Here are 100 books that The Wood fans have personally recommended if you like
The Wood.
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As a practicing pagan, and nature writer, I write books about how to reconnect to nature, how to rediscover and connect to your inner self, and your sense of spirituality. I grew up in the wilds of a large national park (Dartmoor) and have found that this colours and shapes everything I do. I spent thirty years living and working in London, and missed Dartmoor every day I was away. Whilst living in the city I had to learn ways to connect to nature, which is how I discovered my spiritual path. I was lucky enough to stage an escape and return home at forty-seven, and have been writing about it ever since.
I loved this book as it follows the author’s quest to reconnect with nature and rediscover a sense of enchantment following the challenges of the COVID lockdowns.
Split into the four elements – earth, air, fire, and water – the author describes her explorations of each element in her life and how if leads her back to herself. I love the book as it enabled me to see nature through the author’s eyes, and with a perspective that is in some ways almost entirely different to my own, and in others, in harmony with my own thoughts and feelings. It was indeed an enchanting read.
'It will do your soul good to read this.' NIGELLA LAWSON
A balm for our times from the internationally bestselling author of Wintering.
Our sense of enchantment is not only sparked by grand things. The awe-inspiring, the numinous, is all around us, all the time. It is transformed by our deliberate attention. The magic is of our own conjuring.
'A total joy . . . Thoughtful, patient and beautifully written, like walking with a friend as dusk settles, this is the book your soul needs right now.' CARIAD LLOYD
A moving story of love, betrayal, and the enduring power of hope in the face of darkness.
German pianist Hedda Schlagel's world collapsed when her fiancé, Fritz, vanished after being sent to an enemy alien camp in the United States during the Great War. Fifteen years later, in 1932, Hedda…
As a practicing pagan, and nature writer, I write books about how to reconnect to nature, how to rediscover and connect to your inner self, and your sense of spirituality. I grew up in the wilds of a large national park (Dartmoor) and have found that this colours and shapes everything I do. I spent thirty years living and working in London, and missed Dartmoor every day I was away. Whilst living in the city I had to learn ways to connect to nature, which is how I discovered my spiritual path. I was lucky enough to stage an escape and return home at forty-seven, and have been writing about it ever since.
I love this book as I used it as a road map of swimming adventures when I moved back home to the West Country after thirty years of living in the city.
I was faced with the challenge of not knowing where to swim, as we didn’t really go in the water when I was a child. The author visits a plethora of favourite swimming spots with a group of friends, and I felt like I was accompanying them on their trips.
I was able to use the book as a guide, to go and visit all the spots Lynne Roper mentions in her diaries, safe in the knowledge I was visiting places that people have swum in for years.
I was brought up in a farming landscape; the little patches of woodland were exciting because they were different, full of birds and flowers not seen elsewhere. This led to me wanting to be a forester, and hence my undergraduate degree, post-graduate research, and subsequent career with the conservation agencies in Britain. I enjoyed working with colleagues on issues as varied as how to select and manage woodland reserves, to what the government should be doing in its reviews of national forest policy. Now retired, I still spend time following the changes in the woodland flora and trying to encourage others to conserve and expand our native woodland.
The oakwoods of western Britain can look a little dull, but this rebranding of them, legitimately, as temperate rainforests, suddenly draws attention to them as special places that we should take responsibility for conserving.
Though I already knew many of the sites mentioned, I started to see them from a different perspective, to see their beauty afresh, and to think more about their vulnerability to changes in our climate, and to the impact of invasive species.
WINNER OF THE WAINWRIGHT PRIZE FOR CONSERVATION 2023
The Sunday Times Science Book of the Year
As seen on Countryfile
'If anyone was born to save Britain's rainforests, it was Guy Shrubsole' Sunday Times
Shortlisted for the Richard Jefferies Society Literary Prize
Temperate rainforest may once have covered up to one-fifth of Britain, inspiring Celtic druids, Welsh wizards, Romantic poets, and Arthur Conan Doyle's most loved creations. Though only fragments now remain, they are home to a dazzling variety of luminous life-forms.
In this awe-inspiring investigation, Guy Shrubsole travels through the Western Highlands and the Lake District, down to the…
Sine, a professor of creative writing, accompanies Sam, a neuroscientist, on a conference trip to a Hotel Castle. Sam wants to present a new device, the "monitor." Sine hopes to recover from tending to her mother who just passed away.
When they arrive, Sine is in a dream-like state. Real…
As a practicing pagan, and nature writer, I write books about how to reconnect to nature, how to rediscover and connect to your inner self, and your sense of spirituality. I grew up in the wilds of a large national park (Dartmoor) and have found that this colours and shapes everything I do. I spent thirty years living and working in London, and missed Dartmoor every day I was away. Whilst living in the city I had to learn ways to connect to nature, which is how I discovered my spiritual path. I was lucky enough to stage an escape and return home at forty-seven, and have been writing about it ever since.
