There's a South African author that uses climate change in the background of her fiction: *A Fractured Land* and *Shadow Flicker* by *_Melissa A. Volker_* make me proud to be South African P.S. I like watching *Our Changing Climate* to receive insights & suggestions on climate action
Thanks for making this video, climate change is indeed a very important topic. I'll check some of the books you mentioned. Some of my favorite books about environmental change are "The New World" and "The Great Waves of Change" by Marshall Vian Summers.
I've read "Great Waves" too. That book was such an eye opener, not only in it's revealing what is coming for our world, but full of practical wisdom as to how to prepare for what our new reality will be. Thanks for mentioning it here Eric.
I really recommend "The Overstory" by Richard Powers. It's an amazing fiction book about different people and their connection with trees. It's beautiful and Leena Norms loves it. Need I say more?!
@@wiskerlikestoread4594 I'm currently reading it, I'm about a third of the way in, and I think it's not as difficult as some people say (and English is not my native language)!
This isn’t cli-fi BUT Braiding sweetgrass is an incredible poetic nonfiction book written by an indigenous author, Robin Wall Kimmerer! Definitely my favorite environmental book!
Recommended Cli-Fi: The Word for World is Forest by Ursula K. Le Guin Flight Behavior by Barbara Kingsolver The Fifth Season by N. K. Jemisin The Ministry for the Future by Kim Stanley Robinson Pump Six and Other Stories by Paolo Bacigalupi A Friend of the Earth by T. Coraghessan Boyle The Overstory by Richard Powers Parable of the Sower by Octavia Butler Oryx and Crake by Margaret Atwood
Anthony Doerr’s short story collection “The Shell Collector” uses nature in an important way in every single story. Not about climate change exactly, but about the human relationship to nature. Plus, lord of the rings is low key environmentalist...the bad guys are industrial and the good guys ride on horses and trees
I don't think there's an english version but for anyone that is able to read in portuguese i would recommend "A Vida no Céu " by José Eduardo Agualusa. It is a dystopian novel set in a future in which the globe is completely covered in water and it's impossible to live on the surface due to the suffocating temperature. Because of that people live in floating cities, unless they are too poor and have to live in small rudimentary balloons and pray that they do not fall. The main character is a 16-year-old boy named Benjamin who decides to go look for his missing father. This work addresses themes such as poverty, climate change and global warming, growth and youth, love, mortality and the search for knowledge.
Has anyone read NO IMPACT MAN? Nonfiction, about a guy living in New York who tries to reduce his carbon footprint to zero for a year. Stunt journalism-esque. He stops buying anything new, stops using toilet paper and diapers for his kid, recycles, and all kinds of shenanigans.
haven't read the book but I loooove the documentary! I found it so honest. Really shows it as a family issue and how it impacts his wife and daughter, and their greater outside life.
You neeeeeed to read Braiding Sweetgrass: Indigenous Wisdom, Scientific Knowledge, and the Teachings of Plants by Robin Wall Kimmerer!! It's about our relationship to the environment from an indigenous person's perspective
Parable of the Sower was the first book that came to mind for fiction cli-fi, where climate is always in the background. Overstory is another phenomenal one. For nonfiction I always recommend What We Think About When We Try Not to Think About Global Warming by Per Epsen Stoknes. Other than having the best title, the author is an economist and psychologist and talks about the psychology of climate change and also how it affects us emotionally. All We Can Save is an anthology that I have on my tbr that I’ve heard really great things about. Also Annie Dillard and Robin Wall Kimmerer are two nature writers to check out, both write beautifully.
Not sure if this counts as cli-fi but I’m currently reading The History of Bees by Maja Lunde and it definitely ties in with the climate and how important bees are to our food sources and basically our survival. Haven’t finished it yet but would definitely recommend so far!
Recently, I read a book called 'The Inhabitable Earth' by David Wallace Wells and I have to recommend it. It is really full of scientific studies and loads of facts that truly make you think.
best climate fiction I read this year was The Man With The Compound Eyes by Wu Ming-Yi! a really interesting book full of magical realism and different perspectives on climate disaster in Taiwan. I just wanted to say, read the Bill Gates book if you want to but it's important to remember that the fact that the author of the book is a billionaire profiting off climate destructive capitalist practices is going to 100% influence what he says in the book. it's in his interest to make sure capitalism continues the way it is - and there's no way to genuinely stop the climate crisis under the current economic system. idk much about the book but I honestly wouldn't trust a thing he says lol. there are also lots of books about how billionaire philanthropy isn't really as great as it sounds, so maybe you should look into that in 2021 too (I know I will, it's a topic I definitely want to educate myself on more).
Would love it if you have more recommendations on different genres! I've been mostly reading YA fiction, and now as I get older it doesn't interest me as much. Looking forward to educating myself about different topics. Thank you for the rec, it seems really interesting! :)
@@yuvashreep7035 you mean for climate-related fiction? I did also really enjoy Margaret Atwood's MaddAddam trilogy this year which is more of a hypercapitalist climate dystopia. Dry by Neal Shusterman was another climate dystopia I read last year which really freaked me out lol, it's basically about the water completely running out in parts of America and it follows a teenage girl trying to survive and make it to somewhere that still has water.
@@eliodelio5600 not just climate fiction, but any book you've enjoyed that explores a variety of serious topics. Also thanks for the rec, will make sure to check it out. 💖✨
The Uninhabitable Earth by David Wallace Wells is a great really intense and stats filled outline of all the ways the climate change will wreck humanity. Very good
To me it was really hard to get through, but I did. I also felt that there was a lot of repetition in it. I didn't understand a lot of what the author talked about other than the fact that "humanity is staring down the barrels and needs to drop everything else and act now!!"
