Around the world, 22 April marks Earth Day and this year’s theme is a rallying cry for action on renewable energy: Our Power Our Planet. There is no “one size fits all” approach when it comes to saving the planet and Earth Day offers an opportunity to contribute in a way that is meaningful and makes sense for you. Look no further than the Libby app for your next read to encourage and inspire. The following ebooks and audiobooks, all written by nature lovers, can teach us to respect our environment and live more sustainably.

💡Libby tip: If a title is unavailable at your library, simply select the Deep Search filter and add a Notify Me tag. You'll be alerted when it’s ready to borrow!

The Living Mountain by Nan Shepherd
🎧 Audiobook

A mainstay of British nature writing, this was penned during the Second World War (when women and authorship did not mix, and a female adventurer—not to mention a solo female adventurer—was practically out of the question.) Nan Shepherd did it all anyway. In this book, which was published over 30 years later, she intimately documents her journeys on foot through the beloved landscape of her Scottish home. At 157 pages, it's brief, but like the landscape—now increasingly under threat—it endures. Borrow this edition to read a recent introduction by Robert MacFarlane.

🎧The Book of Trespass by Nick Hayes

Most of Britain’s land is privately owned and protected by the vagaries of the legal system but Nick Hayes has made an occupation of breaking the rules. He scales the walls of country estates, ventures naked into private lakes, kayaks in forbidden rivers, moves into a refugee camp, and even confronts the occasional politician. Each chapter is a fresh trespass somewhere officially out of bounds. With every journey he recounts a history deep in controversy, covering the mass trespass of Kinder Scout, the Enclosure movement, slavery, colonialism, feminism, and more. Borrow the ebook and you will be treated to woodcut-style illustrations by the author throughout.

Women on Nature, ed. by Katharine Norbury

This is the perfect “dippy book.” At 500 pages, it's enormous, but this is no casual doorstop. The poetry and prose collected here—each a nod to the importance of women’s issues and women’s literature through the ages—is expertly selected and so convincingly written that the pages seem to flip by in no time. The chequerboard pattern of snake’s head fritillary flowers on the jacket design is not to be missed! A deserving addition for your (virtual) bookshelf.

The Perfect Golden Circle by Benjamin Myers
🎧 Audiobook

The sudden appearance of crop circles sparked a country-wide craze in 1980s Britain, where this book is set. If you enjoyed the BBC TV series The Detectorists, make sure to place a hold on this one!

It's a story of two regular men, best friends who share a passion for designing and creating UFO-shaped patterns in wheat fields, before leaking the locations to the media (for kicks). The author draws clever parallels between the transient nature of their labours under cover of darkness, and the delicate symbiosis of the natural environment that they use as a canvas. A quick and easy read, this is a perfect summer pick for Libby fans with a lengthy TBR list.

The Forager’s Calendar by John Wright
🎧 Audiobook

Agriculture is the largest consumer of water in the UK, so why not try supplementing your diet with wild ingredients harvested straight from nature? The audiobook is narrated by the author and even while divulging the properties of deathly poisonous fungi, Wright speaks with a friendly lilt that could make you believe he were introducing you to old friends. Each chapter begins with a wonderful litany of plant names (listen to this using Libby’s sleep timer and you too can enjoy its soporific qualities). But for serious foragers, borrow the ebook as well because it has plenty of useful photographs to help you identify your finds!

Underland by Robert MacFarlane
🎧 Audiobook

If you’re stuck inside and the holidays can’t come quickly enough, borrow this. In every chapter you can imagine accompanying the author as he explores a sequence of mysterious and sometimes alien locations, from secret labs to deserts and mines, glaciers, forests, islands, caves, and catacombs. Each visit yields new discoveries about remarkable people, unfathomable places, and the legacies we leave behind for future generations. MacFarlane’s style is always poetic and beautiful—it begs to be listened to—so borrow the audiobook if you can.

Coasting by Elise Downing
🎧 Audiobook

Borrow this if you enjoyed The Salt Path by Raynor Winn. Having just graduated from university and with no prior running experience, the author undertakes to run 5,000 miles around the entire perimeter of the UK raising money for charity. Her rather unorthodox route takes her along beaches, over dramatic mountain trails, through breathtaking coastal scenery and a decent amount of mud! Downing recalls her encounters with family, friends (new and old), the kindness of strangers, and those who came to cheer her on. An extraordinary example of the power of the outdoors to inspire and unite us in pursuit of a good cause.

A Month in the Country by J. L. Carr
🎧 Audiobook

Earth’s unique ecosystems are delicate and precious. Like many of the best things in life, once they’re gone, they are gone forever. A Month in the Country reminds us of this, with its heart-achingly evocative descriptions of high summer in rural England and a tale of forbidden love. An ex-soldier from the Great War is commissioned to restore an ancient wall painting in a remote church. He arrives in the village with barely more than the clothes on his back, sleeping in the bell tower by night and carrying out his painstaking work during the day. Carr riffs on themes of lost opportunity, the power of friendship, and solace in nature, in a way that is reminiscent of the more recent—and brilliant—The Offing by Benjamin Myers (also available on Libby!).

Entangled Life by Merlin Sheldrake
🎧 Audiobook

Did you know that with the help of fungi, trees can communicate and even heal each another? That the properties of certain fungi can create better outcomes for health patients? That there is a parasitic "zombie fungus," which can manipulate ants to help it reproduce? A keen microbiologist, Sheldrake uncovers groundbreaking evidence about the soil beneath our feet and the incredibly intricate organisms it supports, with far-reaching implications for all life on Earth. For compulsive Youtube viewing, watch the author describe how he grew mushrooms on a copy of this book, before literally eating his own words.

🎧The Wild Remedy by Emma Mitchell

As natural medicine for her persistent depression and anxiety, Emma Mitchell—accompanied by her faithful whippet/greyhound (Annie)—immerses herself in the wilds of the Cambridgeshire fens on her doorstep, collecting wild keepsakes as she goes: flowers, feathers, seashells, seedpods, then photographing and arranging them in this personal diary. Interspersed with hand-drawn illustrations and with frequent references to wildlife sightings, it's like the classic Country Diary of an Edwardian Lady by Edith Holden.

*Title availability may vary.

RELATED READ: Birds, bees & the trees: 10 inspiring nonfiction books for nature lovers