Earth Day for Adults

Inspirational and motivational non-fiction reads for Earth Day.

Updated April 15, 2026
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LINCC (Libraries in Clackamas County) Happy Valley Library
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Earth Day for Adults

Inspirational and motivational non-fiction reads for Earth Day.

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Our fragile moment : how lessons from Earth's past can help us survive the climate crisis
Mann, Michael E.
Paper Book
In this sweeping work of science and history, the renowned climate scientist and author of The New Climate War shows us the conditions on Earth that allowed humans not only to exist but thrive, and how they are imperiled if we veer off course.   For the...
The healthy vegetable garden : a natural, chemical-free approach to soil, biodiversity and managing pests and diseases
Morgan, Sally
Paper Book
Whether you're an experienced gardener, homesteader, or market farmer, this A-Z, soil-to-table guide shows you how to reduce chemical inputs; naturally enrich your growing ecology; and create a hardy, nutrient-dense, and delicious crop. "There are few gardeners (or farmers) I...
Becoming a sustainable runner : a guide to running for life, community, and planet
Muir, Tina
Paper Book
Becoming a Sustainable Runner is not just another running guide on developing the physical attributes to run faster or longer. What it will help you achieve is a newfound purpose that merges your passion for running with your concern for your health, your community, and the environment. It...
The climate action handbook : a visual guide to 100 climate solutions for everyone
Roop, Heidi A.
Paper Book
"What can I do, personally, about the climate crisis? . . . Ask yourself, what are you passionate about? Using this passion may motivate you to help shape the future of your community." -The New York Times Climate Forward newsletter This must-have book shows us WHY we...
The end of Eden : wild nature in the age of climate breakdown
Welz, Adam
Paper Book
A New Yorker Best Book of the Year A New York Times Book Review Editors' Choice A CHOICE Outstanding Academic Title of the Year "Exquisite." - DAVID WALLACE-WELLS "At once an elegy and an exhortation." - ELIZABETH KOLBERT "A book that goes deeper than any...
Wasteland : the dirty truth about what we throw away, where it goes, and why it matters
Franklin-Wallis, Oliver
Paper Book
SHORTLISTED FOR THE 2024 WAINWRIGHT PRIZE FOR CONSERVATION WRITING ONE OF THE NEW YORKER'S BEST BOOKS OF 2023  'A gripping read that will anger as much as it fascinates' Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall 'An incredible journey into the world of...
Crossings : how road ecology is shaping the future of our planet
Goldfarb, Ben (Environmental journalist)
Paper Book
Some 40 million miles of roadways encircle the earth, yet we tend to regard them only as infrastructure for human convenience. While roads are so ubiquitous they're practically invisible to us, wild animals experience them as entirely alien forces of death and disruption. In Crossings,...
The parrot and the igloo : climate and the science of denial
Lipsky, David
Paper Book
In 1956, the New York Times prophesied that once global warming really kicked in, we could see parrots in the Antarctic. In 2010, when science deniers had control of the climate story, Senator James Inhofe and his family built an igloo on the Washington Mall and plunked a sign on top: AL GORE...
The devil's element : phosphorus and a world out of balance
Egan, Dan
Paper Book
A New Yorker Best Book of 2023 * A Smithsonian Staff Favorite of 2023 The New York Times best-selling author on the source of great bounty--and now great peril--all over the world. Phosphorus has played a critical role in some of the most lethal...
Polar War: Submarines, Spies, and the Struggle for Power in a Melting Arctic
Rosen, Kenneth R
Paper Book
INTERNATIONAL BESTSELLER A gripping blend of travelogue and frontline reporting that reveals how climate change, military ambition, and economic opportunity are transforming the Arctic into the epicenter of a new cold war, where a struggle for dominance between the...
Who We Are Becoming Matters: The Courage, Wisdom, and Aloha We Need in a Timeplace of Collapse
Wong, Norma Kaweloku
Paper Book
What makes us human? And why does it matter? Poetic and practical advice on who we are--and what we need to become--to move forward in togetherness and mutual responsibility in an age of uncertainty and climate chaos Zen and Indigenous Hawaiian wisdom for navigating the timeplace of...
The Contemporary Cottage Garden: Climate-Friendly, Mindful Methods for Growing Flowers and Food
Hubbard, Pamela
Paper Book
A guide to combining the classic cottage garden style with new techniques and plants that meet the needs of modern times. In The Contemporary Cottage Garden, longtime gardener Pamela Hubbard expertly walks the gardener through what it takes...
