The Gist: Welcome to the final week of October, and our last discussion of Animal Camp by Kathy Stevens! Thank you for all of your questions for the Q+A with Stevens this week—her answers will be posted this Friday.

As I said previously, we finished the book this week, which consisted of more touching stories from Stevens regarding Catskill Animal Sanctuary. She also ends with her plea for people to adopt the vegan lifestyle, which she believes to be a very important step in helping to stop the atrocities of factory farming, as well as saving the environment.

The Discussion: I leave you with two final discussion points to start us with the conversation. I look forward to reading your thoughts!

1. What is your number one reason for being a vegan or vegetarian—ethics, health, environment, etc.?

2. What are your final thoughts on the book? Did it make you hopeful, sad, or inspire you to action in some way?

The Assignment: Next week, we will begin our discussion of My Year of Meats by Ruth L. Ozeki! Please read from the prologue through chapter 3 by Monday, November 1.

~VN Book Club Hostess Lyndsay Orwig

The Summary: Good afternoon VegNews Book Clubbers! We are now finishing up the third week of our discussion of Animal Camp by Kathy Stevens. Discussion was light this week, but those who participated talked about our feelings on the fact that Stevens feeds her pets meat, and on the term anthropomorphism. I appreciate the feedback received!

We will be discussing the rest of the book next week, and please remember to send your questions for Kathy to me at lorwig@vegnews.com by this Monday, October 25. Have a good weekend!

~VN Book Club Hostess Lyndsay Orwig

The Gist: Good afternoon VegNews Book Clubbers! We have entered the third week of reading Animal Camp by Kathy Stevens, with whom we will be having a Q+A with next week, so be sure to send your questions to lorwig@vegnews.com before next Monday.

This week's section are mainly stories from Catskill Animal Sanctuary, and how they have touched Stevens life. As mentioned before, Stevens' wrote this book to show readers how each and every animal—even within their own species—are individuals. Her stories help to convey this point—not all of them being happy. Also, she delves deeper into her thoughts of anthropomorphism, believing it is a false term.

The Discussion: I hope you're enjoying the book so far! Here are two discussion points, and I look forward to your thoughts.

1. We find out in this section that Stevens still feeds her dog and cat meat, and explains why she does. What are your thoughts on this?

2. What do you think about the term anthropomorphism? Do you agree with Stevens' opinion that it is a myth?

The Assignment: Please read the rest of Animal Camp for our discussion on Monday, October 25.

~VN Book Club Hostess Lyndsay Orwig

The Summary: Guess what? It's Friday, ending the second week of our discussion of Animal Camp by Kathy Stevens! We mainly talked about the personalities of different animals in our lives this week, and the stories shared were awesome—a dog who sang along to opera, another one who shared her food with other homeless dogs, and my dog, Pepper, who protected our guinea pig, Sam. I absolutely love these types of stories—they're always a good pick-me-up during the day, as well as a good way to spread the vegetarian message.

We will be discussing pages 96 to 148 next week, and please remember to send your questions for Kathy to me at lorwig@vegnews.com by Monday, October 25. I, for one, am very excited to chat with her regarding Animal Camp and Catskill Animal Sanctuary. Have a great weekend!

~VN Book Club Hostess Lyndsay Orwig

The Gist: Good morning everyone! We are into our second week of reading Animal Camp by Kathy Stevens. This has been a very enjoyable, easy read, and I hope you're having as much fun with it as I am. We've read the next 50 pages, which talk about the end of Stevens' summer camp with the three rescued farm animals—Franklin, Hope, and Tucker. They are returning to Catskill Animal Sanctuary, and she's interested in seeing how the three will adjust to living with other animals again. The transition isn't seemless for Tucker the cow or Franklin the pig, but Stevens makes some adjustments, and things work themselves out.

The rest of our reading consists of different stories of animals in the sanctuary, and Stevens' experiences with them. One such story is about Norman the turkey, who's actually a girl, and who Stevens rescues during a frozen turkey bowling competition at Thanksgiving time. There's also Rambo the sheep and Hannah, the other sheep who's madly in love with him. The stories show the individual personalities of the animals.

