Staying connected to nature while staying inside: top 4 summer reads list
Many of us are trying to beat the heat and social distance as summer temperatures rise in the Ottawa Valley and reopening plans roll out.
Staying inside doesn’t mean you can’t connect to nature, though.
Our team immerses themselves in nature in many ways, including reading. Here are our top 4 reads for the summer.
The Narwhal
The Narwhal is a non-profit made up of “investigative journalists diving deep to tell stories about Canada’s natural world you can’t find anywhere else.”
Mathieu St-Laurent Addison, our Conservation Project Manager, stays up to date on the latest coverage about the logging of old-growth forest in British Columbia thanks to The Narwhal.
“I came across The Narwhal a couple years ago while I was working on the west coast of Vancouver Island in Clayoquot Sound, home to some the last temperate old-growth rainforests in the world. The fact that this is still an ongoing issue keeps me motivated to work in conservation. I am very proud to be part of an organization that is dedicated to work towards the protection of such indispensable landscapes.”
All We Can Save: Truth, courage, and solutions for the climate crisis
Named one of the best books of the year by Smithsonian Magazine, All We Can Save explores the intersections of hope, feminism, and climate change.
Essays and poems from dozens of women leading the fight against climate change discuss the nuance needed to radically shift society if we want the natural world to thrive for generations to come.
The New York Times describes it as “a powerful read that fills one with, dare I say . . . hope?” while Mashable claims it’s “a fiery, hopeful manifesto on how to make sense of the staggering loss posed by climate change—and take justice-oriented action in spite of it.”
Once They Were Hats: In search of the mighty beaver
Once They Were Hats was shortlisted as the best Canadian science book for the 2016 Lane Anderson Award and the 2016 Butler Book Prize – and for good reason.
Author Frances Backhouse details society’s historic 15,000-year relationship with beavers, starting with European fur traders and taking a journey through craftsmen utilizing beaver-felt for clothing to the Beaver Capital of Canada and everything in between.
The Globe and Mail calls Once They Were Hats “a thorough account of the tirelessly industrious beaver’s past, present and possible future … The pages brim with information and interesting tidbits.”
Ottawa Magazine stated, “Frances Backhouse’s much-praised book will tell you more than you ever imagined about beavers, from their prehistoric past as two-metre-long rodents to their popularity as hat material, their elevation as national symbol, and their huge influence in reshaping the Canadian landscape.”
Stories from the Magic Canoe of Wa’xaid
Stories from the Magic Canoe has been hailed as “a remarkable and profound collection of reflections by one of North America’s most important Indigenous leaders.” The book takes readers through the history of from Cecil Paul, Xenaksiala elder, and his experiences with residential schools, industrialization, and loss of his cultural property. Paul also offers cultural teachings, more poignant than ever due to social unrest and climate change.
Margaret Atwood praised the book on Twitter, calling it “important background reading in a time of #Canada #FirstNations clashes.”
BC Studies described it as being “the combination of two stories, the oral history and the archival history, that makes Stories from the Magic Canoe of Wa’xaid a powerful model of Indigenous history.”