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Braiding Sweetgrass: Indigenous Wisdom, Scientific Knowledge and the Teachings of Plants
Robin Wall Kimmerer
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A New York Times Bestseller
A Washington Post Bestseller
Named a "Best Essay Collection of the Decade" by Literary Hub.
As a botanist, Robin Wall Kimmerer has been trained to ask questions of nature with the tools of science. As a member of the Citizen Potawatomi Nation, she embraces the notion that plants and animals are our oldest teachers. In Braiding Sweetgrass, Kimmerer brings these two lenses of knowledge together to take us on “a journey that is every bit as mythic as it is scientific, as sacred as it is historical, as clever as it is wise” (Elizabeth Gilbert).
Drawing on her life as an indigenous scientist, and as a woman, Kimmerer shows how other living beings—asters and goldenrod, strawberries and squash, salamanders, algae, and sweetgrass—offer us gifts and lessons, even if we've forgotten how to hear their voices.
In reflections that range from the creation of Turtle Island to the forces that threaten its flourishing today, she circles toward a central argument: that the awakening of ecological consciousness requires the acknowledgment and celebration of our reciprocal relationship with the rest of the living world. For only when we can hear the languages of other beings will we be capable of understanding the generosity of the earth, and learn to give our own gifts in return.
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Posts about this title from Basement Books
Basement Books\ \ Kaitlyn\ \ • Dec 2 2025
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Basement Books\ \ Kaitlyn\ \ • Dec 1 2025
[I've been meaning to read "Braiding Sweegrass" by Robin Wall Kimmerer for literal years now. As someone who loves nature writing, up until now, I have never read the quintessential book of the genre. Finally, this year, I picked up Kimmerer's "The Serviceberry" and knew that I had to read everything else she's ever written as soon as possible, and so I did. \ \ This is an absolutely brilliant and necessary book to understand our symbiotic relationship with plants and what we can do to make it more equal. This is the kind of book that will definitely change my day-to-day perspective as I walk through life. It has already made me pause and think about how I interact with the world around me. It's made me pause and take notice of the little things. I'm so grateful for that. \ \ I'm actually glad that I read "The Serviceberry" first. I think it's a great introduction to Kimmerer's ideology and easily accessible. Then, if you enjoy it, pick up "Braiding Sweetgrass." I highly recommend reading this slowly and reading one chapter a day to let it really sit with you.\ \ I wanted to put together some visuals showcasing my favorite quotes of the book (and to hopefully convince you to not wait like I did read this book). \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \
Braiding Sweetgrass: review and quotes
1 book
Basement Books\ \ Kaitlyn\ \ • Nov 28 2025
A non-fiction gift guide for every person in your life (and also some of my all-time favorite books 😘)
#giftguide #nonfiction #bookrecs
23 books
Posts about this book from across Bindery
Children of Diaspora\ \ Rae the Reviewer\ \ • Jul 28
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So I hear you're looking for some books!
Every purchase made through @bookshop_org supports independent bookstores and here are just a few of the books you should be picking up TODAY through @bookshop_org !
#ad #independentbookstores #readersofinstagram
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Boozhoo Books\ \ Naomi\ \ • Jul 25
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Pango 50 percent off LAST CALL
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Children of Diaspora\ \ Rae the Reviewer\ \ • May 27
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It’s been a week since @booknetfest and mentally, I’m still at Prom 🥹
I had the loveliest experience attending BNF for the second year in a row. This time, I was on 3 panels and we should have been required to bring tissues because someone kept cutting onions (or maybe that was just us feeling safe enough to release all of our frustrations, but who’s to say)
Thank you @mynameismarines and @thoughtsontomes for organizing this wonderful event with such wonderful people 🫶🏾
(If I didn’t tag you, please let me know so I can add the tag. I couldn’t remember everyone’s usernames 🥲)
#booknetfest #bookcon #bookevent #readercommunity #readtogether
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Children of Diaspora\ \ Rae the Reviewer\ \ • Apr 25
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Happy Independent Bookstore Day + Book Club Announcement!
Celebrate Independent Bookstore Day with free standard shipping on all orders made through @bookshop_org on April 25th and 26th!
#ad #bookhaul #indiebookstore #independentbookstoreday #reader
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Boundless Press\ \ Jananie\ \ • Jan 7
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Anti Brain Rot Reading Challenge: Announcing the 2026 Boundless Book Club Picks 📚📖
watch for the full list of picks for 2026!