As a new landowner, you might want to read Bringing Nature Home by Douglas Tallamy. It’s about the vital importance of using native plants in landscaping. Nonnative plants are often bought and planted around our homes, but those plants provide zero support for the local ecosystem. There are videos of him on RUclips if you want a quick introduction. For a cli-lit book I suggest Dune by Frank Herbert.
Two that I would recommend are- The 2084 Report: An Oral History of the Great Warming by James Lawrence Powell- this is kinda in the same vein as World War Z, it’s a fiction novel set up as a witness statement by the many people impacted by Global Warming through the 2000’s. It’s incredibly engrossing and had me second guessing if the author was perhaps a time traveller. & Greenwood by Michael Christie- In this novel you follow 4 generations of the same family, they are in the forestry industry, we follow all these generations as the Climate and life in the forest is impacted by global warming. I’m just starting this and loving it, i too come from many generations of forestry workers, I’ve felt super connected to the story.
I highly recommend 'Entangled Life' by Merlin Sheldrake. It's not about climate change -- it's about fungi. But it's an excellent example of showing how everything is connected in the world, and the true depth (sometimes literally) of life around us, under us, in us. I'm a novice mushroom nerd and it's become a bit of a holy relic for me!
I’ve never, not once been blown away by and swooned by a product placement/sponsor. Tru Earth however…… holy sh!t I’m blown away. The second I’m out of my detergent I’m getting it and only ever using this. The measurements alone are made a million times easier. Consistency. I could go on forever about how much i love this product and i havent even bought it yet. GIFTS. PERFECT GIFT FOR OLDER FAMILY MEMBERS. I’m living. Sorry, simple solutions to major issues just give me life.
The N.K Jemisin books come to mind immediately! The fifth season being the first book in the series. Also, I love your spon!!! I will definetely check it out
For my ecology class we read Half-Earth: Our Planet’s Fight for Life by Edward O Wilson and I really enjoyed it and thought it was very informative about what is happening to species around the world and the work that needs to be done to protect them and prevent another mass extinction. It is written by a biologist so it can be a little hard to get through at times but definitely worth checking out. It’s just over 200 pages so it’s not terribly long and not one that requires you to read the chapters in order if you don’t want to (my professor had us skipping around to different parts of the book as we read and I don’t think I missed out on anything that way)
Last week I read A Children's Bible by Lydia Millet, a novel following a group of kids who are living through the beginnings of the aftereffects of climate change. Ariel, I feel like you would really enjoy this because it there's so much social commentary and it's just kind of a weird book (but in a good way!) Also, it's short! I think a little over 200 pages
Not specifically climate, but I'm a recently-graduated ecologist so I have a lot of reccs in the vein of how humans impact the land. Sand County Almanac by Aldo Leopold is required first semester reading. Literally anything by John McPhee (but Encounters With the Archdruid is my fav) And for any Florida-based people, Craig Pittman writes witty, mkre accessible journalistic accounts of some of our more charismatic environmentally challenged darlings(manatees, the everglades, the florida panther)
Thank you for making this video Ariel! More people need to care about climate and the environment. I love that you included Mary Oliver's poetry! 💚 I would recommend The Uninhabitable Earth by David Wallace Wells. For fiction The Overstory by Richard Powers comes to mind. It's about trees, forests, environmental destruction, and climate change. The story is so grand and unlike any other book of fiction I've ever read. Won the 2019 Pulitzer prize. I'm looking forward to reading The New Wilderness by Diane Cook.
All We Can Save is a collection of climate related essays that I highly recommend! For cli-fi I recommend (like a few others have!) The History of Bees, and The End of the Ocean, by Maja Lunde and also , After Australia - a collection of short stories about a range of issues including climate change in Australia in the near future!
There's a fantasy book that I read this year that tackles this subject, it is in Spanish but I'll leave it here anyway, it's called Mística Natural by Guadalupe Cuahonte. In it, we find a world where humans and fantastic creatures used to cohabit, and due to human interaction with the Earth, the fantastical creatures erased every memory that humans had about them. It is really entertaining, but it also uses many elements that make you question your choices about your actions as a human being.
wow thank you! I was just thinking about trying to find cli-fi in French/Spanish and so this comment & your video on the book came to me at just the right time :) my Spanish is not quite at a level to read this one yet but hopefully one day!
Not fiction, but Barbara Kingsolver has a memoir called 'Animal, Vegetable, Miracle' and it's fantastic!! Highly recommend. Her family moves to a farm in Virginia and they live off of what they could produce on their land or buy from their neighbors for a whole year and in between she talks a lot about nature, big agriculture, climate change, etc.
You do make a big impact, Ariel! I'm a physicist and I want to work in something related to enviroment protection. However, I'm not sure how to achieve this or if I'm the right person for the job, so I was losing hope until I saw this video. With all certainty, the books you are recommending will motivate me to chase this goal. You have influenced me and probably a large proportion of your viewers too to care for our planet in any way we can. I've long known that, like it or not, we make a big difference just existing and letting all the people we interact with in a lifetime see our lifestyle and know our beliefs.
Braiding Sweetgrass by Robin Wall Kimmerer Is the most beautiful book of what right relationship with the earth can be. I’ve bought this book for everyone I love...well almost
The Marrow Thieves is a speculative fiction I read recently and completely recommend. It’s a view of what our future could look like if we don’t change. But it’s also this amazing book about indigenous culture by an own voices author too.
I love that this comment section is a resource for climate books - I just added a ton to my tbr! I see lots of people recommending The Overstory and I agree (I’m currently reading it and it’s beautiful), but I also want to let you know that there is some disability rep/ableist language in it that I find very problematic (and I don’t see anyone talking about?).
There's a new book that came out in swedish this summer called Lilo by Erik Hågård and it's about two children wandering a ruined landscape trying to get to safety. It's a dystopian fiction that depicts how the future could become after a climate disaster. If it gets translated into english I think you'd find it's worth a read someday :)
I read The Sixth Extinction by Elizabeth Kolbert and I loved it! It's about how human activity is transforming the environment and how we are causing another mass extinction. I also love to watch documentaries about this topic, and I really recommend Chasing coral and David Attenborough: A Life On Our Planet.
