Braiding Sweetgrass

The blurb on the cover of this book, from Elizabeth Gilbert, says, “A hymn of love to the world.” Yes, yes, YES. I had first heard Wall Kimmerer talk about her perspective during an On Being podcast, and this book was just a treasure from start to finish. She has so much scientific and indigenous wisdom to share, and an exquisite way of blending the two. If I could make everyone I know read this book, I would. I tend to feel environmental despair (when I'm not actually out digging around in my garden), and this was the antidote, call to arms (or rather peace), and way forward.

A beautiful weaving together of science, poetry, life anecdotes, indigenous history, environmentalism and philosophy into a story that manages to be simultaneously light and deep. I must have cried 3 or four times. This book took me by surprise.

The most okay I've felt about being alive in years!!! Stern, comforting, ruthlessly knowledgable, and unbearably kind - the weighted blanket of books.

Fantastic read! Like the title says, the author combines her experience and knowledge as a botanist with indigenous wisdom. Though I'm a gardener and relish being in the forest, she gave me a whole new appreciation of the species around us, both animal and plant. Highly recommend this book.

dnf @ 67%

i thought a lot of aspects of this book were REALLY good, but i struggled with others. i think Meagan's review touches on the negatives well: Kimmerer has a bit of a holier-than-thou vibe and implies that she knows the ‘right' way to live, but doesn't acknowledge that this way of life isn't possible for a lot of people. the way she talked about her students also rubbed me the wrong way. on the other hand, Kimmerer's prose is beautiful and poetic. i really loved the connections and contrasts she was able to point out and there's a lot of wonderful Indigenous knowledge here. i just personally wish the book was a little shorter, as i found my reading pace slowing and slowing until i knew i just wouldn't be able to finish it. i'll still be recommending Braiding Sweetgrass, but it just didn't work for me as well as i had hoped.

Again I am not rating this by stars. An excellent discourse on the intersection of humans and the world around us. The interaction is a two way interaction contends that mankind does not do its part in this interaction. A very interesting book, a few sections drag a big, but it is well worth the read.

So much good information, but at least 200 pages too long. It started to feel very repetitive and by the end, I just wanted to be done.

There's no words to explain how beautiful, honest, sad and hopeful this book is. It was a very interesting perspective combining science, beliefs and nature. I've always felt connected to nature, but after reading this book, one of my resolutions for 2025 is not only to be more connected to nature, but also to have a reciprocity dynamic with it.

I never expected to be captivated by this book, never expected to dig into the dirt of the earth while I listened to Kimmerer's gentle reading, but here I am. The book is half reflection, half philosophical instruction, and fully inspirational, designed to guide us in better appreciating the world around us, the living beings that make up so much of our day to day but so often go ignored. Kimmerer doesn't chide us, doesn't condemn, but with her mirthful wisdom, gently encourages her readers toward beauty, toward hope, and toward life.

It is a book that makes you want to take walks, or sit quiet in the woods, or pass your hand back and forth over a blade of grass. It is a book about slowing down, motherhood, gratitude, and love.

A really strong, sound, and compassionate appeal to indigenize science and society. I found her arguments compelling, and I think almost ten years after this book came out, it has made a real impact in the academic community. Our health library has an Indigenous Health section, and studies integrating indigenous practice with the scientific method are being reported in top scientific journals. I agree that reframing our Western methods through a holistic, indigenous lens, with a focus on sustainability, and an openness towards appreciating the personhood of nonhuman beings is integral to fixing some of the mistakes we have been making.

Unfortunately, the economic goals of changing to a system of reciprocity is going nowhere, and I'm afraid her approach to those subjects was a little too bleeding -heart to have the same kind of impact.

I think that's why even though parts of this book inspiring, and I feel like I will approach the outside world with a new level of appreciation, I can't give this book too high of a review. I found the way she described nature and her own feelings as over-the-top, like she was trying to sell the appeal of being high on life, and while I think she held back on being too preachy, it still felt like overly dramatic. Did she really become paralyzed with existential angst while trying to buy a pen because she didn't know what to thank for it? I get the sentiment, but I feel like she oversold the point a bit.

I guess in the last few years, it's hard not to let cynicism trump optimism and appreciation.

This book has enjoyed a lot of hype, but it wasn't really my cup of tea. I adored some of the essays – especially the ones on parenting, and the ones that really delved into mixing botany with indigenous culture. Two things really got in the way of it being great for me, though: one was that I tend to read in chunks of time and by the end of half an hour the essays would feel very monotone and redundant. I suppose that Kimmerer would say that I wasn't reading as an honorable harvest and that what I should be doing was small moments of mindful reading over time to give the essays space to grow. Which, I guess, leads me to the second point: I found Kimmerer so disdainful - she tries to say she doesn't disdain people, just ways of life, but she also clearly looks down on her students, biologists who don't talk about love and beauty in their scientific presentations, city-dwellers, people who get bored during long speeches and so much more. She comes off as thinking that only her people have insights like “rituals that celebrate the whole community are good” (it turns out non-indigenous people also have spiritual and community rituals).

