“The Overstory” by Richard Powers has consumed my month. The words from its pages propagating in my head, growing vigorously with information, inspiration, and anger. This book is a break from our quest for furniture-based knowledge, launching into a fictional yet all-too-real world where the story is greater than any one character. A journey that starts with the planting of three chestnut trees, the book follows individuals as they work their way through heartbreak, loss, an

Deirdre Visser, author of “Joinery, Joists, and Gender: A History of Woodworking for the 21st Century,” will be our guest moderator this month. This makes our author/moderator record 3 for 3, which is great for my imaginary “Book Madness” bracket. Visser is a San Francisco-born educator, artist, and curator as well as an avid woodworker. Curator of The Arts at CIIS, publisher of CHROMA books, and most recently, the visiting curator at Mills College at Northeastern University,

To recognize and honor National Women’s History Month, we are reading “Joinery, Joists and Gender: A History of Woodworking for the 21st Century” By Deirdre Visser. A book conceptualized after the group show “Making a Seat at the Table” held at Philadelphia’s Center for Art in Wood, which highlighted works from forty-three  women and non-gender-conforming artists. Visser’s book bisects itself, opening with a focus on the history of women in woodworking as far back as 770 BC.

Our guest moderator this month is Zoe Van Buren, director of the Folklife Program at the North Carolina Arts Council. Van Buren’s research has focused on material culture, occupational folklife, young traditional artists, and urban folklore. Van Buren, our narrator of Freeman Vines’ story, weaves together the events and brings context to Vines’ words. Inspiration is a word that comes to me often when I think of this book, and Van Buren writes about it beautifully here: “The g