Anchorage Public Library has partnered with Science Friday to bring the Sci Fri Book Club to the science and reading enthusiasts in our community. The SciFri Book Club is a program created by Science Friday to bring people together around all things science reading – anything from sci-fi short stories to nonfiction science books to science articles from various publications to science-y poetry!
There’s lots of ways to participate: Read the book, join our community space, attend an event, or send a message on the SciFri VoxPop app.
January Selection
This January, the SciFri Book Club is reading Fire Weather: On the Front Lines of a Burning World by John Vaillant. In our changing climate, disasters caused by wildfires are predicted to become more and more common. With masterly prose and a cinematic eye, Vaillant takes us on a riveting journey through the intertwined histories of North America’s oil industry and the birth of climate science, to the unprecedented devastation wrought by modern forest fires, and into lives forever changed by these disasters.
Fire Weather brings together a range of topics, including ecology, environmental science, climatology, history, energy policy, and more—and we’ll touch on these ideas throughout this Book Club season.
Get the Ebook or audiobook from the Alaska Digital Library. You can also get a copy from your local bookstore.
This Book Club season kicks off Wednesday, January 1, and you can read along with us! We’ll be (loosely) following this schedule, but all our readers are welcome to join us at their own pace:
- January 1-12: Part 1: Origin Stories
- January 13-19: Part 2: Fire Weather
- January 20-27: Part 3: Reckoning
- January 28-31: Final thoughts
Plus, we’ll be hosting events throughout the month! Keep an eye out on our website or join our Events newsletter to be the first to know.
There are so many ways to dive in and participate! You can purchase a copy of the book (and support the author and SciFri), join the discussion in our online Book Club community, sign up for our email newsletter, or RSVP for our upcoming Book Club events. Check out all the details below.
Join the SciFri Book Club community forum here.
Book Club Meeting
Want to meet other SciFri Book Club members, talk about the book selection, and find more resources for deeper learning—all without leaving your home? Our community meeting is the place for you!
Fire Weather: On the Front Lines of a Burning World
Thursday, January 30
4 PM | Zoom
This discussion meeting will focus on themes and topics featured in Fire Weather. You’re welcome to join us no matter your reading progress—come chat with other science-interested folks about ecology, environmental science, climatology, history, energy policy, and more.
Author Livestream Event
Join us online for a livestream all about the science topics featured in the SciFri Book Club pick. Come with your queries and wonderings—we’ll be taking your questions in the livestream comments!
Fire Warning: On the Front Lines of a Burning World
Tuesday, January 21
10 AM | Science Friday's YouTube Livestream
Author John Vaillant will join the SciFri Book Club livestream to talk about the Fort McMurray wildfire and the escalating impact of fire in the age of climate change. Dive into the history of fire’s role in human evolution and the urgent lessons this fiery catastrophe holds for our future.
Upcoming Selections
- January: Fire Weather: a True Story from a Hotter World by John Vaillant. Ebook and audiobook available from the Alaska Digital Library.
- February: Origin: a Genetic History of the Americas by Jennifer Raff.
- March: Prodigal Summer by Barbara Kingsolver. Ebook and audiobook available from the Alaska Digital Library.