The Discussion: I'm finding this book incredibly fun to read. Like I mentioned last week, I have never visited a farm sanctuary, so it's wonderful to read these stories. Here are two discussion points. I can't wait to read your comments!

1. Do you have a fun and interesting story about an animal's individual personality, like one of Stevens' lovely stories?

2. Have you ever rescued an animal? What happened, and what was the outcome?

The Assignment: Please read pages 96 to 148 of Animal Camp for our discussion on Monday, October 18.

~VN Book Club Hostess Lyndsay Orwig

The Summary: Hello VegNews Book Clubbers, and welcome to another Friday! They come so fast, don't they? It is currently the end of the first week of our discussion of Animal Camp by Kathy Stevens. I laid out two discussion points, but we mainly just talked about the first, which asked if you have ever visited an animal sanctuary, and what your experience was like. Those who have been to one say it was a very joyous experience, where they were able to meet animals that are free to be who they are, with individual personalities. I mentioned that I've never been to one unfortunately, but I really hope to go soon. What's most amazing to me, is that people who start and run sanctuaries give their entire lives to these rescued animals, which I find quite heroic. Of course, I'm sure it's very rewarding to be around such loving animals each and every day.

I appreciate the participation this week, and I have some exciting news! The VegNews Book Club will be holding a Q+A with Kathy Stevens, and we want to hear from you. Please send your questions for Kathy to me at lorwig@vegnews.com by Monday, October 25, and I will choose the best ones to be submitted to her, and will post her answers on the final wrap up of Animal Camp. I look forward to receiving your questions, and to discussing more of the book next week!

~VN Book Club Hostess Lyndsay Orwig

The Gist: Hello everyone, and Happy October! Last week, we finished up our discussion of The Jungle, and today we will begin our conversation about a much more positive book, Animal Camp by Kathy Stevens! I'm very excited about this month's book, due to the fact that I have heard nothing but good things about it, and about the author. So let's get started!

We read the first 45 pages of the book, in which Stevens introduces herself and Catskill Animal Sanctuary, a farm animal sanctuary located in New York State. She explains that the book is split into two sections—the first describing Stevens' summer away from the sanctuary at her partner David's house with three rescued animals which she calls "summer camp," and the second part about her bringing the three animals back to the sanctuary. The three animals are Franklin the pig, Hope the horse, and Tucker the cow, and all three are sort of outcasts at the sanctuary. Stevens wants to give them special attention in this summer camp, and also wants to learn lessons from the three animals.

Summer camp turns out to be a great success, and our reading stopped pretty much at the end of the summer. The three animals have become close friends, and Stevens comes out with some important insights.

The Discussion: This is a very lovely and easy book to read, due to its hopeful and gentle nature. Who doesn't like reading about happy animals? I, for one, am a sucker for this story. I leave you with a couple discussion points to get the conversation started. I look forward to hearing from you this week!

1. Have you ever visited an animal sanctuary? If so, which one, and how was your experience? If not, do you want to visit one? Why?

2. Stevens talks about her biography a little at the beginning, and she mentions that she turned down an offer to head a charter high school in order to start Catskill Animal Sanctuary, which was a dream of hers. What is your dream career, and do you plan on going through with it? Why, or why not?

The Assignment: Please read pages 46 to 95 of Animal Camp for our discussion on Monday, October 11.

~VN Book Club Hostess Lyndsay Orwig

The Summary: Hi everyone, and happy Friday! We have now finished The Jungle by Upton Sinclair, and will begin our discussion of Animal Camp by Kathy Stevens on Monday. If you're in the SF Bay area this weekend, be sure to come out to the World Veg Festival—VegNews will be there selling subscriptions, and I'll probably be working the table for most of the show, so come say hello.

Earlier this week, I brought up two discussion points—the first about your feelings on socialism, and what your feelings were after finishing the book. There was a positive response to the socialist movement and you also supported Jurgis' decision to convert. From the feedback that I received, it doesn't seem that the book left any of you too hopeful, due to the fact that the same abuses are still present today.

That concludes our discussion of The Jungle. I hope to hear from a lot of you next week when we start some cheekier subject matter!

