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Staff picks: Our favorite climate books
Staff picks: Our favorite climate books. Originally published by Yale Climate Connections.
By Sara Peach · 2026-09-06T05:19:13.821Z
Want to learn more about climate change and how you can be part of the solution? Look no further than these books recommended by Yale Climate Connections journalists. These are the fiction and nonfiction titles that got us interested in climate change and showed us new ways of thinking about the problem. I hope they do the same for you. – Editor in Chief Sara Peach P.S. If you purchase a book through one of the links on this page, a percentage of the proceeds funds independent bookstores and our journalism. On the Move https://bookshop.org/p/books/on the move the overheating earth and the uprooting of america abrahm lustgarten/2b25fb8ef83ae1f3?ean=9781250371836&listref=yale climate connections staff picks&aid=126677&bkshp astro=t by Abrahm Lustgarten If you’re looking for a book that can help inform your personal choices on how to prepare for the future of climate change in the U.S., Lustgarten’s book is the best one I’ve seen yet. – Meteorologist Dr. Jeff Masters The Weight of Nature https://bookshop.org/p/books/the weight of nature how a changing climate changes our brains clayton page aldern/0f5dce409372c8d5?ean=9780593472743&listref=yale climate connections staff picks&aid=126677&bkshp astro=t by Clayton Page Aldern I recommend this book because it challenges the idea that climate change is simply something happening “out there.” It shows how a changing environment can also reshape the brains and minds in ways we’ve never thought about. No Country for Eight spot Butterflies https://bookshop.org/p/books/no country for eight spot butterflies a lyric essay julian aguon/93da4d2ca1943008?ean=9781662601637&listref=yale climate connections staff picks&aid=126677&bkshp astro=t by Julian Aguon This book is not your ordinary climate book because the author grounds the climate crisis in histories of colonialism, militarization, and Indigenous rights, ultimately revealing how frontline Pacific islands are treated as disposable sacrifice zones. The Hockey Stick and the Climate Wars https://bookshop.org/p/books/the hockey stick and the climate wars dispatches from the front lines professor michael mann/5b79a917d6f98a81?ean=9780231152556&listref=yale climate connections staff picks&aid=126677&bkshp astro=t by Michael E. Mann Climate scientist Michael E. Mann takes readers down the rabbit hole of climate denial and vividly describes the political weapons wielded by its fossil fuel funded practitioners. – Books Editor Michael Svoboda Braiding Sweetgrass https://bookshop.org/p/books/braiding sweetgrass indigenous wisdom scientific knowledge and the teachings of plants robin wall kimmerer/6fa4d296293d20e8?ean=9781571313560&listref=yale climate connections staff picks&aid=126677&bkshp astro=t by Robin Wall Kimmerer While this book is not tackling climate change specifically, it presents a radically different way of regarding and relating to the natural world. Through beautiful, poetic prose and vignettes, Kimmerer proposes an entirely unique worldview that combines her identity as a member of Potawatomi Nation in the U.S. and her expertise as a trained botanist. All of it continuously inspires me to move through this delicate, beautiful planet with deep care, mindfulness, and respect for every ecosystem. My Family and Other Animals https://bookshop.org/p/books/my family and other animals gerald durrell/95f62781a0f938ca?ean=9780142004418&listref=yale climate connections staff picks&aid=126677&bkshp astro=t by Gerald Durrell I read Gerald Durrell’s My Family and Other Animals when I was young. His line, “Gradually the magic of the island settled over us as gently and clingingly as pollen,” captures how the book awakened my love of animals and the natural world. One Hundred Years of Solitude https://bookshop.org/p/books/one hundred years of solitude gabriel garcia marquez/29a31d33543e8540?ean=9780060531041&listref=yale climate connections staff picks&aid=126677&bkshp astro=t by Gabriel García Márquez Like many students in Latin America, I read One Hundred Years of Solitude in high school. “It rained for four years, eleven months, and two days.” That unforgettable image showed me how an environmental extreme can transform a landscape, disrupt everyday life, and become part of a community’s collective memory. The Ministry for the Future https://bookshop.org/p/books/the