What a perfect collection for summer reading! I’m with you! Nature is my favorite topic. I too enjoy the “company” of stacks of books. I am a slow reader as well. I’m currently slowly reading The Service Berry. I absolutely love Robin Wall Kimmerer.
Hey Tami, sounds like we’re kindred spirits! Slow readers who take their time and enjoy the company of books. Yay! Thank you for being here, and for commenting. I wish you a good summer with your nose in a book!
Fantastic selections! I’m definitely want to check out The Fabulous Ordinary.
Just finished The Seed Underground (Janisse Ray),and just started Soil (Camille Dungy). Ten Windows (Jane Hirshfield), Down by the Eno, Down by the Haw (Thorpe Moeckel), and Tiny Worlds of the Appalachians (Rosalie Haizlett) are on deck.
Anything by those first three authors you mention are favorites of mine too, Elizabeth. I don't know of Moeckel and Haizlett; thank you for those recommendations!
I’m dancing with Is a River Alive? And I just finished Raising Hare. I’m starting it again with my notebook next to me. Jeanne, have you read it? It’s as if Chloe Dalton channeled Kimmerer’s meaning of Kinship without saying kinship. Remarkable.
I have Fen, Bog & Swamp by Annie Proulx in the mix. Some other wetland books as well. Then I’m rereading Terry Tempest Williams.
Plus a preorder on Bill McKibben’s book to celebrate his Sun Day campaign.
I love your collection. I agree: no TV and plenty of bookshelves. The crazy thing is that I have more than enough (books and shelves) in 235 square feet.
Oooh, you've given me some good leads here, Katharine -- thank you! I definitely thought of you when my friend gifted me with "Is a River Alive?." That is so you! And I love thinking of you in your 235 square feet with books all around you.
Nice collection, Jeanne. I've read "The Hidden Life of Trees" by Peter Wohlleben and enjoyed it. I had read another book by Robert Macfarlane called "The Old Ways: A Journey on Foot" and that was an excellent read.
For my summer reading I am going to read "A Sand County Almanac" by Aldo Leopold. I bought it several years ago and never started it. I've been looking at feeling guilty for not having read it, haha.
I hear you, Neil. Leopold's classic is downstairs, in my nature book library. I "think" I read it (or part of it) decades ago. But I'm not sure. Will join you in reading it soon!
Is a River Alive? is on my summer reading list as well. We could be besties in book club because we have very similar reading tastes. I’ve tried to dabble back into some fiction lately but it just doesn’t hold my attention like reading & knowing this is someone’s real life experience.
You're most welcome, Becki! We'll have to compare notes on the MacFarlane book when we both finish reading it. Such a good title. Happy summer reading to you, my friend!
I’m getting out my pen and pad . Your list and then the books added by your readers! Wow! A treasure trove! I loved The Hidden Life of Trees! Now where’s that pen?
I've been distracted by books by Pema and others, learning to meditate and practice mindulness. I also burned out with even historical fiction. There were many years I'd read over 100 books but now it seems all the plots are repeats. And then of course I discovered Pema and friends. It will be good to immerse myself in nature through reading. You know I do it through wandering now.
My childhood library story involves a book mobile. We lived so far out they had to bring the books to us. I still get goosebumps when I see a big van with the library logo on it.
So many great books here. You brought back wonderful memories of my early reading life. I recall sneaking books into our small laundry room to read while Mama assumed I was carrying out chores somewhere in the house. I also remember my grandmother enrolling me in the summer reading program at our local library, and it was there that I met Ms. Wessie Connell, the librarian and heart of our small community. She knew us all by name and, 50+ years later, my friends and I still talk of her influence. I am currently finishing Weathering: How the Earth's Deep Wisdom Can Help Us Endure Life's Storms by Ruth Allen. It is dense in some places, but still a very good read.
Ginger, I love those memories of your childhood joy with books. And how everyone still remembers the town librarian half a century later. All the goodness she put out into the world from a small-town library! Also, that's an intriguing title you mentioned. It sounds like a nature-based version of Pema Chodron. Thank you for sharing!
Thanks for sharing your summer reading list, Jeanne! I've read about half of them, but will look for the others. I'm especially excited to read Robert McFarlane's new book. As for my current reading, after re-reading Terry Tempest Williams' Finding Beauty in a Broken World for my Terraphilia Book Club online discussion, I'm aiming for The Wild Dark: Finding Darkness in an Age of Light by Craig Childs. I also just reviewed Infinite Paradise, a new land memoir coming out in July for Story Circle Book Reviews. So many good books to read and so little time!
Yes, it is about dark skies, and the narrative is shaped by a mountain-bike trek Craig and a river-guiding friend took from Las Vegas to the darkest skies they could find. Along the way, Craig weaves in all manner of knowledge about the cosmos, dark skies, light pollution and anything else you can think of! It's a small but wonderful book, very worth the read.