I got the strong sense reading the book that she would hate me, a biologist who thinks things are cool but not beautiful, who loves being with other people in dense urban cities, who is easily bored despite believing in gratitude. And I just didn't enjoy reading a book that made me feel bad about myself but not in a productive way.

I can say this book has changed my thoughts about consumerism and the world around me. I hope it has also changed my life forever. I will take away the concept of gratitude in all of the gifts I receive in life and to treat all of natures gifts with respect. A definite must read. This message is so important.

Beautiful memoir that weaves back and forth between indigenous knowledge and “conventional” science seamlessly.

A revolução não agressiva do texto de Kimmerer dialoga muito comigo. Foi ótimo entender mais sobre essa faceta do universo indígena norte-americano e repensar as relações de consumo e gratidão na humanidade, macro e micro. E, claro, tentar aplicar essas reflexões numa forma de ver o mundo que contribua minimamente para a cura.

As relações com o mundo mais-que-humano através da ciência também alimentam algo que vem crescendo em mim desde ler Sheldrake, ou antes disso. Foi bom pensar mais sobre isso.

Só achei que, estruturalmente, o livro se perde um pouco entre textos isolados e narrativa continua, mas nada muito problemático.

I think for me personally this book was 3 stars - it's no fault of the book at all, I just don't understand biology or ecology and I'm sad to say that I think a lot of this went over my head because it just doesn't click with me. Book was excellent and Robin is obviously a very talented writer + very knowledgeable on the subject I just unfortunately am not. Anyone who had a slight enjoyment of this boom should listen to her episode of Ologies with Alie Ward (called Bryology) it was excellent and she's a wonderful speaker!!

this is my summer of Reading Books That Everyone Said Were Great Five Years Ago. and guess what: it's great! It took me a long time to read it (not counting the 5+ years it took me to start reading it) because I wanted to really savor the language of it. The writing is so lovely and then the skillfulness of Kimmerer's science communication is so strong, like truly combining the botany with the indigenous storytelling and making this beautiful beautiful book. Really inspiring.

I'll also say PART of the reason why I delayed picking this up was bc I was like “WELLLL I already care about the environment and I already care about indigenous land rights” so I was kind of like “I don't need to be persuaded?” But I think that made this lovelier to read. IDK. Whatever, I'm glad this book came to me in 2023, it will stay with me.

This book comes at a perfect time in my life where I start to explore the more spiritual way of living life, not just through the practical and science-y perspective that I'm used to. Science is good at testing hypotheses but I found spirituality, i.e mind frameworks that's been honed through centuries of cultural evolution, fill a much needed void in the mind of an atheist like myself.

This is an inspiring & meditative book – a blend of indigenous people history and story telling with modern ecology & botany. A student recommended it, and I plan to use the first part as I teach students about conflicts over land in the colonial period. I listened online to a talk she gave at Harvard with Richard Powers; this book does go well with OVERSTORY, which I also appreciated.

I was so excited about this book. I love Mother Earth and couldn't wait to hear some Indigenous words of wisdom and more. But I have to say, I was quite disappointed. There were a few great parts. I specifically like the chapter about cattails. But one of the things I do not like, is when an author uses too many adjectives to describe a single thing.
At the beginning was an story about Skywoman, and I wasn't even sure I was listening to the correct book, and thought maybe this was a book for kids. Then, there were times I thought I was listening to a lecture that went into too many scientific details. Listening to the audiobook was good while I was working in my garden. But often a chapter would ramble on, and I didn't worry if I walked away for a minute or two without pausing.
The entire book didn't really have a lot of teaching of plants. It has some, but details on a couple, and skimmed over a lot. The end seemed to get a little political. I understand the need to get the information out, but not sure this was the place.

More Like This PleaseWhat a work of art. It's a non-fiction about nature that feels like a fictional adventure, but it's all true. I recommend this to anyone interested in learning about the gifts from Mother Earth, and North American indigenous cultures. This should become a required reading at some point in general North American education. There's so much knowledge shared in these pages. Please don't let this one out of your reading lists.

I listened to the audiobook version, because I'm blind. If there's an audiobook, I'll listen to that over my robotic screen reader. It was narrated by the author, and her voice is calm and soothing, which makes this an even more enjoyable experience.

4.8
I loved the blend of science, indigenous teachings, and memoir. It's poetic, philopshical, and hopeful. My only small complaint was it sometimes felt a little repetitive and overall I think it was a little long. 
The audiobook narrated by the author is great, and now I'm planning to add a physical copy to my collection.

A really great book that unfortunately repeats itself over and over again. It's beautifully written, but there's only so many times you can read “What if, like, flowers were the CEOs of the world, man...”

So good. If you've been waiting for a sign to pick this one up, consider this your moment.

Beautiful and so full of information, stories, and pieces of the author's life. I love the focus on nature and how we interact with the world and her creatures. A little dense but so worth it.

This book is expansive in its geography and generosity. Sometimes it lost my attention a little bit or at times seemed repetitive, but in the way of the “oral tradition” of storytelling - that which is most important bears repeating. Definitely made me tear up quite a bit. And want to eat maple sugar treats. I really appreciated the hope and the calls to action throughout.. otherwise, as she says, the despair might become immobilizing.