Desert Solitaire by Edward Abbey
This year the book Desert Solitaire by Edward Abbey is celebrating its 50th year of publication. Kat and Mitch Miller have been kind enough to invite the Desert Book Club to come to their house at 7:00 on July 2nd and honor this classic piece of desert literature. We will be sitting on the flagstone patio, under the misters, so remember to bring a folding chair if you have one handy. The location is 2 houses south of Tonelise’s place at 1517 McGarry. If driving from down town JT, turn north on Sunburst from highway 62, right on Golden, Left on Border and look for my big white Book Club sign and turn left on Sonora. About one mile later, look for another white sign at McGarry and turn right, I’ll have another sign out in front of the house.
I am excited to announce the August book, Relicts of a Beautiful Sea, by Christopher Norment at Nancy’s cabin and the September book, The Fellowship, by Roger Friedland at Andrea’s house. This will round out year 4 of the Book Club, can you believe it?
–Kip
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.
