We all know that spending time in nature is good for us—it can help boost our mood, as well as lower our stress levels. But with the fast pace of modern-day life (and our addiction to our phones), many of us don’t prioritize being outside as much as we should. Here, Vogue picks out the best nature books that’ll help you to reconnect with Mother Earth.
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1/13
Rooted by Sarah Langford
As a top London barrister, Sarah Langford thought she would always be a city dweller—until a series of events forced her to move to Suffolk with her family in 2017, the beginning of a journey that would see her discover regenerative agronomy and travel around Britain meeting farmers who are reimagining the dominant model for agriculture. “I never expected, or wanted, to live a life on the land,” writes Langford in the introduction to Rooted, which is both poetically written and filled with compelling data about modern-day farming. “But then fate took me there and taught me lessons I never knew I needed to learn.”
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2/13
Wilding by Isabella Tree
When Isabella Tree and her husband inherited a 3,000-acre farm in West Sussex, England, it wasn’t long before they had to rethink the unsustainable farming practices that were running the health of their land, quite literally, into the ground—along with their finances. It was only when they decided to radically rethink traditions and “rewild” their land that something wonderful happened: Not only did the wildlife come back, but biodiversity and soil health flourished. The aptly named Tree sees rewilding as the missing link that will guarantee the future of our ecosystems—a fascinating read.
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3/13
Love Letter to the Earth by Thich Nhat Hanh
In his self-styled love letter to the natural world, the renowned peace activist and Buddhist monk Thich Nhat Hanh shares why the happiness and health of our planet is intricately related to the happiness of the human mind. Key to that is encouraging the practice of mindfulness and inculcating a spiritual awareness of the world around you, so that you ultimately let go of the concept of “the environment” and embrace the notion that human life is not a separate entity. Only then, Hanh argues, can we begin to repair our relationship with our natural world and fight the destruction being wrought by climate change.
