All the books we recommended in 2024
All the books we recommended in 2024, plus one extra for your year-end reading list.
Maybe you’re looking for books to read for a cozy winter (or beachy summer), or perhaps your to-do list includes buying books for your nearest and dearest. Either way, we’ve got you covered. Here are all the books we read and recommended in 2024, all perfectly on topic for anyone interested in learning more about rewilding and related subjects – or looking to get inspired for a wilder 2025. Plus, a bonus review submitted by a reader. (Add your own picks in the comments!)
P.S. Do you know of a rewilding-adjacent book we should include in the future? Let us know!
The Age of Deer
This fascinating and highly readable book explores the history of the human relationship with deer and how it might lead us into the future.
Planting in a Post-Wild World
It’s not exactly a casual read, but this manual on designing gardens for a wilder future is a must-read for anyone serious about landscaping.
Great Misconceptions: Rewilding Myths and Misunderstandings
This UK-focused (but not -exclusive) book gathers essays from 14 contributors on what rewilding means and where we should take it, covering topics including agriculture, urban rewilding and the value of tree planting.
Ian Parsons
One Garden Against the World
Can one gardener really make a difference? Author Kate Bradbury argues yes, and demonstrates how she's incorporated wildlife gardening into her own plot of land.
Elizabeth Nicholls
Prairie Edge
What would happen if bison were reintroduced to a Canadian prairie city – and what would the fallout be? This novel explores one possible scenario.
Zack Metcalfe
The Milkweed Lands
In North America at least, milkweed (host plant to the monarch butterfly) has become a poster child for gardening for nature. This beautiful (and giftable) illustrated book dives deep into this plant and the web of relationships it’s a part of.
Dispersals
Where do plants belong, and why? This collection of essays explores the nature of nativeness and migration and challenges assumptions on what it means to fit in on this planet.
Signs of Life
As the world’s second-largest country, you might think Canada has plenty of room for humans to share space with wildlife. Journalist Sarah Cox belies that idea, with disappointing reports on the challenges endangered animals are facing – and some ideas that might help turn the tide.
Groundbreakers
Wild boar used to roam Britain happily, until humans drove them out. Now they’re back – with a very mixed welcome. This book explores why this matters, and how a culture unused to living next to wild animals might shift its understanding of the natural world.
Medicine Wheel for the Planet
You might have heard of Indigenous approaches to ecology, but have you ever explored what they mean? This book offers one perspective, by a First Nations woman and UBC professor whose work is an attempt to heal both land and people through efforts that unite Western science with Indigenous worldviews.
Nature’s Ghosts
The editor of Inkcap Journal explores the history of humanity’s impact on the natural world and what that means when it comes to rebuilding at least part of what we’ve lost.
What Bears Teach Us
Bear researcher Sarah Elmeligi explores various aspects of bear behaviour and human-bear interactions, interspersing science and statistics with personal stories of bear encounters from herself and other contributors.
Wild Service
We need nature, and nature needs us, too. That’s the premise of this collection of writing by British “nature defenders,” who share how they’re reconnecting with the natural world and working toward its restoration.
A Natural History of Empty Lots
Urban wild spaces are a special breed of nature. Here, author Christopher Brown shares his experiences in the “feral city” on the outskirts of Austin, Texas, and how he has built a relationship with the flora and fauna of these overlooked places.
This Is How a Robin Drinks
“I would like you to consider introducing my favourite book for 2024 to Rewilding readers: This Is How a Robin Drinks by Joanna Brichetto. The writings by this Tennessee naturalist are educational by way of surprising insights, everyday occurrences and quirky family anecdotes – and laugh-aloud funny. Joanna has debilitation migraines so travel for promotion is limited. She deserves the widest possible audience.” – Maureen May, Rewilding reader
Comments ()