Its no Cli-Fi but a book that totally changed my enviromentalist approach into a more minimalist approach is “Secondhand: Travels in the New Global Garage Sale” by Adam Minter. It’s so GOOD, totally changed my perspective and made me question my relationship with “stuff” and what is going to happen, once I’m done using what i am using. It has made me more critical about consumerism, trends and overall what do I really need. It’s so cool and i just want everyone to have this challenging reading experience, because i really enjoy it! Pssst... you can find the audiobook on Spotify :) (at least i think it’s legal 😬)
First off, have to say I was so thrilled to see this list from you as you are one of my favorite booktubers and I generally like most of the books you suggest. I highly recommend The Big Thirst by Charles Fishman. It looks at water scarcity and our dwindling supply of potable water around the globe. It's one of the best books I've ever read. (edited to add author name)
Hi Ariel, for cli-fi genre I recommend "The Wind From Nowhere", "The Drowned World", "Burning World", "The Crystal World" by J.G.Ballard and "The Year of the Flood" by Margaret Atwood. P.S I really enjoy your videos and I can't wait to see how you'll renovate the house!
The top two climate change books I read this year are Exodus by Julie Bretagna, which is a beautiful YA fiction novel, and then absolutely you must pick up The Future Earth by Eric Holthaus. This book goes into the issue of climate change but then also presents how we deal with climate change as if it were a history. So it's essentially imaging the future...but as a history. It's also the first time a discussion of climate change has gone into how decolonization and learning from indigenous peoples will have to be a huge part of this success story. As a part native person myself, I really appreciated it and learned a lot. Our book club actually had a conversation with the author on our RUclips channel (search Yang Gang Book Club). I'm sure he'd love to come on your channel as well, Ariel! Also, love the sponsor! I will definitely be looking into them. I also recommend the Eco Egg, however they don't scent your laundry and I've found it difficult to get a good scent from essential oils alone. If anyone has any recommendations for that, let me know! Excited to see you do more with your new house in the new year! I hope you'll document it here and on social. Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!!!
Hey Ariel! Just wanted to say that your recommendations helped me a lot with my thesis and that I really love your videos and how you get involved in what's going on.Lots of love from Spain!
'Call of the Reed Warbler' by Charles Massy It's loosely climate related, it's more to do with sustainable agriculture and regenerating the natural environment, but I highly recommend it. (Also it's based on Australia's environment - just FYI).
My suggestion is Planting for Honeybees by Sarah Wyndham Lewis, its quite informative and if you ever start adding to the garden of your new house in the future (low priority I'm sure) it would definitely be handy! The illustrations are also so beautiful! Can't wait to check out some of these books. :D
One book that was truly life-changing for me was Cradle to Cradle by Michael Braungart & William McDonough. I read this probably 15 years ago and it still sticks out in my mind as one of the most paradigm-shifting books I've read in this field. It's a book on sustainability rather than climate change directly, but I think it's still very relevant, especially since we largely haven't yet learned the lesson it contains.
One book I could recommend is Julie Of The Wolves by Jean Craighead George. It isn’t exactly all about climate change but it does speak about harming animals! It really had me thinking about the world we live in.
The Marrow Thieves is a speculative fiction I read recently and completely recommend. It’s a view of what our future could look like if we don’t change.
I'm a huge fan of Tru Earth and the detergent strips. Amazing collaboration. I love that I don't have to carry heavy detergent bottles and we are helping to save the planet ❤️
No one too small to make a difference was so good! (I actually read it during the reading rush this year!) My only complaint was because it is a collection of her speeches it is very repetitive and doesn't necessarily go into detail about the issues, its more of a call to action type book. However I had not heard that she was coming out with a memoir and I am SO EXCITED. She is an amazing writer and person!
Wow, I took down so many interesting books. Great video! My favorite read this year about humanity’s impact on nature was Gathering Moss by Robin Wall Kimmerer. I can’t believe a book about moss was so engaging, beautiful, and sometimes heartbreaking. She’s an incredible storyteller, and I hope to read her book Braiding Sweetgrass next year. Looks like it’s been mentioned a lot here in the comments!
I don’t know if I’d class it as fiction but the Future Earth by Eric Holthaus is such a good book for learning about the climate crisis - he kind of writes about the future in the past tense (ie this decade we did this and this happened) - it was a very hopeful and positive way of discussing change and solution I really loved it :)
I have some recommendations for "cli-fi". - "The Night of Wishes" by Micheal Ende. (The author has also written The Neverending Story which is more popular I think.) This book is a really cute middle grade book, but also really enjoyable for adults. The main theme is sort of environmental destruction. - "The Swarm" by Frank Schätzing. It's a thriller and talks a lot about marine life. I learned so much about our oceans and what horrendous things we do to them through that book.
Hi! So this isn't as much about climate change, but sustainability and things you can do with your house to be more sustainable and seeing as you just bought a house and are working on it, I thought this would be handy. I really enjoyed the book and I have been referencing it for years. The Self Sufficient-ish Bible: An Eco-Living Guide for the 21st Century. Thank you for the recommendations and I hope you enjoy mine!
Here are some climate fiction: “Migrations” by Charlotte McConaghy, “Barn 8” by Deb Olin Unferth!! TRUST ME ARIEL, YOU WILL LOVE BOTH OF THEM. I’ve also read Eating Animals, Aquicorn Cove and adore both. As of nonfiction on the topic, I recommend: “This is not a drill”, “Corona, climate, chronic emergency”, “Braiding Sweetgrass” & “The Sustaninable(ish) Living Guide”. Great video! I also make bookish content about climate change and am now blogging my experience of going zero waste.
