Reading is good for the planet

Our Feet on the Ground's favorite Fall 2020 climate books

Guest post by Megan Otto

Nine months into staying at home, I miss the feeling of walking into a bookstore even more than I thought I would. I miss the cozy sense of discovery: wandering through tables covered in brand new releases, stumbling upon something I hadn't come in looking for, and going home with it in my bag. 

Bookstores have always been excellent places to discover new favorite titles and even new favorite genres. There's been an increasing tide of books written about climate change in recent months and years, and during this pandemic I have been grateful for various bookstore websites and review columns that do this work of discovery for me, introducing me to genres like climate fiction, or cli-fi, that I may never have known about otherwise.

Nonfiction releases continue to spread information about the climate crisis, and fiction releases offer us space to examine our emotions about climate change. We simply need more word of mouth recommendations from friends, peers and communities that will help us find these books and keep us engaged.

From our community to yours, here are some of the best books about climate from Fall 2020 that you may have missed:

Nonfiction

Future Sea: How to Rescue and Protect the World's Oceans by Deborah Rowan Wright, University of Chicago Press

Future Sea covers the paths we need to take—and the paths we're already on—to protect 100% of the world's oceans. All we need to do, according to marine conservationist Deborah Rowan Wright, is modernize international conservation laws that already exist so that governments around the world are held accountable.

In laying out a well-informed plan, Wright brings us one step closer to "institutional and political inertia," the lack of which is what she calls "the most pressing risk to the sea and its wildlife." By placing emphasis on countries around the world that have already set strong examples with ocean conservation, as well as individuals who have taken action in their daily lives to allow ocean habitats to recover, Future Sea leads us down a path to help oceans heal and flourish—and, by extension, help our whole planet.

Winning the Green New Deal: Why We Must, How We Can by By Varshini Prakash and Guido Girgenti of the Sunrise Movement, Simon and Schuster

This urgent collection of essays from Sunrise co-founder and lead policymakers, economists, and environmentalists advocates for a climate-focused political future in the US. The possibilities of grassroots political power and a Green New Deal would "build a just and thriving economy for all of us," and this includes issues of inequality and racism that are intrinsically tied to the fight for climate justice.

Youth activists have made it clear that the Green New Deal is the USA's last best path to climate stability and a brighter future. The collection invites readers to learn more about these activists who are part of the Sunrise Movement, campaigning for a simple yet powerful standard: "good jobs and a livable future."

All We Can Save: Truth, Courage, and Solutions for the Climate Crisis edited by Ayana Elizabeth Johnson and Katharine K. Wilkinson, Penguin Random House

"To change everything, we need everyone." This collection of writing highlights that feminist leadership and the inclusion of women leaders in the climate movement is essential to its success.

The variance of content in this book reflects the variance of women included: scientists, journalists, farmers, lawyers, teachers, activists, innovators, wonks, and designers all share the spectrum of their experiences. Through essays, poetry, and art focused on encouragement and solutions-oriented conversation, this collection highlights voices from women in the dialogue about the future of our planet and how to save as much as we can.

Fiction

Migrations by Charlotte McConaghy, MacMillian

Franny Stone arrives in Greenland on a mission to follow the last Arctic terns in the world on what could be their final migration to Antarctica. She travels with them from one end of the world to the other—the longest migration path of any bird. Franny's own past relationships and deeds intertwine with her journey, spurred by a compulsion to always leave, always move onward.

In Migrations, McConaghy imagines a future where nature is sparser than it is now, where loss is ongoing. With an urge to witness nature before it's changed forever or disappeared, Migrations is "an ode to a disappearing world."

The Ministry for the Future by Kim Stanley Robinson, Hachette Books

The Ministry of the Future is an organization established in 2025 to protect all living creatures, present and future. Told through fictional eye-witness accounts, the novel explores the growth of the Ministry as climate change takes hold of our world.

While not an apocalypse novel, it does face head-on the realities of our rapidly changing present and rides on the hope that we may make it through.

High as the Waters Rise by Anja Kampmann, Catapult Books

When Waclaw, an oil rig worker, discovers his bunkmate and friend has gone missing, he leaves on a journey that leads him around the world. Waclaw explores his own grief for his friend while encountering the grief of those he meets who are suffering in a world with depleting natural resources.

The novel explores the oil industry, which of course is a major contributor to advancing climate change, but it also explores the ways in which injustices carried out by oil rig executives are beyond Waclaw's control. In epic style and scope, Kampmann writes of a global grief that stems from our disappearing earth.

Reading thoughtfully helps us care for our Earth

Hopefully some of these have sparked the feeling of discovery that lives best with new books. Maybe they can come home with you in your virtual bag, or you might consider some of these titles as a gift for a loved one.

All of our choices, including what we choose to read and how we acquire it, make up our habits and who we are, and in turn can leave us better prepared to care for our planet. Choosing to support independent bookstores, for example, isn’t so different from choosing to take care of our Earth—if we make conscious choices to support and protect them now, they’ll be there for us to return to in the future.

As we head into the New Year, I'm hoping we'll soon be able to return to browse bookstore shelves on chilly days and walk back out into a world that will still be full of snow. In the meantime, we can stay in and read together. 

This week’s task: Share this list with a friend and have an impromptu book club. Choose a title, read the book together, and have a conversation.  And please loop us in—we’d love to know what you think about these books, too!

Megan Otto is a freelance arts and environmental writer specializing in content related to ethical storytelling, underrepresented voices, and climate justice. Based in Portland, Oregon, she loves visiting both the mountains and the ocean in her free time.