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Buteo Book Club: October 2026 Discussion Questions

Your First Name + Last Initial

Your Email Address

Your Location (city, state, &/or country - whatever you're comfortable sharing!)

Here are the 5 discussion questions we've posed for responding to The Last Cold Place: A Field Season Studying Penguins in Antarctica. You can fill in answers to as many or as few of these questions as you like! Write as much or as little as you like. If you prefer to share handwritten notes or a record voice note instead of typing into this form, scroll down and use the "file upload" section.

What does the title of the book evoke or mean to you? Is it literal or a metaphor?

The relationships Naira de Gracia forms with her fellow field technicians are important throughout the book. How have group dynamics, camaraderie or conflict, played into your own birding experiences?

The author expresses her gratitude for spending a season up close with the penguins, while simultaneously experiencing grief over climate change. Have you witnessed an impact of climate change firsthand—how have you reconciled gratitude with grief, and what gives you hope for the future?

Naira de Gracia's writing is gorgeous! Did you have a favorite description of the penguins, people, landscape, or other quote?

This memoir deftly weaves personal story with field report, world history, and more. Did this narrative structure remind you of any other books you've read, or do you have another memoir to recommend to fellow club members?

Anything else you'd like to share?

If you prefer to share a photo of your handwritten notes or to record a voice note instead of typing responses into this form, upload the file here.

Optional bonus: if you want to share a photo (a selfie of you with the book, your book + coffee, a migrant bird you've seen, or anything else you'd like fellow book club members to see!) upload it here.