I listened to the Bill Gates book on Libby audio book while walking the dog. I need to read it again in physical book form so that I can take notes. I loved it! But, hard to take notes while picking up poop on a dog 🐕 walk. Read it!
In a way the short story 'Emergency Skin' by N.K Jeminson deals with Climate change. It's hard to explain because it's so short but I'd really recommend it.
I recently read The End We Start From by Megan Hunter which is about a flood. It's loosely about climate change but focuses on the devastation that climate can have on ordinary people, and the importance of family. It's a really great book and super short, I read it in one sitting. Highly recommended!
Awesome video. This genre is so small, it needs more readers! I liked the Terra - Series by Jennifer Alice Jager. It's about 4 young adults trying to safe the world while the spirits of the earth have had enough of being ripped off and started to turn against humanity. It's only been released in German so far.
Great suggestions, I'm so interested in knowing more about this important topic! Another one at the top of my 2021 list is "Life on Our Planet: My Witness Statement and a Vision for the Future" by David Attenborough. The documentary on Netflix was also 10/10!
I have read shamefully little books wise on climate change. I am adding so many of these to my radar for when I’m next in bookshops. Thank you, as always, Ariel.
I've only ever read 2 Cli-Fi: *Flight Behavior by Barbara Kingsolver* (MY FAVE!!) and *When the Killing's Done by T. Coraghessan Boyle* (which is about native organism and ecosystems going out of whack). I would say *A Tale for the Time Being by Ruth Ozeki* mentions a little bit about the environment, I think, although I don't think it's a huge part of the story.
Borderland by Graham Akhurst is coming out in 2021, the description on Goodreads says "A coming-of-age, YA eco-thriller about Indigenous land rights with sci-fi elements". It doesn't have a release date yet though
hi environmental sci. and sustainability student here that has consumed alottt of different environmental related texts haha. if you're looking for some non fiction pls read LITERALLY ANY OF MICHEL POLLEN's works!! manyyy of them have been adapted into documentaries as well and they are just amazing. also I second the wendell berry rec :)
If you're interested in reading about Bill Gates' charity work, there's actually a really interesting book on it which offers a critical perspective on the Gates foundation in particular and philanthrocapitalism in general, called "No Such Thing as a Free Gift" by Linsey McGoey. Basically it talks about how this brand of philanthropism makes the rich richer, is democratically unsound and often exacerbates economic injustice, rather than remedy it. I think its arguments can also be extended to the question of the rich solving other global problems, such as climate change, and why that is at its core extemely problematic.
Some nonfiction recs are The Water Will Come by Jeff Goodell (about rising sea levels around the world) and The World Without Us by Alan Weisman (what would happen to the earth if humans disappeared right now) 🌏🌊
I'd suggest reading Hope Matters: Why Changing the Way We Think Is Critical to Solving the Environmental Crisis by B.C.-based author Elin Kelsey as a great non-fiction option! Unlike a lot of other environmental justice books, this one is actually really cheery and left me feeling like I could change the world after reading! 10/10 would recommend :)
Here are some Cli-Fi recs from my time in undergrad: Flight Behavior by Barbara Kingsolver and (not a book but has a lot of recommendations) "Climate Change Imaginaries? Examining Expectation Narratives in Cli-Fi Novels"
Ive been needing new ideas for books to read, thanks so much for giving a brief description on each of these wonderfully selected books. I'll definitely be reading a few if not all of them 😍. Very well put together 👏
Beyond The Beautiful Forevers is a great book about a recycling community in India. They don't really have any other way to live bc it's the only resource they have.
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There's a South African author that uses climate change in the background of her fiction: *A Fractured Land* and *Shadow Flicker* by *_Melissa A. Volker_* make me proud to be South African
P.S. I like watching *Our Changing Climate* to receive insights & suggestions on climate action
Thanks for the rec ☺️
Loved how you put the Bill Gates thing! And a perfect spon. Picking me up some Wendell Berry!
Oryx and Crake - Margaret Atwood Dystopia about the climate and the end of the world. SO So good.
Thanks for making this video, climate change is indeed a very important topic. I'll check some of the books you mentioned. Some of my favorite books about environmental change are "The New World" and "The Great Waves of Change" by Marshall Vian Summers.
Thank you, Eric.
@@johnchapman5125 ty!
I've read "Great Waves" too. That book was such an eye opener, not only in it's revealing what is coming for our world, but full of practical wisdom as to how to prepare for what our new reality will be. Thanks for mentioning it here Eric.
I really recommend "The Overstory" by Richard Powers. It's an amazing fiction book about different people and their connection with trees. It's beautiful and Leena Norms loves it. Need I say more?!
Amen!
Yesss, second this!
It’s so intimidating for me! I think it’s because it won the Pulitzer for fiction!
@@wiskerlikestoread4594 I'm currently reading it, I'm about a third of the way in, and I think it's not as difficult as some people say (and English is not my native language)!
I'VE NEVER HEARD ANYONE TALK ABOUT IT BEFORE
This isn’t cli-fi BUT Braiding sweetgrass is an incredible poetic nonfiction book written by an indigenous author, Robin Wall Kimmerer! Definitely my favorite environmental book!
Love this book! It’s a must read.
Was just about to recommend this one! It is my favorite book!
Recommended Cli-Fi:
The Word for World is Forest by Ursula K. Le Guin
Flight Behavior by Barbara Kingsolver
The Fifth Season by N. K. Jemisin
The Ministry for the Future by Kim Stanley Robinson
Pump Six and Other Stories by Paolo Bacigalupi
A Friend of the Earth by T. Coraghessan Boyle
The Overstory by Richard Powers
Parable of the Sower by Octavia Butler
Oryx and Crake by Margaret Atwood
I will save this list to read all of the titles. Thank you!
