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A review by katsbooks
Braiding Sweetgrass: Indigenous Wisdom, Scientific Knowledge, and the Teachings of Plants by Robin Wall Kimmerer
informative
inspiring
reflective
slow-paced
4.5
“In some Native languages the term for plants translates to “those who take care of us.”
“The land knows you, even when you are lost.”
“To love a place is not enough. We must find ways to heal it.”
“The land is the real teacher. All we need as students is mindfulness.”
I put off reading this book because I was intimidated by it. However, this book was so different than I expected. I picked it up because I was intrigued by the premise but non-fiction texts aren't my favorite. I pick them up because I want to learn more about the topic but I tend to get so bored when reading them. Sometimes the only way I can actually get through them is by listening to them on audio. I usually bookmark the crap out of it so that I can find the places that resonated with me after the fact.
This book was so much more readable than I ever expected. I picked it for my book club to give me an excuse to read it and the audio was excellent! I definitely think that you have to take each of the essays as their own thing. If you're looking for an overarching thread to connect the narrative, you won't really find it. There are themes and motifs the author continually comes back to which might make some of the latter essays feel repetitive but overall, Wall's writing is so poetic and very readable. I loved how she made all of the scientific jargon so approachable. I also loved her explanations of Indigenous teachings and how they relate to real scientific facts.
If you are interested in botany and Indigenous ways of knowing, this is an excellent introduction into the topic! I highly recommend the audio!
“The land knows you, even when you are lost.”
“To love a place is not enough. We must find ways to heal it.”
“The land is the real teacher. All we need as students is mindfulness.”
I put off reading this book because I was intimidated by it. However, this book was so different than I expected. I picked it up because I was intrigued by the premise but non-fiction texts aren't my favorite. I pick them up because I want to learn more about the topic but I tend to get so bored when reading them. Sometimes the only way I can actually get through them is by listening to them on audio. I usually bookmark the crap out of it so that I can find the places that resonated with me after the fact.
This book was so much more readable than I ever expected. I picked it for my book club to give me an excuse to read it and the audio was excellent! I definitely think that you have to take each of the essays as their own thing. If you're looking for an overarching thread to connect the narrative, you won't really find it. There are themes and motifs the author continually comes back to which might make some of the latter essays feel repetitive but overall, Wall's writing is so poetic and very readable. I loved how she made all of the scientific jargon so approachable. I also loved her explanations of Indigenous teachings and how they relate to real scientific facts.
If you are interested in botany and Indigenous ways of knowing, this is an excellent introduction into the topic! I highly recommend the audio!