10 Books to Make You Fall in Love with Nature
What can make you fall in love with nature? We may not always be able to enjoy the physical experience of feeling the wind on our face or the dirt beneath our feet, but we can find amazing books to inspire our own nature odyssey.
In this non-fiction list of nature inspired books you will find a book just for you, one which will carry you on an amazing journey and hopefully inspire your own interaction with natural spaces.
Table of Contents
Contemporary Voices in Nature Writing
Feel the passion and energy of those who have not only experienced the many shades of nature, but have beautifully recorded the details of that communion. Their feelings and words will resonate and offer new perspectives. The themes and venues they write about may be exotic, or closer to home and make us view nature in our own backyard with a new perspective.
As the world becomes a smaller place, many of the writers are able to make global comparisons about natural spaces which was not as common in nature writing of the past. Natal origins, familial ties and migration are modern themes in nature writing.
This dynamic plays a role for authors like Nezhukumatathil and Reddy, where nature becomes an anchor for the cultural shift that happens in their lives.
Enjoy the list. Perhaps set yourself a challenge to get through as many as possible. The list is deliberately varied, to capture the nuances of a diverse group of authors, inspired by nature.
1. Braiding Sweetgrass by Robin Wall Kimmerer
Genre: Non-fiction
Pages: 408
First Published: 2015
This book is a modern classic in the nature literary world. By combining her background in science, with her indigenous heritage, Robin Wall Kimmerer brings together a legacy of caring, and gratitude for the provisions of nature. Through traditional stories which convey lessons about reciprocity and the recognition of plants as living beings. Our interconnections are highlighted through a beautiful weaving of indigenous world view and science for non-scientists. As she puts it ” a braid of stories meant to heal our relationship to the world.”
Author: Robin Wall Kimmerer is a botanist, professor, essayist and member of the Citizen Potawatomi Nation. Her other books include: Gathering Moss: a Natural and Cultural History of Mosses.
2. Whatever You Do, Don’t Run by Peter Allison
Genre: Non-Fiction
First Published: 2007
Pages: 264
This book is hilarious with rollicking stories of life as a member of a Botswana Safari team. There is a saying in Botswana “Only food runs!” And in the Okavango Delta, Peter Allison explains to his clients why these are wise words.
The reader is given a behind the scenes look at the planning and execution of what should be the perfect safari experience for those seeking to see the big five in their natural environment. You even find our where rats will go while you sleep in your sleeping bag. Whatever happens on these safaris does not stay on safari. With a myriad of clients from all backgrounds, Allison highlights the mischief which the entitled, and titled guests get up to, making the animals they came to see seem not so wild in comparison.
Author: Peter Allison is an Australian native, safari guide and speaker.
3. Black Faces, White Spaces by Carolyn Finney
Genre: Non-fiction
First Published: 2014
Pages: 194
A poignant study of the history and consequences which affect the relationship that Americans of African descent have with outdoor spaces in America today. Finney delves deep into why the narrative of open spaces and the enjoyment of nature may mean different things to different segments of society, especially Americans of African descent. One begins to understand the reason for such travel guides as the Negro Motorist Green Book in the past. A well researched and thought provoking read.
Author: Carolyn Finney is assistant professor of geography at the University of Kentucky.
4. The Salt Path by Raynor Winn
Genre: Non Fiction
First Published: 2018
Pages: 288
In her 2018 memoir, Raynor Winn recounts how she and her husband, Moth manage their lives after everything that can go wrong does go wrong in their lives. Their journey to and through homelessness is compounded by Moth’s terminal illness diagnosis with the backdrop of England’s South West Coastal path National Trail in England.
The path is England’s longest way marked footpath. Just like salt when rubbed into wounds may sting, it is also healing. The salt path is a healing journey from the idea’s inception as bailiffs knock on the couple’s doors to their walking along the 630 miles (1,014km) of a path, which was originally a coast guard lookout not a hiking trail, therefore it is a challenging and strenuous path.
This journey is the story of how a couple uses an extreme eco-therapy challenge to get through the precarious social situation they found themselves in. Their resilience and love leaps off the pages as they go into survival mode, encounter negative public perceptions, as well as the kindness of strangers. As a couple they are forced to redefine the meaning of ‘home’ Winn captures what it means to literally be wrapped in the arms of nature. Her story is a haunting story of triumph over adversity.
Author: Raynor Winn is a Nature writer, and long distance walker. Her other books include: The Wild Silence.
5. Elixir: In the Valley at the End of Time by Kapka Kassabova
Genre: Non-Fiction
Published: 2024
Pages: 400
In this remarkable exposition, Kassabova captures a unique region in her native Bulgaria. The Mesla Valley is a European anomaly in that its biodiversity still includes wild bears and wolves whose numbers are gradually declining. With a combination of the author’s experience and beautiful prose, we are introduced to a landscape that is a time capsule of the Grimm’s fairytales terrain.
