Discover new books on Goodreads
Meet your next favorite book
Sign in with Facebook
Best Environmental Books
Contemporary fiction or non-fiction, how-to guides to green living, ecology tracts from the tree-hugging '70s, and those seminal works that chronicled the first stirrings of the conservation ethic.
See also:
Cli Fi Climate Change Fiction
Best Fiction Books about the Environment and Sustainability
Best Climate Change Books
Consequences of Climate Change
See also:
Cli Fi Climate Change Fiction
Best Fiction Books about the Environment and Sustainability
Best Climate Change Books
Consequences of Climate Change
Score
A book’s total score is based on multiple factors, including the number of people who have voted for it and how highly those voters ranked the book.
| 1 |
|
Silent Spring
by
4.06 avg rating — 53,762 ratings
|
Error rating book. Refresh and try again.
Rate this book
Clear rating
|
| 2 |
|
A Sand County Almanac and Sketches Here and There
by
4.31 avg rating — 35,453 ratings
|
Error rating book. Refresh and try again.
Rate this book
Clear rating
|
| 3 |
|
The Lorax
by
4.35 avg rating — 365,234 ratings
|
Error rating book. Refresh and try again.
Rate this book
Clear rating
|
| 4 |
|
The Omnivore's Dilemma: A Natural History of Four Meals
by
Michael Pollan (Goodreads Author)
4.19 avg rating — 209,306 ratings
|
Error rating book. Refresh and try again.
Rate this book
Clear rating
|
| 5 |
|
Desert Solitaire
by
4.18 avg rating — 53,493 ratings
|
Error rating book. Refresh and try again.
Rate this book
Clear rating
|
| 6 |
|
Walden or, Life in the Woods
by
3.77 avg rating — 201,823 ratings
|
Error rating book. Refresh and try again.
Rate this book
Clear rating
|
| 7 |
|
The Sixth Extinction: An Unnatural History
by
Elizabeth Kolbert (Goodreads Author)
4.15 avg rating — 77,869 ratings
|
Error rating book. Refresh and try again.
Rate this book
Clear rating
|
| 8 |
|
Collapse: How Societies Choose to Fail or Succeed
by
3.93 avg rating — 74,090 ratings
|
Error rating book. Refresh and try again.
Rate this book
Clear rating
|
| 9 |
|
A Walk in the Woods: Rediscovering America on the Appalachian Trail
by
4.07 avg rating — 438,721 ratings
|
Error rating book. Refresh and try again.
Rate this book
Clear rating
|
| 10 |
|
Never Cry Wolf: The Amazing True Story of Life Among Arctic Wolves
by
4.21 avg rating — 25,644 ratings
|
Error rating book. Refresh and try again.
Rate this book
Clear rating
|
| 11 |
|
The Monkey Wrench Gang (Monkey Wrench Gang, #1)
by
4.08 avg rating — 28,678 ratings
|
Error rating book. Refresh and try again.
Rate this book
Clear rating
|
| 12 |
|
The World Without Us
by
3.81 avg rating — 43,060 ratings
|
Error rating book. Refresh and try again.
Rate this book
Clear rating
|
| 13 |
|
Eating Animals
by
Jonathan Safran Foer (Goodreads Author)
4.21 avg rating — 80,271 ratings
|
Error rating book. Refresh and try again.
Rate this book
Clear rating
|
| 14 |
|
This Changes Everything: Capitalism vs. The Climate
by
4.16 avg rating — 27,394 ratings
|
Error rating book. Refresh and try again.
Rate this book
Clear rating
|
| 15 |
|
Braiding Sweetgrass: Indigenous Wisdom, Scientific Knowledge, and the Teachings of Plants
by
4.51 avg rating — 162,178 ratings
|
Error rating book. Refresh and try again.
Rate this book
Clear rating
|
| 16 |
|
In Defense of Food: An Eater's Manifesto
by
Michael Pollan (Goodreads Author)
4.07 avg rating — 118,874 ratings
|
Error rating book. Refresh and try again.
Rate this book
Clear rating
|
| 17 |
|
Ishmael: An Adventure of the Mind and Spirit (Ishmael, #1)
by
4.01 avg rating — 103,007 ratings
|
Error rating book. Refresh and try again.
