Richard Powers's Reading List

The author, most recently, of "The Overstory" was from an early age a "fan of awe": "I liked reading about diatoms and stars, things from four hundred million years ago or a hundred thousand years from now."

Open in WellRead Daily app →

By the Book: Richard Powers (2019)

NYT By the Book column (2019-03-28).

Source: www.nytimes.com

Underland

Robert Macfarlane · Buy on Amazon

"Robert Macfarlane's "Underland: A Deep Time Journey." Macfarlane has been on a decade-and-a-half-long journey to restore us to presence and mindfulness of place. This latest volume, extending his peerless, lyrical attention to the subterranean, is profound in every sense of the word."

A Natural History of North American Trees

Donald Culross Peattie · Buy on Amazon

"His intense and lyrical way of writing about living things, now frowned upon, could very happily be revived."

Gathering Moss: A Natural and Cultural History of Mosses

Robin Wall Kimmerer · Buy on Amazon

"I give daily thanks for Robin Wall Kimmerer for being a font of endless knowledge, both mental and spiritual. From her book "Gathering Moss: A Natural and Cultural History of Mosses," I learned that mosses range in height in a ratio comparable to that between a blueberry bush and a redwood."

Late Migrations: A Natural History of Love and Loss

Margaret Renkl · Buy on Amazon

""Late Migrations: A Natural History of Love and Loss," by Margaret Renkl. It's a compact glory, crosscutting between consummate family memoir and keenly observed backyard natural history."

Possession

A. S. Byatt · Buy on Amazon

"A. S. Byatt's "Possession," Ann Patchett's "State of Wonder," Barbara Kingsolver's recent "Unsheltered," and Nell Freudenberger's forthcoming "Lost and Wanted" all are marvelous depictions of the direct link between the body's cravings and the passions of the mind."

State of Wonder

Ann Patchett · Buy on Amazon

"A. S. Byatt's "Possession," Ann Patchett's "State of Wonder," Barbara Kingsolver's recent "Unsheltered," and Nell Freudenberger's forthcoming "Lost and Wanted" all are marvelous."

Suggest an update?