SFU Reads is a virtual book club created to connect alumni鈥攁nd the greater SFU community鈥攚ith one another over the discussion of books. There is no cost to join. All you need is the book and some reading time. Check out what we're reading below.
Why should you join?
- Connect with fellow alumni鈥攁nd SFU community members鈥攁cross industries, generations and countries in an online social environment.
- Discover new books! It鈥檚 an opportunity to experience new authors and explore different genres. You鈥檒l even get a chance to vote on which upcoming titles you want to read.
- Reading is good for you!
How it works
- Sign up for the book club鈥攊t鈥檚 free!
- Pick up a copy of the current book and start reading. Book selections are read over eight weeks; a suggested reading schedule is provided.
- Sign into the forum and join the discussion, guided by a moderator. Access to discussions are available 24/7鈥攜ou can participate from anywhere in the world.
BIRDING TO CHANGE THE WORLD: A MEMOIR
READING PERIOD: August 1 - October 3
In this uplifting memoir, a professor and activist shares what birds can teach us about life, social change, and protecting the environment.
About the book
Trish O鈥橩ane never expected to be a birder. It was a lone red cardinal and a bumptious cast of house sparrows that changed everything for O鈥橩ane 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鈥橩ane found herself pursuing an environmental science PhD in Wisconsin, where she became a full-on bird obsessive鈥攍ogging 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鈥檛 until that park, her bird-watching haven, was threatened with development that O鈥橩ane 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鈥橩ane 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鈥橩ane shows what birds can teach us鈥攁nd how that education can be a transformative force for social change.
SFU book club bursary
Our goal is for all SFU community members have access to this initiative. If you would like to access one of a limited number of books through our no questions asked bursary program, please email alumni@sfu.ca
By using this service, you acknowledge that you have read and understood the privacy statement at the bottom of the page and that you consent to the storage and access of your personal information, as described below, outside of Canada solely for those purposes.
Privacy statement
SFU uses PBC Guru, a third-party service provider hosted outside of Canada (specifically in the USA), in order to provide the Online Book Club as a service to SFU alumni. Your use of the Online Book Club is voluntary.
In order to confirm your eligibility and provide you access to PBC Guru, PBC Guru will collect your name, e-mail address, the year you graduated from SFU, the program of study in which you graduated, and a password.
PBC Guru may ask you for additional personal information, such as personal preferences to allow you to customize your user session profile, or to subscribe you to notifications, etc. It is your choice whether or not to provide this additional information, and you are solely responsible for ensuring you have read and understood PBC Guru鈥檚 privacy policy in regards to any information you have chosen to provide them.
PBC Guru may share some of the information you provide with SFU, such as your name and email address; and general categories or topics of books you are interested in. SFU collects this information under the authority of section 26(c) of BC鈥檚 Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act (FIPPA).
SFU may use your contact information to update its donor and alumni mailing lists, which are used by SFU to inform donors and alumni about University news, events and initiatives, including fundraising.
By using this service, you acknowledge that you have read and understood the above privacy statement and that you consent to the storage and access of your personal information, as described above, outside of Canada solely for those purposes.
Should you have any questions or concerns regarding the information collected and used, or the privacy and security of your personal information, please contact us alumni@sfu.ca.
PBC Guru manages professional book clubs for companies, libraries and alumni associations. They will moderate our book club to help make this program a great experience for all participants. If you have any questions, please email them info@pbc.guru or visit their website at