Returning to Nature: A Reading List

If you like your rituals rooted in the forest, perhaps you’ll like a reading list inspired by nature, too. In keeping with MIRROR WATER’s ethos, and just in time for the “back to school” feeling that fall brings, here’s a few fiction and nonfiction titles to get you grounded in nature.

FICTION

Under Story by Chloe Benjamin

Have you ever wanted to run away from the tragedies of your life? If so, you might relate to Laurel—a former biologist—who takes a job washing dishes at a research base in Antarctica. Her past quickly catches up to her, though, when a mysterious arc of light appears, puzzling all of the scientists who have been brought in to study its origins . . . including her ex-husband. When they were happy, the couple used to share a theory about the universe that might or might not involve a parallel universe and/or time travel. Could this be their second chance? More than anything, this is a love letter to nature: to the natural wonders, to the apple orchards and the mushrooms, and the very intricate and beautiful ways all living things are connected.

The Overstory by Richard Powers

The Overstory is an ode to the trees—and to those who know how to listen to them. This sweeping, structurally innovative novel touches on the lives of nine people whose stories are intertwined with those of the trees. It’s about deforestation and environmental activism, the way living things intersect in ways we don’t always expect, but it’s also about the agency of nature. It’s about the complicated and invisible (to us) ways that trees communicate. It’s about the joys of looking closely. It’s about the way a thunderstorm is felt in a forest.

Remarkably Bright Creatures by Shelby van Pelt

You might’ve already seen the movie starring Sally Field, but can we interest you in the novel that started it all? Remarkably Bright Creatures tells the story of a woman named Tova, whose heartbreak is twofold: Decades ago, her 18-year-old son disappeared on a boating trip. More recently, her husband passed leaving Tova all alone. All alone except for Marcellus, the persnickety octopus at the aquarium where she works. As it turns out, Marcellus might know a thing or two about what happened to Tova’s son. (Yes, we do get the octopus’s perspective, too!) Through their unlikely friendship comes a beautiful and whimsical story of healing together.

NONFICTION

Braiding Sweetgrass by Robin Wall Kimmerer

What could we learn from the world around us, if we knew how to listen? We have a lot to learn from Robin Wall Kimmerer, a Potawatomi botanist who approaches nature from both scientific and Indigenous perspectives. Every fact, observation, and anecdote shimmers with poetry. In reading this book, you will undoubtedly learn things you didn’t know before, but Braiding Sweetgrass also invites you to learn a language of interconnectedness. It encourages you to recalibrate your thinking. Robin Wall Kimmerer writes about the natural world with an immense curiosity and respect. Braiding Sweetgrass is a celebration of our ecosystem and the relationships between all living things that have a home here.

A Marriage at Sea by Sophie Elmhirst

Meet Maurice and Maralyn; they are no ordinary couple. In the 1970s, they decide to do something a little unconventional: they sell their home in the UK and they build a boat. They dream of a life unconfined by the city and their humdrum routines. They quit their jobs, and in June 1972, they set sail. (Think of them as the original Van Life couple!) For months, everything is going smoothly—until a whale hits their boat and shipwrecks them. They’re left stranded on a tiny raft, and what comes next is an unbelievably thrilling tale of hope, tenderness, and survival. What is perhaps most moving about this true story is the way Maralyn buoys their sense of optimism; at every turn, she encourages them to think of their future as a fact. She draws dresses she wants to sew, writes out menus she wants to make when they get home, and—of course—designs their next boat.

Backyard Bird Chronicles by Amy Tan

Backyard Bird Chronicles might just be the antidote to doomscrolling. In 2016, writer Amy Tan got into birds. (Don’t we all know someone who became a birder in recent years?) She started to notice the creatures visiting her backyard. The noticing turned into studying them, which turned into drawing them (yes, these are her illustrations!), and truly communing with them. Backyard Bird Chronicles serves as a much-needed reminder of the peace and connection we can find in our daily rituals.

Katie Yee is a writer based in Brooklyn. Maggie; or, A Man and a Woman Walk Into a Bar is her first novel. You can find her on Instagram at @emergencychampagne or subscribe to her Substack, Dear Void, for more book recommendations.

Written by
Katie Yee

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