Burning Issues Book Club (BIBC) is an online and local book club that gathers to read and discuss non-fiction works related to climate change, environmental degradation, environmental and social justice, and implementation of social change movements. To learn more about BIBC and join, please click here.

Some general rules for participation

This is a lively, but casual discussion group that meets via Zoom. We encourage active participation, either on camera or in the chat.

You don't need to always agree, but keep discussions civil. Racism, homophobia, ableism, and etc. towards other members of the group will not be tolerated. No tone policing POC or talking over anyone else who is trying to share their lived experience. Diversity is important, and we want anyone with a different experience to feel heard and safe when they decide to share their knowledge in our community.

We're all here to make progress. You don't need to be perfect, but you must be open-minded. Get comfortable with being uncomfortable. Growth can be challenging especially when confronting our internal biases and harsh realities of the world.

No selling or self-promotion. The exception is if you wrote a book you'd like to add to our reading list and please (DM mods before posting for approval).

Feel free to share supplementing articles, podcasts, or youtube videos, but keep it on topic for the sake of discussion!

January 2023

The Intersectional Environmentalist: How to Dismantle Systems of Oppression to Protect People + Planet by Leah Thomas

February 2023

Killing the Black Body: Race, Reproduction, and the Meaning of Liberty by Dorothy Roberts

March 2023

Essential Labor: Mothering as Social Change by Angela Garbes

April 2023

Gathering Moss: A Natural and Cultural History of Mosses by Robin Wall Kimmerer

May 2023

Consumed: The Need for Collective Change: Colonialism, Climate Change, and Consumerism by Aja Barber

June 2023

Captive Genders: Trans Embodiment and the Pr*son Industrial Complex, Second Edition, edited by Eric A. Stanley and Nat Smith, with a Foreward by Cece McDonald

July 2023

The Protest Psychosis: How Schizophrenia Became a Black Disease by Jonathan Metzi

August 2023

Who Is Wellness For?: An Examination of Wellness Culture and Who It Leaves Behind by Fariha Roisin

September 2023

All We Can Save: Truth, Courage, and Solutions for the Climate Crisis, edited by Ayana Elizabeth Johnson and Katharine K. Wilkinson

October 2023

Made in China: A Prisoner, an SOS Letter, and the Hidden Cost of America's Cheap Goods by Amelia Pang

November 2023

Fresh Banana Leaves: Healing Indigenous Landscapes Through Indigenous Science by Jessica Hernandez

December 2023

Hope in the Dark: Untold Histories, Wild Possibilities (Updated) by Rebecca Solnit

Copies of our 2023 books may be ordered here. Should you need assistance with accessing books, please contact us at belcantobooks[at]gmail.com.

Burning Issues Book Club June 2023 book, Captive Genders: Trans Embodiment and the Pr*son Industrial Complex, Second Edition, edited by Eric A. Stanley and Nat Smith, with a Foreward by Cece McDonald