Here are 100 books that Active Hope Revised fans have personally recommended if you like
Active Hope Revised.
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I’ve been teaching in higher education for two decades, and I can honestly say that introducing Carbon Literacy Training as an extra-curricular activity to students and staff, as well as to external stakeholders, to learn about climate solutions has been one of the best things I’ve done in my career. I’ve always had an interest in the environment and sustainability, but struggled with how to communicate. The books I’ve chosen have changed my perspectives and provided positive examples of how we can talk about this in a way that encourages hope and action as opposed to the prevailing doom and gloom or facts and stats that paralyse rather than mobilise.
I loved this book as it opened up a whole new perspective on climate change for me, and how we can tell a different story, a new one.
Discussions about climate change are often characterised by an adversarial nature and war-like terminology (we need to fight climate change, we need to prove the sceptics wrong), and the book moves beyond simplistic carbon reductionism and climate fundamentalism to focus on our love of nature and how we can use that to create a different story of “interbeing,” a story of regeneration, of reanimation, of love and of abundance to care for and protect nature on which we all depend.
A stirring case for a wholesale reimagining of the framing, tactics, and goals we employ in our journey to heal from ecological destruction
With research and insight, Charles Eisenstein details how the quantification of the natural world leads to a lack of integration and our “fight” mentality. With an entire chapter unpacking the climate change denier’s point of view, he advocates for expanding our exclusive focus on carbon emissions to see the broader picture beyond our short-sighted and incomplete approach. The rivers, forests, and creatures of the natural and material world are sacred and valuable in their own right—not…
Coming Together in the Great Turning
by
Molly Young Brown,
The Work That Reconnects, first developed by Joanna Macy and her colleagues, has guided countless people from despair into purposeful, collective action. Coming Together in the Great Turning deepens this work by confronting systemic racism, injustice, and oppression, and expanding its revolutionary vision with a decade of dialogue and practice,…
I never wanted to be the person who says, “Why me?” when bad things happen. Nor did I want to fall into the common traps of feeling like I must have done something to deserve it, or that I must endure it with gritted teeth. So I sought out the books and guidance that make up the counterculture of the self-help world. Finally, rather than being told to “Pick myself up” again and again, these books and authors gave me what I needed most in times of challenge and difficulty: rest, solace, and return. Only from that space could I fully re-engage with my work in this world.
What other book can you think of that has a section entitled “The Healing Powers of Depression”?
This was the book that taught me the key to whole body, mind, and spirit transformation was to cease all the habitual “overcoming” language and behavior and go deep into the places the ego fears the most.
In this approach, dark times are initiations that don’t just help us get through but strip us so completely down to the bareness of our own souls.
#1 New York Times Bestseller With a new introduction by the author and additional material, this 25th anniversary edition of the #1 New York Times bestseller by Thomas Moore provides a powerful spiritual message for our troubled times. In this special 25th anniversary edition of Thomas Moore's bestselling book Care of the Soul readers are presented with a revolutionary approach to thinking about daily life-everyday activities, events, problems and creative opportunities-and a therapeutic lifestyle is proposed that focuses on looking more deeply into emotional problems and learning how to sense sacredness in even ordinary things. Basing his writing on the…
I’ve been teaching in higher education for two decades, and I can honestly say that introducing Carbon Literacy Training as an extra-curricular activity to students and staff, as well as to external stakeholders, to learn about climate solutions has been one of the best things I’ve done in my career. I’ve always had an interest in the environment and sustainability, but struggled with how to communicate. The books I’ve chosen have changed my perspectives and provided positive examples of how we can talk about this in a way that encourages hope and action as opposed to the prevailing doom and gloom or facts and stats that paralyse rather than mobilise.
I really liked There is no planet B as it comes in short sections and is structured around questions which Mike Berners-Lee answers with humour, authenticity, and authority.
His writing is so accessible, clear, and humble as well as playful and practical, which is quite an impressive achievement for a topic like this. He takes a joined-up approach on the various planetary challenges humanity faces, and I particularly loved that a chapter on values, truth, and trust is included, which are too often ignored in books involving science and the environment.
One of the questions in this chapter he answers is “how can I tell whether to trust anything in this book?” which I appreciated as often scholarly authors take themselves far too seriously.
And last, but not least, I loved how practical the book is, with many pointers for what we can do.