The immersive description paints a vivid topography and introduces its inhabitants as a resilient population well versed in the alchemy of the plants in their environment, which are seen as healers of the many social and physical wounds inflicted in the area over the years.
Author: Kapka Kassabova is a Bulgarian writer and poet. Other books by the author include: Border a Journey to the Edge of Europe.
6. The Outlaw Ocean: A Journey Across the last untamed Frontier by Ian Urbina
Genre: Non-Fiction
Published: 2019
Pages: 560
The ocean has always been awe inspiring and mysterious place for those of us who live far from coastal shores. When you consider it is such a large percentage of the Earth’s mass and we still know very little about it. In this riveting adventure, Urbina introduces landlubbers to world they could not imagine.
True crime in international waters does not stay at out at sea but flows onto the land affecting those innocent of the origins. Urbina reveals the ocean as a shadowland used for nefarious activities with little policing, where actions on the harsh seascape reflect back to bite us on land, be it whaling or piracy, amongst other things. The chapters are like riding a speed boat across water you thought was calm but has many bumps along the way. While not a book to read while on a cruise, it is a well researched and thrilling exposé on human interaction in natural environment few people really know.
Author: Ian Urbina is a Pulitzer Prize winner and a investigative reporter for the New York times.
7. World of Wonders by Aimee Nezhukumatathil
Genre: Non-Fiction
Published: 2024
Pages: 165
The story telling in this book is best described as exquisite. Nezhukumatathil merges memory, migration and the search for belonging. Full of beautiful illustrations by Fumi Nakamura, which blend characteristics of specific flora and fauna with poignant recollections from her life. The abilities of these creatures are ones which she admired and took her through her own journey during childhood while trying to fit in to becoming American.
The style throughout the book is fresh and lively. Descriptions and comparisons of the most amazing creatures are poetically gifted. In one chapter, My Cephalopod Year, she describes a transitional school year where she was “trying to write my way into being..” Nezhukumatathil has managed to write her way into being and shared the poignant journey.
Author: Aimee Nezhukumatathil is a an American poet and essayist and professor of English.
8. The Land in Our Bones by Layla Feghali
Genre: Non-Fiction
Published: 2024
Pages: 368
The geographical area covered in Feghali’s book is frequently presented as one full of conflict and confusion. In her book, The Land in Our Bones, Feghali, examines the long standing ancestral ties to a specific area, the Lebanon and Can’naan/the Levant, in what she calls the Crossroads. Herbal medicine in this book traverses war and peace, it is the garden of our past, present and future, it is a tool to help us re-member.
This is a book of our times, as refugees, migrants, and asylum seekers are on the move as never before seeking refuge and peace. They bring what Feghali calls their Plancesters with them in their bones. Feghali helps us understand what that means as she dedicates this to honouring displaced and diasporic people. A rich and valuable read to help us re-member.
Author: Feghali is a Lebanese ethnobotanist, and cultural worker.
9. Wanderland by Jini Reddy
Genre: Non-Fiction
Published: 2021
Pages: 234
Reddy is amongst a new wave of writers who incorporate their experience of migration and belonging as an integral part of the physical landscape in which they find themselves. With a Indian heritage, and South African raised parents, born British and living in Canada, she has got it covered.
Reddy is on a quest for the mystical in nature. An unidentifiable voice in the night starts her quest for the mystical in nature. The British landscape is the backdrop for her Quixotic pursuit. She wants to feel nature in the way indigenous cultures she has encountered in the past do and decides the British landscape is the perfect opportunity to find the magic. Along the way she encounters unusual and quirky followers of the old ways steeped in the pagan rituals of the Angles and Saxons. She wants to go beyond the naming of flora and fauna. On one sojourn she searches for an ancient temple on the Hebridean island of Iona with conflicting views on its existence.
The revelations are not always comfortable but Reddy lives her truth. For example, she talks about her need for proper hiking gear so she can look the part while hiking to avoid prejudice. Her thinking is as magical as the landscape she traverses. Reddy’s experiences indicate the living landscape speaks a language of synchronicity understood by those attuned to its voice.
Author: Reddy is a journalist, travel writer and author.
10. Lessons From Plants by Beronda L. Montgomery
Genre: Non-Fiction
Published: 2021
Pages: 240
As a scientist, Montgomery presents an erudite vision of our plant companions. She is fascinated by plants, which like us, can live in the most inhospitable environments. Her scientific research delves into plant strategies and their adaptations for survival. This study morphs into strategies for mentoring and helping others by leading and seeking sponsors.
Montgomery places great value in the humanity of the people with whom she has worked and learnt her science. As she says early in the book, this is her attempt to reduce plant bias and increase plant awareness. Montgomery achieves this in a way that is reminiscent of plant scientist, Stefano Mancuso’s research. We get a sense that plants are our allies, different but equal and the difference is in our perception.
Author: Beronda L. Montegomery is a professor, scientist communicator, researcher, and fellow of the American Academy of Microbiology.
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