Yesterday (November 1st) was the day we set our clocks back an hour to have more daylight hours during the day. I am grateful for this because morning coffees in the dark on the patio are a little less energizing than when the sun is up. Yesterday was also National Author’s Day and National Family Literacy Day. With days getting shorter and many of us staying home due to the ongoing pandemic, this year’s fall and winter seasons are going to be different than any of us have experienced before.
Books are a great way to pass the time and entertain or educate one’s self. With that in mind, the team at Energility has put together a list of books that entertain, educate, and (hopefully) inspire. We have added what the team member found inspiring, educational, or entertaining about the book and hope this will give you some entertainment and inspiration this fall and winter.
Whether you enjoy hardcopy, digital, or audiobooks, books are great for educating, inspiring, or taking us on a journey. Take time this fall and find a book that inspires you or makes you laugh or gives you a new perspective. Time with a book is never wasted.
“Design with Climate: Bioclimatic Approach to Architectural Regionalism” – 1963 by Victor Olgyay
This book is a fascinating look at how appropriate strategies can be applied to adapt buildings to their local environment. It includes traditional construction methods that date back thousands of years, as well as 20th century methods. It is a bit dated, but I appreciate that it captures a snapshot of the best approaches available using passive methods, as opposed to modern a more complex mechanical means to achieve energy efficiency.
“Cradle to Cradle: Remaking the Way We Make Things” – 2002 by William McDonough, Michael Braungart
Do more good in the world, not just less bad; that is one of the big messages in this book, which I think is brilliant. It can be a bit tough to get through, but richly rewarding.
“Walkable City: How Downtown Can Save America, One Step at a Time”- 2012 by Jeff Speck
A bold look at how we can re-shape cities to be more people-friendly…especially interesting to read it during the onset of COVID-19 and then re-think most of the high-density doctrines prescribed for sustainable approaches to urban living and transportation.
“Environmental Justice in a Moment of Danger” – 2020 by Julie Sze
An interesting and thought provoking idea that poor and marginalized communities suffer the brunt of economic and political injustice and a new element “slow violence,” rooting in European settlement traditions of land theft, colonialism, and racism is identified.
“High Tech Trash” – 2006 by Elizabeth Grossman
Specifically, the chapters on recycling and the flow of electronic waste from consumers to landfills and the export of waste to developing countries and how this affects the health of humans and environment are worth noting.
“This Changes Everything: Capitalism vs. the Climate” – 2014 by Naomi Klein Naomi
This book proposes the reality that nothing short of an ecological revolution will now do the job.
“Fresh Fruit, Broken Bodies: Migrant Farmworkers in the United States” – 2013 by Seth M. Holmes
Though nonfiction, this book reads like a novel The reader follows Seth as he goes on the journey of migrant workers that come to the United States every year for seasonal work picking the food we eat. It will change the way you look at the food in the grocery store.
“The Overstory” – 2018 by Richard Powers
This is a great novel!! A great reference on what to do and the impact. And, you can get into the nitty gritty of each action or stay at a high level. Makes a good coffee table book for thumbing through.
“Drawdown: The Most Comprehensive Plan Ever Proposed to Reverse Global Warming” – 2017 edited by Paul Hawkin
“Blink: The Power of Thinking Without Thinking” – 2005 by Malcolm Gladwell
It was interesting and the first book I read on how we view the world and our interactions with other people. It explained how our biases allow our minds to overlook something or to focus on it.
Anything written by author Toni Morrison. It is easy to lose yourself in her stories and characters of her books. I appreciate that her stories are told from a female perspective.
List of Children’s Books
“Love the Earth” – 2019 by Julian Lennon
“Energy Island: How One Community Harnessed the Wind and Changed their World Hard” – 2011 by Allan Drummond
“Renewable Energy: Discover the Fuel of the Future With 20 Projects” – 2016 by Joshua Sneideman
“Not for Me, Please! I Choose to Act Green” – 2019 by Maria Godsey
An Introduction to Renewable Energy Sources: Environment Books for Kids | Children’s Environment Books 2017 by Baby Professor; link to source: