Book Group: The Light Eaters

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Join us for the Pacific Beach Library's monthly book discussion!  Our group meets in a hybrid format, so you can choose whether you'd prefer to join us in-person in the PB Library's Community Room or virtually (please send an email to cwainwright@sandiego.gov for this year's Zoom login info).  December's selection is The Light Eaters: How the Unseen World of Plant Intelligence Offers a New Understanding of Life on Earth  by Zoë Schlanger.

Description:  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, 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 looking closely, 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.  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.

 

If you'd like to check out a print copy of the book, they are available 1 month before each discussion at the Pacific Beach Library's Circulation Desk.  Please call 858-581-9934 x0 before coming to pick it up so that staff may confirm availability.

Book Discussion Calendar

  • January 9, 2025: Select titles to discuss in 2025
  • February 13: The Heaven & Earth Grocery Store  by James McBride
  • March 23: The Gambler Wife  by Andrew D. Kaufman
  • April 10: The Color of Water  by James McBride
  • May 8: The Phoenix Crown  by Kate Quinn & Janie Chang
  • June 12: South to America: A Journey Below the Mason-Dixon to Understand the Soul of a Nation  by Imani Perry
  • July 10: How to Hide an Empire: A History of the Greater United States  by Daniel Immerwahr
  • August 14: 1984  by George Orwell 
  • September 11: Wild Swans: Three Daughters of China  by Jung Chang
  • October 9: The Women  by Kristin Hannah
  • November 13: One Book, One San Diego selection (to be announced)
  • December 11: The Light Eaters: How the Unseen World of Plant Intelligence Offers a New Understanding of Life on Earth  by Zoë Schlanger
  • January 8, 2026: Select titles to discuss in 2026
  • February 12, 2026: James  by Percival Everett

Accessibility

Need disability-related modifications or accommodations? Information and program content can be made available in alternative formats upon request by emailing JFRogers@sandiego.gov.