Rate this book
Clear rating
|
| 18 |
|
Cradle to Cradle: Remaking the Way We Make Things
by
4.09 avg rating — 12,433 ratings
|
Error rating book. Refresh and try again.
Rate this book
Clear rating
|
| 19 |
|
Last Child in the Woods: Saving Our Children From Nature-Deficit Disorder
by
3.93 avg rating — 14,819 ratings
|
Error rating book. Refresh and try again.
Rate this book
Clear rating
|
| 20 |
|
The Song of the Dodo: Island Biogeography in an Age of Extinction
by
David Quammen (Goodreads Author)
4.29 avg rating — 8,591 ratings
|
Error rating book. Refresh and try again.
Rate this book
Clear rating
|
| 21 |
|
Cadillac Desert: The American West and Its Disappearing Water
by
4.28 avg rating — 11,729 ratings
|
Error rating book. Refresh and try again.
Rate this book
Clear rating
|
| 22 |
|
Last Chance to See
by
4.32 avg rating — 25,824 ratings
|
Error rating book. Refresh and try again.
Rate this book
Clear rating
|
| 23 |
|
Technological Slavery
by
4.17 avg rating — 1,337 ratings
|
Error rating book. Refresh and try again.
Rate this book
Clear rating
|
| 24 |
|
Anti-Tech Revolution: Why and How
by
3.93 avg rating — 601 ratings
|
Error rating book. Refresh and try again.
Rate this book
Clear rating
|
| 25 |
|
Fast Food Nation: The Dark Side of the All-American Meal
by
3.75 avg rating — 206,338 ratings
|
Error rating book. Refresh and try again.
Rate this book
Clear rating
|
| 26 |
|
The Diversity of Life
by
4.21 avg rating — 6,196 ratings
|
Error rating book. Refresh and try again.
Rate this book
Clear rating
|
| 27 |
|
Industrial Society and Its Future
by
3.85 avg rating — 11,940 ratings
|
Error rating book. Refresh and try again.
Rate this book
Clear rating
|
| 28 |
|
Born Free: A Lioness of Two Worlds (Story of Elsa, #1)
by
4.16 avg rating — 33,694 ratings
|
Error rating book. Refresh and try again.
Rate this book
Clear rating
|
| 29 |
|
The Botany of Desire: A Plant's-Eye View of the World
by
Michael Pollan (Goodreads Author)
4.06 avg rating — 58,856 ratings
|
Error rating book. Refresh and try again.
Rate this book
Clear rating
|
| 30 |
|
Permaculture: A Designers' Manual
by
4.49 avg rating — 1,721 ratings
|
Error rating book. Refresh and try again.
Rate this book
Clear rating
|
| 31 |
|
The Worst Hard Time: The Untold Story of Those Who Survived the Great American Dust Bowl
by
Timothy Egan (Goodreads Author)
4.06 avg rating — 60,600 ratings
|
Error rating book. Refresh and try again.
Rate this book
Clear rating
|
| 32 |
|
The Hidden Life of Trees: What They Feel, How They Communicate: Discoveries from a Secret World
by
4.07 avg rating — 86,337 ratings
|
Error rating book. Refresh and try again.
Rate this book
Clear rating
|
| 33 |
|
Animal, Vegetable, Miracle: A Year of Food Life
by
4.05 avg rating — 112,589 ratings
|
Error rating book. Refresh and try again.
Rate this book
Clear rating
|
| 34 |
|
Small Is Beautiful: Economics as if People Mattered
by
4.09 avg rating — 6,925 ratings
|
Error rating book. Refresh and try again.
Rate this book
Clear rating
|
| 35 |
|
Hot, Flat, and Crowded: Why We Need a Green Revolution – and How It Can Renew America
by
3.71 avg rating — 13,913 ratings
|
Error rating book. Refresh and try again.
Rate this book
Clear rating
|
| 36 |
|
An Inconvenient Truth: The Planetary Emergency of Global Warming and What We Can Do About It
by
3.79 avg rating — 6,963 ratings
|
Error rating book. Refresh and try again.
Rate this book
Clear rating
|
| 37 |
|
Where the Wild Things Were: Life, Death, and Ecological Wreckage in a Land of Vanishing Predators
by
William Stolzenburg (Goodreads Author)
4.23 avg rating — 2,071 ratings
|
Error rating book. Refresh and try again.
