MGV Book Club
The virtual Florida Master Gardener Volunteer Book Club read “Night Magic: Adventures Among Glowworms, Moon Gardens, and Other Marvels of the Dark,” by Leigh Ann Henion.
You don’t have to be a Master Gardener Volunteer to join this virtual book club. Everything is done online, with weekly discussion questions posted in a Facebook group. We wrapped up this summer with a Zoom interview with author Leigh Ann Henion.
From the Author
“In this glorious celebration of the night, New York Times bestselling nature writer Leigh Ann Henion invites us to leave our well-lit homes, step outside and embrace the dark as a profoundly beautiful part of the world we inhabit. Because no matter where we live, we are surrounded by animals that rise with the moon, and blooms that reveal themselves as light fades. Henion explores her home region of Appalachia, where she attends a synchronous firefly event in Tennessee, a bat outing in Alabama and a moth festival in Ohio. In North Carolina, she finds forests alight with bioluminescent mushrooms, neighborhood trees full of screech owls and valleys teeming with migratory salamanders. Along the way, Henion encounters naturalists, biologists, primitive-skills experts and others who’ve dedicated their lives to cultivating relationships with darkness.
Every page of this lyrical book feels like an opportunity to ask: How did I not know about this before? For example, we learn that it can take hours, not minutes, for human eyes to reach full night vision capacity. And that there are thousands of firefly species on earth, many with flash patterns as unique as fingerprints. In an age of increasing artificial light, Night Magic focuses on the amazing biodiversity that still surrounds us after sunset. We do not need to stargaze into the distant cosmos or dive into the depths of oceans to find awe in the dark. There are dazzling wonders in our own backyards.”
2025 Book Club Schedule
- June 2-6: Chapter 1 (Fireflies Blinking)
- June 9-13: Chapter 2 (Salamanders Migrating)
- June 16-20: Chapter 3 (Owls Nesting)
- June 23-27: Chapter 4 (Glowworms Squirming)
- June 30-July 3: Chapter 5 (Moths Transforming)
- July 7-11: Night observations homework
- July 14-18: Chapter 6 (Bats Flying)
- July 21-25: Chapter 7 (Foxfire Glowing)
- July 28-August 1: Chapter 8 (Moon Gardens Blooming)
- August 4-8: Chapter 9 (Humans Surviving)
- August 15: Live interview with author via Zoom
How do I join the next book club?
We’re on a book break, but check this page for updates.