Anthony Doerr’s short story collection “The Shell Collector” uses nature in an important way in every single story. Not about climate change exactly, but about the human relationship to nature.
Plus, lord of the rings is low key environmentalist...the bad guys are industrial and the good guys ride on horses and trees
I don't think there's an english version but for anyone that is able to read in portuguese i would recommend "A Vida no Céu
" by José Eduardo Agualusa. It is a dystopian novel set in a future in which the globe is completely covered in water and it's impossible to live on the surface due to the suffocating temperature. Because of that people live in floating cities, unless they are too poor and have to live in small rudimentary balloons and pray that they do not fall.
The main character is a 16-year-old boy named Benjamin who decides to go look for his missing father. This work addresses themes such as poverty, climate change and global warming, growth and youth, love, mortality and the search for knowledge.
Wow, thank you for the suggestion. I read some Agualusa in the past and I just love it.
Has anyone read NO IMPACT MAN?
Nonfiction, about a guy living in New York who tries to reduce his carbon footprint to zero for a year. Stunt journalism-esque. He stops buying anything new, stops using toilet paper and diapers for his kid, recycles, and all kinds of shenanigans.
haven't read the book but I loooove the documentary! I found it so honest. Really shows it as a family issue and how it impacts his wife and daughter, and their greater outside life.
You neeeeeed to read Braiding Sweetgrass: Indigenous Wisdom, Scientific Knowledge, and the Teachings of Plants by Robin Wall Kimmerer!! It's about our relationship to the environment from an indigenous person's perspective
Yes! Beautiful book!
Silent Spring - Rachel Carson. It talks about impact of pesticides & instectides in the environment
Parable of the Sower was the first book that came to mind for fiction cli-fi, where climate is always in the background. Overstory is another phenomenal one. For nonfiction I always recommend What We Think About When We Try Not to Think About Global Warming by Per Epsen Stoknes. Other than having the best title, the author is an economist and psychologist and talks about the psychology of climate change and also how it affects us emotionally. All We Can Save is an anthology that I have on my tbr that I’ve heard really great things about. Also Annie Dillard and Robin Wall Kimmerer are two nature writers to check out, both write beautifully.
Not sure if this counts as cli-fi but I’m currently reading The History of Bees by Maja Lunde and it definitely ties in with the climate and how important bees are to our food sources and basically our survival. Haven’t finished it yet but would definitely recommend so far!
Recently, I read a book called 'The Inhabitable Earth' by David Wallace Wells and I have to recommend it. It is really full of scientific studies and loads of facts that truly make you think.
best climate fiction I read this year was The Man With The Compound Eyes by Wu Ming-Yi! a really interesting book full of magical realism and different perspectives on climate disaster in Taiwan.
I just wanted to say, read the Bill Gates book if you want to but it's important to remember that the fact that the author of the book is a billionaire profiting off climate destructive capitalist practices is going to 100% influence what he says in the book. it's in his interest to make sure capitalism continues the way it is - and there's no way to genuinely stop the climate crisis under the current economic system. idk much about the book but I honestly wouldn't trust a thing he says lol. there are also lots of books about how billionaire philanthropy isn't really as great as it sounds, so maybe you should look into that in 2021 too (I know I will, it's a topic I definitely want to educate myself on more).
Would love it if you have more recommendations on different genres! I've been mostly reading YA fiction, and now as I get older it doesn't interest me as much. Looking forward to educating myself about different topics. Thank you for the rec, it seems really interesting! :)
@@yuvashreep7035 you mean for climate-related fiction? I did also really enjoy Margaret Atwood's MaddAddam trilogy this year which is more of a hypercapitalist climate dystopia. Dry by Neal Shusterman was another climate dystopia I read last year which really freaked me out lol, it's basically about the water completely running out in parts of America and it follows a teenage girl trying to survive and make it to somewhere that still has water.
@@eliodelio5600 not just climate fiction, but any book you've enjoyed that explores a variety of serious topics.
Also thanks for the rec, will make sure to check it out. 💖✨
@@yuvashreep7035 ahh that's difficult to answer haha there are so many!! i do occasionally make videos about books if you wanna check them out :-)
@@eliodelio5600 looking forward to them, thanks. 💕
Ariel it’s December please do a goodreads reading challenge colour prediction video 😍😍😍
The Uninhabitable Earth by David Wallace Wells is a great really intense and stats filled outline of all the ways the climate change will wreck humanity. Very good
To me it was really hard to get through, but I did. I also felt that there was a lot of repetition in it. I didn't understand a lot of what the author talked about other than the fact that "humanity is staring down the barrels and needs to drop everything else and act now!!"
As a new landowner, you might want to read Bringing Nature Home by Douglas Tallamy. It’s about the vital importance of using native plants in landscaping. Nonnative plants are often bought and planted around our homes, but those plants provide zero support for the local ecosystem. There are videos of him on RUclips if you want a quick introduction. For a cli-lit book I suggest Dune by Frank Herbert.
Two that I would recommend are-
The 2084 Report: An Oral History of the Great Warming by James Lawrence Powell- this is kinda in the same vein as World War Z, it’s a fiction novel set up as a witness statement by the many people impacted by Global Warming through the 2000’s. It’s incredibly engrossing and had me second guessing if the author was perhaps a time traveller.
& Greenwood by Michael Christie- In this novel you follow 4 generations of the same family, they are in the forestry industry, we follow all these generations as the Climate and life in the forest is impacted by global warming.
I’m just starting this and loving it, i too come from many generations of forestry workers, I’ve felt super connected to the story.
WENDELL BERRY. ❤️ I never hear anyone on RUclips talk about him, but his work is absolutely amazing.
I highly recommend 'Entangled Life' by Merlin Sheldrake. It's not about climate change -- it's about fungi. But it's an excellent example of showing how everything is connected in the world, and the true depth (sometimes literally) of life around us, under us, in us. I'm a novice mushroom nerd and it's become a bit of a holy relic for me!