Rate this book
Clear rating
|
| 38 |
|
Refuge: An Unnatural History of Family and Place
by
4.19 avg rating — 10,647 ratings
|
Error rating book. Refresh and try again.
Rate this book
Clear rating
|
| 39 |
|
The Wild Birds
by
Emily Strelow (Goodreads Author)
3.97 avg rating — 352 ratings
|
Error rating book. Refresh and try again.
Rate this book
Clear rating
|
| 40 |
|
The Unsettling of America: Culture and Agriculture
by
4.33 avg rating — 6,532 ratings
|
Error rating book. Refresh and try again.
Rate this book
Clear rating
|
| 41 |
|
The Overstory
by
4.11 avg rating — 189,099 ratings
|
Error rating book. Refresh and try again.
Rate this book
Clear rating
|
| 42 |
|
Field Notes from a Catastrophe: Man, Nature, and Climate Change
by
Elizabeth Kolbert (Goodreads Author)
4.05 avg rating — 4,779 ratings
|
Error rating book. Refresh and try again.
Rate this book
Clear rating
|
| 43 |
|
The End of Nature
by
3.94 avg rating — 3,103 ratings
|
Error rating book. Refresh and try again.
Rate this book
Clear rating
|
| 44 |
|
Nature Writings: The Story of My Boyhood and Youth / My First Summer in the Sierra / The Mountains of California / Stickeen / Essays
by
4.29 avg rating — 954 ratings
|
Error rating book. Refresh and try again.
Rate this book
Clear rating
|
| 45 |
|
The Sea Around Us
by
4.17 avg rating — 4,894 ratings
|
Error rating book. Refresh and try again.
Rate this book
Clear rating
|
| 46 |
|
Endgame, Vol. 1: The Problem of Civilization
by
4.11 avg rating — 2,202 ratings
|
Error rating book. Refresh and try again.
Rate this book
Clear rating
|
| 47 |
|
Pilgrim at Tinker Creek
by
4.08 avg rating — 29,248 ratings
|
Error rating book. Refresh and try again.
Rate this book
Clear rating
|
| 48 |
|
Cry of the Kalahari
by
4.33 avg rating — 8,400 ratings
|
Error rating book. Refresh and try again.
Rate this book
Clear rating
|
| 49 |
|
Papyrus: The Plant that Changed the World: From Ancient Egypt to Today's Water Wars
by
John Gaudet (Goodreads Author)
3.62 avg rating — 120 ratings
|
Error rating book. Refresh and try again.
Rate this book
Clear rating
|
| 50 |
|
Nature and Selected Essays
by
4.11 avg rating — 2,279 ratings
|
Error rating book. Refresh and try again.
Rate this book
Clear rating
|
| 51 |
|
The Milagro Beanfield War
by
4.10 avg rating — 10,600 ratings
|
Error rating book. Refresh and try again.
Rate this book
Clear rating
|
| 52 |
|
American Wolf
by
4.39 avg rating — 12,376 ratings
|
Error rating book. Refresh and try again.
Rate this book
Clear rating
|
| 53 |
|
Feral: Rewilding the Land, the Sea and Human Life
by
4.16 avg rating — 5,355 ratings
|
Error rating book. Refresh and try again.
Rate this book
Clear rating
|
| 54 |
|
Deep Economy: The Wealth of Communities and the Durable Future
by
4.06 avg rating — 3,995 ratings
|
Error rating book. Refresh and try again.
Rate this book
Clear rating
|
| 55 |
|
Ecology of a Cracker Childhood
by
Janisse Ray (Goodreads Author)
4.02 avg rating — 3,542 ratings
|
Error rating book. Refresh and try again.
Rate this book
Clear rating
|
| 56 |
|
Harvest for Hope: A Guide to Mindful Eating
by
Jane Goodall (Goodreads Author)
4.06 avg rating — 2,340 ratings
|
Error rating book. Refresh and try again.
Rate this book
Clear rating
|
| 57 |
|
Arctic Dreams
by
4.23 avg rating — 8,859 ratings
|
Error rating book. Refresh and try again.
