About this list
Books have been an integral element in my journey exploring the alignment of my own life to the ecological-communal needs of Earth. I have categorised the lists into various elements that impact how we inhabited space; including our bodies, minds, human and more-than-human communities, into society and governance. Of course, these are all interwoven, and if these books are new to you and you feel inspired to get reading, a book from each categority will likely weave you a beautiful fabric. I have starred* my highest recommendations in each section, but this is a personal experience and I feel that books arrive to us exactly when we need them.
I am presently feeling into minimising my book collection, with the intention of keeping only books I will read again and again, deepening my understanding of topics that might be slow to percolate. I do this is response to overconsumption and in the knowledge that spaciousness, not incessant learning, will likely bring me more in alignment with my ecological-Self.
I have deleted my Amazon account and committed to never buy books online to slow my book purchases, select books more carefully and ensure I do not contribute to the carbon emissions of couriers or unwittingly receive single use plastic packing. You can read more about his here.
Ecological
Deep Ecology for the 21st Century, George Sessions
Simple in Means, Rich in Ends, Bill Devall and George Sessions *
The Living Mountain, Nan Shepherd
The Sand County Almanac, Aldo Leopold *
The Dream of the Earth, Thomas Berry
Ecology, Community & Lifestyle, Arne Naess and
Ecology of Wisdom, Arne Naess
Deep Ecology, Bil Devall and George Sessions
The Practice of the Wild, Gary Snyder
Financial
Charles Eisenstein: Sacred Economics *
Jason Hickel: Less is More
Mark Boyle: Moneyless Manifesto, Moneyless Man
Inspirational
The Essential Gandhi *
These Wilds Beyond Our Fences, Bayo Akomolafe
Coming Back to Life, Joanna Macy
Essays by Wendell Berry
Active Hope, Joanna Macy and Chris Johnstone
Long Walk to Freedom, Nelson Mandela
Walden, Henry David Thoreau
Transformational
Thich Nhat Hanh
Wild Mind *, Soulcraft & Nature and the Human Soul, Bill Plotkin
Women Who Run with Wolves, Clarissa Pinkola Estes
Timeless Simplicity, John Lane
My Grandmothers Hands, Resmaa Menakem
How to Change Your Mind, Michael Pollan
Becoming Animal, David Abram
Political
The Moneyless Man * & Drinking Molotov Cocktails with Gandhi, The Way Home, Mark Boyle
This Changes Everything, The Shock Doctrine and No Logo, Naomi Klein
Blue Gold, Maude Barlow and Tony Clarke
Small is Beautiful, E F Schumacher
The Way of Council, Jack Zimmerman and Virginia Coyle
Self Reliance, Ralph Waldo Emerson
Food, Land & Agriculture
Foraging, by Wild Food UK
The One Straw Revolution, Masanobu Fukuoka
Wildcrafted Fermentation and The New Wildcrafted Cuisine, Baudar
Creating a Forest Garden, Martin Crawford
The Edible Ecosystem Solution, Zack Loeks
Miraculous Abundance, and Charles Hervé-Gruyer *
Mindful Living
Non-Violent Communication, Marshall B Rosenberg *
Buddhism Plain and Simple, Steve Hagen
Radical Compassion, Tara Brach
Ancient Wisdom
Braiding Sweetgrass, Robin Wall Kimmerer *
Anam Cara & Eternal Echoes, John O’Donahue
The Tao Te Ching, Lao Tzu
Black Elk Speaks, John Neihardt
The Prophet, Kahil Gibran
Sacred Longing, Mary C Grey
Sacred Instructions, Sherri Mitchell
Climate Change
Climate: A New Story, Charles Eisenstein *
This Changes Everything, Naomi Klein
The Drawdown,
Fiction
The Goshawk, TH White,
H is for Hawk, Helen Macdonald
Where the Crawdads Sing, Delia Owens *
All the Light We Cannot See, Anthony Doerr
Steppenwolf, Herman Hesse
1984, George Orwell
Healthy Masculinity
The Architypes and the Collective Unconscious, Carl Jung
Iron John, Robert Bly
The Flowering Wand, Sophie Strand
Absent Fathers, Lost Sons, Guy Corneau
King, Warrior, Magician, Lover, Robert Moore *