29 by Mary Sojourner
Mary Sojourner’s novel, 29, is the perfect book to mark the 2nd anniversary of Kip’s Desert Book Club on October 3rd at 7pm. This book chronicles a woman’s transition from the urban corporate world, to life in the Morongo basin. Along the way it addresses the environmental, spiritual and social issues that will be familiar to all that call the Mojave home.
We can’t thank the Sibleys enough for opening up The Palms road house on their night off for us to meet where it all started, 2 years ago. To get to The Palms, take Highway 62 to downtown 29 Palms then go north on Adobe Road. Turn right at the light on Amboy Road then drive about 12 miles into the heart of Wonder Valley and The Palms will be on your right at 83131 Amboy Road. Remember to bring a flashlight so you can walk across the highway to the Sibley’s Wonderland Bookstore, where every book is a desert book!
In November we will feature Marshal South and the Ghost Mountain Chronicles by Diana Lindsey. December, we’ll be reading The Joshua Tree by Robert Cabot and in January The Rope by Nevada Barr. See you at The Palms!
Monday, October 3
7 pm at The Palms
83131 Amboy Road, Twentynine Palms, CA
Every month from October 2014 until March 2020, Kip’s Desert Book Club gathered on the first Monday of the month at 7:00 pm in the home of a different resident of the Morongo Basin to discuss a book that in one way or another touches on the theme of “desert”.
Since the start of the pandemic, Kip has been hard at work making renovations to the kitchen and bathrooms at Copper Mountain Mesa Community Center, where he is the board President, and keeping their monthly USDA food drive alive. During this time, Kip’s Desert Book Club had largely been on pause, with the exception of a few virtual meetings. These virtual gatherings allowed us to welcome the participation of book club fans from beyond our local region.
Sixty-six books, more than seven years, and one pandemic later, Kip has decided to step back from being the primary book club organizer and join the rest of us as readers. Kip, we thank you for all the wonderful and eclectic desert books you’ve chosen over the years, as well as the unforgettable stories and knowledge you continue to share (if you know, you know!)
So, we are excited to announce that beginning in January 2022, our in-person book club will resume as the Desert Research Library Book Club (or DRL Book Club, for short). Each month, a member of the current Desert Research Library Artist Cohort will select a book from the library as that month’s book club selection.
