A summer break from the usual routine is the perfect time to explore fresh ideas through your reading pile. If you’re off on holiday – or just enjoying the longer evenings – discover book recommendations from Our Planet Our Future’s members. From an account of the Knepp experiment to rewild a farm to exploring the Alaskan wilds, there’s something for every climate-curious reader here.
And if you love discussing what you’ve read with others, why not join our bi-monthly sustainability book club? The next session will be on the 22nd of October, when we’ll be discussing Less by Patrick Grant. Book your free ticket here.
If you’re curious about conservation
Dirk recommends Wilding: The Return of Nature to a British Farm by Isabella Tree: ‘In Wilding, Isabella Tree tells the story of the ‘Knepp experiment’, a pioneering rewilding project in West Sussex, using free-roaming grazing animals to create new habitats for wildlife. Part gripping memoir, part fascinating account of the ecology of our countryside, Wilding is, above all, an inspiring story of hope.’
If you want an adventure
Nigel recommends Kings of the Yukon: An Alaskan River Journey by Adam Weymouth: ‘The Yukon River is almost 2,000 miles long, flowing through Canada and Alaska to the Bering Sea. Setting out to explore one of the most ruggedly beautiful and remote regions of North America, Adam Weymouth journeyed by canoe on a four-month odyssey through this untrammelled wilderness, encountering the people who have lived there for generations. The Yukon’s inhabitants have long depended on the king salmon who each year migrate the entire river to reach their spawning grounds. Now the salmon numbers have dwindled, and the encroachment of the modern world has changed the way of life on the Yukon, perhaps forever.’
If you’re heading to the mountains
Dirk recommends Lone Wolf: Walking the Faultlines of Europe, also by Adam Weymouth. ‘In 2011, a young wolf named Slavc set out from Slovenia. Traced by GPS, he travelled a thousand miles through the Alps, arriving four months later on the Lessinian plateau, north of Verona. There had been no wolves in northern Italy for a century, but here he crossed paths with a female wolf on a walkabout of her own. A decade later and there are more than a hundred wolves back in the area, the result of their remarkable meeting.
In Lone Wolf, Weymouth walks Slavc’s path, examining the changes facing these wild corners of Europe. Here, the call to rewild meets the urge to preserve culture; nationalism and globalisation pull apart; climate change is radically changing lives; and migrants, too, are on the move.’
If you’re inspired to explore the countryside’s riches
Fuschia recommends The Forager’s Calendar: A Seasonal Guide to Nature’s Wild Harvests: ‘from dandelions in spring to sloe berries in autumn, via wild garlic, samphire, chanterelles and even grasshoppers, our countryside is full of edible delights in any season. John Wright is the country’s foremost expert in foraging and brings decades of experience, including as forager at the River Cottage, to this seasonal guide.
Month by month, he shows us what species can be found and where, how to identify them, and how to store, use and cook them.
You’ll learn the stories behind the Latin names, the best way to tap a Birch tree, and how to fry an ant, make rosehip syrup and cook a hop omelette. Fully illustrated throughout, with tips on kit, conservation advice and what to avoid, this is an indispensable guide for everyone interested in wild food, whether you want to explore the great outdoors, or are happiest foraging from your armchair.’
If you want a hero story
Dirk recommends Monkey Wrench Gang by Edward Abbey: ‘Throughout the vast American West, nature is being victimised by a Big Government / Big Business conspiracy of bridges, dams and concrete. But a motley gang of individuals has decided that enough is enough. A burnt-out veteran, a mad doctor and a polygamist join forces in a noble cause: to dismantle the machinery of progress through peaceful means – or otherwise.’
If you want to travel slowly
Fuschia recommends Around the World in 80 Trains: A 4,500-Mile Adventure by Monsha Rajesh: ‘From the cloud-skimming heights of Tibet’s Qinghai railway to silk-sheeted splendour on the Venice Simplon-Orient-Express, Around the World in 80 Trains is a celebration of the glory of train travel and a witty and irreverent look at the world. Packing up her rucksack – and her fiancé, Jem – Monisha Rajesh embarks on an unforgettable adventure that takes her from London’s St Pancras station to the vast expanses of Russia and Mongolia, North Korea, Canada, Kazakhstan, and beyond.
The journey is one of constant movement and mayhem, as the pair strike up friendships and swap stories with the hilarious, irksome and ultimately endearing travellers they meet on board, all while taking in some of the earth’s most breathtaking views.’
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, plus previous seasonal roundups. Click on the links to read what we thought about them.
- We Will Not Be Saved by Nemonte Nenquimo
- Saving Us by Katharine Hayhoe
- The High House by Jessie Greengrass
- A Climate of Truth by Mike Berners-Lee
- Prosperity Without Growth by Tim Jackson
- 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
- Winter 2026 book recommendations
- Summer 2025 book recommendations