This month we're reading the Pulitzer Prize winning The Sixth Extinction: An Unnatural History by Elizabeth Kolbert.

Over the last half-billion years, there have been Five mass extinctions, when the diversity of life on earth suddenly and dramatically contracted. Scientists around the world are currently monitoring the sixth extinction, predicted to be the most devastating extinction event since the asteroid impact that wiped out the dinosaurs. This time around, the cataclysm is us. In prose that is at once frank, entertaining, and deeply informed, New Yorker writer Elizabeth Kolbert tells us why and how human beings have altered life on the planet in a way no species has before. Interweaving research in half a dozen disciplines, descriptions of the fascinating species that have already been lost, and the history of extinction as a concept, Kolbert provides a moving and comprehensive account of the disappearances occurring before our very eyes. She shows that the sixth extinction is likely to be mankind's most lasting legacy, compelling us to rethink the fundamental question of what it means to be human.

We have no theme or topic for what we read. Attendees each nominate a book for next month, and the final selection is made by a poll on our SALA Facebook group.

We meet the 1st Sunday of each month. This month we'll meet on November 5th the same day as our Assembly.

Stick around at Loreley where we have our post-Assembly lunch, and we will start the book club discussion at 4 pm.