Sponsored by World of Wonders by Aimee Nezhukumatathil (Milkweed Editions).
From award-winning poet Aimee Nezhukumatathil comes a debut collection of essays about the natural world, and the way its inhabitants can teach, support, and inspire us. As a child, Nezhukumatathil called many places home: the grounds of a Kansas mental institution, where her Filipina mother was a doctor; the open skies and tall mountains of Arizona, where she hiked with her Indian father; and the chillier climes of western New York and Ohio. But no matter where she was transplanted—no matter how awkward the fit or forbidding the landscape—she was able to turn to our world’s fierce and funny creatures for guidance.
It’s warm out! Allergies are rife! Nature abounds. So let’s check out some books about nature for your Friday.
Braiding Sweetgrass: Indigenous Wisdom, Scientific Knowledge, and the Teachings of Plants by Robin Wall Kimmerer
Botanist and member of the Citizen Potawatomi Nation Kimmerer “shows how other living beings―asters and goldenrod, strawberries and squash, salamanders, algae, and sweetgrass ― offer us gifts and lessons.” This was a bestseller and made a lot of “best book” lists. What better time than now to think about the reciprocal relationship we have with nature and what we can do to reflect that?
The Invention of Nature: Alexander von Humboldt’s New World by Andrea Wulf
Ok, so there’s nature and then there’s how we conCEPTualize nature. This is the biography of 18th c. Prussian scientist and philosopher von Humboldt. Wulf “makes the case that Humboldt synthesized knowledge from many different fields to form a vision of nature as one interconnected system, that would go on to influence scientists, activists and the public.”
The Lost Art of Reading Nature’s Signs: Use Outdoor Clues to Find Your Way, Predict the Weather, Locate Water, Track Animals — and Other Forgotten Skills by Tristan Gooley
You know how people used to be able to tell things based on what they saw outside, but now the best most of us can do is be like “hm. Storm’s a-brewin'”? Gooley’s gonna tell you the sun’s direction based on tree roots, what the smell of cinnamon means, and hundreds of tips for forecasting, tracking, and LOcating things. Feel more confident in your outdoorsiness!
For more nonfiction reads, check out the For Real podcast which I co-host with the excellent Kim here at Book Riot. If you have any questions/comments/book suggestions, you can find me on social media @itsalicetime. Until next time, enjoy those facts, fellow nerds.