I’m an environmental studies and English double major this is just what I needed 😛
I’ve never, not once been blown away by and swooned by a product placement/sponsor. Tru Earth however…… holy sh!t I’m blown away. The second I’m out of my detergent I’m getting it and only ever using this.
The measurements alone are made a million times easier. Consistency.
I could go on forever about how much i love this product and i havent even bought it yet.
GIFTS. PERFECT GIFT FOR OLDER FAMILY MEMBERS. I’m living. Sorry, simple solutions to major issues just give me life.
The N.K Jemisin books come to mind immediately! The fifth season being the first book in the series. Also, I love your spon!!! I will definetely check it out
For my ecology class we read Half-Earth: Our Planet’s Fight for Life by Edward O Wilson and I really enjoyed it and thought it was very informative about what is happening to species around the world and the work that needs to be done to protect them and prevent another mass extinction. It is written by a biologist so it can be a little hard to get through at times but definitely worth checking out. It’s just over 200 pages so it’s not terribly long and not one that requires you to read the chapters in order if you don’t want to (my professor had us skipping around to different parts of the book as we read and I don’t think I missed out on anything that way)
The History of Bees
by Maja Lunde is one of the greatest books about climate
ature change
Yes!! amazing book, if you haven't read her other book The End of the Ocean, I highly recommend as well!
Last week I read A Children's Bible by Lydia Millet, a novel following a group of kids who are living through the beginnings of the aftereffects of climate change. Ariel, I feel like you would really enjoy this because it there's so much social commentary and it's just kind of a weird book (but in a good way!) Also, it's short! I think a little over 200 pages
Weird in a good way is the best way to describe this!
This Changes Everything: Capitalism vs. The Climate by Naomi Klein. a good Canadian perspective
The Hungry Tide by Amitav Ghosh isn’t directly climate-related but touches on important questions about conservation and natural disaster!
Not specifically climate, but I'm a recently-graduated ecologist so I have a lot of reccs in the vein of how humans impact the land.
Sand County Almanac by Aldo Leopold is required first semester reading.
Literally anything by John McPhee (but Encounters With the Archdruid is my fav)
And for any Florida-based people, Craig Pittman writes witty, mkre accessible journalistic accounts of some of our more charismatic environmentally challenged darlings(manatees, the everglades, the florida panther)
Thank you for the recommendations, you should organise a book club for these types of books :)
Thank you for making this video Ariel! More people need to care about climate and the environment. I love that you included Mary Oliver's poetry! 💚
I would recommend The Uninhabitable Earth by David Wallace Wells.
For fiction The Overstory by Richard Powers comes to mind. It's about trees, forests, environmental destruction, and climate change. The story is so grand and unlike any other book of fiction I've ever read. Won the 2019 Pulitzer prize.
I'm looking forward to reading The New Wilderness by Diane Cook.
Ariel made a great decision that collaborated with Tru Earth and gave great advice.
Great video!! Out of curiosity are we getting a goodreads 2021 colour video? Or is this year too soul crushing to have them disappoint again? Lol 😂
All We Can Save is a collection of climate related essays that I highly recommend!
For cli-fi I recommend (like a few others have!) The History of Bees, and The End of the Ocean, by Maja Lunde
and also , After Australia - a collection of short stories about a range of issues including climate change in Australia in the near future!
I LOVE Jonathan Safran Foer!! His fiction and nonfiction are both amazing. His book Everything is Illuminated is prob my fav.
There's a fantasy book that I read this year that tackles this subject, it is in Spanish but I'll leave it here anyway, it's called Mística Natural by Guadalupe Cuahonte. In it, we find a world where humans and fantastic creatures used to cohabit, and due to human interaction with the Earth, the fantastical creatures erased every memory that humans had about them. It is really entertaining, but it also uses many elements that make you question your choices about your actions as a human being.
wow thank you! I was just thinking about trying to find cli-fi in French/Spanish and so this comment & your video on the book came to me at just the right time :) my Spanish is not quite at a level to read this one yet but hopefully one day!
@@livlivhamilton227 Oh that's nice, I'm glad to know that I was able to help. It's really cool that you are studying all those languages😊
Parable of the Sower is incredible and also a really interesting dystopia about the climate!
Not fiction, but Barbara Kingsolver has a memoir called 'Animal, Vegetable, Miracle' and it's fantastic!! Highly recommend. Her family moves to a farm in Virginia and they live off of what they could produce on their land or buy from their neighbors for a whole year and in between she talks a lot about nature, big agriculture, climate change, etc.
You do make a big impact, Ariel! I'm a physicist and I want to work in something related to enviroment protection. However, I'm not sure how to achieve this or if I'm the right person for the job, so I was losing hope until I saw this video. With all certainty, the books you are recommending will motivate me to chase this goal. You have influenced me and probably a large proportion of your viewers too to care for our planet in any way we can. I've long known that, like it or not, we make a big difference just existing and letting all the people we interact with in a lifetime see our lifestyle and know our beliefs.
Braiding Sweetgrass by Robin Wall Kimmerer Is the most beautiful book of what right relationship with the earth can be. I’ve bought this book for everyone I love...well almost
A Life on Our Planet by Sir David Attenborough really changed my perspective
The Marrow Thieves is a speculative fiction I read recently and completely recommend. It’s a view of what our future could look like if we don’t change. But it’s also this amazing book about indigenous culture by an own voices author too.
Great book!
I love that this comment section is a resource for climate books - I just added a ton to my tbr! I see lots of people recommending The Overstory and I agree (I’m currently reading it and it’s beautiful), but I also want to let you know that there is some disability rep/ableist language in it that I find very problematic (and I don’t see anyone talking about?).