Rate this book
Clear rating
|
| 58 |
|
Six Degrees: Our Future on a Hotter Planet
by
4.06 avg rating — 2,060 ratings
|
Error rating book. Refresh and try again.
Rate this book
Clear rating
|
| 59 |
|
Gaia: A New Look at Life on Earth
by
3.81 avg rating — 2,291 ratings
|
Error rating book. Refresh and try again.
Rate this book
Clear rating
|
| 60 |
|
Under the Sea-Wind
by
4.15 avg rating — 1,613 ratings
|
Error rating book. Refresh and try again.
Rate this book
Clear rating
|
| 61 |
|
The Tipping Point: How Little Things Can Make a Big Difference
by
4.01 avg rating — 846,968 ratings
|
Error rating book. Refresh and try again.
Rate this book
Clear rating
|
| 62 |
|
Encounters with the Archdruid
by
4.22 avg rating — 6,597 ratings
|
Error rating book. Refresh and try again.
Rate this book
Clear rating
|
| 63 |
|
Small Wonder
by
4.03 avg rating — 11,219 ratings
|
Error rating book. Refresh and try again.
Rate this book
Clear rating
|
| 64 |
|
Walking
by
3.74 avg rating — 10,774 ratings
|
Error rating book. Refresh and try again.
Rate this book
Clear rating
|
| 65 |
|
Wilding
by
4.45 avg rating — 9,122 ratings
|
Error rating book. Refresh and try again.
Rate this book
Clear rating
|
| 66 |
|
Cod: A Biography of the Fish that Changed the World
by
3.92 avg rating — 24,586 ratings
|
Error rating book. Refresh and try again.
Rate this book
Clear rating
|
| 67 |
|
Hope for Animals and Their World: How Endangered Species Are Being Rescued from the Brink
by
Jane Goodall (Goodreads Author)
4.16 avg rating — 1,393 ratings
|
Error rating book. Refresh and try again.
Rate this book
Clear rating
|
| 68 |
|
The Last Flight of the Scarlet Macaw: One Woman's Fight to Save the World's Most Beautiful Bird
by
4.10 avg rating — 998 ratings
|
Error rating book. Refresh and try again.
Rate this book
Clear rating
|
| 69 |
|
The Population Bomb
by
3.09 avg rating — 569 ratings
|
Error rating book. Refresh and try again.
Rate this book
Clear rating
|
| 70 |
|
Food, Inc.: A Participant Guide: How Industrial Food is Making Us Sicker, Fatter, and Poorer-And What You Can Do About It
by
4.17 avg rating — 15,351 ratings
|
Error rating book. Refresh and try again.
Rate this book
Clear rating
|
| 70 |
|
La forma en que vivimos: El Ser Humano, su Ruptura con el Medio y Consigo Mismo
by
Fernando Acosta Barriga (Goodreads Author)
4.76 avg rating — 50 ratings
score: 900,
and
9 people voted
|
Error rating book. Refresh and try again.
Rate this book
Clear rating
|
| 72 |
|
The Weather Makers: How Man Is Changing the Climate and What It Means for Life on Earth
by
3.92 avg rating — 3,341 ratings
score: 879,
and
9 people voted
|
Error rating book. Refresh and try again.
Rate this book
Clear rating
|
| 73 |
|
Stalking the Wild Asparagus
by
4.22 avg rating — 1,113 ratings
|
Error rating book. Refresh and try again.
Rate this book
Clear rating
|
| 74 |
|
American Earth: Environmental Writing Since Thoreau
by
Bill McKibben (Editor)
4.23 avg rating — 611 ratings
score: 874,
and
9 people voted
|
Error rating book. Refresh and try again.
Rate this book
Clear rating
|
| 74 |
|
War of the Whales: A True Story
by
Joshua Horwitz (Goodreads Author)
4.06 avg rating — 1,662 ratings
score: 874,
and
9 people voted
|
Error rating book. Refresh and try again.
Rate this book
Clear rating
|
| 76 |
|
Into the Wild
by
Jon Krakauer (Goodreads Author)
4.02 avg rating — 1,172,818 ratings
score: 846,
and
9 people voted
|
Error rating book. Refresh and try again.
