Recapture and Other Stories by Erica Olsen
I am so happy that author Erica Olson contacted me about her book Recapture and Other Stories. A book of desert short stories is the perfect read during the hectic holiday season. The stories are set in the Four Corners region and told from the perspective of a female anthropologist, and some of them get a little racy! We will be meeting at my place on Monday, January 6th (my birthday!) at 7:00pm.
My house is at 63452 Winters Rd. in North Joshua Tree. From downtown 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. See you at 7:00pm on January 6th. I’ll have the wood burning stove all warmed up for you!
The February book is Wind Sand and Stars by Antoine de Saint-Exupery at Tonelise’s place. March is at Emily’s, book yet to be decided.
—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.
