Planning to pack a sustainability-related read in your suitcase this summer? We asked Our Planet Our Future’s sustainability book club to give their recommendations. From first-person accounts of rewilding adventures to dystopian fiction via flight-free travel and politics, there’s something for every climate-curious reader here.
If you want a climate refresher
Linda recommends The Fragile Earth by David Remnick. She says, ‘I was looking for a collection of bite-sized essays across a range of climate change issues to help me get back to reading environmental literature. 21 essays by experts in their field, around 25 pages each. Ok, most were written 2005-2019, but they are helping me reconnect. Not too heavy for the summer heat.’ Waterstones is currently selling the hardback copy for £9.99.
If you’re curious about conservation
Dirk suggests Bringing Back the Beaver by Derek Gow: ‘funny, inspiring and well researched. It describes his successful work bringing back this keystone species. He’s driven, opinionated, and does not suffer fools gladly – a good man to have doing this work.’
Another non-fiction first-person account Dirk recommends is Our Wild Farming Life by Lynn Cassells and Sandra Baer. He says, ‘Two women with no farming experience buy a Highland croft and make a go of it. They think things through and make good decisions. It’s not directly environmental, but the environment is important to them. It’s hard going, but they find a business model that works – interesting even for those not thinking of going into farming!’
Nigel recommends Wild Fell by Lee Schofield. He says, ‘it’s a great account of his efforts at Haweswater RSPB and his battles and then collaborations with local farming communities, as well as a tour of other rewilding sites in UK and Europe’.
Susheel recommends Elixir: A Voyage Into Alchemy by Kapha Kassabova. She says, ‘It’s about her journey around the remote villages of Bulgaria. I really enjoyed it, it’s about how people interact with the land, plants, people and change.’ The Guardian wrote a lovely review of the book which you can read here.
If you want to immerse yourself in politics
Nigel recommends Failed State by Sam Freedman: ‘a forensic analysis of all that’s wrong with UK governance. Not environment-focused but a compelling read!’
If you want to feel optimistic
Lesley recommends How To Fall In Love With The Future by Rob Hopkins, whose previous book, From What Is To What If inspired us in the early days of the book club. She describes it as, ‘an inspiring, positive book about the future and how we can get there.’
If you’re heading to the mountains
Anyone heading up a mountain this summer will enjoy the short but sweet The Living Mountain by Nan Shepherd as they ease their achy muscles at the end of a long day. Dirk says, ‘Shepherd spent her life hiking the Cairngorms. That experience provided the material for this paean to her beloved mountains. Considered a classic on par with books such as Thoreau’s Walden and Muir’s My First Summer in the Sierra.’
If you want a fiction read
If you’re after a fiction book, then Alexandra recommends Gliff by Ali Smith. She says, ‘I love all her novels. This one is a tale of a dystopian Britain in the near future under surveillance capitalism and in environmental ruin. It is quirky and thought-provoking and still has a hopeful message!’
If you want to travel slowly
Fuschia recommends Zero Altitude by Helen Coffey: ‘A travel editor decides to give up flying when she learns about the environmental damage it causes, but still wants to keep her job. The result is this book packed with stories about her exciting, flight-free travels to far-flung destinations (hint: she got further than Europe). It inspired me to take the Flight Free UK Pledge, including travelling from London to Ibiza by train and ferry two years ago.’ The book also inspired a recent OPOF event about flight-free travel. You can borrow a copy from The Green House’s eco library.
Other sustainability-related books
Want even more reading inspiration? Here’s a list of all the books the Our Planet Our Future Sustainability Book Club has read. Click on the links to read what we thought about them.
- Braiding Sweetgrass by Robin Wall Kimmerer
- Blue Machine by Helen Czerski
- Badvertising by Andrew Simms and Leo Murray
- Doughnut Economics by Kate Raworth
- Regenesis by George Monbiot
- Five Times Faster by Simon Sharpe
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