My too-read list is long, so I understand that "eventually"! Craig's book went to the top of my list because he wrote a beautiful cover blurb for Bless the Birds, and his book release party was in Paonia last weekend. I went with a friend, so I bought a book. :)
Pet peeves: a) decorators who wrap all the books in white paper or shelves them edge out/spine in for a "clean modern" look b) books shelved by color rather than author within genre. How do they find anything? Stacked in random piles around the house, yes, of course.
A wonderful pile of books to work through over the summer! I've read some of them and added a few to my colossal, leaning stack of books to read. Like you, I've been a life long reader and lover of books. No TV, ever, either. I love the photo of your bookshelves. My husband and I have bookshelves all over the house! I've always got about three books in the reading process. Some of my favorite books that are nature related are: Terry Tempest Williams's books, The Anthropology of Turquoise by Ellen Meloy, Windswept by Annie Worsley, The Solace of Open Spaces by Gretel Ehrlich, Robert Macfarlane's books, Barry Lopez, and of course Janisse Ray's! There are so many, there is not room here. It is also interesting to read in the comments what everyone is reading so I can add even more to my stack, or say, "Yes! I read that." Thank you for this lovely book-full post💖
Ah, Jenny, you made me laugh out loud with "colossal, leaning stack of books." Yes! And thank you for that list of authors and titles you shared. Some of them I know (TT Williams, Gretel Ehrlich, Barry Lopez) and some I don't. I appreciate your contribution to our shared collection of book-mania. Hope you have a great reading summer!
Hi Jeanne, I was amazed to learn from your story that we are both slow readers, never join book clubs, and tend strongly towards nonfiction. My reading is mostly history and biography with some natural history and science for nonscientist mixed in. I still think about that wonderful afternoon I spent with you and Jim in the valley of paradise. When you contacted me about Substack, I had no idea what it was. Your idea of publishing my stories was flattering, but the more I thought about it, it seemed problematic because my writings have no central theme, whereas your Substack presence is very targeted. Now that I'm writing about gardening for biodiversity on FB, I do see the possibility of doing it on Substack. However, with my advanced age, declining health, and new responsibilities as vice chair of Democrats Abroad Costa Rica (a 1,600-member organization) and being the Get-out-the-Vote coordinator for Democrats Abroad The Americas, I think I better stick with what I am doing. I'm also seeing writing a Substack column as being a bottomless pit of activity. In the meantime, I'm enjoying your writing!
Somehow I missed this comment, Steve. Good to hear from you! However you get your writing out into the world, Substack or otherwise, is a good thing. I know you have a lot going on, though. A full life is a good life!
Currently have The Lighteaters checked out of the library and have already renewed it once! While it's very good so far, I've been chipping away at it slowly (reading 2 other books at the same time 😬) Might have to buy a copy to finish it... Or like I did with my last library book (Braiding Sweetgrass) just pay the library for the book, let them buy a new copy, and keep it!
Nowadays I only read books with letters (hardcopy or e-book) when it's a book that doesn't come as an audiobook. I also loved the library as a child and books, but once I learned about audiobooks, reading became so much easier for me; I was able to take in more of the book when read aloud. I remember when I was young my mother saying "why can't you read the book by yourself?" I'm sure my dyslexia made it hard for me to read, I was always the slowest reader in class. Sometimes I wonder how school would have been if I could have read audio books in first grade and beyond (I'm sure I would have learned faster and retained more information).
But nevertheless less I do love books, especially fiction and fantasy.
Isn't it great how we are all different? But as different as we are, I've read The Serviceberry by Kimmerer (read by the author!). Lovely book. I'm certain you will enjoy it. Do you think you have any serviceberries on your property? The picture on the book is a good picture and I think they have berries now in the spring.
Thank you for sharing your history with reading, Eunice. I'm happy audiobooks came into being at some point, to give you an easeful entry point. And yes, I have a serviceberry in my garden. Yesterday, while weeding around it, I was up close and admiring its berries.
What a perfect collection for summer reading! I’m with you! Nature is my favorite topic. I too enjoy the “company” of stacks of books. I am a slow reader as well. I’m currently slowly reading The Service Berry. I absolutely love Robin Wall Kimmerer.
Hey Tami, sounds like we’re kindred spirits! Slow readers who take their time and enjoy the company of books. Yay! Thank you for being here, and for commenting. I wish you a good summer with your nose in a book!
Me too!
Fantastic selections! I’m definitely want to check out The Fabulous Ordinary.
Just finished The Seed Underground (Janisse Ray),and just started Soil (Camille Dungy). Ten Windows (Jane Hirshfield), Down by the Eno, Down by the Haw (Thorpe Moeckel), and Tiny Worlds of the Appalachians (Rosalie Haizlett) are on deck.
