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News spurs interest in books on environmental issues

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The recent UN climate change conference and ongoing news reports have increased the interest in books that discuss environmental disasters, food stability and nature in general.

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The Brantford Public Library is always adding non-fiction books to its collection to meet the interest of residents who want to go beyond the headlines to learn more about environmental sustainability and climate change.

Recent images of empty grocery store shelves in British Columbia naturally make people curious about food security and the impact of weather on our food systems. A book on this topic that is both terrifying and encouraging is Amanda Little’s The Fate of Food: What We’ll Eat in a Bigger, Hotter, Smarter World. The 2019 book goes beyond discussions of climate change and food to cover issues of population growth, sustainability and equitability.

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There are also recent books by established environmentalists. Jane Goodall’s 2021 book, The Book of Hope: A Survival Guide for Trying Times, which was co-written with Douglas Abrams, touches on the climate crisis and focuses on how to maintain hope.

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Along the lines of hopefulness, Naomi Klein’s 2015 book, This Changes Everything, is written in a way to motivate a person into making changes by shedding light in the many areas that impact climate change. A film with the same title that features Klein is available to stream on demand through the library’s Hoopla platform. This Hoopla service is available on a desktop, on a phone or tablet through the Hoopla app and through popular streaming devices, such as Amazon’s Fire TV.

Environmentalist David Suzuki’s 2017 book Just Cool It, also goes beyond simply reporting on the climate crisis to offering solutions to help reduce the impact humans have on the Earth.

The 2021 book, The Climate Diet: 50 Simple Ways to Trim Your Carbon Footprint, which was written by Paul Greenberg, provides even more practical tips on limiting a person’s environmental impact.

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A common theme in environmental non-fiction is the beauty of nature. Helen Macdonald’s collection of essays published in the book, Vesper Flights, does an excellent job capturing both a feeling of nostalgia and urgency when it comes to nature and environmental changes. This is a book that will linger in your mind for a long time.

If you are looking for a collection of books on this topic, request a bag of books selected by library staff through the Grab and Go service. A form for this service is available under the Reading Recommendations area of the library’s website.

At Your Library is a weekly column provided by the staff of the Brantford Public Library. Readers requiring more information can visit www.brantfordlibrary.ca.

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