Feeding the world, climate change, biodiversity, antibiotics, plastics, pandemics - the list of concerns seems endless. But what is most pressing, and what should we do first? Do we all need to become vegetarian? How can we fly in a low-carbon world? How can we take control of technology? And, given the global nature of the challenges we now face, what on Earth can any of us do, as individuals? Mike Berners-Lee has crunched the numbers and plotted a course of action that is full of hope, practical, and enjoyable. This is the big-picture perspective on the environmental and economic…
Coming Together in the Great Turning
by
Molly Young Brown,
The Work That Reconnects, first developed by Joanna Macy and her colleagues, has guided countless people from despair into purposeful, collective action. Coming Together in the Great Turning deepens this work by confronting systemic racism, injustice, and oppression, and expanding its revolutionary vision with a decade of dialogue and practice,…
I never wanted to be the person who says, “Why me?” when bad things happen. Nor did I want to fall into the common traps of feeling like I must have done something to deserve it, or that I must endure it with gritted teeth. So I sought out the books and guidance that make up the counterculture of the self-help world. Finally, rather than being told to “Pick myself up” again and again, these books and authors gave me what I needed most in times of challenge and difficulty: rest, solace, and return. Only from that space could I fully re-engage with my work in this world.
As a mother myself, this book deepened my intentionality about what kinds of lessons I gather and pass on down the family lineage.
How can I contribute to the continuation of growing consciousness, love, and compassion through the ancient method of telling stories, versus the more Western, modern way: the laying down of rules?
Reading this book is like sitting at the feet of a wise elder, contemplating the past, current state, and future of humanity.
Tackling some of the world’s most profound questions through the intimate lens of fatherhood, Bayo Akomolafe embarks on a journey of discovery as he maps the contours of the spaces between himself and his three-year-old daughter, Alethea. In a narrative that manages to be both intricate and unguarded, he discovers that something as commonplace as becoming a father is a cosmic event of unprecedented proportions. Using this realization as a touchstone, he is led to consider the strangeness of his own soul, contemplate the myths and rituals of modernity, ask questions about food and justice, ponder what it means to…
I’ve been teaching in higher education for two decades, and I can honestly say that introducing Carbon Literacy Training as an extra-curricular activity to students and staff, as well as to external stakeholders, to learn about climate solutions has been one of the best things I’ve done in my career. I’ve always had an interest in the environment and sustainability, but struggled with how to communicate. The books I’ve chosen have changed my perspectives and provided positive examples of how we can talk about this in a way that encourages hope and action as opposed to the prevailing doom and gloom or facts and stats that paralyse rather than mobilise.
I loved reading this book as it is so refreshingly different compared to other books in this space.
It focuses on what we can do rather than what we can’t and emphasises that we have more in common than what divides us when it comes to climate change.
And the most important thing we can do about climate change is talk about it based on shared values, and it’s all about discovering what those are, whether it’s family, hobbies, outdoor activities, or faith. Talking about climate change is both a challenge and an encouragement for an introverted (yet social) sustainability academic like me.
I love how down-to-earth Katherine Hayhoe is. The book is peppered with lots of humour and personal anecdotes, yet clearly underpinned by scientific facts, and I finished the book feeling hopeful and inspired.
"An optimistic view on why collective action is still possible-and how it can be realized." -The New York Times
"A must-read if we're serious about enacting positive change from the ground up, in communities, and through human connections and human emotions." -Margaret Atwood, Twitter
United Nations Champion of the Earth, climate scientist, and evangelical Christian Katharine Hayhoe changes the debate on how we can save our future.
Called "one of the nation's most effective communicators on climate change" by The New York Times, Katharine Hayhoe knows how to navigate all sides of the conversation on our changing planet.…
I’ve been teaching in higher education for two decades, and I can honestly say that introducing Carbon Literacy Training as an extra-curricular activity to students and staff, as well as to external stakeholders, to learn about climate solutions has been one of the best things I’ve done in my career. I’ve always had an interest in the environment and sustainability, but struggled with how to communicate. The books I’ve chosen have changed my perspectives and provided positive examples of how we can talk about this in a way that encourages hope and action as opposed to the prevailing doom and gloom or facts and stats that paralyse rather than mobilise.
I bought this book after hearing its author, Simon Sharpe, speak about it at a festival. His talk was very inspiring and convincing, and the book definitely matched my expectations.
As a sustainability academic, it really appealed to me the way he sets out how current practices in science, economics, and diplomacy don’t work, and then proceeds to provide alternative solutions to address climate change, which is very compelling.
I liked that the call for action was not in the obvious areas that we normally pursue for climate action, and that despite all setbacks and lack of progress, there is grounds for hope, and regardless of who we are or what we do, there are things we all can do.
We need to act five times faster to avoid dangerous climate change. As Greenland melts, Australia burns, and greenhouse gas emissions continue to rise, we think we know who the villains are: oil companies, consumerism, weak political leaders. But what if the real blocks to progress are the ideas and institutions that are supposed to be helping us? Five Times Faster is an inside story from Simon Sharpe, who has spent ten years at the forefront of climate change policy and diplomacy. In our fight to avoid dangerous climate change, science is pulling its punches, diplomacy is picking the wrong…
I never wanted to be the person who says, “Why me?” when bad things happen. Nor did I want to fall into the common traps of feeling like I must have done something to deserve it, or that I must endure it with gritted teeth. So I sought out the books and guidance that make up the counterculture of the self-help world. Finally, rather than being told to “Pick myself up” again and again, these books and authors gave me what I needed most in times of challenge and difficulty: rest, solace, and return. Only from that space could I fully re-engage with my work in this world.