ministry for the future a novel kim stanley robinson/2b809daf36f1fccf?ean=9780316300162&listref=yale climate connections staff picks&aid=126677&bkshp astro=t by Kim Stanley Robinson Both harrowing especially at the start and intriguing. Based convincingly on realistic science, this novel offers a range of challenging but hopeful possible moves in a future with enough people getting a real grip on the problem. The longest book I’ve read in years, yet I keep thinking about rereading it. Bewilderment https://bookshop.org/p/books/bewilderment richard powers/d5f23933df9a1b80?ean=9780393881141&listref=yale climate connections staff picks&aid=126677&bkshp astro=t by Richard Powers This book is a heartbreaking and gorgeous story on grief, parenthood, and climate anxiety. It opened my world as to what climate fiction can look like — and the role that our imaginations and hearts must play as we work toward that future we want. It was so sad but so good!!!! Active Hope Revised https://bookshop.org/p/books/active hope revised how to face the mess we re in with unexpected resilience and creative power chris johnstone/eced5da13d9891e2?ean=9781608687107&listref=yale climate connections staff picks&aid=126677&bkshp astro=t by Joanna Macy and Chris Johnstone My eternal go to is Active Hope: How to Face the Mess We’re in with Unexpected Resilience & Creative Power by Joanna Macy and Chris Johnstone. It continues to help me make sense of the enormous scale of the challenges we face due to climate change while also tending to emotions and pointing toward tangible action. Electrify https://bookshop.org/p/books/electrify an optimist s playbook for our clean energy future saul griffith/42a2d1c59d0a34a8?ean=9780262545044&listref=yale climate connections staff picks&aid=126677&bkshp astro=t by Saul Griffith Saul Griffith showed me how I can zero out my house’s carbon footprint by gradually replacing dirty appliances with cleaner versions. I followed his plan, and today I live in a comfortable, affordable, fossil fuel free house powered by the sun. This book shows how to make that lifestyle possible for everyone. Terrible Beauty https://bookshop.org/p/books/terrible beauty reckoning with climate complicity and rediscovering our soul auden schendler/483a6386d64085a9?ean=9781647829759&listref=yale climate connections staff picks&aid=126677&bkshp astro=t by Auden Schendler This book rejects the common premise of “corporate carbon neutrality” and replaces it with more pointed – and more effective – strategies. My favorite section talks about “asymmetric warfare,” which is how small companies and groups can have outsized impacts if they choose to wield their influence for maximum effect. It’s an informal, refreshing, and powerful read. Fighting Traffic https://bookshop.org/p/books/fighting traffic the dawn of the motor age in the american city peter d norton/52245771b87d1226?ean=9780262516129&listref=yale climate connections staff picks&aid=126677&bkshp astro=t by Peter D. Norton Not a climate book per se, but an incredibly illuminating history of how cars came to dominate American cities, making transportation the nation’s largest source of emissions. Immemorial https://bookshop.org/p/books/immemorial lauren markham/2365cb5e72790a73?ean=9798893389036&listref=yale climate connections staff picks&aid=126677&bkshp astro=t by Lauren Markham It’s a beautiful essay on seeking language to make sense of our changing surroundings due to the climate crisis and to grasp the moments that show us that it is possible to change for the better. – Luis Alexis Rodríguez Cruz 12 picks for your last book of the summer https://yaleclimateconnections.org/2026/08/12 picks for your last book of the summer/ A review of rescued climate data https://yaleclimateconnections.org/2026/08/a review of rescued climate data/ 15 new books for five new takes on climate change https://yaleclimateconnections.org/2026/08/15 new books for five new takes on climate change/ Only 28% of U.S. residents regularly hear about climate change in the media, but 77% want that news. We can change that, and our only limitation is the size of our budget. 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Here’s what to do: by Sara Peach, Yale Climate Connections September 3, 2026 Sara Peach is the editor in chief of Yale Climate Connections. She is an environmental journalist whose work has appeared in National Geographic, Scientific American, Environmental Health News, Grist,... More by Sara Peach https://yaleclimateconnections.org/author/speach/