Hi friends,
Welcome to our second ever Book Boost (official name still TBD. Nothing matters.)
In case you missed the first one, we’re going to be doing these semi-regularly because:
We love reading, especially long-form (and yes, we think audiobooks count)
People, especially kids, are reading less and less, which we think is bad for many reasons but especially for our collective ability to do things like think critically and have empathy
We’ll do anything to divert our attention away from [insert whatever social media platform here]’s comment sections because our sanity literally depends on it
We’ve been collecting and sharing lists of our favorite books for years, so you can look through them and support local bookstores through Bookshop.
So, every month or so (or so is doing a lot of work here), we’re going to share a book with you, and if you feel inclined we’re asking you to:
Buy at least one copy of the book from Bookshop
Read it, and then gift it to a local public or school library, youth group, sports team, student council, you get it
Post a pic of you with the book on Instagram and tag us @wcid.earth
And! Anyone who buys and distributes 10+ copies gets a free year of Important Membership 🤝 (just email us the receipt).
This is Compound Action, in action.
Let’s boost some books!
— Willow
Together With Bookshop
Want to read what the people working on the frontlines of the future are reading?
Every week, I ask our podcast guest, "What’s a book you’ve read this year that’s opened your mind to a topic you haven’t considered before, or that’s changed your thinking in some way?"
And every week, we add their picks to a list on Bookshop, where every purchase on the site financially supports independent bookstores.
Want an ad-free experience? Become a Member!
Forest Euphoria: The Abounding Queerness of Nature
By Patricia Ononiwu Kaishian
If you’ve been following along the past few months, you know that we recently launched a new monthly newsletter called Life Finds A Way: The original diversity initiative, and this book was a huge inspiration for the column.
Kaishian’s beautiful prose weaves together her journey of becoming a scientist and understanding her own queerness with loving and moving descriptions of life and nature that not only is all around us, but is an inextricable part of us, no matter how hard humans have tried to other ourselves and fill the world with imagined hierarchies and binaries.
With each fungal, snail, or other undervalued species we learn about in the book, Kaishian invites us to set aside our preconceived notions of what is normal and what is deviant, to reject binary thinking, see the queerness that is all around us, and open our minds to everything nature has to teach us about the importance and value of diversity.
In a culture that increasingly pushes us into an “us vs. them” rhetoric, that rewards conformity, insists on organizing around outgroups and ingroups, that claims dominion over nature to the result of ruthless and unsustainable extraction, and where we are more divided, more isolated, and lonelier than ever, Forest Euphoria challenges expectations, demands a deeper appreciation for nature, and calls us home.
I found myself deeply relating to the extremely personal and sacred connections to nature described in this book, and I think it’s worth a read for anyone looking for a better understanding of the inherent value of all species.
👉Buy A Copy Here ($28)
If you can’t afford to give a book away right now, I totally get it. No pressure.
Checking out a book — any book — from your local library goes such a long way in making sure these institutions continue to receive funding, and that more people have access to books, and through reading, access to other worlds and other ways of knowing.
Thank you — as always — for giving a shit.
— Willow
PS: Got recommendations? Send them over for future consideration!
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