What To Read

Anyone who has read Richard Powers’ Pulitzer Prize-winning novel The Overstory has to admit: you can never look at trees quite the same way again. This book is so much more than a literary sensation. Powers is a force of nature who can turn trees into characters and readers into activists. If you're searching for more novels like The Overstory—books that explore climate change, ecological collapse, and the relationship between humans and the natural world—this list is for you.

Birnam Wood by Eleanor Catton

A tense, cerebral eco-thriller set in New Zealand, Birnam Wood pits a group of guerrilla gardeners against a tech billionaire with dark motives. Eleanor Catton—winner of the 2013 Booker Prize for The Luminaries—explores the collision between activism, capitalism, and ecological crisis. A 2023 Kirkus Prize finalist, this novel is both politically provocative and morally nuanced—ideal for fans of The Overstory’s clash between idealism and greed.

The Guardian's Alex Preston said, "Birnam Wood is a dark and brilliant novel about the violence and tawdriness of late capitalism. Its ending, though, propels it from a merely very good book into a truly great one."

The Bear by Andrew Krivak

This novel from National Book Award finalist Andrew Krivak is set in a distant future amidst the remnants of humanity's past. It follows the last two human inhabitants of Earth, a father and daughter, as they survive alone in a rewilded world. The Bear is a meditation on solitude, reverence for nature, and what we leave behind.

The Seattle Book Review said, "Written in spare, beautiful prose that evokes the richness of the mountains, ocean, river, and forest through which the girl travels, The Bear is a fable that centers the earth and its inherent generosity toward those who treat it with respect... In a world drowning in careless excess, The Bear suggests another way, and the rewards are great."

How Beautiful We Were by Imbolo Mbue

This finalist for the PEN/Faulkner Award, is set in a fictional African village as it rises up against an American oil company poisoning its land. The novel explores the devastating impact of corporate greed on communities and ecosystems.

The Washington Post's Ron Charles wrote, "Through some rare alchemy, she has blended the specificity of a documentary with the universality of a parable to create a novel that will disturb the conscience of every reader."

Greenwood by Michael Christie

Told in reverse—from a future ecological catastrophe back through generations of a family tied to a vast forest—Greenwood is an immersive tale about legacy, deforestation, and hope. Longlisted for the Giller Prize, Christie’s narrative structure and environmental themes mirror the intricate storytelling and deep reverence for trees as seen in The Overstory.

Barkskins by Annie Proulx

This 700-page masterwork from Pulitzer winner Annie Proulx, which was a finalist for the Kirkus Prize and a nominee for the Women's Prize, spans 300 years of logging, colonization, and environmental degradation. Told through the stories of generations of families tied to the timber trade, the novel chronicles the devastating consequences of unchecked natural exploitation. The Washington Post's Ron Charles called it, "an awesome monument of a book, a spectacular survey of America’s forests dramatized by a cast of well-hewn characters."

Prodigal Summer by Barbara Kingsolver

Set in the lush Southern Appalachians, this sensual and cerebral novel from the Pulitzer Prize-winning author of Demon Copperhead, follows a group of characters, including a biologist, a young farmer's wife, and two feuding neighbors, see their lives intersect amidst the florra and fauna of the place they call home. Kingsolver, a trained biologist, weaves ecology into every sentence. A national bestseller, which the San Francisco Chronicle called, "a blend of breathtaking artistry, encyclopedic knowledge of the natural world,"Prodigal Summer is one of the most beloved novels in the eco-fiction canon.

Once There Were Wolves by Charlotte McConaghy

This "blazing novel" (LATimes) follows a biologist working to reintroduce wolves to the Scottish Highlands—only to confront violence, a murder mystery, and her own traumas, which she hoped to escape after leaving Alaska. A suspenseful and deeply emotional narrative, Once There Were Wolves explores the beauty and brutality of wildness, perfect for readers interested in rewilding, animal ethics, and ecological restoration.

The Ministry for the Future by Kim Stanley Robinson

A bold, policy-driven vision of how the world could fight climate change from hard sci-fi master, Kim Stanley Robinson, The Ministry for the Future blends fiction, science, and real-world solutions. Told through multiple perspectives—from scientists to climate refugees to activists—Robinson offers a sweeping, hopeful yet realistic roadmap for survival. One of Barack Obama’s favorite books of 2020, it's a must-read for anyone serious about climate action.

Journalist Ezra Klein said, "If I could get policymakers, and citizens, everywhere to read just one book this year, it would be Kim Stanley Robinson's The Ministry for the Future... Robinson is one of the greatest living science fiction writers."

Solar by Ian McEwan

This biting satire from the Booker Prize-winning author of Atonement, follows a washed-up Nobel Prize winning-physicist whose new discovery could revolutionize solar power (and save his career)—if his ego doesn’t sabotage it first. McEwan uses dark humor to dissect the contradictions of climate leadership and environmental hypocrisy. Solar offers a witty counterpoint to The Overstory’s reverence, questioning whether individual brilliance can really save the planet.

The New Wilderness by Diane Cook

In a climate-ravaged future where smog and pollution have the power to kill, a mother and daughter join an experimental task force sent to live primitively in the so-called "Wilderness State" where humans have been banned until now. Part dystopia, part survival story, The New Wilderness raises powerful questions about sacrifice, conservation, and what we owe future generations. A Booker Prize finalist, it’s a stark, moving novel that pairs well with The Overstory’s ethical quandaries.

The Washington Post said, "Cook has deepened and expanded on the concerns first aired in her stories, like a fresh mountain stream running inevitably into a deep, cold lake."

Migrations by Charlotte McConaghy

Migrations is an elegiac, emotionally raw novel about extinction, grief, and resilience. As the Arctic terns make possibly their final migration across the planet, researcher Franny Stone arrives in Antarctica to witness it first hand. After securing passage on a fishing boat, the dark past that she's been fleeing begins to resurface.

The New York Times wrote, "Visceral and haunting...As well as a first-rate work of climate fiction, Migrations is also a clever reimagining of Moby-Dick... This novel's prose soars with its transporting descriptions of the planet's landscapes and their dwindling inhabitants, and contains many wonderful meditations on our responsibilities to our earthly housemates... Migrations is a nervy and well-crafted novel, one that lingers long after its voyage is over."