No straight road takes you there : essays for uneven terrain
Solnit, Rebecca
Paper Book
New York Times Bestseller In the spirit of her bestselling book Hope in the Dark, Rebecca Solnit explores how our actions can shape the future and the liberatory possibilities of embracing uncertainty. Beginning with an essay about a three-hundred-year-old violin and...
We are eating the Earth : the race to fix our food system and save our climate
Grunwald, Michael
Paper Book
From the author of New York Times bestseller The New New Deal, a groundbreaking piece of reportage from the trenches of the next climate war: the fight to fix our food system. Humanity has cleared a land mass the size of Asia plus Europe to grow food, and our food...
Ocean : Earth's last wilderness
Attenborough, David
Paper Book
Award-winning broadcaster and natural historian David Attenborough and longtime collaborator Colin Butfield present a powerful call to action focused on our planet's oceans, exploring how critical this habitat is for the survival of humanity and the earth's future. ...
What we can know : a novel
McEwan, Ian
Paper Book
A NEW YORK TIMES NOTABLE BOOK * NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER * From the Booker prize-winning, bestselling author of Atonement and Saturday, a genre-bending new novel full of secrets and surprises; an immersive exploration, across time and history, of what can ever be...
When it all burns : fighting fire in a transformed world
Thomas, Jordan (Anthropologist)
Paper Book
2025 NATIONAL BOOK AWARD FINALIST FINALIST FOR THE LA TIMES BOOK PRIZE ONE OF PUBLISHERS WEEKLY'S TOP 10 BOOKS OF 2025 NAMED A BEST NONFICTION BOOK OF THE YEAR BY KIRKUS "Exceptional. . . . When It All Burns is one of...
Swallowed
Smitherman, Meg
Paper Book
Earth is broken beyond repair. The Planet is our last hope. Humanity's first mission to the Planet ended in tragedy, but botanist Jill Jones won't let that stop her from joining the second. Perfect climate, perfect terrain, perfect flora and fauna; the Planet has called to Jill all of her life....
The unworthy
Bazterrica, Agustina María
Paper Book
A fearsomely dark, incantatory new dystopia set in a post-apocalyptic convent from the author of viral sensation Tender is the Flesh
Jane and Dan at the end of the world
Oakley, Colleen
Paper Book
AS SEEN ON THE TODAY SHOW * USA TODAY BESTSELLER * A ZIBBY OWENS MOST ANTICIPATED BOOK OF 2025! * A GOOD HOUSEKEEPING BOOK CLUB PICK! Date night goes off the rails when one couple gets wrapped up in a crime in progress, in this "hilarious" (People) new...
50 projects for building your backyard homestead : a hands-on, step-by-step sustainable-living guide
Toht, David
Paper Book
Ready for new 10 new practical ideas for creating yourbackyard homestead? 50 Projects for Building Your Backyard Homestead: AHands-On, Step-By-Step Sustainable-Living Guide updates one of the most popularbooks on the subject with the addition of 10 new projects to help yourhomestead thrive....
Here comes the sun : a last chance for the climate and a fresh chance for civilization
McKibben, Bill
Paper Book
Our climate, and our democracy, are melting down. But Bill McKibben, one of the first to sound the alarm about the climate crisis, insists the moment is also full of possibility. Energy from the sun and wind is suddenly the cheapest power on the planet and growing faster than any energy source in...
Survival is a promise : the eternal life of Audre Lorde
Gumbs, Alexis Pauline
Paper Book
A Time Must-Read Book of the YearWinner of the Judy Grahn Award for Lesbian NonfictionWinner of the 2025 Zora Award A Publishers Weekly Top Ten Book of the Year Shortlisted for the 2025 Brooklyn Public Library Book Prize ...
The greatest possible good
Brooks, Ben
Paper Book
Shortlisted for The Sunday Times Young Writer of the Year Award How much should one person give to make the world a better place? How much can one family take? **The hilarious, thought-provoking new novel from the Somerset Maugham...
Guardian and a thief
Majumdar, Megha
Paper Book
Megha Majumdar's electrifying new novel, following her acclaimed New York Times bestseller A Burning--longlisted for the National Book Award--is set in a near-future Kolkata, India, ravaged by climate change and food scarcity, in which two families seeking to protect their children...
Land power : who has it, who doesn't, and how that determines the fate of societies
Albertus, Michael
Paper Book
Every purchase matters : how fair trade farmers, companies, and consumers are changing the world
Rice, Paul (Founder of FairTrade USA)
Paper Book
NATIONAL BESTSELLER * From the founder and CEO of Fair Trade USA, a critical account of the past, present and future of conscious capitalism--the change it has wrought in the world and the potential it still has to confront our greatest challenges. We all have...
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