Enjoy the reading and thank you for sharing.
Anything by those first three authors you mention are favorites of mine too, Elizabeth. I don't know of Moeckel and Haizlett; thank you for those recommendations!
Thank you for reading THE SEED UNDERGROUND! To be honest, I love your reading list. Thorpe's book is terrific, and I'm mesmerized by Rosalie's work.
I recognize these local North Carolina river names. I’ll definitely check this one out. Thanks so much for the recommendation!
I’m dancing with Is a River Alive? And I just finished Raising Hare. I’m starting it again with my notebook next to me. Jeanne, have you read it? It’s as if Chloe Dalton channeled Kimmerer’s meaning of Kinship without saying kinship. Remarkable.
I have Fen, Bog & Swamp by Annie Proulx in the mix. Some other wetland books as well. Then I’m rereading Terry Tempest Williams.
Plus a preorder on Bill McKibben’s book to celebrate his Sun Day campaign.
I love your collection. I agree: no TV and plenty of bookshelves. The crazy thing is that I have more than enough (books and shelves) in 235 square feet.
Talk soon. Love, Katharine ♥️
Oooh, you've given me some good leads here, Katharine -- thank you! I definitely thought of you when my friend gifted me with "Is a River Alive?." That is so you! And I love thinking of you in your 235 square feet with books all around you.
Nice collection, Jeanne. I've read "The Hidden Life of Trees" by Peter Wohlleben and enjoyed it. I had read another book by Robert Macfarlane called "The Old Ways: A Journey on Foot" and that was an excellent read.
For my summer reading I am going to read "A Sand County Almanac" by Aldo Leopold. I bought it several years ago and never started it. I've been looking at feeling guilty for not having read it, haha.
I hear you, Neil. Leopold's classic is downstairs, in my nature book library. I "think" I read it (or part of it) decades ago. But I'm not sure. Will join you in reading it soon!
Somehow I missed this! Love it!
Is a River Alive? is on my summer reading list as well. We could be besties in book club because we have very similar reading tastes. I’ve tried to dabble back into some fiction lately but it just doesn’t hold my attention like reading & knowing this is someone’s real life experience.
Thank you for sharing!
You're most welcome, Becki! We'll have to compare notes on the MacFarlane book when we both finish reading it. Such a good title. Happy summer reading to you, my friend!
I’m getting out my pen and pad . Your list and then the books added by your readers! Wow! A treasure trove! I loved The Hidden Life of Trees! Now where’s that pen?
I’d have figured you already read all these, Betsy!
I've been distracted by books by Pema and others, learning to meditate and practice mindulness. I also burned out with even historical fiction. There were many years I'd read over 100 books but now it seems all the plots are repeats. And then of course I discovered Pema and friends. It will be good to immerse myself in nature through reading. You know I do it through wandering now.
My childhood library story involves a book mobile. We lived so far out they had to bring the books to us. I still get goosebumps when I see a big van with the library logo on it.
So many great books here. You brought back wonderful memories of my early reading life. I recall sneaking books into our small laundry room to read while Mama assumed I was carrying out chores somewhere in the house. I also remember my grandmother enrolling me in the summer reading program at our local library, and it was there that I met Ms. Wessie Connell, the librarian and heart of our small community. She knew us all by name and, 50+ years later, my friends and I still talk of her influence. I am currently finishing Weathering: How the Earth's Deep Wisdom Can Help Us Endure Life's Storms by Ruth Allen. It is dense in some places, but still a very good read.
Ginger, I love those memories of your childhood joy with books. And how everyone still remembers the town librarian half a century later. All the goodness she put out into the world from a small-town library! Also, that's an intriguing title you mentioned. It sounds like a nature-based version of Pema Chodron. Thank you for sharing!
Thanks for sharing your summer reading list, Jeanne! I've read about half of them, but will look for the others. I'm especially excited to read Robert McFarlane's new book. As for my current reading, after re-reading Terry Tempest Williams' Finding Beauty in a Broken World for my Terraphilia Book Club online discussion, I'm aiming for The Wild Dark: Finding Darkness in an Age of Light by Craig Childs. I also just reviewed Infinite Paradise, a new land memoir coming out in July for Story Circle Book Reviews. So many good books to read and so little time!
"The Wild Dark" is an amazing title, Susan. Is that book about dark skies? As in, non-light polluted? That's a subject I'm interested in.
Yes, it is about dark skies, and the narrative is shaped by a mountain-bike trek Craig and a river-guiding friend took from Las Vegas to the darkest skies they could find. Along the way, Craig weaves in all manner of knowledge about the cosmos, dark skies, light pollution and anything else you can think of! It's a small but wonderful book, very worth the read.
