What To Read

Tertulia's First Dibs Editors Salon series is an exclusive look at a few of the most exciting books coming out each season. Join us on September 17 at 7:30pm on Zoom for what promises to be a great conversation about books by the editors who helped to shape and publish them.

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One of our fall picks is The Serviceberry by Robin Wall Kimmerer, the beloved author of Braiding Sweetgrass, a New York Times 100 Best Books of the 21st Century Readers Pick which has been a mainstay on the bestsellers list for years. We are honored to have the book's acquiring editor, Chris Richards, join us at the salon on September 17 to talk about the book. He shared this personal note about the book as a special preview just for Tertulia readers.

Chris Richards is Executive Editor at Scribner.

The Serviceberry is an unusual literary project because it began with us approaching Robin with the idea. Last year, I started dreading our election cycle. And I was trying to imagine what could be the best possible book to help us re-imagine what feels broken in our culture. What might readers need when our country feels fractured? And what voice might help us mend our sense of community? And I kept coming back to Robin Wall Kimmerer.

Robin’s new book is about the serviceberry tree, a tree that’s in backyards across the country. The tree bears a fruit that has the satisfactions of an apple crossed with a blueberry. Rather than hoarding this fruit, the tree gives it to the robins and bluebirds and cedar waxwings. The birds thrive when they eat its fruit, but the tree thrives, too, because the birds are essential for spreading its seeds. This book speaks to how we all succeed when we set aside self-interest and competition and embrace cooperation.

Robin is such a natural storyteller that the creative process was more about asking questions and dreaming up with her how the living world can teach us how to improve our lives. It’s been a gift for us to think about what could be possible, and I hope it’ll be a gift in the lives of readers, too.