Earth Day

Every April, we honor our planet on Earth Day with a selection of works celebrating the natural world. With titles ranging from stories of wilderness survival to nonfiction works about conservation and sustainability, this Collection features a broad spectrum of ideas regarding nature and our role within it.

Camino Ghosts

by John Grisham

Publication year 2024

Genre Novel, Fiction

Themes Conflict, Perseverance, Hope, Memory, Shame & Pride, Race, The Past, Environment, Place, Family, Community, Politics & Government, Equality, Justice, Power & Greed, Truth & Lies

Tags Mystery & Crime Fiction, Horror & Suspense, Historical Fiction, Crime & Law

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Cannery Row

by John Steinbeck

Publication year 1945

Genre Novel, Fiction

Themes Community, Place, Good & Evil, Truth & Lies, Beauty, Environment, Friendship

Tags American Literature, World History, Historical Fiction, Classic Fiction, Arts & Culture, Anthropology, Animals, Social Class, Education, Philosophy, Poverty, Relationships, Science & Nature

Cannery Row by John Steinbeck was originally published in 1945. A Nobel Prize-winning writer, Steinbeck grew up in Salinas, California, which is near Monterey—the location of Cannery Row. Aside from a few years in Palo Alto, New York, and Los Angeles, Steinbeck spent most of his adult life living in Monterey County, and he drew on his personal experiences to write Cannery Row.Considered literary fiction or classic literature, Cannery Row is realistic and was written... Read Cannery Row Summary

Changes in the Land

by William Cronon

Publication year 1983

Genre Book, Nonfiction

Themes Environment

Tags US History, Colonial America, Education, Education, Anthropology, Anthropology, Science & Nature, World History

William Cronon wrote a scholarly assessment of the ecological changes in the land wrought by the arrival of New England’s European settlers from about 1620 to 1800 called Changes in the Land: Indians, Colonists, and the Ecology of New England (1983). Cronon examines both the Native American and European land usage during the pre-colonial time period, including farming, hunting, fishing, and the commercial harvesting of the fruits of the land. In particular, Cronon explores the... Read Changes in the Land Summary

Children of Memory

by Adrian Tchaikovsky

Publication year 2022

Genre Novel, Fiction

Themes Space, Environment, Science & Technology

Tags Science Fiction, Fantasy

Children of Memory is a novel in Adrian Tchaikovsky's Children of Time series, which traces the development of a multispecies interstellar civilization including uplifted Portiid spiders, Octopuses, Nodan organisms (parasitic microbial life forms from the planet Nod), and Humans (capital H, denoting those uplifted by the Portiid nanovirus). An ancient AI named Avrana Kern, originally a human terraformer who preserved herself as a digital intelligence, serves as a connective thread across the series.The novel opens... Read Children of Memory Summary

Chomp

by Carl Hiaasen

Publication year 2012

Genre Novel, Fiction

Themes Coming of Age, Animals, Environment, Family, Justice

Tags Mystery & Crime Fiction, Humor, Action & Adventure, Realistic Fiction, Animals, Children`s Literature

Written in 2012 by Carl Hiaasen, Chomp is a young adult novel set in Hiaasen’s native Florida (specifically, Everglades National Park). Hiaasen, who began his career as a journalist, is the author of six other books for young readers (as well as numerous adult novels). Because his work blends humor with grim realism, Chomp features characters who are just as “bizarre” as their Florida setting. Primarily known for his crime fiction, Hiaasen also crafts stories... Read Chomp Summary

City Spies

by James Ponti

Publication year 2020

Genre Novel, Fiction

Themes Conflict, Emotions/Behavior: Courage, Perseverance, Fear, Gratitude, Joy, Loneliness, Revenge, Shame & Pride, Childhood & Youth, Coming of Age, Death, Justice, Art, Good & Evil, Literature, Loyalty & Betrayal, Truth & Lies, Trust & Doubt, Science & Technology, Power & Greed, Safety & Danger, Teamwork, Family, Climate, Appearance & Reality, Environment, Self Discovery, Community, Wins & Losses, Friendship, Place, Order & Chaos

Tags Horror & Suspense, Mystery & Crime Fiction, Action & Adventure, Children`s Literature, Realistic Fiction

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Cod

by Mark Kurlansky

Publication year 1997

Genre Book, Nonfiction

Themes Environment, Animals, Food, Colonialism, Economics, Globalization, Nation

Tags Science & Nature, Animals, World History, Food

Cod: A Biography of the Fish That Changed the World (1997) is a nonfiction work of microhistory by Mark Kurlansky. The book chronicles the history of the cod fish, which is intertwined with issues of European colonialism, enormous shifts in trade and economy, and even war. Cod is also an exploration of the human impact on nature, the failures of environmental stewardship, and the need for greater conservation efforts. Kurlansky is a New York Times bestselling... Read Cod Summary

Collapse

by Jared Diamond

Publication year 2004

Genre Book, Nonfiction

Themes Climate, Community, Environment

Tags World History, Climate Change, Anthropology, Anthropology, Science & Nature, Social Science, Business & Economics, Sociology, Politics & Government

Following his best-selling, Pulitzer Prize-winning Guns, Germs, and Steel (1997), geologist and anthropologist Jared Diamond published a companion book, Collapse: How Societies Choose to Fail or Succeed, in 2006. Where Guns, Germs, and Steel described how various environments around the world helped or hindered human civilization, Collapse explains how environmental abuse ruined many past societies and how it threatens civilizations today. An updated edition, released in 2011 by Penguin Books, is the subject of this... Read Collapse Summary

Comfort & Joy

by Kristin Hannah

Publication year 2005

Genre Novel, Fiction

Themes Emotions/Behavior: Courage, Perseverance, Forgiveness, Grief, Loneliness, Love, Memory, Femininity, Childhood & Youth, Midlife, Death, Future, Appearance & Reality, Environment, Mothers, Siblings, Self Discovery, Religion & Spirituality

Tags Romance, Special Occasions

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Cosmic

by Frank Cottrell Boyce

Publication year 2008

Genre Novel, Fiction

Themes Space, Emotions/Behavior: Courage, Coming of Age, Future, Environment, Nature Versus Nurture, Place, Fathers, Friendship, Self Discovery, Community, Loyalty & Betrayal, Order & Chaos, Safety & Danger, Science & Technology, Trust & Doubt

Tags Science Fiction, Action & Adventure, Humor, Fantasy

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Cosmos

by Carl Sagan

Publication year 1980

Genre Book, Nonfiction

Themes Space, Environment, Place, Perseverance, Hope, Science & Technology, Truth & Lies, Education, Globalization, War

Tags Science & Nature, World History, Philosophy, Philosophy, Classic Fiction

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Cradle To Cradle

by William McDonough, Michael Braungart

Publication year 2002

Genre Book, Nonfiction

Themes Environment

Tags Science & Nature, Business & Economics, Arts & Culture

Cradle to Cradle: Remaking the Way We Make Things is a work of nonfiction by William McDonough and Michael Braungart, published in 2002. The book argues that a radical change must be made to the Western world’s industrial and manufacturing systems, which are devastating to the natural world in their present state. Through discussions of environmentalism, industrialism, and design, the authors urge us, as a society, to think differently about what it means to be... Read Cradle To Cradle Summary

Creation Lake

by Rachel Kushner

Publication year 2024

Genre Novel, Fiction

Themes Gender Identity, The Past, Climate, Environment, Food, Place, Social Class, Community, Economics, Globalization, Politics & Government

Tags Psychological Fiction

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