Currently Reading: January
It has been a while, but here’s some of what I’ve been reading this January. Lots of tree books!
When I moved to North Carolina from Brooklyn, I hadn’t realized how much I needed more air and sky, trees and space to breathe. Along with that I had always wanted to keep some type of a nature journal and started keeping a winter journal a few years ago. So these books are a kind of emersion and research into the trees that surround me and that I see every day on my walks.
A teacher friend once told me that if you wanted to learn about a new topic, to start with children’s books. I agree! I love picture books and The Tree Book for Kids and Their Grown-ups by Gina Ingoglia, is filled with beautiful illustrations as well as a lot of tree details and information I had forgotten about since my elementary school days. I’ve been looking through this book during the day in my studio.
Trees by Herman Hesse is, “An elegant collection of Hermann Hesse’s essays, poems, and passages on the subject of trees and nature, accompanied by thirty-one of his watercolor illustrations.”
I really enjoy the watercolors in this book, and I like to read a few poems and essays in the evenings after dinner. I’ve bookmarked quite a few.
The Hidden Life of Trees: What They Feel, How They Communicate―Discoveries from A Secret World by Peter Wohlleben is “One of the most beloved books of our time: an illuminating account of the forest, and the science that shows us how trees communicate, feel, and live in social networks.” Fascinating!
I’m reading a chapter a night at bedtime.
