can be achieved through a better understanding of end-of-life. As “epiloguers,” we strive to collaboratively create our concluding piece at the end of our journey, facing the reality of death, and embracing a positive approach to living each day.

The Epiloguers Book Club aims to create a safe space for people to gather and discuss death and dying.

Sign up for book clubs at Glendora Bookshop by email, call/text, or just stop in and inquire. This group is facilitated by community member Karen Quasney, we’re happy to connect you with her. This group meets on the last Thursday of every other month.

April’s “The Epiloguers” selection is Being Mortal by Azul Gawande. Be sure to snag your copy at Glendora Bookshop. (Book club members take 10% off book club reads!) Join us in April to discuss!

*****

Named a Best Book of the Year by The Washington Post, The New York Times Book Review, NPR, and Chicago Tribune, now in paperback with a new reading group guide

Medicine has triumphed in modern times, transforming the dangers of childbirth, injury, and disease from harrowing to manageable. But when it comes to the inescapable realities of aging and death, what medicine can do often runs counter to what it should.

Through eye-opening research and gripping stories of his own patients and family, Gawande reveals the suffering this dynamic has produced. Nursing homes, devoted above all to safety, battle with residents over the food they are allowed to eat and the choices they are allowed to make. Doctors, uncomfortable discussing patients' anxieties about death, fall back on false hopes and treatments that are actually shortening lives instead of improving them.

In his bestselling books, Atul Gawande, a practicing surgeon, has fearlessly revealed the struggles of his profession. Here he examines its ultimate limitations and failures—in his own practices as well as others'—as life draws to a close. Riveting, honest, and humane, Being Mortal shows how the ultimate goal is not a good death but a good life—all the way to the very end.

Join us Saturday 4/25 to welcome Christy Prahl who will share some of her poetry, her new book With Her Hair on Fire, as well as her process with us!

*****

​"With poems that shimmer like roadside heat, With Her Hair on Fire maps the liminal spaces between domestic ritual and personal rebellion, where solitude is sensual and mid-life love is the belt of a cinched-tight arm. The mechanics of these poems are humming. Christy Prahl understands the absurd majesty of primates with egos in a world where no one quite connects the way they should and yet—everything plugs into everything else." - Amy Baskin, author of Skull and Night Hag

“An Illinois Arts Council grant recipient and multiple Best of the Net and Pushcart Prize nominee, my work has appeared in a host of national and international journals.  I have enjoyed residencies at both Ragdale and The Writers Colony at Dairy Hollow and split my time between Chicago and rural Michigan. I am the founder and director of the PenRF reading series.”

Glendora Bookshop is celebrating our 2nd Birthday this year on Independent Bookshop Day! Join us Saturday, April 25th for fun and games all day, including refreshments, trivia, giveaways, discounts & more. Come out and celebrate with us!

We are excited to welcome back Family Story Time as a mainstay here at Glendora Bookshop! Every Friday morning from 11-12pm EST we will hold a themed Story Time for you and your little ones to enjoy, so be sure to come on down to the shop!

Help us spread the word for this fun-filled family event, and thank you as always for supporting your local, independent bookshop.

We are excited to welcome back Family Story Time as a mainstay here at Glendora Bookshop! Every Friday morning from 11-12pm EST we will hold a themed Story Time for you and your little ones to enjoy, so be sure to come on down to the shop!

Help us spread the word for this fun-filled family event, and thank you as always for supporting your local, independent bookshop.

We are excited to welcome back Family Story Time as a mainstay here at Glendora Bookshop! Every Friday morning from 11-12pm EST we will hold a themed Story Time for you and your little ones to enjoy, so be sure to come on down to the shop!

Help us spread the word for this fun-filled family event, and thank you as always for supporting your local, independent bookshop.

Join us for Rotating Reads Book Club, a reading group that explores fiction, non-fiction, memoir/biography and classics every first Thursday of the month. For a fun twist, one of these months will also be a freestyle "book report" where everyone reads something different, and shares what they read with the group.

Every month, a different volunteer will serve as the “host”. Their role will be to select the book, guide the discussion, and bring any fun insights or background about the author or genre. 

Sign up for book clubs at Glendora Bookshop by email, call/text, or just stop in and inquire!

For the month of April, Rotating Reads Book Club will conduct their third Book Report round! It’s a literary free-for-all, just be prepared to share what you’re reading with your book club cohort. Sell someone on whatever you just read? Feel free to book-swap with friends! This is a great way to learn about genres you’re less familiar with and to build community over books. The best part… these reports will NOT be graded!

Here’s a preview of the Book Report Discussion Format for those of you who like to come prepared!

• Title & Author

• Genre & Vibe (Is it a tearjerker? A page-turner? A slog worth finishing?)

• Why You Chose It

• Quick Summary (No spoilers)

• Favorite Line or Moment

• Rating (Out of 5 Stars)

• Would You Recommend It (And to Whom?)

• One Thing It Made You Think About

*****

Calling all Romantasy lovers! Glendora Bookshop is excited to host our very first Romantasy Book Club, Dragon Dreams! Co-led by book friends and community members Lauryn & Michaela, Dragon Dreams meets every second Wednesday of the month.

Sign up for book clubs at Glendora Bookshop by email, call/text, or just stop in and inquire. Dragon Dreams also mingles on FB so be sure to join our group to keep in touch.