I grew up believing ambition to be a virtue. I assumed it was a positive trait to have, to aspire to. And then, I read this definition by David Whyte, and my whole outlook changed.
“Ambition left to itself, like a Rupert Murdoch, always becomes tedious, its only object the creation of larger and larger empires of control.” I no longer aspire to be ambitious, because it doesn’t coexist with cooperation, sharing, and communal good.
I have a fondness for etymology, studying the origin of words. But to do so with 52 words and a poet’s guidance? Chef’s kiss.
After many years of revising the essays, author David Whyte has published this revised edition of his well loved book. In addition to sharper versions of many of the essays, it contains an additional piece, CLOSE:
To consciously become close is a form of unilateral disarmament, a chancing of our arm and our love, a willingness to hazard our affections and an unconscious declaration that we might be equal to the inevitable loss that the vulnerability of being close will bring.
With the imagery of a poet and the reflection of a philosopher, David Whyte turns his attention to 52…
I never wanted to be the person who says, “Why me?” when bad things happen. Nor did I want to fall into the common traps of feeling like I must have done something to deserve it, or that I must endure it with gritted teeth. So I sought out the books and guidance that make up the counterculture of the self-help world. Finally, rather than being told to “Pick myself up” again and again, these books and authors gave me what I needed most in times of challenge and difficulty: rest, solace, and return. Only from that space could I fully re-engage with my work in this world.
Who are we, and why are we here? Any book that grapples with these existential questions calls my name. And especially, books that ask these questions in light of the immense upheaval and change we are currently living in.
One of the greatest gifts of growing wiser is that we begin to see our life patterns and cycles with greater clarity. Was it fate? Was it destiny? And how do we find meaning through all of it?
Michael Meade is one of our time’s greatest teachers, and in this book, he gives us permission to view our own lives like a story in which times of trial become the very things that shape us into who we are meant to be.
In this highly anticipated book, renowned mythologist and storyteller Michael Meade explores the complex and mysterious territories of the human soul with daring and hard-won wisdom. Drawing on folktales and myths from many cultures and spiritual ideas from the East and West, he leads us to an undeniable truth: that the only story we came here to live is our own.
For the publication of our book, Climate Adaptation: Accounts of Resilience, Self-Sufficiency and Systems Change, I have worked closely with activists and academics from around the world, hearing more about the work they do and the unique and individual ways they have made adaptations within their communities. This experience has allowed me to have a deeper understanding of climate adaptation as a topic, both in a scientific and a cultural sense, thus meaning I have been more readily able to recognise the qualities of a great adaptation book!
Naomi Klein highlights the role of our economy in determining how we adapt to climate change, exploring some of the deep-rooted problems that we face. Again, this book values the importance of grassroots action when it comes to changing our society, despite governments and large corporations being the cause of the problem.
'Naomi Klein's work has always moved and guided me. She is the great chronicler of our age of climate emergency, an inspirer of generations' - Greta Thunberg
For more than twenty years Naomi Klein's books have defined our era, chronicling the exploitation of people and the planet and demanding justice. On Fire gathers for the first time more than a decade of her impassioned writing from the frontline of climate breakdown, and pairs it with new material on the staggeringly high stakes of what we choose to do next.
Here is Klein at her most prophetic and philosophical, investigating the…
I am an environmental scientist with over 25 years experience working on climate change and sustainability. 20 of those years were spent working internationally on environmental policy in developing countries, advising the World Bank and the OECD, and being a climate change negotiator in the UN. I am a thought leader who advised the Mary Robinson Foundation – Climate Justice and The Elders Foundation. In 2018 I co-founded my business, Change by Degrees, which works with people and organisations to transform business for good. I am passionate about fairness between people and between people and the planet and enjoy communicating in a hopeful and positive way about the future we can choose.
Mary Robinson is the former President of Ireland, an advocate for a people-centred and rights-based approach to climate action and my former boss.
In her book she tells the story of her own journey to climate justice and allows many of the people who influenced and informed her to tell their own stories.
Their experiences of the injustice of climate impacts on small islands, farmers, women, and workers make a compelling case for urgent, rights-based climate action.
_______________ 'As an advocate for the hungry and the hunted, the forgotten and the ignored, Mary Robinson has not only shone a light on human suffering, but illuminated a better future for our world' BARACK OBAMA
SHORTLISTED FOR THE IRISH BOOK AWARDS 2018
Holding her first grandchild in her arms in 2003, Mary Robinson was struck by the uncertainty of the world he had been born into. Before his fiftieth birthday, he would share the planet with more than nine billion people - people battling for food, water, and shelter in an increasingly volatile climate. The faceless, shadowy menace of…
