ÀÖÓ¯VI

Now Reading | August to October 2025

Birding to Change the World: A Memoir
by Trish O'Kane

Trish O’Kane never expected to be a birder. It was a lone red cardinal and a bumptious cast of house sparrows that changed everything for O’Kane after Hurricane Katrina shattered her life in New Orleans. Watching birds thrive throughout the devastated city became her salvation and set her on a new path. Soon O’Kane found herself pursuing an environmental science PhD in Wisconsin, where she became a full-on bird obsessive—logging hours and hours in a stunningly diverse urban park, filling field notebooks with observations of bird doings and dramas, and volunteering in a wildlife rehabilitation center bird nursery.

But it wasn’t until that park, her bird-watching haven, was threatened with development that O’Kane became an environmental activist. Taking her cues from the birds, she mustered a mighty flock of fellow human park lovers to raise their voices and save the park.

Each chapter in Birding to Change the World features at least one species of bird that O’Kane has learned from. She recounts the astonishing science of bird life, including migration and survival strategies, along with many moving and compelling stories about birds and the humans who love them. In this heartfelt memoir, O’Kane shows what birds can teach us—and how that education can be a transformative force for social change.

Coming Up Next | October to December 2025

A Pair of Wings 
by Carole Hopson

An airline captain crafts a riveting, adventurous novel inspired by the remarkable true life of pioneer aviatrix Bessie Coleman, a Black woman who learned to fly at the dawn of aviation and found freedom in the air.

A few years after the Wright brothers’ first flight, Bessie was working the Texas cotton fields with her family when an airplane flew over their heads. It buzzed so low she thought she could catch it in her hands. Bessie was fearless. She knew there was freedom in those wings.

The daughter of a woman born into slavery, Bessie answers the call of the Great Migration. She moves to Chicago, where she wins the backing of two wealthy, powerful Black men—Robert Abbott, creator and publisher of the Chicago Defender, and Jesse Binga, the founder of Chicago’s first Black bank. Abbott becomes her mentor, while Binga becomes her lover. Her true first love, though, remains flying.

But in 1920, no one in the United States will train a Black woman to fly. So, twenty-eight-year-old Bessie learns to speak French and sets off for Europe. Two years ahead of Amelia Earhart, Bessie earns her pilot's license, and later she learns death-defying stunts from French and German dogfighting combat pilots.

With tenderness and mastery, Carole Hopson imagines the breathtaking moxie Bessie Coleman harnessed in order to lift herself out of poverty and become known as “Queen Bess.”

Check out our new webinar series, Beyond the Pages: U of A Authors!

Discover the rich literary talent within the ÀÖÓ¯VI community with our new webinar series, Beyond the Pages. In addition to the popular U of A Virtual Book Club, this quarterly event will spotlight a different U of A author — alumni, faculty, or current students — offering a unique opportunity to explore their latest work and dive into the heart of their artistic journey.

Whether you’re a long-time book club member or brand new to the group, this series will broaden your literary horizons and deepen your understanding of the creative process. It's a chance to engage with the minds behind the books, celebrate the diversity of thought and experience at the U of A, and connect with fellow readers who share a passion for storytelling.

On January 23, we chatted with U of A Assistant Professor, Conor Kerr, about his 2024 Giller Prize shortlisted novel, Prairie Edge.

Stay tuned for upcoming guest authors!