Rate this book
Clear rating
|
| 77 |
|
Green Is the New Red: An Insider's Account of a Social Movement Under Siege
by
Will Potter (Goodreads Author)
4.34 avg rating — 858 ratings
score: 822,
and
9 people voted
|
Error rating book. Refresh and try again.
Rate this book
Clear rating
|
| 78 |
|
Remarkable Creatures
by
Tracy Chevalier (Goodreads Author)
3.89 avg rating — 54,838 ratings
score: 763,
and
8 people voted
|
Error rating book. Refresh and try again.
Rate this book
Clear rating
|
| 79 |
|
No Logo
by
3.89 avg rating — 32,523 ratings
score: 759,
and
8 people voted
|
Error rating book. Refresh and try again.
Rate this book
Clear rating
|
| 80 |
|
Heat: How to Stop the Planet From Burning
by
4.04 avg rating — 1,071 ratings
score: 751,
and
8 people voted
|
Error rating book. Refresh and try again.
Rate this book
Clear rating
|
| 80 |
|
Limits to Growth: The 30-Year Update
by
4.21 avg rating — 1,736 ratings
score: 751,
and
8 people voted
|
Error rating book. Refresh and try again.
Rate this book
Clear rating
|
| 82 |
|
The Empty Ocean
by
3.90 avg rating — 210 ratings
score: 741,
and
8 people voted
|
Error rating book. Refresh and try again.
Rate this book
Clear rating
|
| 83 |
|
Flight Behavior
by
3.82 avg rating — 100,738 ratings
score: 721,
and
8 people voted
|
Error rating book. Refresh and try again.
Rate this book
Clear rating
|
| 84 |
|
The Uninhabitable Earth: Life After Warming
by
David Wallace-Wells (Goodreads Author)
3.99 avg rating — 29,487 ratings
score: 719,
and
8 people voted
|
Error rating book. Refresh and try again.
Rate this book
Clear rating
|
| 85 |
|
The Practice of the Wild
by
4.19 avg rating — 2,697 ratings
score: 710,
and
8 people voted
|
Error rating book. Refresh and try again.
Rate this book
Clear rating
|
| 86 |
|
Maya of the In-between (Maya Rising, #1)
by
Sita Bennett (Goodreads Author)
4.36 avg rating — 185 ratings
score: 697,
and
7 people voted
|
Error rating book. Refresh and try again.
Rate this book
Clear rating
|
| 87 |
|
Sustainable Energy - without the hot air
by
4.41 avg rating — 1,805 ratings
score: 686,
and
7 people voted
|
Error rating book. Refresh and try again.
Rate this book
Clear rating
|
| 88 |
|
Gaia's Garden: A Guide to Home-Scale Permaculture
by
4.41 avg rating — 4,898 ratings
score: 673,
and
7 people voted
|
Error rating book. Refresh and try again.
Rate this book
Clear rating
|
| 89 |
|
The Secret Knowledge of Water: Discovering the Essence of the American Desert
by
4.29 avg rating — 2,796 ratings
score: 659,
and
7 people voted
|
Error rating book. Refresh and try again.
Rate this book
Clear rating
|
| 90 |
|
The Invention of Nature: Alexander von Humboldt's New World
by
4.32 avg rating — 28,838 ratings
score: 658,
and
7 people voted
|
Error rating book. Refresh and try again.
Rate this book
Clear rating
|
| 91 |
|
Second Nature: A Gardener's Education
by
Michael Pollan (Goodreads Author)
3.93 avg rating — 9,019 ratings
score: 654,
and
7 people voted
|
Error rating book. Refresh and try again.
Rate this book
Clear rating
|
| 92 |
|
The Death and Life of the Great Lakes
by
4.34 avg rating — 11,144 ratings
score: 644,
and
7 people voted
|
Error rating book. Refresh and try again.
Rate this book
Clear rating
|
| 93 |
|
Wolf Willow
by
3.97 avg rating — 967 ratings
score: 640,
and
7 people voted
|
Error rating book. Refresh and try again.
Rate this book
Clear rating
|
| 94 |
|
Everything I Want To Do Is Illegal: War Stories from the Local Food Front
by
4.19 avg rating — 2,022 ratings
score: 635,
and
7 people voted
|
Error rating book. Refresh and try again.