Thank you! I will check it out … eventually. 😄
My too-read list is long, so I understand that "eventually"! Craig's book went to the top of my list because he wrote a beautiful cover blurb for Bless the Birds, and his book release party was in Paonia last weekend. I went with a friend, so I bought a book. :)
Same. Slow reader. Love words. Savor the well-written line. Real books. No TV in living room or bedroom. Lots and lots of bookshelves. Poet.
Me too! Books everywhere.
Yay, Laura ... I didn't realize there are more of us ... and it's good to know you're one of us! Savor away!
Pet peeves: a) decorators who wrap all the books in white paper or shelves them edge out/spine in for a "clean modern" look b) books shelved by color rather than author within genre. How do they find anything? Stacked in random piles around the house, yes, of course.
I share those peeves, Laura! I have my clothes arranged by color (sorta), but ... books? No! It must be by genre. Or the random "to-be-read" pile.
A wonderful pile of books to work through over the summer! I've read some of them and added a few to my colossal, leaning stack of books to read. Like you, I've been a life long reader and lover of books. No TV, ever, either. I love the photo of your bookshelves. My husband and I have bookshelves all over the house! I've always got about three books in the reading process. Some of my favorite books that are nature related are: Terry Tempest Williams's books, The Anthropology of Turquoise by Ellen Meloy, Windswept by Annie Worsley, The Solace of Open Spaces by Gretel Ehrlich, Robert Macfarlane's books, Barry Lopez, and of course Janisse Ray's! There are so many, there is not room here. It is also interesting to read in the comments what everyone is reading so I can add even more to my stack, or say, "Yes! I read that." Thank you for this lovely book-full post💖
Ah, Jenny, you made me laugh out loud with "colossal, leaning stack of books." Yes! And thank you for that list of authors and titles you shared. Some of them I know (TT Williams, Gretel Ehrlich, Barry Lopez) and some I don't. I appreciate your contribution to our shared collection of book-mania. Hope you have a great reading summer!
The Hidden Life of Trees is one of my favorite books. There is an illustrated edition, too.
Oooh, an illustrated version! That sounds wonderful.
Hi Jeanne, I was amazed to learn from your story that we are both slow readers, never join book clubs, and tend strongly towards nonfiction. My reading is mostly history and biography with some natural history and science for nonscientist mixed in. I still think about that wonderful afternoon I spent with you and Jim in the valley of paradise. When you contacted me about Substack, I had no idea what it was. Your idea of publishing my stories was flattering, but the more I thought about it, it seemed problematic because my writings have no central theme, whereas your Substack presence is very targeted. Now that I'm writing about gardening for biodiversity on FB, I do see the possibility of doing it on Substack. However, with my advanced age, declining health, and new responsibilities as vice chair of Democrats Abroad Costa Rica (a 1,600-member organization) and being the Get-out-the-Vote coordinator for Democrats Abroad The Americas, I think I better stick with what I am doing. I'm also seeing writing a Substack column as being a bottomless pit of activity. In the meantime, I'm enjoying your writing!
Somehow I missed this comment, Steve. Good to hear from you! However you get your writing out into the world, Substack or otherwise, is a good thing. I know you have a lot going on, though. A full life is a good life!
Amazing books in the picture. O love nature non fiction and always looking for recommendations.
Happy reading to you, my friend! I'm glad we share an interest in the same genre.
Currently have The Lighteaters checked out of the library and have already renewed it once! While it's very good so far, I've been chipping away at it slowly (reading 2 other books at the same time 😬) Might have to buy a copy to finish it... Or like I did with my last library book (Braiding Sweetgrass) just pay the library for the book, let them buy a new copy, and keep it!
I like your method, Christin! You eventually end up owning the books you like.
Nowadays I only read books with letters (hardcopy or e-book) when it's a book that doesn't come as an audiobook. I also loved the library as a child and books, but once I learned about audiobooks, reading became so much easier for me; I was able to take in more of the book when read aloud. I remember when I was young my mother saying "why can't you read the book by yourself?" I'm sure my dyslexia made it hard for me to read, I was always the slowest reader in class. Sometimes I wonder how school would have been if I could have read audio books in first grade and beyond (I'm sure I would have learned faster and retained more information).
But nevertheless less I do love books, especially fiction and fantasy.
Isn't it great how we are all different? But as different as we are, I've read The Serviceberry by Kimmerer (read by the author!). Lovely book. I'm certain you will enjoy it. Do you think you have any serviceberries on your property? The picture on the book is a good picture and I think they have berries now in the spring.
Thank you for sharing your history with reading, Eunice. I'm happy audiobooks came into being at some point, to give you an easeful entry point. And yes, I have a serviceberry in my garden. Yesterday, while weeding around it, I was up close and admiring its berries.
I really enjoyed The Service Berry!!
Good to hear that, Maggie! I know you and I have similar reading lists!