Why We’re Reading: Braiding Sweetgrass

Join me for our Life-Changing Book Club for March and April

Welcome to our Life-Changing Book Club journey! For these hump months, we’re diving into Braiding Sweetgrass by Robin Wall Kimmerer

---

Why this book?

Far across the ocean, my mum and sister started reading our last Life-Changing Book Club pick Wintering with us for January and February. Talking about books together felt like an opening, a way to connect in the responsibilities of caregiving and life even at a distance.

So, when my sister suggested Braiding Sweetgrass for March and April, although we have lots of other books that you’ve told me are life changing on our list (thank you all of you for the growing #TBR pile), her idea instantly spoke to me.

“I give daily thanks for Robin Wall Kimmerer for being a font of endless knowledge, both mental and spiritual.” —RICHARD POWERS, NEW YORK TIMES

Here’s more about the book: As a botanist, Robin Wall Kimmerer has been trained to ask questions of nature with the tools of science. As a member of the Citizen Potawatomi Nation, she embraces the notion that plants and animals are our oldest teachers. In Braiding Sweetgrass, Kimmerer brings these two lenses of knowledge together to take us on “a journey that is every bit as mythic as it is scientific, as sacred as it is historical, as clever as it is wise.”

Elizabeth Gilbert

.

Here’s what we know about the author:

Drawing on her life as an indigenous scientist, a mother, and a woman, Robin Wall Kimmerer shows how other living beings offer us gifts and lessons. As I dug deeper, I learned more about the book and Kimmerer:

Asters and goldenrod, strawberries and squash, salamanders, algae, and sweetgrass all offer us gifts and lessons, even if we’ve forgotten how to hear their voices. In a rich braid of reflections that range from the creation of Turtle Island to the forces that threaten its flourishing today, Kimmerer circles toward a central argument: that the awakening of a wider ecological consciousness requires the acknowledgment and celebration of our reciprocal relationship with the rest of the living world. For only when we can hear the languages of other beings will we be capable of understanding the generosity of the earth, and learn to give our own gifts in return.

Photo by Ric Matkowski on Unsplash

And what we’re still curious about:

While I was considering this book for us, I found out that there’s a whole webpage devoted to the ‘legacy of this life-changing’ book. Perfect, no?

I want books like this for you. And for me. Let’s read it together!

Where to get it:

Find where to buy the book here.

Or head to your local bookstore.

Or find it at your local library.

This Book Club is set up to be as easy and low commitment as possible. Some of us quietly order the book or get it from the library and read. Others share thoughts and insights in the comments. We take it slow. As a reader with ADHD, I find I read several other books along the way, taking each one in bursts.

What to Expect in the Life-Changing Book Club

• ~ Day 21: I’ll check in with reflections and a few insights.

• ~ Day 45 - 60: We’ll open a discussion thread for everyone to share thoughts on themes, characters, tensions and takeaways.

So, tell us in the comments below: Will you be joining this book club? Which books have changed your life (how is up to you to share or keep secret)?

Xoxo

Alice

---

If you’re new here, my name is Alice Kuipers and I’m a writer, mother and dog & cat-owner transplanted twenty years ago to the Canadian prairies from England. I’ve published fourteen books in 36 countries and my writing has been described as: “For storytellers and story lovers,” by Kirkus Reviews; ‘Gorgeous, heart-ripping, important,” by VOYA; and “Intense and wonderful” by Bif Naked. Join me for coffee breaks, book conversations, and to share my writing life together.

Xoxo