Rate this book
Clear rating
|
| 95 |
|
Wandering Home: A Long Walk Across America's Most Hopeful Landscape: Vermont's Champlain Valley and New York's Adirondacks
by
3.90 avg rating — 837 ratings
score: 632,
and
7 people voted
|
Error rating book. Refresh and try again.
Rate this book
Clear rating
|
| 96 |
|
Tokyo Digs a Garden
by
Jon-Erik Lappano (Goodreads Author)
4.06 avg rating — 358 ratings
score: 599,
and
6 people voted
|
Error rating book. Refresh and try again.
Rate this book
Clear rating
|
| 97 |
|
Green Illusions
by
Ozzie Zehner (Goodreads Author)
3.96 avg rating — 760 ratings
score: 590,
and
6 people voted
|
Error rating book. Refresh and try again.
Rate this book
Clear rating
|
| 98 |
|
The Ecology of Commerce Revised Edition: A Declaration of Sustainability
by
4.12 avg rating — 2,350 ratings
score: 584,
and
6 people voted
|
Error rating book. Refresh and try again.
Rate this book
Clear rating
|
| 99 |
|
Eager: The Surprising, Secret Life of Beavers and Why They Matter
by
Ben Goldfarb (Goodreads Author)
4.28 avg rating — 5,082 ratings
score: 579,
and
6 people voted
|
Error rating book. Refresh and try again.
Rate this book
Clear rating
|
| 100 |
|
The RIVERKEEPERS: Two Activists Fight to Reclaim Our Environment as a Basic Human Right
by
3.87 avg rating — 199 ratings
score: 578,
and
6 people voted
|
Error rating book. Refresh and try again.
Rate this book
Clear rating
|
Ross
573 books
71 friends
71 friends
Loren
460 books
62 friends
62 friends
Susanna - Censored by GoodReads
3384 books
853 friends
853 friends
MBP
7547 books
158 friends
158 friends
Phillip
5728 books
139 friends
139 friends
League of Native Nations
12 books
3 friends
3 friends
Jen
690 books
73 friends
73 friends
Anna
332 books
49 friends
49 friends
More voters…
Comments Showing 1-9 of 9 (9 new)
date
newest »
newest »
message 1:
by
[deleted user]
(new)
Dec 09, 2009 08:17PM
The biggest problem is there are TOO MANY PEOPLE! What we need is a big plague like the 1918 flu to come around again. How else is the earth going to save itself from too many people?
reply
|
flag
deleted user wrote: "The biggest problem is there are TOO MANY PEOPLE! What we need is a big plague like the 1918 flu to come around again. How else is the earth going to save itself from too many people? " While this is true, it's also a hard philosophy to actually think about. Would you sacrifice yourself in this hypothetical human apocalypse?
Interesting list, although I wouldn't call some of the books here "environmental" - for example, "The Hot Zone" - very good book, but not really a "green" type of book (it's about the Ebola and Marburg viruses)
I think if a book has a really strong message about the importance of protecting the earth, it should be on this list.
deleted user wrote: "The biggest problem is there are TOO MANY PEOPLE! What we need is a big plague like the 1918 flu to come around again. How else is the earth going to save itself from too many people? "Global warming a sure solution...
for instant nirvana I'll let you borrow a 1911 & one cartridge
deleted user wrote: "The biggest problem is there are TOO MANY PEOPLE! What we need is a big plague like the 1918 flu to come around again. How else is the earth going to save itself from too many people? "A common myth. Compare the carbon footprint of the average American with that of someone living in Egypt. Countries with the lowest birth rate have 20 times the carbon footprint of those in the underdeveloped world.
Hi Ross,Thanks for curating this great list! If appropriate, I’d love for you to consider my Captain Polo series (climate-themed graphic novels for kids), along with my nonfiction graphic novel titles 'Charles Darwin and the Theory of Natural Selection' and 'Fables of the Amazon'.
Happy to share links if helpful.
Warmly,
Alan
Profile: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show...
Related News
Need another excuse to treat yourself to a new book this week? We've got you covered with the buzziest new releases of the day, according to early...
Anyone can add books to this list.
How to Vote
To vote on existing books from the list, beside each book there is a link vote for this book clicking it will add that book to your votes.
To vote on books not in the list or books you couldn't find in the list, you can click on the tab add books to this list and then choose from your books, or simply search.