There's a new book that came out in swedish this summer called Lilo by Erik Hågård and it's about two children wandering a ruined landscape trying to get to safety. It's a dystopian fiction that depicts how the future could become after a climate disaster. If it gets translated into english I think you'd find it's worth a read someday :)
I read The Sixth Extinction by Elizabeth Kolbert and I loved it!
It's about how human activity is transforming the environment and how we are causing another mass extinction. I also love to watch documentaries about this topic, and I really recommend Chasing coral and David Attenborough: A Life On Our Planet.
Its no Cli-Fi but a book that totally changed my enviromentalist approach into a more minimalist approach is “Secondhand: Travels in the New Global Garage Sale” by Adam Minter. It’s so GOOD, totally changed my perspective and made me question my relationship with “stuff” and what is going to happen, once I’m done using what i am using. It has made me more critical about consumerism, trends and overall what do I really need. It’s so cool and i just want everyone to have this challenging reading experience, because i really enjoy it!
Pssst... you can find the audiobook on Spotify :) (at least i think it’s legal 😬)
First off, have to say I was so thrilled to see this list from you as you are one of my favorite booktubers and I generally like most of the books you suggest. I highly recommend The Big Thirst by Charles Fishman. It looks at water scarcity and our dwindling supply of potable water around the globe. It's one of the best books I've ever read. (edited to add author name)
Hi Ariel, for cli-fi genre I recommend "The Wind From Nowhere", "The Drowned World", "Burning World", "The Crystal World" by J.G.Ballard and "The Year of the Flood" by Margaret Atwood.
P.S I really enjoy your videos and I can't wait to see how you'll renovate the house!
Adding all of these to my TBR for next year
The top two climate change books I read this year are Exodus by Julie Bretagna, which is a beautiful YA fiction novel, and then absolutely you must pick up The Future Earth by Eric Holthaus. This book goes into the issue of climate change but then also presents how we deal with climate change as if it were a history. So it's essentially imaging the future...but as a history. It's also the first time a discussion of climate change has gone into how decolonization and learning from indigenous peoples will have to be a huge part of this success story. As a part native person myself, I really appreciated it and learned a lot. Our book club actually had a conversation with the author on our RUclips channel (search Yang Gang Book Club). I'm sure he'd love to come on your channel as well, Ariel!
Also, love the sponsor! I will definitely be looking into them. I also recommend the Eco Egg, however they don't scent your laundry and I've found it difficult to get a good scent from essential oils alone. If anyone has any recommendations for that, let me know!
Excited to see you do more with your new house in the new year! I hope you'll document it here and on social. Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!!!
Practice what u peach! Keep up the education of our affect as our culture tends to be complacent and unaware
Hey Ariel! Just wanted to say that your recommendations helped me a lot with my thesis and that I really love your videos and how you get involved in what's going on.Lots of love from Spain!
'Call of the Reed Warbler' by Charles Massy
It's loosely climate related, it's more to do with sustainable agriculture and regenerating the natural environment, but I highly recommend it. (Also it's based on Australia's environment - just FYI).
My suggestion is Planting for Honeybees by Sarah Wyndham Lewis, its quite informative and if you ever start adding to the garden of your new house in the future (low priority I'm sure) it would definitely be handy! The illustrations are also so beautiful! Can't wait to check out some of these books. :D
One book that was truly life-changing for me was Cradle to Cradle by Michael Braungart & William McDonough. I read this probably 15 years ago and it still sticks out in my mind as one of the most paradigm-shifting books I've read in this field. It's a book on sustainability rather than climate change directly, but I think it's still very relevant, especially since we largely haven't yet learned the lesson it contains.
One book I could recommend is Julie Of The Wolves by Jean Craighead George.
It isn’t exactly all about climate change but it does speak about harming animals!
It really had me thinking about the world we live in.
The Marrow Thieves is a speculative fiction I read recently and completely recommend. It’s a view of what our future could look like if we don’t change.
I'm a huge fan of Tru Earth and the detergent strips. Amazing collaboration. I love that I don't have to carry heavy detergent bottles and we are helping to save the planet ❤️
Thank you for mentioning Wendell Berry! He's a true hero and modern day Thoreau!
For a Cli-fi rec: American War by Omar El Akkad. Really great book! I studied it in uni.
No one too small to make a difference was so good! (I actually read it during the reading rush this year!) My only complaint was because it is a collection of her speeches it is very repetitive and doesn't necessarily go into detail about the issues, its more of a call to action type book. However I had not heard that she was coming out with a memoir and I am SO EXCITED. She is an amazing writer and person!
Wow, I took down so many interesting books. Great video!
My favorite read this year about humanity’s impact on nature was Gathering Moss by Robin Wall Kimmerer. I can’t believe a book about moss was so engaging, beautiful, and sometimes heartbreaking. She’s an incredible storyteller, and I hope to read her book Braiding Sweetgrass next year. Looks like it’s been mentioned a lot here in the comments!
I don’t know if I’d class it as fiction but the Future Earth by Eric Holthaus is such a good book for learning about the climate crisis - he kind of writes about the future in the past tense (ie this decade we did this and this happened) - it was a very hopeful and positive way of discussing change and solution I really loved it :)
I have some recommendations for "cli-fi".
- "The Night of Wishes" by Micheal Ende. (The author has also written The Neverending Story which is more popular I think.) This book is a really cute middle grade book, but also really enjoyable for adults. The main theme is sort of environmental destruction.
- "The Swarm" by Frank Schätzing. It's a thriller and talks a lot about marine life. I learned so much about our oceans and what horrendous things we do to them through that book.
Hi! So this isn't as much about climate change, but sustainability and things you can do with your house to be more sustainable and seeing as you just bought a house and are working on it, I thought this would be handy. I really enjoyed the book and I have been referencing it for years. The Self Sufficient-ish Bible: An Eco-Living Guide for the 21st Century. Thank you for the recommendations and I hope you enjoy mine!
