Nature is a powerful force that can inspire awe, wonder, and fear. It can also be a source of adventure, mystery, and horror. Whether you are a fan of the natural world or prefer to stay indoors, there are some books that will make you appreciate nature in a new way.
These six books are not your typical nature guides or travel memoirs. They are horror and sci-fi stories that explore the dark and unknown aspects of nature, as well as the beauty and wonder. Here are six books that will make you fall in love with nature (and scare you a little bit).
(Cover photo by Kourosh Qaffari on Unsplash)
Six Books That Will Make You Fall in Love with Nature
“Braiding Sweetgrass” by Robin Wall Kimmerer
As a botanist, Robin Wall Kimmerer has been trained to ask questions of nature with the tools of science. As a member of the Citizen Potawatomi Nation, she embraces the notion that plants and animals are our oldest teachers. In Braiding Sweetgrass, Kimmerer brings these two lenses of knowledge together to take us on “a journey that is every bit as mythic as it is scientific, as sacred as it is historical, as clever as it is wise” (Elizabeth Gilbert).
Drawing on her life as an indigenous scientist, and as a woman, Kimmerer shows how other living beings―asters and goldenrod, strawberries and squash, salamanders, algae, and sweetgrass―offer us gifts and lessons, even if we’ve forgotten how to hear their voices. In reflections that range from the creation of Turtle Island to the forces that threaten its flourishing today, she circles toward a central argument: that the awakening of ecological consciousness requires the acknowledgment and celebration of our reciprocal relationship with the rest of the living world. For only when we can hear the languages of other beings will we be capable of understanding the generosity of the earth, and learn to give our own gifts in return.
“There’s Something in the Water” by Ingrid R. G. Waldron
In “There’s Something In The Water”, Ingrid R. G. Waldron examines the legacy of environmental racism and its health impacts in Indigenous and Black communities in Canada, using Nova Scotia as a case study, and the grassroots resistance activities by Indigenous and Black communities against the pollution and poisoning of their communities.
Using settler colonialism as the overarching theory, Waldron unpacks how environmental racism operates as a mechanism of erasure enabled by the intersecting dynamics of white supremacy, power, state-sanctioned racial violence, neoliberalism and racial capitalism in white settler societies.
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“An Immense World” by Ed Yong
In An Immense World, Ed Yong invites us to transcend the limitations of our sensory perceptions, revealing the intricate skeins of scent, the pervasive waves of electromagnetism, and the subtle pulses of pressure that envelop our existence. Within this exploration, we observe beetles irresistibly attracted to flames, turtles adept at navigating the Earth’s magnetic fields, fish communicating through electrical signals in rivers, and humans who skillfully utilize sonar in a manner akin to bats.
We learn that crocodiles have sensitive faces, giant squids see whales, plants resonate with insect songs, and scallops have complex vision. We discover how bees perceive flowers, songbirds hear melodies, and dogs detect scents, while celebrating important discoveries and looking forward to unsolved mysteries.
Six Books That Will Make You Fall in Love with Nature continued
“The Home Place” by J. Drew Lanham
From the fertile soils of love, land, identity, family, and race emerges The Home Place, a big-hearted, unforgettable memoir by ornithologist J. Drew Lanham.
Dating back to slavery, Edgefield County, South Carolina – a place “easy to pass by on the way somewhere else” – has been home to generations of Lanhams. In The Home Place, listeners meet these extraordinary people, including Drew himself, who over the course of the 1970s falls in love with the natural world around him. As his passion takes flight, however, he begins to ask what it means to be “the rare bird, the oddity”.
“A Darker Wilderness” edited by Erin Sharkey
A vibrant collection of personal and lyric essays in conversation with archival objects of Black history and memory.
What are the politics of nature? Who owns it, where is it, what role does it play in our lives? Does it need to be tamed? Are we ourselves natural? In A Darker Wilderness, a constellation of luminary writers reflect on the significance of nature in their lived experience and on the role of nature in the lives of Black folks in the United States. Each of these essays engages with a single archival object, whether directly or obliquely, exploring stories spanning hundreds of years and thousands of miles, traveling from roots to space and finding rich Blackness everywhere.
“From Gardens Where We Feel Secure” by Susanna Grant and Rowan Spray
From Gardens Where We Feel Secure is gardener and writer Susanna Grant’s exploration of her thinking on history, value and meaning of nature in the city. Examining the premise that naming species allows us to expand our understanding, our interest, our ways of looking at the world around us, and the idea of plant-blindness—our tendency not to see what we can’t name in the nature that surrounds us—she throws a spotlight on five of her favorite wildflowers with accompanying images by photographer Rowan Spray. These stories are interspersed with reflections on Grant’s own countryside childhood and her work in London’s community gardens: why we can’t walk where we want to, planting as an act of resistance and, above all, the necessity of weeds and their beauty.
These books are sure to deepen your connection with the natural world and offer a perspective that’s both loving and a little bit daunting. Enjoy your reading adventure! 📚
We hope you enjoyed this list of books for nature lovers. Whether you are looking for inspiration, education, or entertainment, these books will help you appreciate the diversity and beauty of the natural world. They will also challenge you to think critically about the environmental and social issues that affect our planet and its inhabitants. As you read these books, we invite you to reflect on your own relationship with nature and how you can make a positive difference. Happy reading! 🌎
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