Death Valley in ‘49 by William Lewis Manly at Kip’s House
The January 4th Book Club meeting will be featuring the book Death Vally in ‘49 by William Lewis Manly (and also be a party to celebrate my birthday on Wednesday!). This is a detailed chronicle of a man’s migration from Virginia to the gold fields of California during the gold rush of 1849. What makes this bona fide desert literature is that the core of the book depicts the risky trip across Death Valley his wagon train attempted in the middle of winter. The ethical problems that rose to the fore will give us much to talk about. Keep an extra book mark handy so you can quickly refer to the excellent end notes, they are super informative. If you are pressed for time, chapters 9-14 are the ones you want to focus on for their harrowing desert survival stories.
We will be meeting at my house 63452 Winters Rd. in North Joshua Tree. From down town JT, Turn North on Sunburst, Right on Golden, left on Border, keep your eyes out for Pole and Del Oro signs and turn right on Winters, with the street sign on the left hand side of the road and the Book Club sign on your right. Drive one mile and I’ll be on the left with the reflective orange triangle on a post and another Book Club sign. Can’t wait to share cake and Ice cream with all my Book Club friends!
In February I’m happy to announce we will be reading The Wisdom of the Desert by Thomas Merton and have the good fortune to gather at the very special Mother House, a structure dedicated exclusively to spiritual practice. -Kip
See Book Club homepage for more information on this monthly gathering
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.
