Good Reads & Views

Braiding Sweetgrass: Indigenous Wisdom, Scientific Knowledge, and the Teachings of Plants by Robin Wall Kimmerer
Nonfiction

What it's about: Kimmerer is a trained scientist and uses her knowledge of botany and the stories of her ancestors to skillfully point out how we need to listen to the natural world. She covers the indigenous concepts of gift giving and gratitude and how plants and animals have much to teach us, if only we listened.

Reviewers say: “Anyone who enjoys reading about natural history, botany, protecting nature, or Native American culture will love this book” (Library Journal); “A smart, subtle overlay of different systems of thought that together teach us to be better citizens of Earth" (Kirkus Reviews).

Good to know: This is wonderful on audio. The author has a melodic and soothing voice and does an excellent job narrating. This also makes a good choice for nonfiction book groups.

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The Secret Wisdom of Nature by Peter Wohlleben
Nonfiction 

What it’s about: The final title in German Forester Wohlleben’s Nature Trilogy (The Hidden Life of Trees; The Inner Life of Animals) looks at the connections between all living things and suggests that human intervention has unintended consequences.

Reviewers say: The author “thoughtfully and lucidly illuminates scientific facts, and his quiet leaps of brilliance are thrilling… Wohlleben conveys his findings in passages of pure poetry; he truly is an author to treasure” (Booklist).

An excerpt: “But nature is much more complex than a clock, isn’t it? In nature, not only does one cog connect with another; everything is also connected by a network so intricate that we will probably never grasp it in its entirety. And that is a good thing, because it means that plants and animals will always amaze us. It’s important for us to realize that even small interventions can have huge consequences, and we’d do better to keep our hands off everything in nature that we do not absolutely have to touch.”

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