Ten Books for Arbor Day
Ten Books for Arbor Day
Branch out this Arbor Day and leaf your mark on the world!
Let's celebrate Arbor Day (April 28) by reading some books about trees and forest conservation.
We have an incredible opportunity to learn more about these beautiful ecosystems, and to take action to protect them. I've compiled a list of ten books that can help you understand the importance of preserving our forests. These books will give you an in-depth look at what makes forests unique, and how they contribute to the health of our planet. They'll also highlight some of the challenges they face today—and show you what we can do about it!
So check out this list, and let's get started on our journey toward a greener tomorrow!
Forest Bathing: How Trees Can Help You Find Health and Happiness by Qing Li (2018) Penguin Life | Notice how a tree sways in the wind. Run your hands over its bark. Take in its citrusy scent. As a society we suffer from nature deficit disorder, but studies have shown that spending mindful, intentional time around trees--what the Japanese call shinrin-yoku, or forest bathing--can promote health and happiness.
To Speak for the Trees: My Life's Journey from Ancient Celtic Wisdom to a Healing Vision of the Forest by Diana Beresford-Kroeger (2021) Timber Press | Diana Beresford-Kroeger--a world-recognized botanist and medical biochemist--has revolutionized our understanding of the natural world with her startling insights into the hidden life of trees. In this riveting memoir, she uncovers the roots of her discoveries in her extraordinary childhood in Ireland. Soon after, her brilliant mind bloomed into an illustrious scientific career that melds the intricacies of the natural world with the truths of traditional Celtic wisdom.
The Treeline: The Last Forest and the Future of Life on Earth by Ben Rawlence (2022) St. Martin’s Press | For the last fifty years, the trees of the boreal forest have been moving north. Ben Rawlence's The Treeline takes us along this critical frontier of our warming planet from Norway to Siberia, Alaska to Greenland, Canada to Sweden to meet the scientists, residents and trees confronting huge geological changes.
Forest Walking: Discovering the Trees and Woodlands of North America by Peter Wohlleben and Jane Billinghurst (2022) Greystone Books | Throughout Forest Walking, the authors share experiences and observations from visiting forests across North America: from the rainforests and redwoods of the west coast to the towering white pines of the east, and down to the cypress swamps of the south and up to the boreal forests of the north. With Forest Walking, German forester Peter Wohlleben teams up with his longtime editor, Jane Billinghurst, as the two write their first book together, and the result is nothing short of spectacular.
Elderflora: A Modern History of Ancient Trees by Jared Farmer (2022) Basic Books | Humans have always revered long-lived trees. But as historian Jared Farmer reveals in Elderflora, our veneration took a modern turn in the eighteenth century, when naturalists embarked on a quest to locate and precisely date the oldest living things on earth. The new science of tree time prompted travelers to visit ancient specimens and conservationists to protect sacred groves. Exploitation accompanied sanctification, as old-growth forests succumbed to imperial expansion and the industrial revolution.
Tree Thieves: Crime and Survival in North America's Woods by Lyndsie Bourgon (2022) Little, Brown Spark | There's a strong chance that chair you are sitting on was made from stolen lumber. In Tree Thieves, Lyndsie Bourgon takes us deep into the underbelly of the illegal timber market. As she traces three timber poaching cases, she introduces us to tree poachers, law enforcement, forensic wood specialists, the enigmatic residents of former logging communities, environmental activists, international timber cartels, and indigenous communities along the way.
The Language of Trees: A Rewilding of Literature and Landscape by Katie Holten (4/4/23) Tin House Books | In this gorgeously illustrated and deeply thoughtful collection, Katie Holten gifts readers her tree alphabet and uses it to masterfully translate and illuminate beloved lost and new, original writing in praise of the natural world. With an introduction from Ross Gay, and featuring writings from over fifty contributors including Ursula K. Le Guin, Ada Limón, Robert Macfarlane, Zadie Smith, Radiohead, Aimee Nezhukumatathil, James Gleick, Elizabeth Kolbert, Plato, and Robin Wall Kimmerer, Holten illustrates each selection with an abiding love and reverence for the magic of trees.
Must Love Trees: An Unconventional Guide by Tobin Mitnick (4/11/23) Rockpoint | In Must Love Trees, Mitnick invites you to share his deeply personal connection to our forest companions in ways that expand the storied genre of nature writing. From an imagined dialogue with the world's oldest bristlecone pine, to the minutiae of tree huggability, to the emotional toll of taking up the practice of bonsai, this fresh take into the world of trees is divided into three equally humorous and insightful sections.
The Power of Trees: How Ancient Forests Can Save Us If We Let Them by Peter Wohlleben (5/2/23) Greystone | An illuminating manifesto on ancient forests: how they adapt to climate change by passing their wisdom through generations, and why our future lies in protecting them. In his beloved book The Hidden Life of Trees, Peter Wohlleben revealed astonishing discoveries about the social networks of trees and how they communicate. Now, in The Power of Trees, he turns to their future, with a searing critique of forestry management, tree planting, and the exploitation of old growth forests.
How to Read a Tree: Clues and Patterns from Bark to Leaves by Tristan Gooley (5/2) Experiment | Trees are keen to tell us so much. They'll tell us about the land, the water, the people, the animals, the weather, and time. And they will tell us about their lives, the good bits and bad. Trees tell a story, but only to those who know how to read it.
In The News:
Yes to Arbor Day! Every tree planted is a Yes. Yes to our communities. Yes to fighting climate change. And Yes to a greener future. | Arbor Day Foundation
How To Plant A Tree In Your Backyard To Celebrate Arbor Day 2023 | House Digest
Join the Celebration: Arbor Day Proclaimed in Culver City | Westside Today
What Is Arbor Day and Why Do We Celebrate It? All About the Tree-Centric Holiday | Parade
Plant a tree to save the world on Arbor Day? It's a little more complicated than that. | USA Today
How will you celebrate and give back to nature today? Let us know in the comments below!
Did you find any good books to add to your TBR? This is just a small sampling of the nonfiction titles I’ve curated on this topic. Make sure to check out the complete list HERE.
Let's Read Nonfiction is a weekly newsletter that showcases the newest nonfiction titles, with a new topic or theme each week. Some past topics have been:
Creativity | Humor | WWII Heroes | Relationships | Black History | Health & Wellness | Women’s History | Food Memoirs | Grief & Loss
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