This month’s reading recommendations were submitted by WVEC Communications Coordinator, Anna Saab. Her picks are a mix of fiction and nonfiction. To find these books at your local library, visit https://www.usa.gov/libraries-and-archives. You can also support a variety of independent bookstores through bookshop.org. As summer winds down and the temperatures begin to ease, we hope you find time to enjoy these selections somewhere outside.
The Berry Pickers, by Amanda Peters: It’s easy to feel disconnected from our food these days. As climate change impacts growing seasons and agricultural jobs, it’s important to be reminded that many of the hardworking farmers and agricultural workers are often migrants displaced by encroaching settler colonialism.
As weather patterns shift, farm communities are being hit hard. While this book isn’t specifically about climate change, it is about how an indigenous family grapples with agricultural work shifts and personal tragedy in the midst of national change. If you ask me, there’s a larger metaphor at play in this book.
Curiosity and cultural exposure are part of the larger path to healing and adaptation as we experience worsening climate change.
Everything is Tuberculosis, by John Green: Measles and other preventable diseases have spread in the face of vaccine skepticism and climate change. Those of us lucky enough to have survived the COVID pandemic remember when these illnesses were mostly discussed in the past tense. John Green delves into the cultural impact of Tuberculosis, an illness so massive it’s partially responsible for New Mexico’s statehood and the Stetson cowboy hat. Now that’s influence.
As climate change worsens, diseases like Measles, Ebola, and food-borne illness will become more common. Holding knowledge about the history and power of medical science will help us combat viral misinformation.
Parable of the Sower, by Octavia E. Butler: This masterpiece of speculative fiction was hard to put down. It was my first read of 2025, and I’m not sure there was a more apt piece of writing to start the year. Like so many other Americans, I often find myself getting wrapped up in despair about the state of the world. My worldview was flipped during the pandemic, and I’ve spent a lot of time since then reading and listening to what I can to better understand how the modern world was born. Wealth inequality is such a large piece of the puzzle.
As damning and unsettling as this novel is, I found it hopeful. A return to community and strong interdependent culture will save us all. It’s the hopeful reminder I need when I’m spiraling.
Poverty, by America, by Matthew Desmond: I’ve spent a lot of time over the past several years deconstructing the misinformation I previously held about poverty and homelessness. Desmond helped me deconstruct some of the misgivings I previously held about policy as an avenue for change. While I don’t believe policy alone will abolish poverty and level wealth inequality, I think it could be part of the solution. His writing is clear and concise. If you find yourself in conversation about this topic with loved ones, I highly recommend reading this book for greater background knowledge and talking points.
People experiencing poverty and homelessness are disproportionately impacted by climate change and natural disasters. I don’t think that reality is acknowledged enough in climate discourse. As you embark on your own journey of deconstruction, I hope you’ll take the time to consider how your environmental work intersects with class.
The Four Winds, by Kristin Hannah: Hannah captured my mind and heart in this telling of family and survival during this decade in the American Midwest and West. I don’t remember learning much about the Dust Bowl in history or science classes, and I certainly don’t remember an emphasis on the role of improper farming practices. It spurred me to learn more about regenerative farming methods.
Too often we forget that consumption comes at a price. The Four Winds has similar themes to Parable of the Sower in its warning that surviving is hard enough without the added threat of climate fallout and societal collapse. Humanity can change before it’s too late, but survival requires true community and interdependence.
