Our next book will be Piranesi by Suzanne Clarke. This strange story is fantastical, lyrical, poetic, and mysterious. It is reminiscent of wild and symbolic worlds like Narnia.

From GoodReads: ”Piranesi's house is no ordinary building: its rooms are infinite, its corridors endless, its walls are lined with thousands upon thousands of statues, each one different from all the others. Within the labyrinth of halls an ocean is imprisoned; waves thunder up staircases, rooms are flooded in an instant. But Piranesi is not afraid; he understands the tides as he understands the pattern of the labyrinth itself. He lives to explore the house. There is one other person in the house-a man called The Other, who visits Piranesi twice a week and asks for help with research into A Great and Secret Knowledge. But as Piranesi explores, evidence emerges of another person, and a terrible truth begins to unravel, revealing a world beyond the one Piranesi has always known.”

Our discussion of this book will take place on Thursday, Oct. 23. Note: Do not be dismayed if you are disoriented at the beginning of the book! Just keep reading. :)

Copies of the book are already available in-store at House Finch in Collingswood, or you can order online through House Finch’s online bookshop site: https://bookshop.org/lists/suburban-jungle-book-club

Email hello@suburbanjunglenj.org for more details! Or join the Suburban Jungle Book Club group on Facebook

Local Collingswood artist, Neil King co-hosts a monthly Drink & Draw at Raccoon Taproom in Collingswood with several other artists. Join the self-described “nature contingent”, a group of us who primarily work on nature-inspired drawings. All skill levels welcome!

Join us for our Fall Plant Swap. Bring indoor or outdoor plants, cuttings, seedlings, and more to share. Items will be placed on the open swap table and after 30 minutes the swap will begin. All items will be up for grabs. Please be thoughtful and make sure there is enough left for everyone to take something home. Any remaining plants will be given away at the end of the event or will be brought back to the Plant Stand.

The event will be held outdoors in the backyard of one of our members. Registration is required to attend and we are limiting the swap to 25 people.

Notes:

-Plants must be in a container and must be labeled

-Plants must be pest and disease free

-Invasive species are prohibited

Please register via Eventbrite.

*Note: This event is currently sold out. You can join the Eventbrite waitlist in case additional tickets become available.

The next Suburban Jungle Book Club meeting is 8/26 and we will be discussing Mink River by Brian Doyle. Set in a coastal town in the Pacific Northwest populated with Irish immigrants and native Salish people, the story is about community, small-town life, and the magic of myth and story in everyday living. 

Copies of the book are already available in-store at House Finch in Collingswood, or you can order online through House Finch’s online bookshop site: https://bookshop.org/lists/suburban-jungle-book-club

Email hello@suburbanjunglenj.org for more details!

Bring indoor or outdoor plants, cuttings, seedlings, and more to share. Items will be placed on the open swap table and after 30 minutes the swap will begin. All items will be up for grabs. Please be thoughtful and make sure there is enough left for everyone to take something home. Any remaining plants will be given away at the end of the event or will be brought back to the Plant Stand.

The event will be held outdoors in the backyard of one of our members. Registration is required to attend and we are limiting the swap to 25 people.

Notes:

-Plants must be in a container and must be labeled

-Plants must be pest and disease free

-Invasive species are prohibited

Join us for a Seedling Swap at the Knight Park House and stay for a cleanup of the habitat gardens.

Bring any vegetable and flower seedlings that you would like to swap. If you can stay for the clean-up (not required but appreciated) bring gloves and tools if you have them. 

Snacks will be provided! We hope to see you there!