NEXT SD HORT BOOK CLUB: Truffle Hound By Rowan Jacobsen, January 5, 2026, 4:30/5p On Zoom
- k-england
- Dec 1
- 5 min read
By Karen England, for Let's Talk Plants! December 2025.
Join us on Zoom for discussion of Truffle Hound by Rowan Jacobsen at 4:30/5p pacific time on Zoom on January 5, 2026.
Truffles attract dreamers, schemers, and sensualists. People spend years training dogs to find them underground (or pay absurd amounts for a ringer). They plant entire forests of oaks and wait a decade for truffles to appear. They pay $3,000 a pound to possess them. They turn into quivering puddles in their presence. Why?
Truffle Hound is the fascinating account of Rowan’s quest to find out. Both an entertaining odyssey and a manifesto, Truffle Hound demystifies truffles―and then remystifies them, freeing them from their gilded cage and returning them to their roots as a sacred offering from the forest. It helps people understand why they respond so strongly to that crazy smell, shows them there’s more to truffles than they ever imagined, and gives them all the tools they need to take their own truffle love to the next level. Deeply informed, unabashedly passionate, rakishly readable, Truffle Hound will spark America’s next great culinary passion.
Note: The Zoom SDHBC meeting link is not published, instead it is emailed to discussion participants. If you would like to receive the link, please email info@sdhort.org with “book club” in the subject line.
Looking Ahead
January 5, 2026 - Truffle Hunter by Rowan Jacobsen.
February 2, 2026 - In Kiltumper ~ A Year in an Irish Garden by Niall Williams with Christine Breen.
BONUS! The February 21, 2026, General Meeting presenter will be Zoomed IN to the in-person meeting at Oasis, Ranch Bernardo. Riley Black will be off site talking about the subject of her book When the Earth Was Green. This Zoom may not be recorded, that is to be determined, so if you wish to read the book ahead of the meeting by all means do so and we can discuss it at a future SD Hort Book Club meeting.
March 2, 2026 - Ten Tomatoes That Changed The World - A History by William Alexander.
Have you heard how much fun the SD Hort Book Club is?
It's amazing, and I'm not just saying that because I'm the head muckety-muck. I have learned so much since the book club started in January of 2021. The membership roll is over forty readers with a few lurkers who dip in and out as the books pique their interests and their schedules allow. There is, however, plenty of room for more, so if you've been thinking that a horticulturally curated book club was just the thing to do on the first Monday evening of every month (except December) at 4:30p/5 pm on Zoom then, please, by all means, join us! Just send me, Karen England, an email c/o info@sdhort.org with "Book Club" in the subject line and I will add you to the roster. It's free, and guests and members are welcome.
Please consider joining the SD Hort Book Club and read some great horticulturally imbued books along with us. Some titles are old, some new, some historical, some biographical, some fictional, some educational and all enjoyable.
To join the SDHBC, just send an email to Karen at info@sdhort.org with "Book Club" in the subject line to receive the Zoom link to the meetings.
We meet on Zoom, the first Monday of most months at 4:30p for social and 5p for discussion.
Note: The Zoom SDHBC meeting link is not published, instead it is emailed to discussion participants. If you would like to receive the link, please email info@sdhort.org with “book club” in the subject line.
SD HORT BOOK CLUB'S Previously Read List:
January 2021 - The Language of Flowers by V. Diffenbaugh. 👍
February 2021 - The Food Explorer by D. Stone. 👍👍
March 2021 - Green Mansions by W. H. Hudson. 👍
April 2021 - A Memory of Violets by H. Gaynor. 👍
May 2021 - Founding Gardeners by A. Wulf. 👍👍
June 2021 - Elizabeth and Her German Garden by E. von Arnim. 👍
July 2021 - In Praise of Tomatoes by S. Shepherd. 👍👍
August 2021 - Undaunted Courage by S. Ambrose. 👍👍
September 2021 - Around the World in 80 Plants/Trees both books by J. Drori. 👍👍
October 2021 - American Eden by V. Johnson. 👍
November/December 2021 – Finding The Mother Tree by S. Simard. 👍👍
January 2022 – Braiding Sweetgrass by R. Kimmerer. 👍👍
February/March 2022 - The Seed Keeper by D. Wilson. 👍
April 2022 - In Search of Lost Roses by T. Christopher. 👍👍
May 2022 - Turn Here Sweet Corn by A. Diffley. 👍👍
June/July 2022 - The Arbornaut by M. Lowman. 👍👍
August 2022 – Orwell’s Roses by R. Solnit. 👍
September 2022 - The Nature of Oaks by D. Tallamy. 👍👍
October 2022 - Vanilla: Travels in Search of the Ice Cream Orchid by T. Ecott. 👍
November 2022 - The Complete Writings of Kate Sessions in California Garden – New Edition - San Diego Floral Association. U👍👍
December 2022 - The Multifarious Mr. Banks: From Botany Bay to Kew, The Natural Historian Who Shaped the World by T. Musgrave. 👍
January 2023 – the Botanist’s Daughter by K. Nunn. 👍.5
February 2023 – Eating to Extinction by D. Saladino. 👍👍
March 2023 - The Natures of John and William Bartram by T. Slaughter. U👎
June 2023 - The Plant Hunter by C. Quave. U👍👍
July 2023 - The Overstory by R. Powers. 👍.3125...
August 2023 - Tulipomania by M. Dash. 👍.21428...
September 2023 - Garden Spells by S. Addison Allen. 👍
October 2023 - Agave Spirits by G. P. Nabhan Ph.D., & D. S. Piñera. 👍.5
November 2023 - The Oak Papers by J. Canton. U👍👍
December 2023 - The Last Garden in England by J. Kelly. 👍.21428...
February 2024 - Brave the Wild River by M. L. Sevigny. U👍👍
March 2024 – Birnam Wood by E. Catton. Half a thumb up. (No emoji for this. You'll have to just imagine...)
April 2024 - The Signature of All Things by E. Gilbert. 👍.3125...
May 2024 - The Comfort of Crows by M. Renkl. 👍.21428...
June 2024 - A Gentle Plea for Chaos by M. Osler. 👍.5
July 2024 - How to Read a Tree by T. Gooley. 👍.625
August 2024 - The Seed Detective by A. Alexander. 👍.5
September 2024 - The Sound of a Wild Snail Eating by E. Bailey U👍👍
October 2024 - What We Sow by J. Jewell 👍.625
November 2024 - The Garden Against Time by O. Laing 👍.1
January 2025 - Life in the Garden by P. Lively 👍.33
February 2025 - The Tree Collectors by A. Stewart U👍👍
March 2025 - Pilgrim at Tinker Creek by A. Dillard 👍.1
April 2025 - The Core of an Onion by M. Kurlansky 👍.1
May 2025 - Nature's Best Hope by D. Tallamy U👍👍
June 2025 - Elderflora by J. Farmer 👍.625
July 2025 - The Earth Shall Blossom by Beale and Boswell 👍
August 2025 - Green Gold by Parsons and Allaback U👍👍
October 2025 - The Light Eaters by Z. Schlanger U👍👍
November 2025 - The Serviceberry by R. W. Kimmerer 👍.33
Our Ratings System Explained -
👍👍 Two thumbs up = excellent
👍 One thumb up = good
Half a thumb up = better than okay
✔️ No thumbs up or down = okay
👎 One thumb down = bad
👎👎 Two thumbs down = awful
U The letter U = unanimous vote