I first fell in love with this book as a teenager. I first discovered it when the BBC did a fabulous adaptation of the novel and I was compelled to go and read the novel.
The book follows the story of Prudence Sarn, a woman living with a facial disfigurement at the time of the Corn Laws and the Napoleonic Wars. Her brother decides to make his fortune growing corn on the family farm, and promises Pru a cure for her facial scars if she helps him, however, his obsession with money soon turns them towards disaster, and the local community turn on Pru, accusing her of being a witch.
Returning to academic study in my forties, I wrote my PhD novel and thesis on the life of Mary Webb, a nature mystic, and it just served to make me love the novel even more. Webb’s descriptions of rural Shropshire…
I was brought up in a farming landscape; the little patches of woodland were exciting because they were different, full of birds and flowers not seen elsewhere. This led to me wanting to be a forester, and hence my undergraduate degree, post-graduate research, and subsequent career with the conservation agencies in Britain. I enjoyed working with colleagues on issues as varied as how to select and manage woodland reserves, to what the government should be doing in its reviews of national forest policy. Now retired, I still spend time following the changes in the woodland flora and trying to encourage others to conserve and expand our native woodland.
This book challenged my thinking and kept me sane during a 6hr delay stuck on a train.
I don’t agree with all the arguments, but I admire the way it has opened up a different way of looking at what natural landscapes look like, and how wild horses, bison, and wild ox might have shaped the wildwood.
I have seen how the ideas have inspired landowners to manage their farms and estates in a different way to conventional conservation, with great benefits to biodiversity.
It is a widely held belief that a climax vegetation of closed forest systems covered the lowlands of Central and Western Europe before humans intervened in prehistoric times to develop agriculture. If this intervention had not taken place, it would still be there and so if left, the grassland vegetation and fields we see today would revert to its natural closed forest state, although with a reduced number of wild species. This book challenges this view, using examples from history, pollen analyses and studies on the ecology of tree and shrub species such as oak and hazel. It tests the…
My love since childhood for the natural world made me use my art to speak for those who don't have a voice to fight back: the animals who are losing their habitat daily, the old-growth forests getting cut down, and the waters that are polluted mindlessly. When my partner and I adopted our puppy, Reynard, we were so obsessed with him that we decided to write and illustrate a book about his adventures, and naturally, it ended up also touching on different environmental topics. Our art endeavors also inspired us to begin a movement to stop a toxic sulfide mine from being built next to Lake Superior and the Porcupine Mountains in Michigan.
This is a wonderful book to expand our compassion regarding less charismatic but highly important and magnificent beings – the trees.
I was really captivated by all the interesting facts that I had no idea about, and the gorgeous watercolor illustrations made it even more entertaining. Now, when I go to the forest, I think about the roots being highly connected underneath, about Mother Trees nurturing their young and exchanging nutrients and information with other trees.
Having all this new knowledge makes the forest feel even more alive to me. It also reminded me that even if we are not aware of it, humans are part of the infinite natural web of connections. Our actions affect the forests as much as the lack of forests affects our psychology and behavior.
A STUNNING NEW GRAPHIC NOVEL, BRILLIANTLY ADAPTED FROM THE NEW YORK TIMES, WASHINGTON POST, AND WALL STREET JOURNAL BESTSELLER
A Top Ten Graphic Novel of 2024-American Library Association
From "veritable tree whisperer" (WSJ) and internationally celebrated author Peter Wohlleben comes the long-awaited graphic novel adaptation of one of the most beloved books of our time. "Wohlleben has listened to trees and decoded their language. Now he speaks for them." (NYRB)
Filled with breathtaking illustrations and scientific facts about the forest and the flora and fauna who call it home-this eye-opening book will delight readers young and old.
In an age of splendor, a heretic king strips Egypt bare—forcing his queen to quell rebellion and plunging his children into a conspiracy against the crown.
Salvation in the Sun follows Nefertiti as she ascends the throne beside Pharaoh Amenhotep—soon to become Akhenaten—just as he declares war on Egypt’s ancient…
It was disappointing comparing the rich diversity of animals on colorful book pages to the reality of forests, where I could only see trees. But as I learned about plants and I became a plant ecologist, I realized that plants have to be extremely tough because they can’t run away from dangers or animals who want to eat them. I studied plants in coastal habitats in California, Central America and Florida, and in forests in the Midwest. I love seeing how they change throughout the season and how they interact. I wish everyone would read as many books about trees as construction trucks!
I love this book because it has everything I want to see in a book about trees: parts of a tree, beautiful illustrations of their root systems and canopies, pictures of animals that live in the trees, and descriptions of how trees defend themselves. It is brimming with science but is written in a friendly way that doesn’t make me feel like I’m sitting in a lecture. The book explains how trees sense the world around them and how animals like monkeys, squirrels and birds disperse tree seeds.
My favorite part is the section on tree habitats, which includes tropical rain forest, temperate rain forest, swamp forest and snow forest, complete with how each habitat is structured and who lives there. I feel like I’m in an immersive museum exhibit when I read this book.
