Rare Reads Gift List 2024 | Rare

What a year 2024 has been! Here at Rare, we turned our love of books into a new initiative – Rare Reads – a monthly book club dedicated to solutions-based storytelling.

Want to share your favorite Rare Reads selections with loved ones this holiday season? We’ve gathered all of our Rare Reads picks from 2024 so that you can give the gift of positive climate and environmental storytelling .

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Crossings: The Hidden Impact of Roads on Wildlife

Ben Goldfarb

Forty million miles of roads slash through Earth’s landscape. By 2050, an estimated 25 million more will be built globally in what some ecologists have dubbed a “concrete tsunami.”

Crossings: How Road Ecology is Shaping the Future of Our Planet, which was featured as our first author talk for Rare Reads, shows how extensive road networks impact wildlife and ecosystems, and explores potential solutions to these challenges. Goldfarb’s journey across the globe reveals the unseen effects of our “concrete tsunami” and highlights how we can mitigate the damage.

Purchase Crossings here.

Not the End of the World: How We Can Be the First Generation to Build a Sustainable Planet

Dr. Hannah Ritchie

When it comes to climate change, we may not be doomed after all. That’s the stance of Dr. Hannah Ritchie, senior researcher in the Programme on Global Development at the University of Oxford and author of the book, Not the End of the World: How We Can Be the First Generation to Build a Sustainable Planet. The book, which Ritchie describes as “bold” and “radically hopeful,” utilizes data as a reality check on our current environmental crisis. According to Ritchie’s comprehensive data set, our planet may be in a much better place than we once thought.

Purchase Not the End of the World here.

What if We Get it Right? Visions of Climate Futures

Dr. Ayana Elizabeth Johnson

In What If We Get It Right, Dr. Johnson tackles the current narratives of climate doomism and defeatism by daring the reader to imagine what the world would be like if we solved climate change. Throughout the book, Dr. Johnson asks experts across myriad fields what “getting it right” on climate looks like in their fields. From food to energy to entertainment, Dr. Johnson’s book shows us that all the solutions we need to take real, lasting action on climate are right at our fingertips – all we need now is to get everyone on board.

Purchase What if We Get it Right? here.

The Backyard Bird Chronicles

Amy Tan

In 2016, award-winning author Amy Tan grew overwhelmed by the state of the world: Hatred and misinformation became a daily presence on social media, and the country felt more divisive than ever. In search of peace, Tan turned toward the natural world just beyond her window and, specifically, the birds visiting her yard.

But, what began as an attempt to find solace turned into something far greater—an opportunity to savor quiet moments during a volatile time, connect to nature in a meaningful way, and imagine the intricate lives of the birds she admired.

Purchase The Backyard Bird Chronicles here.

Don’t forget to check out our past Summer Reading Series from 2023, 2022, and 2021 for even more recommendations!