With Earth Day approaching on April 22, how we relate to nature and how we see the world around us become foremost in our thoughts. These seven memoirs of living alongside nature offer us an opportunity to look more deeply into both our humanity and the world we call home.
The Hawk's Way: Encounters with Fierce Beauty by Sy Montgomery
When Sy Montgomery went to spend a day at falconer Nancy Cowan's farm, home to a dozen magnificent birds of prey, it was the start of a deep love affair. Nancy allowed her to work with Jazz, a feisty, four-year-old, female Harris's hawk with a wingspan of more than four feet.
Fox and I: An Uncommon Friendship by Catherine Raven
A poignant and remarkable tale of friendship, growth, and coping with inevitable loss--and of how that loss can be transformed into meaning. It is both a timely tale of solitude and belonging as well as a timeless story of one woman whose immersion in the natural world will change the way we view our surroundings--each tree, weed, flower, stone, or fox.
Move Like Water: My Story of the Sea by Hannah Stowe
A book to sweep you away from the shore, into a wild world of water, whale, storm, and starlight— to experience what it’s like to sail for weeks at a time with life set to a new rhythm.
We Loved it All: A Memory of Life by Lydia Millet
This lucent anti-memoir from celebrated novelist Lydia Millet explores the pain and joy of being a parent, child, and human at a moment when the richness of the planet’s life is deeply threatened.
Birding to Change the World by Trish O'Kane
In this uplifting memoir, a professor and activist shares what birds can teach us about life, social change, and protecting the environment.
World of Wonders: In Praise of Fireflies, Whale Sharks, and Other Astonishments by Aimee Nezhukumatathil
A lyrical exploration of a woman finding her true home in the world, interspersed with hauntingly beautiful descriptions of the lives of the animals and plants that illuminate it.
The Story of My Boyhood and Youth by John Muir
A memoir of childhood and a celebration of the natural world, from one of the founding fathers of modern conservation.