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It's Earth Day, but many of us are staying inside—it's good for all of us (and possibly for nature too), yet it means we can't freely enjoy the environment with our family and friends.
In the meantime, there are plenty of ways to get in touch with the natural world in quarantine, from taking up gardening (even if it's just a few flowers in a window box!) to donating to climate-focused charities, or even getting lost in a good book. With that last idea in mind, we've compiled a list of seven great books that focus on the natural world.
Silent Spring by Rachel Carson
The mother of modern environmental science writing, Carson authored this trailblazing anti-pesticide book in 1962, yet its conservationist message feels as relevant today as it did then (if not more so).
The Uninhabitable Earth: Life After Warming by David Wallace-Wells
If you want to truly understand the effects that climate change is already having on our world, this New York Times bestseller is a good place to start. (Beware, though: Its gloomy outlook is not for the faint of heart.)
No One Is Too Small to Make a Difference by Greta Thunberg
If you want to read something more inspiring on the topic of climate change, sit down with this collection of speeches by groundbreaking youth climate activist Greta Thunberg: Her strength is bound to give you some hope for the future.
Braiding Sweetgrass: Indigenous Wisdom, Scientific Knowledge, and the Teachings of Plants by Robin Wall Kimmerer
Kimmerer draws on her own experiences as a botanist and an indigenous woman to meticulously craft this book of essays about the importance of nurturing ecological awareness and developing a relationship with the natural world.
The Botany of Desire by Michael Pollan
In relating the stories of four plants—the apple, the tulip, marijuana, and the potato—Pollan explores the complicated and often symbiotic relationship between vegetation and people.
The Overstory: A Novel by Richard Powers
This Pulitzer Prize-winning novel tells the story of how trees have lived silently alongside humans throughout history, focusing on nine people who have a range of unique experiences with trees in their lives.
Tentacle by Rita Indiana
A young Dominican woman is forced to go back in time and save the oceans in this addictive novel about the ways in which climate and humanity interact.
