Books that Celebrate the Earth Around Us
Our earth is changing in vast and mysterious ways — and not always for the better. Ocean levels are rising, there’s a plastic island in the Pacific that’s estimated to be twice the size of Texas, and atmospheric carbon dioxide has increased tenfold since the 1950s. Some of what we can do to combat climate change is to read and understand what is happening in the world around us, so we can begin to do our part to lessen our impact. Some of these titles shed light on how climate change is occurring, and some merely talk about the incredible things nature does and why we should celebrate it. Did you know trees communicate in family units? And that just being in the forest has healing powers? Read these books to celebrate the earth and to do your part in helping to heal it.
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Add to BookshelfThe Songs of Trees
by David George Haskell
In David George Haskell’s love letter to trees, he observes a dozen trees over several years — city trees in Manhattan and Jerusalem, forests in the Amazon and North America, and ones on the front lines of environmental change like eroding coastlines and war zones — and reports on how human history, nature, and ecology are intertwined in the life of the tree.
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$18.00Buy from Other Retailers:
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An Immense World
by Ed Yong
The Earth teems with sights and textures, sounds and vibrations, smells and tastes, and electric and magnetic fields. But every kind of animal, including humans, is enclosed within its own unique sensory bubble, perceiving but a tiny sliver of our immense world. Ed Yong coaxes us beyond the confines of our own senses, allowing us to perceive the skeins of scent, waves of electromagnetism, and pulses of pressure that surround us.
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$20.00Buy from Other Retailers:
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Where the Water Goes
by David Owen
David Owen writes about the history and significance of the Colorado River in this part-travelogue, part-geopolitical and ecological lesson. He traces the water from its roaring headwaters to its terminus, which used to be a thriving wetland and is now a parched desert. He notes all of the power plants, golf clubs, farms, and Las Vegas fountains that rely on this water and yet puzzles over why this crucial American water source isn’t better protected.
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$16.00Buy from Other Retailers:
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Better Living Through Birding
by Christian Cooper
In Better Living Through Birding, Christian Cooper tells the story of his extraordinary life and shows how a life spent looking up at the birds prepared him, in the most uncanny of ways, to be a gay, Black man in America today. From sharpened senses that work just as well at a protest as in a park to what a bird like the Common Grackle can teach us about self-acceptance, Better Living Through Birding exults in the pleasures of a life lived in pursuit of the natural world and invites you to discover them yourself.
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No Immediate Danger
by William T. Vollmann
William T. Vollmann has cast his nonfiction lens on issues of poverty, violence, and immigration. In No Immediate Danger, he examines the factors and human actions that have contributed to global warming. He examines the many causes of climate change, from industrial manufacturing and agricultural practices to fossil fuel extraction, economic demand for electric power, and the desire that people all over the world have to live in comfort. He also aims a critical eye at nuclear power, visiting the ghost towns of Fukushima, Japan left by the tsunami and the reactor meltdowns of 2011, gauging the levels of radiation left behind. This book, the first volume in a series, will be a seriously important read.
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Otherlands
by Thomas Halliday
This book is an exploration of the Earth as it used to exist, the changes that have occurred during its history, and the ways that life has found to adapt ― or not. Even as he operates on this broad canvas, Halliday brings us up close to the intricate relationships that defined these lost worlds. In novelistic prose that belies the breadth of his research, he illustrates how ecosystems are formed; how species die out and are replaced; and how species migrate, adapt, and collaborate. It is a breathtaking achievement: a surprisingly emotional narrative about the persistence of life, the fragility of seemingly permanent ecosystems, and the scope of deep time, all of which have something to tell us about our current crisis.
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$22.00Buy from Other Retailers:
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Entangled Life
by Merlin Sheldrake
When we think of fungi, we likely think of mushrooms. But mushrooms are only fruiting bodies, analogous to apples on a tree. Most fungi live out of sight, yet make up a massively diverse kingdom of organisms that supports and sustains nearly all living systems. Fungi provide a key to understanding the planet on which we live, and the ways we think, feel, and behave. In Entangled Life, biologist Merlin Sheldrake shows us the world from a fungal point of view, providing an exhilarating change of perspective.
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Forest Bathing
by Dr. Qing Li
As a society, we are often inside instead of out and staring at a screen, rather than the blue sky. As a result, we suffer from nature deficit disorder, but studies have shown that spending mindful, intentional time around trees — what the Japanese call shinrin-yoku, or forest bathing — can promote health and happiness. This book teaches how running your hands over bark, standing in the dappled sunlight under a grove of trees, and smelling the earthy scents can lower your blood pressure, strengthen your immune system, boost your mood, and help you live a longer, healthier life.
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$25.00Buy from Other Retailers:
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The Botany of Desire
by Michael Pollan
In this 2001 book by one of America’s most trusted food experts, Michael Pollan examines how plants have evolved to serve humankind’s most basic yearnings: sweetness, beauty, intoxication, and control. Pollan uses the potato to the apple to the tulip to marijuana to beautifully illustrate his point and ask the question: who is really domesticating whom?
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$19.00Buy from Other Retailers:
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Life on the Rocks
by Juli Berwald
Coral reefs are a microcosm of our planet: extraordinarily diverse, deeply interconnected, and full of wonders. They sustain bountiful ecosystems and protect vulnerable coasts. But corals across the planet are in the middle of an unprecedented die-off. Life on the Rocks is an inspiring, lucid, meditative ode to the reefs and the undaunted scientists working to save them against almost impossible odds. Berwald explores what it means to keep fighting a battle whose outcome is uncertain. She contemplates the inevitable grief of climate change and the beauty of small victories.
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