Even the most outdoorsy among us can enjoy indoor time when the holidays roll around. While this year may have had its ups and downs, there was no shortage of excellent books—both fiction and non-fiction—about birds, nature, and the environment to curl up with. Here are a few of the favorites.
I’m in the mood to be awed by birds. Becoming enthralled with another species can teach us lots about the world and ourselves. In A Most Remarkable Creature (Knopf, $30, 384 pages), indie rock musician Jonathan Meiburg’s debut book, the author’s decades-long fascination with Striated Caracaras finds him chasing the birds through remote areas of South America. The enigmatic and intelligent raptors, whose presence on the remote mystified Charles Darwin in the 1830s, captivated Meiburg as a college graduate nearly two centuries later. His search to uncover the evolutionary mystery of caracaras is part travelogue, part natural history, and fully an ode to these resilient birds.
Also try: The Hummingbirds’ Gift, by Sy Montgomery (Atria, $20, 96 pages), a true account of the author’s experience helping a friend to raise baby hummingbirds.
I’m in the mood to have hope for our future. Reading about climate change doesn’t have to be all doom and gloom. The thought-provoking premise of Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Elizabeth Kolbert’s Under a White Sky (Crown, $28, 256 pages) acknowledges that humans have seriously interfered with Earth’s natural processes, but also delves into new technologies and methods of tinkering that can mitigate damage we’ve caused, whether by genetically altering destructive invasive species or shooting reflective particles into the stratosphere. The author’s in-depth reporting and curiosity about new innovations offers no prescription but is sure to get readers thinking.
I’m in the mood to bond with kiddos. If you’re ready to skip adult reading, try Bird Boy (Knopf, $18, 32 pages), by Matthew Burgess, which tells a familiar new-kid-at-school tale with an avian twist. Nico ignores whispering kids on the playground and spends his time watching the birds, instead. Soon, kids fondly nickname him “Bird Boy,” and Nico makes friends who are excited to discover the joy of birds, too.
Also try: Fatima’s Great Outdoors (Kokila, $18, 40 pages), by Ambreen Tariq, a story about healing, identity, and belonging on a family camping trip; and (Roaring Brook Press, $18, 40 pages), by Carole Lindstrom, the winner of the 2021 Caldecott Medal and a stirring call to defend a precious resource.
I’m in the mood to get lost in speculative futures. No ecological thriller will keep you on the edge of your seat like Hummingbird Salamander, the latest by sci-fi maestro Jeff VanderMeer. “Jane Smith,” a security consultant living in a not-too-distant dystopian future, promises to show the reader “how the world ends.” She follows a note that directs her to a taxidermied hummingbird that should be extinct, which turns out to be an invitation to action from a mysterious South American heiress (who may also be an ecoterrorist). Jane chases a trail of clues through a world shaken by ecological destruction, climate change, and a pandemic.
Also try: Something New Under the Sun (Hogarth, $28, 368 pages), by Alexandra Kleeman, about A novelist who Travels to Hollywood to save his job as California’s drought-ravaged California burns all around him.
This story originally ran in the Winter 2021 issue. To receive our print magazine, sign up to become a member Donate today.