~VN Book Club Hostess Lyndsay Orwig

The Gist: Good afternoon, and welcome to the last week of our discussion of The Jungle by Upton Sinclair. Next week we will be reading a much lighter book, Animal Camp by Kathy Stevens. I think it will give us a chance to have more positive discussions, as it's about rescued animals. But first, let's finish our conversation about The Jungle!

Where we left off, Jurgis is back to working in Packingtown where he has helped a Republican candidate, Mike Scully, win office. After the win, Jurgis remains working as a hog trimmer. A strike breaks out due to a conflict between the packers and the unions. Scully talks Jurgis into staying on the job during the strike, which is known as being a "scab." He makes considerably better pay, and the strike lasts for some time. However, one night Jurgis is out and comes across Connor, who had abused Ona in the past, and Jurgis cannot control himself and attacks him viciously. He returns to jail and searches for help to be released, but finds out that Connor is one of Scully's favorites, and that he will be unable to be helped. He is advised to pay his bail and skip town, which he does, leaving him poor once again.

Back on the streets, Jurgis is unable to find a job, and one day he comes by a woman that he knew in his first year in Chicago, and although she is unable to help him, she tells him where Marija is working and says that she is well off. He goes to the house and realizes that it's a brothel. Once there, the police raid it, and Jurgis is only able to speak to Marija for a few minutes, in which he finds out that Stanislovas has died by being killed by rats, and that Marija has found that prostitution is the only job that pays enough for her to live and support the rest of the family. She understands why Jurgis left, and tells him to go back to the house. However, Jurgis does not want to go back to Teta Elzbieta until he has found a job, so he sets out to do so. During this time, he stumbles upon a political meeting, which turns out to be socialist. The man who speaks touches Jurgis very deeply, and he becomes an instant convert to socialism.

The rest of the book is about Jurgis learning more about the socialist movement and working to help it grow. He finds a job in a hotel run by a socialist leader, and is treated well while working there. The book ends with elections taking place, and the socialists win great victories, by increasing their numbers across the country.

The Discussion: I hope you guys enjoyed this book as much as I did. I leave you with two last discussion questions, and I look forward to your thoughts.

1. How do you feel about socialism? The term is still very common, but is often not seen in the most positive light. If you were in Jurgis' position at that time, would you have joined the movement?

2. What were you emotions when finishing this book? Did it leave you hopeful, or pessimistic?

The Assignment: Please read the preface to page 45 of Animal Camp for our discussion on Monday, September 28.

~VN Book Club Hostess Lyndsay Orwig

The Summary: Welcome VegNews Book Clubbers to the conclusion of our second month of the VN Book Club, in which we are discussing the final chapters of Skinny Bitch by Rory Freedman and Kim Barnouin. We will be taking a break next week, but will start right back up on September 7 where we will begin talking about the first five chapters of The Jungle by Upton Sinclair. I hope you guys are as excited as me to read this classic novel about the atrocities of the Chicago meatpacking industry in the early 20th century, and hope that the extra week gives you plenty of time to read.

Back to our discussion on Skinny Bitch! I first asked how you maintain a positive attitude, and the answers mainly focused on exercise, particularly yoga, but Changeintomule even mentioned being a part of CrossFit, which is awesome! Personally, I have started to ride my bike much more, specifically to work and back, which has really changed my mood for the better. I also feel much more focused during work, and even at home.

Finally, I asked about your thoughts on some controversy of the tone of the book, as well as if you think that "skinny" equals "healthy." This question definitely spurred different answers and opinions, both negative and positive. I think that it's important to have these types of discussions, because these are the issues that matter most. The book can be interpreted in a variety of ways depending on your outlook. If you consider yourself a feminist, there is some troubling language in the book that does not help the cause. But if you look at it in a casual matter, it could be read as a close friend giving it to you straight.

Please feel free to share anymore thoughts on Skinny Bitch in this post's comments section. It was a great month of sharing and I look forward to discussing The Jungle!

I would also like to announce the books we will be reading for the next three months of the VegNews Book Club, beginning with October:

October: Animal Camp by Kathy Stevens
November: My Year of Meats by Ruth L. Ozeki
December: Quantum Wellness by Kathy Freston

I'm very excited about this lineup, and I hope you are, too. Have a great weekend!

~VN Book Club Hostess Lyndsay Orwig