Learn about the amazing natural science of trees in this illustrated nature and science book for kids aged 7-9.
From the highest branch and leaf down to the complex "wood wide web" of roots, it's no wonder every part of a tree plays an important role in its own growth and the habitat of the whole forest or woodland. The Magic & Mystery of Trees is a nature book that takes children on a fascinating journey of exploration, showing them just how special these mighty organisms are.
Did you know that trees can communicate with each other and warn each…
As a woman, I am passionate about valuing the voices of women equally with those of men. When we listen to each other, we will be able to come into a better balance that will help us restore ourselves and our Earth. We need the visions of women to help guide us through these challenging times! I’m also passionate about the wild beauty of nature, especially trees, and spend lots of time hiking and meditating in the ancient redwood forests near my home. This has helped me heal and expanded my perception. In a way, being in the forest has brought me home to myself.
To Speak for the Trees is one of my favorite books ever, partly because I love trees, and partly because of my own Celtic heritage from my maternal line. Diana Beresord-Kroeger, a scientist in biochemistry and botany, begins with her childhood in Ireland. After losing her parents at a young age, she is raised in the ancient Celtic nature wisdom and Druid beliefs by an entire community, and literally taught the language of trees: Ogham. Blending scientific discoveries about trees and the importance of forests to our species' survival, this book is a fast and delightful read that I won’t forget. I feel enriched from having been blessed to spend time with such a brilliant woman through the pages of her book.
Diana Beresford-Kroeger - a world-recognised botanist and medical biochemist - has revolutionised our understanding of the natural world with her startling insights into the hidden life of trees. In this riveting memoir, she uncovers the roots of her discoveries in her extraordinary childhood in Ireland. Soon after, her brilliant mind bloomed into an illustrious scientific career that melds the intricacies of the natural world with the truths of traditional Celtic wisdom. To Speak for the Trees uniquely blends the story of Beresford-Kroeger's incredible life and her outstanding achievement as a scientist. It elegantly shows us how forests can not only…
It was disappointing comparing the rich diversity of animals on colorful book pages to the reality of forests, where I could only see trees. But as I learned about plants and I became a plant ecologist, I realized that plants have to be extremely tough because they can’t run away from dangers or animals who want to eat them. I studied plants in coastal habitats in California, Central America and Florida, and in forests in the Midwest. I love seeing how they change throughout the season and how they interact. I wish everyone would read as many books about trees as construction trucks!
We think the forest is made up of trees, but this book shows us how some trees are connected underground by mycorrhizal fungi. I love trees, but we have to give the little guys some credit too, and sometimes ‘the little guys,’ i.e., underground fungi, are not so little. Fungi to the rescue!
I like how this book shows that in the case of Douglas fir trees and some other species, nutrients can travel between trees and support new tree seedlings as they grow in the shadow of giant neighboring trees, waiting for their turn to soak up the sunlight. I think of this book as a children’s version of Finding the Mother Tree by Suzanne Simard.
This captivating book explores the real connection and communication that runs underground between trees in the forest. The well-researched details about trees' own social network will help readers see that the natural world's survival depends on staying connected and helping others-just like us! The fascinating mycorrhizal fungi network runs underground through the roots of trees in the forest allowing for connection and communication. Readers will discover that trees have their own social network to help each other survive and thrive. Listen to the Language of the Trees captures the magic of talking trees that take care of their neighbors (not…
Born the heir of a master woodcutter in a queendom defined by guilds and matrilineal inheritance, nonbinary Sorin can’t quite seem to find their place. At seventeen, an opportunity to attend an alchemical guild fair and secure an apprenticeship with the…
As a child, I enjoyed a special relationship with an oak tree in my backyard. My father indulged my love of nature with backpacking trips in the mountains of California. In my teens, he published my booklet on edible wild plants. My maternal grandmother encouraged my interest in Indigenous uses of plants with books, field trips, and stories from her anthropology studies at UC Berkeley. My mother cultivated my creativity with ferocious intensity and supported my desire to earn a Ph.D. I landed my dream job at an alternative, interdisciplinary, small, public liberal arts college and have taught botany there for nearly 30 years. I love teaching plant-centric environmental history.
Langston tells a complex story about how the U.S. Forest Service, early in its history, demonized fire and developed a national policy of fire suppression, which has had profoundly negative ecological consequences, particularly in the West.
This case study centered on yellow pine forests illustrates how a poor understanding of forest history and ecology can result in management approaches that squander valuable timber resources.
Across the inland West, forests that once seemed like paradise have turned into an ecological nightmare. Fires, insect epidemics, and disease now threaten millions of acres of once-bountiful forests. Yet no one can agree what went wrong. Was it too much management-or not enough-that forced the forests of the inland West to the verge of collapse? Is the solution more logging, or no logging at all? In this gripping work of scientific and historical detection, Nancy Langston unravels the disturbing history of what went wrong with the western forests, despite the best intentions of those involved.
