The best nature books to help us disconnect from modern life

Modern living requires that we move, consume, absorb, and process quickly—and our bodies can’t always keep up. Thoreau’s journals transport us back to Massachusetts between 1837 and 1860, where his recordings of seeds and birds and worms, his philosophies on man and mankind, and his personal struggles against all else are set against the hush of frozen rivers, crackling fires, and ringing telegraph wires. Especially when read daily, this most prolific botanist, transcendentalist, and introvert of New England history reminds us to value the comfort of contemporary living, but never to forget the value of moving, observing, and living a slow and intentional life.

Anne Shirley believes in the power of the imagination and leans into it during hard times. And so, in romantically naming the lakes, groves, and rural roadways of her new home, the orphan wins over her new town of prim locals and reminds us that awe of simple pleasures can transform hearts and lives. This is the first of six books in a classic series written for children. But reading as an adult, we regain permission to believe that the natural world is mystical and magical, that we can be transmitters of its loving energy, and that — no matter how old we get —there are many kindred spirits out in the world, wanting to play with us.

“For us it is a farm with a different kind of harvest,” Teale describes of how his aging Trail Woods farm yields observations, memories, and adventures. Teale has been called a “20th-century Thoreau” for his work as a naturalist, writer, and nature photographer. But in chapters titled A Hammock in the Woods, Stone Fences, The Man in the Brushpile, and more, his expression of love for living things transcends scientific observation; he shares his relationships with stones, plants, and animals so that we recognize they are made not only of earth, but of spirit, too.

A mother, scientist, professor, and enrolled member of the Citizen Potawatomi Nation, Kimmerer shares stories of the natural world with an unparalleled blend of science and spirit. She tells stories about making maple syrup with her daughters, fighting environmental contamination, and celebrating the indigenous Three Sisters crops with passion, authority, and humility—we follow Kimmerer as a mother, professor, and lifelong student on every page. We feel her awe and respect for the past, present, and future of living things. We find revived awe and respect for the things living in our immediate little worlds, too.

Poet Ross Gay is a shape shifter who observes the struggle of living in a human body such with compassion and intelligence and artistry that he not only describes such struggles, but also transports us inside of the elements that create them. In this meditation on love and life and loss, we are soothed by the garden, the beehive, the orchard; by the mourning doves and dung-filled dirt and knots of dead bees that he reaches for to nourish and calm and heal. Gay is very much alive to the living and the dead around him. This collection of poems brings us back to life with gratitude transformed.