The Language of Trees: A Rewilding of Literature and Landscape

I love, love, love this book. Simply as an anthology of contemporary and classic writing about nature, it's an absolute treasure. It features contributions by Jorge Luis Borges, Robin Wall Kimmerer, Ursula K. Le Guin, Robert Macfarlane, Aimee Nezhukumatathil, Richard Powers, Zadie Smith, and sixty more authors voicing their ideas poetically, scientifically, fictionally, and personally. What's even better is that the artist selecting and overseeing this collection, Katie Holten, has allowed them to express themselves in a format never seen before. She's created an alphabet of trees into which she's transliterated every piece—you read them in the sheltering shade of a unique paper forest. OK, maybe that's a touch hyperbolic, but still, it's a sublime effect, gorgeously executed. —James [from the Madison Books newsletter] New Book of the Week