Greetings readers,
As you all know, I am a bookworm of the highest order. In fact, I’m such a bookworm that my compost worms have their own library. I think it’s important to surround them with good literature, but they just keep eating the pages.
And so must we all surround ourselves with good matter to fertilize our minds. It is high time the Umbra Book Club has another book to read! Anna Lappe’s Diet for a Hot Planet was a great place to leave off.
And so it is with great pleasure that I announce this month’s book. Drum roll please … Our book to kick off the summer is Sylvia Earle’s The World Is Blue: How Our Fate and the Ocean’s Are One.
Why did I choose this book, dear readers? No one says it better than Sylvia Earle, the oceanographer/aquanaut/National Geographic explorer-in-residence, herself:
Even if you never have the chance to see or touch the ocean, the ocean touches you with every breath you take, every drop of water you drink, every bite you consume. Everyone, everywhere is inextricably connected to and utterly dependent upon the existence of the sea.
This book is a reminder of the beautiful blue part of our planet that sustains us. We’re seeing so much damage with the ongoing oil spill in the Gulf. It’s time we pay attention to the beauty of the ocean and how we can protect and save our “life-support system.”
It’s a fact-filled, inspiring ode to the oceans. A page-turner. It’s also a very fine read at the beach!
My favorite ways to get my hands on a book are checking it out at the local library or finding it used.
For your viewing pleasure, here’s Dr. Earle giving her award-winning TED talk:
And here she is discussing the oil spill on Charlie Rose.
We’ll discuss the book the week of July 12th. That gives us three weeks to dive deep. I’ll make announcements about a live chat for that week. In the meantime, good luck getting your copy. And enjoy reading!
Swimmingly,
Umbra