Here are some climate fiction: “Migrations” by Charlotte McConaghy, “Barn 8” by Deb Olin Unferth!! TRUST ME ARIEL, YOU WILL LOVE BOTH OF THEM. I’ve also read Eating Animals, Aquicorn Cove and adore both. As of nonfiction on the topic, I recommend: “This is not a drill”, “Corona, climate, chronic emergency”, “Braiding Sweetgrass” & “The Sustaninable(ish) Living Guide”. Great video! I also make bookish content about climate change and am now blogging my experience of going zero waste.
I was going to recommend Joni Murphy's Talking Animals as a cli-fi after watching one of your vids! xx
Yes, “Talking Animals” is such a great recommendation as well! Quirky and so relevant
@@helenaelizondo (also, this is so sweet and i cant believe you remember the things i say. i am so touched 🥺🥺💞)
I listened to the Bill Gates book on Libby audio book while walking the dog. I need to read it again in physical book form so that I can take notes. I loved it! But, hard to take notes while picking up poop on a dog 🐕 walk. Read it!
In a way the short story 'Emergency Skin' by N.K Jeminson deals with Climate change. It's hard to explain because it's so short but I'd really recommend it.
I was lucky enough to be given "We Are The Weather" for Christmas. I cannot wait to read it.
Really great book recommendations. Your delivery is excellent. Well said!
I recently read The End We Start From by Megan Hunter which is about a flood. It's loosely about climate change but focuses on the devastation that climate can have on ordinary people, and the importance of family. It's a really great book and super short, I read it in one sitting. Highly recommended!
The Rain Heron by Robbie Arnott. It's fiction with a dash of myth and some absolutely fabulous writing.
Awesome video. This genre is so small, it needs more readers!
I liked the Terra - Series by Jennifer Alice Jager. It's about 4 young adults trying to safe the world while the spirits of the earth have had enough of being ripped off and started to turn against humanity.
It's only been released in German so far.
Where the Crawdads Sing by Delia Owens is SO good (it's been very hyped last year) and has a lot of nature content.
Great suggestions, I'm so interested in knowing more about this important topic! Another one at the top of my 2021 list is "Life on Our Planet: My Witness Statement and a Vision for the Future" by David Attenborough. The documentary on Netflix was also 10/10!
Braiding sweet grass please read,read and read audio even better because her voice is so soothing
In terms of climate fiction you NEED to read the overstory!! it is a long book but it's so so worth it, it's a life changer type book.
Thank you for the video! I read We Are the Weather earlier this year and it truly changed my life.
I have read shamefully little books wise on climate change. I am adding so many of these to my radar for when I’m next in bookshops. Thank you, as always, Ariel.
I've only ever read 2 Cli-Fi: *Flight Behavior by Barbara Kingsolver* (MY FAVE!!) and *When the Killing's Done by T. Coraghessan Boyle* (which is about native organism and ecosystems going out of whack). I would say *A Tale for the Time Being by Ruth Ozeki* mentions a little bit about the environment, I think, although I don't think it's a huge part of the story.
Just like your books 📚 Tru earth is planet saving. It’s eco friendly I like the fact that you gave it a try and love it!
Borderland by Graham Akhurst is coming out in 2021, the description on Goodreads says "A coming-of-age, YA eco-thriller about Indigenous land rights with sci-fi elements". It doesn't have a release date yet though
What a sweet video! Thanks for the awesome recommendations! ✨✨
Really needed a video to watch rn. And this is so Interesting. i am building my 2021 tbr and this is going to be helpful
hi environmental sci. and sustainability student here that has consumed alottt of different environmental related texts haha. if you're looking for some non fiction pls read LITERALLY ANY OF MICHEL POLLEN's works!! manyyy of them have been adapted into documentaries as well and they are just amazing. also I second the wendell berry rec :)
If you're interested in reading about Bill Gates' charity work, there's actually a really interesting book on it which offers a critical perspective on the Gates foundation in particular and philanthrocapitalism in general, called "No Such Thing as a Free Gift" by Linsey McGoey. Basically it talks about how this brand of philanthropism makes the rich richer, is democratically unsound and often exacerbates economic injustice, rather than remedy it. I think its arguments can also be extended to the question of the rich solving other global problems, such as climate change, and why that is at its core extemely problematic.
I just bought two of these books thanks to your recommendation
I feel like I watch more videos on books, than actually read books >.
Hey. I just found your channel. I really appreciate and enjoy all your content. Thanks for sharing xo
Clade by James Bradley is a great work of cli-fi ☺️
A lovely piece of climate fiction is “The World According To Anna“ by Jostein Gaarder!! Made me cry so much...
Some nonfiction recs are The Water Will Come by Jeff Goodell (about rising sea levels around the world) and The World Without Us by Alan Weisman (what would happen to the earth if humans disappeared right now) 🌏🌊
I'd suggest reading Hope Matters: Why Changing the Way We Think Is Critical to Solving the Environmental Crisis by B.C.-based author Elin Kelsey as a great non-fiction option! Unlike a lot of other environmental justice books, this one is actually really cheery and left me feeling like I could change the world after reading! 10/10 would recommend :)
Here are some Cli-Fi recs from my time in undergrad: Flight Behavior by Barbara Kingsolver and (not a book but has a lot of recommendations) "Climate Change Imaginaries? Examining Expectation Narratives in Cli-Fi Novels"
Ive been needing new ideas for books to read, thanks so much for giving a brief description on each of these wonderfully selected books. I'll definitely be reading a few if not all of them 😍.
Very well put together 👏
The One Straw Revolution is it! Real talk! Fukuoka Masanobu!
Crazy how Ariel has amazing videos super consistently. I'm never disappointed
Beyond The Beautiful Forevers is a great book about a recycling community in India. They don't really have any other way to live bc it's the only resource they have.