March Book - She Who Became the Sun, by Shelley Parker-Chan

She Who Became the Sun reimagines the rise to power of the Ming Dynasty’s founding emperor.

In a famine-stricken village on a dusty yellow plain, two children are given two fates. A boy, greatness. A girl, nothingness…

In 1345, China lies under harsh Mongol rule. For the starving peasants of the Central Plains, greatness is something found only in stories. When the Zhu family’s eighth-born son, Zhu Chongba, is given a fate of greatness, everyone is mystified as to how it will come to pass. The fate of nothingness received by the family’s clever and capable second daughter, on the other hand, is only as expected.

When a bandit attack orphans the two children, though, it is Zhu Chongba who succumbs to despair and dies. Desperate to escape her own fated death, the girl uses her brother's identity to enter a monastery as a young male novice. There, propelled by her burning desire to survive, Zhu learns she is capable of doing whatever it takes, no matter how callous, to stay hidden from her fate.

After her sanctuary is destroyed for supporting the rebellion against Mongol rule, Zhu takes the chance to claim another future altogether: her brother's abandoned greatness.

February Book - Homegoing, by Yaa Gyasi

January Book - Everyday Utopia, by Kristen R. Ghodsee

November/December Book - Braiding Sweetgrass, by Robin Wall Kimmerer

October Book - Evil Roots: Killer Tales of the Botanical Gothic, edited by Daisy Butcher

September Book - Living for Pleasure by Emily A. Austin

August Book - Fieldwork by Iliana Regan

BOOK CLUB ORIGINS & FOCUS

Herbiery Brewing began with an imagination fed by plants and books. Nia, our founder and brewer, discovered the book, “Sacred and Herbal Healing Beers,” by Stephen Harrod Buhner and decided to close the gap between “plants” and “beer” by making their own brews from herbs, spices, flowers, and fruits.

One of Herbiery’s core values is Queerness. The whole management team (Nia and Maddy) are queer and nonbinary, and Nia sees the brewing of beer without hops as incorporating queerness into the world of beer, changing expectations of what beer can be. Queering beer!

Another of our core values is Continuous Learning, and our new taproom at 2015 Winnebago Street provides a space to talk about books that intersect all of these ideas. We meet on the last Sunday of each month at 3pm for an informal chat about that month’s book in a relaxed and comfortable atmosphere. 

Each month’s selection will explore food and drink, herbalism, foraging, and intersections of all of these with lgbtqia+ issues. You can find info about the book choice at A Room of One’s Own Bookstore, online  ( https://www.roomofonesown.com/herbiery-brewing-book-club ) or in store (2717 Atwood Avenue). You can use the code HERBIERY for a 10% discount if you buy the book on their website, or just mention that you’re buying it for our book club if you’re getting it in the store. 

Nia attends with a list of questions and topics to guide conversation, but it’s  each participant’s enthusiasm for the text that will propel the discussion. Come with your own excitement about the text and let’s talk!