Eco-Themed Books You Should Read!
Cozy season is upon us! I love this time of year for getting fully immersed back into reading. I read all year long, but something about winter just makes me want to read MORE.
Maybe you’re like me and looking to get edcated about activism, climate change, and zero waste living this winter. Then this is the list for you! Well, this is the second list for you. Check out my eco book recommendations part one here!
Let’s get into it!
You can follow my reviews on Instagram, Goodreads, or StoryGraph (linked on IG).
Want to read these books? I highly recommend first checking them out at your local library physically or digitally through Hoopla or Libby. Want to own the books for yourself? Check out Thriftbooks to get your copy secondhand or buy from the author directly to support them or try your local book store. As a last resort, check out big book retailers which I have linked.
ALSO!
I’ve finally launched my Eco Book Club! I’ve been dreaming of this for years and finally pulled the trigger on it. Join us for as little as $1 a month on Patreon or YouTube Memberships. We have discussions and calls via discord every month to chat about our books. See you over there!
How to Avoid a Climate Disaster
By Bill Gates
This book was intriguing, especially since a lot of big eco-creators promoted it when it first came out. Though, I am not sure we every day people are the target audience. I think this is an excellent book for CEOs or scientists.
That being said, I still enjoyed this book and learned quite a bit! I would not recommend this book for beginners to zero waste living, but if you’re intermediate to advanced in your zero waste journey, give this one a go!
Generation Dread
By Britt Wray
Do you have eco-anxiety? Me too. Well, then this book is the perfect place for you. Chock-full of science and facts, it helped me to wrap my mind around climate change in a way that left me hopeful.
This book talks about how us younger folk (millennials, Gen Z, Gen A) are growing up in a critical time for our climate and for all of humanity. Yes, it’s scary and it’s real, but we must have hope. We must work together, overcome our differences, and fight for ourselves.
A bit on the dry side, though I still loved this one.
Braiding Sweetgrass
By Robin Wall Kimmerer
How I failed to include this in part 1 I am not sure. I adore this book. I’ve read it physically and listened to it and I already want to read it again. Robin is such a talented author. This work of non-fiction read like I was chatting with a friend. Her stories are so vivid and engaging yet full of wisdom and encouragement.
Robin dives into what it means to live in relationship to the land. How we are all connected to one another and to every living thing in our ecosystem. This book is jam-packed with indigenous wisdom, hope, and encouragement.
Easy 5/5 stars for me!
Silent Spring
By Rachel Carson
Published in 1962, Rachel Carson was decades ahead of her time. Not only for science in general but especially for women in STEM. Carson exposes the pesticide industry and how detrimental it is to our entire ecosystem from mice to birds to us. The title of the book comes from the phenomenon they were seeing in the 1950s and 1960s. So many birds were dying that springtime was silent. There were no bird calls.
I’m sure we’ve all seen a bald eagle in our time. They didn’t use to be a common occurrence, though. They were nearly extinct due to chemicals like DDT and folks like Rachel Carson helped change that. Read this to learn about pesticides, wildlife conservation, and how, once again, we’re all connected. Our actions in our farms, gardens, and homes do in fact affect the entire ecosystem.
For a fiction version, check out The Seed Keeper. This book follows a young Indigenous girl who spent her formative years in a foster home and later married a white farmer around the same time as Carson was writing her book. Small farms in the midwest were also dealing with the consequences of pesticides in their fields, but also their drinking water. This one is a bit more engaging than 1960s non-fiction, not gunna lie.
Check out The Seed Keeper
The death and life of the Great Lakes
By Dan Egan
I stumbled across this book when we visited Grand Portage National Monument in Minnesota this summer. I never thought I’d read it but I gave it a go and WOW, I wish I had read it sooner. Egan beautifully illustrates how important our Great Lakes are, the largest bodies of freshwater in the entire world. Once again, he shows how we are all truly connected and how our actions recreating or working impact the environment.
I particularly loved this book personally because I was working with the invasive species team in Voyageurs National Park this summer and this book talk about what havoc invasive species like Zebra Mussels have on our fresh water ecosystems.
Read this to learn about invasive species, water pollution, how a 12-year-old boy predicted the downfall of the Great Lakes, but also how there is still hope for these waters.
The Comfort of Crows
By Margaret Renkl
This is the ultimate cozy read. This book reads like a year-long memoir. Margaret takes us through a year observing her plant and animal neighbors in her backyard and, again, demonstrates how our actions impact our environment. She tells us the difference between her re-wilded yard versus her neighbors’ pesticide-heavy yards. She takes us through how animals are struggling to go their ancestral migration routes due to development.
It’s cozy, it’s entertaining, it’s educational, and it’s beautiful. Her brother illustrated a page for each chapter and it’s just such a unique book. I highly recommend physically reading this one versus listening to it if you can to enjoy these images.
This is one of my favorite reads of 2024! Buy it here
The Plant Hunter
By Cassandra Leah Quave
A beautiful illustration of how we need both modern medicine and plants. This scientist sets out on a quest to learn more about plants and what traditional medicinal uses they can offer us. Inspired to become a scientist from a young age, Cassandra, born with a limb difference, sets her mind to it.
She takes us through her years and years of field work in many countries, meeting her husband, and dealing with misogyny as she has children yet continues to work as a woman in STEM. If you like plants and anthropology, this one is for you!
Let This Radicalize You
By Kelly Hayes & Mariame Kaba
Not my favorite book of the year, but probably the most impactful. The main takeaway is in the title. Instead of being discouraged by climate change or racial injustice or war, let it radicalize you. Take that anger and mobilize. Take that dread and get educated and inspired. Do something meaningful with that anger.
This book is especially key if you want to become a community organizer or do things like a rally and a protest. It provides tips for safety and being inclusive to your community. If you liked The Intersectional Environmentalist from part 1, you will LOVE this one. TIE was like kindergarten and this is like college for activists.
Freedom is a Constant Struggle
By Angela Davis
Another excellent read for intersectional environmentalists. While Davis never harps on climate change and environmental issues, she frequently mentions how it is so intertwined with other global issues such as a free Palestine, racial injustice in the US, sexism, and more.
The title is key here, too. None of us are free until ALL of us are free. This is an excellent book to start or continue your activism journey.
Fur Trade Nation
By Carl Gawboy
What does the fur trade have to do with environmentalism? Everything! The near-extinction of beavers caused huge detriment to the ecosystem in the late 1800s to early 1900s. This led to the colonization of so much land that was then destroyed for farming in the upper midwest and southern Canada. Of course, colonization had and still has a huge impact on indigenous communities across all of North America.
Carl Gawboy excellently tells this story with fun art and humor in a digestible way. I loved this book!
I hope this list inspires you to read and continue learning about our planet and our many struggles for an eco future. I have many more eco-themed books on my list so you can bet there will be a third part in the future!
Leave your zero waste and environmental book recommendations down below so I can expand my never-ending TBR.
And, check out my full reviews and more life updates on my Bookstagram!
Once again, join us for as little as $1 a month on Patreon or YouTube Memberships and be part of the Eco Book Club, see you over there!
As always remember that your small actions make a big difference in the long run :)
Emma
