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.
In March and April 2026, the SciFri Book Club will read Life on a Little-Known Planet: Dispatches from a Changing World by Elizabeth Kolbert. This collection brings together the Pulitzer Prize winner’s most influential essays about climate change and the natural world. She takes us around the globe to meet the scientists, researchers, and everyday citizens working to understand and protect our changing world. Along the way, readers discover a carbon-neutral island in Denmark, explore a biologist’s efforts to talk to whales, and meet the “father of global warming.” Kolbert translates the most important environmental science of our time into vivid portraits and thought-provoking essays that balance awareness and wonder.
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 on Sunday, March 1, and you can read along with us! Discussion questions are shared on Monday of each week in the community group and via the newsletter. We’ll be (loosely) following this schedule, but all our readers are welcome to join us at their own pace:
- March 1-8: Introduction, Part 1 “Talk to Me” and “Life on a Little-Known Planet”
- March 9-15: Part 1 “Killing Mrs. Tiggy-Winkle” and “Stung”
- March 16-22: Part 2 “A Song of Ice” and “The Lost Canyon”
- March 23-29: Part 2 “The Island in the Wind” and “The Siege of Miami”
- March 30-April 5: Part 3 “Testing the Waters” and “A New Leaf”
- April 6-12: Part 3 “Going Negative” and “Recall of the Wild”
- April 13-19: Part 4 “The Catastrophist” and “The Weight of the World”
- April 20-26: Part 4 “Mr. Green” and “The Guru of Doo-Doo”
- April 27-30: Part 4 “Last Words” and Final Thoughts
Plus, we’ll be hosting events throughout the month! Keep an eye out on our website or join our Book Club 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), listen to the podcast interview with the author, join the discussion in our online Book Club community, sign up for our email newsletter, or RSVP for our upcoming Book Club events
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!
Life on a Little-Known Planet
Thursday, April 30
4 PM | Zoom
This discussion meeting will focus on themes and topics featured in Life on a Little-Known Planet. You’re welcome to join us no matter your reading progress—come chat with other science-interested folks about infectious disease, medicine, healthcare inequity, and much more.
Author Live Stream
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!
Life on a Little-Known Planet Q&A with Elizabeth Kolbert
Friday, March 27
12 PM | Science Friday's YouTube Livestream
In Life on a Little-Known Planet, Pulitzer Prize-winning author Elizabeth Kolbert collects her most compelling pieces about climate change and the natural world. Learn about her reporting on those working to preserve our environment.