April’s Dragon Dreams selection is I, Medusa by Ayana Gray. Be sure to snag your copy at Glendora Bookshop (book club members take 10% off book club reads!) and join us in April to discuss!

*****

AN NPR BEST BOOK OF THE YEAR

Meddy has spent her whole life as a footnote in someone else’s story. Out of place next to her beautiful, immortal sisters and her parents—both gods, albeit minor ones—she dreams of leaving her family’s island for a life of adventure. So when she catches the eye of the goddess Athena, who invites her to train as an esteemed priestess in her temple, Meddy leaps at the chance to see the world beyond her home.

In the colorful market streets of Athens and the clandestine chambers of the temple, Meddy flourishes in her role as Athena’s favored acolyte, getting her first tastes of purpose and power. But when she is noticed by another Olympian, Poseidon, the course of Meddy’s promising future is suddenly and irrevocably altered.

When her locs are transformed into snakes as punishment for a crime she did not commit, Medusa must embrace a new identity—not as a victim, but as a vigilante—and with it, the chance to write her own story as mortal, martyr, and myth.

Exploding with rage, heartbreak, and love, I, Medusa portrays a young woman caught in the crosscurrents between her heart’s deepest desires and the cruel, careless games the Olympian gods play.

Have a poem you want to share? A short story you want to workshop? What about reciting some gorgeous writing from a book you love? Join us for our monthly OPEN MIC as we gather to celebrate and support our collective creativity, risk-taking, and generosity.

Come in a few minutes before start time to sign-up if you wish to read - time slots are usually 5-8 mins long depending on participation. 18+ as some material may be challenging for youthful ears (stay tuned, though, as we’re planning to host quarterly family open mics for the younger writers among us!)

We are excited to welcome back Family Story Time as a mainstay here at Glendora Bookshop! Every Friday morning from 11-12pm EST we will hold a themed Story Time for you and your little ones to enjoy, so be sure to come on down to the shop!

Help us spread the word for this fun-filled family event, and thank you as always for supporting your local, independent bookshop.

We are excited to welcome back Family Story Time as a mainstay here at Glendora Bookshop! Every Friday morning from 11-12pm EST we will hold a themed Story Time for you and your little ones to enjoy, so be sure to come on down to the shop!

Help us spread the word for this fun-filled family event, and thank you as always for supporting your local, independent bookshop.

Outside/Underground Book Club is a bi-monthly reading group for those who want to learn more about the fascinating world around us . O/U explores topics around science and nature through memoir, poetry, non-fiction & more. We meet every other LAST Thursday of the month.

Sign up for book clubs at Glendora Bookshop by email, call/text, or just stop in and inquire.

This month’s O/U Book Club selection is The Light Eaters: How the Unseen World of Plant Intelligence Offers a New Understanding of Life on Earth by Zoë Schlanger. Be sure to snag your copy at Glendora Bookshop (book club members take 10% off book club reads!) and join us in March to discuss.

*****

NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER

It takes tremendous biological creativity to be a plant. To survive and thrive while rooted in a single spot, plants have adapted ingenious methods of survival. In recent years, scientists have learned about their ability to communicate, recognize their kin and behave socially, hear sounds, morph their bodies to blend into their surroundings, store useful memories that inform their life cycle, and trick animals into behaving to their benefit—a fascinating display of plant behavior and sensory abilities, to name just a few remarkable talents.

The Light Eaters is a deep immersion into the drama of green life and the complexity of this wild and awe-inspiring world that challenges our very understanding of agency, consciousness, and intelligence. In this captivating exploration of plant intelligence, we see that plants, rather than imitate human intelligence, have perhaps formed a parallel system. What is intelligent life if not a vine that grows leaves to blend into the shrub on which it climbs, a flower that shapes its bloom to fit exactly the beak of its pollinator, a pea seedling that can hear water flowing and make its way toward it? Zoë Schlanger takes us across the globe, digging into her own memories and into the soil with the scientists who have spent their waking days studying these amazing entities up close.

What can we learn about life on Earth from the living things that thrive, adapt, consume, and accommodate simultaneously? More important, what do we owe these life forms once we come to understand their rich and varied abilities? Examining the latest epiphanies in botanical research, Schlanger spotlights the intellectual struggles among the researchers conceiving a wholly new view of their subject, offering a glimpse of a field in turmoil as plant scientists debate the tenets of ongoing discoveries and how insights into plant communication influence our understanding of what a plant is.

We need plants to survive. But what do they need us for—if at all? An eye-opening and informative look at the ecosystem we live in, this book challenges us to rethink the role of plants—and our own place—in the natural world, tackling the enthralling question of plant consciousness along the way.

Praised as “a masterpiece of science writing,” The Light Eaters uncovers a world of botanical wonders, including:

• Plant Senses: Can a pea seedling hear running water? Does a flower know when a bee is approaching? A deep dive into the astonishing sensory abilities of the plant kingdom.

• The Great Debate: Go inside the labs and heated arguments of a scientific field in turmoil as researchers grapple with the evidence for plant intelligence and what it means for the future of botany.

• A New View of Life: From vines that mimic other plants to trees that recognize their own kin, discover a parallel system of life that challenges our very definition of agency and being.

• Groundbreaking Botanical Science: Journey across the globe with author Zoë Schlanger as she joins the researchers uncovering the latest epiphanies about the drama, complexity, and rich social lives of the green world.