Scan barcode
laurynreads's review against another edition
3.5
It’s taken forever for me to make my way through this one for a multitude of reasons, but one of the biggest is that the second half of the book (post-Australia) really seemed to lose its structure and the narrative driving it. I would have loved to hear more about her time at museums, but overall I still enjoyed the book!
book_concierge's review
2.0
SUBTITLE: A Life Discovering the Eighth Continent in the Trees Above Us
I love trees. I really like reading about science. I love reading about strong women who pursue their dreams despite the obstacles place in their paths by societal expectations / restrictions. So, I should have loved this book. I didn’t.
Yes, Lowman’s personal story was interesting and inspiring. I marvel at all she has accomplished against considerable opposition and without much encouragement, let alone actual help. However, too much of the book read like an academic research paper. And I found parts of it overly preachy. It took me two MONTHS to read it
I love trees. I really like reading about science. I love reading about strong women who pursue their dreams despite the obstacles place in their paths by societal expectations / restrictions. So, I should have loved this book. I didn’t.
Yes, Lowman’s personal story was interesting and inspiring. I marvel at all she has accomplished against considerable opposition and without much encouragement, let alone actual help. However, too much of the book read like an academic research paper. And I found parts of it overly preachy. It took me two MONTHS to read it
dorilyss's review against another edition
3.0
It's mainly a memoir: while the parts about her life were interesting I was more interested about her career. The amount of problems she faced just by being a woman is frankly absurd, but it's inspiring to see how much she achieved despite that.
I like that she ended by giving ideas on how to help the forests, being a memoir that maybe wasn't expected, but it's both necessary and frankly on brand.
I like that she ended by giving ideas on how to help the forests, being a memoir that maybe wasn't expected, but it's both necessary and frankly on brand.
anitaw16's review
adventurous
hopeful
informative
inspiring
medium-paced
4.5
Part popular science article, part memoir, this is an enjoyable account of how scientists work. Scientific findings about the state of the world's forests are interspersed with stories about the everyday research process and the struggles faced by field scientists, especially women in the field. Lowman writes in an easy to read style and clearly understands the importance of making science accessible to anyone who is interested.
zoe_'s review against another edition
informative
inspiring
reflective
medium-paced
4.0
The Arbornaut is the type of book I wish I could have read when I was a child. Me as a child was "weird" (whatever that even means) enough that I would have probably eaten it up and carried this book in my heart for the rest of my life. I am glad for all children that are now able to read it, though it is too late for me.
From my perspective as an adult who has read my fair share of books about plants written by scientists and others and who will continue reading such books, this was an easy win but not a stand-out. Lowman is very determined to teach the reader a couple of core messages: she wants equal opportunities for all, she wants us to have a more sustainable relationship with the environment, she wants to find out more about the world. All of those are great messages that I would support in all the ways she outlines. However, the heavy focus on these as well as a lack of common thread in the second half of the book (the first half is, basically, an autobiography but this seemingly stops about halfway through) result in a somewhat repetitive reading experience. For that reason, I would recommend reading this book chapter by chapter with some breaks in-between.
I've said it before, but I'm not a fan of memoirs and (auto)biographies, so I actually struggled a little bit with the first half of the book as well, resulting in the lack of enthusiasm (combined with the repetitiveness of the later chapters) leading to me rating this book "really liked it" instead of giving this more stars. Again, I think if I hadn't read so many books in my life, I think I would have loved this and I think this has the potential to inspire many future scientists, but from my current point of view I have not fallen in love with the Arbornaut. All of this is just to say that I would still highly recommend this book. I think it is a worthwhile read, and I think Lowman did a great job communicating not only those core issues but also many other interesting facts and anecdotes about trees and nature in general (including humans, including herself).
From my perspective as an adult who has read my fair share of books about plants written by scientists and others and who will continue reading such books, this was an easy win but not a stand-out. Lowman is very determined to teach the reader a couple of core messages: she wants equal opportunities for all, she wants us to have a more sustainable relationship with the environment, she wants to find out more about the world. All of those are great messages that I would support in all the ways she outlines. However, the heavy focus on these as well as a lack of common thread in the second half of the book (the first half is, basically, an autobiography but this seemingly stops about halfway through) result in a somewhat repetitive reading experience. For that reason, I would recommend reading this book chapter by chapter with some breaks in-between.
I've said it before, but I'm not a fan of memoirs and (auto)biographies, so I actually struggled a little bit with the first half of the book as well, resulting in the lack of enthusiasm (combined with the repetitiveness of the later chapters) leading to me rating this book "really liked it" instead of giving this more stars. Again, I think if I hadn't read so many books in my life, I think I would have loved this and I think this has the potential to inspire many future scientists, but from my current point of view I have not fallen in love with the Arbornaut. All of this is just to say that I would still highly recommend this book. I think it is a worthwhile read, and I think Lowman did a great job communicating not only those core issues but also many other interesting facts and anecdotes about trees and nature in general (including humans, including herself).