People are increasingly taking up birdwatching as a hobby - and it’s for good reason. Some even aim for a ‘Big Year’, or seeing as many birds as possible in one calendar year. Regardless of your level of commitment, one thing is sure: spending time in nature, off screens, and meaningfully interacting with the people and world around us benefits our health, society, and the environment.

If you’re a reader interested in learning more about nature, then you’ve probably browsed a few book lists looking for recommendations and quickly got overwhelmed by the sheer amount of nature books that exist. There are certainly some classics such as Silent Spring or Walden , but it can be hard to decipher what to read when selecting more current publications. At Severson Dells, our staff is full of voracious readers (seriously, three different people got books about octopi in the holiday gift exchange) and are happy to provide some recommendations! These recommendations are more recent publications, within the last ten years, and have all been read and enjoyed by at least one member of the staff here at Severson. They vary in topic, but all share the common thread of getting people engaged in the nature around them.