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Boozhoo Books\ \ Naomi\ \ • Dec 27 2025
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2026 Indigenous Non Fiction Challenge
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The Bibliothecary\ \ Samantha\ \ • Dec 23 2025
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In which I discuss my favorite books of 2025...
♡ Join THE BIBLIOTHECARY: patreon.com/thoughtsontomes or https://bibliothecarybooks.binderybooks.com/ ►► Bibliothecary members get perks such as early access to videos, written posts, podcast-like ramblings, witchcraft book reviews and sharing about my personal craft, a year long interactive reading challenge, seasonal readalongs, and more!
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★ FREELANCE EDITING SERVICES: https://tinyurl.com/editing-services -- I'm currently accepting clients for developmental editing and manuscript evaluation (I'm full for 2025 - booking now for 2026). I'm interested in working with adult fantasy and scifi, especially Hades and Persephone retellings, stories involving polyamory, and mental health rep. I offer free editing samples of your first 1,000 words to make sure we are a good fit.
➝ DISCLAIMER: This video is not sponsored. All opinions are my own.
WHERE TO FIND ME ► BlueSky: https://bsky.app/profile/thoughtsontomes.bsky.social ► Storygraph (alternative to goodreads): https://app.thestorygraph.com/profile/thoughtsontomes ► Instagram: @thoughtsontomes ► Tiktok: @thoughtsontomes_
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REVIEW/BUSINESS INQUIRES ➝ Email: thoughtsontomes@gmail.com ➝ Review Policy: https://thoughtsontomes.tumblr.com/reviewpolicy -- due to the volume of email requests I get, I do not accept review requests from indie or self-published authors at this time
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Basement Books\ \ Kaitlyn\ \ • Dec 2 2025
9 books
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Basement Books\ \ Kaitlyn\ \ • Dec 1 2025
Braiding Sweetgrass: review and quotes
1 book
Basement Books\ \ Kaitlyn\ \ • Nov 28 2025
A non-fiction gift guide for every person in your life (and also some of my all-time favorite books 😘)
#giftguide #nonfiction #bookrecs
23 books
The Bibliothecary\ \ Samantha\ \ • Nov 18 2025
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what I read this fall | EARLY ACCESS
In which I discuss the books I've read recently...
★ Reading spreadsheet I use: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=twhrdlRfnRs&t=626s ► End screen song: Magic Forest - Kevin MacLeod
➝ DISCLAIMER: This video is not sponsored. All opinions are my own.
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Sunny's Book Truck\ \ CJ\ \ • Jul 29 2025
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[Hi nerds \
\
Unless you’ve been living under a rock, you may have seen the New York Times latest interactive piece compiling the Top 100 Book of the 21st Century. I, along with some of my bookish peers, immediately noticed a few authors who were snubbed, so I got to work on compiling my personal top 100.\
\
I gave myself a few restrictions, so the below list is made up of only women and queer authors. Translated works post 2001 count, but I also let a few books in that were repackaged recently (re: McNally Editions) that I would argue truly found their readership for the first time in the past 20 years, despite their earlier pub dates. I also limited myself to just one title per author, which was probably the hardest part of this list making.\
\
I also want to note that this isn’t necessarily my favorite top 100 books, nor what I am deeming the greatest. Some I’ve included simply for the cultural phenomenons they’ve become in my realm of the bookish internet.\
\
Finally, I am not a genre or poetry reader unfortunately, so this list leans literary and is restricted to titles I’ve already read. All books have been compiled on Bookshop.org here if you’d like to purchase any of them. The below list is not ranked, I’m not doing that to myself! I’d love to see your own if you make one. Let me know what you think I left off in the comments, I’m ready to fight.\
\
The Top 100 \
\
- Just Kids: the only romanticizing of 1970’s New York I can stand for.\ \
- Boy Parts: finally an American Psycho but for the girlie pops.\ \
- Dancing On My Own: a brand new essay collection I think everyone should read.\ \
- Hunger: my introduction to fat phobia and diet culture.\ \
- Commonwealth: this wouldn’t be a list by me without an Ann Patchett.\ \
- A Room Called Earth: neurodivergent rep at it’s finest.\ \
- The Night Circus: my carney ass loves this fantasy novel.\ \
- The New Me: satirical workplace culture, classic “women vs. the void”.\ \
- The Idiot: a perfect campus novel.\ \
- A Field Guide to Getting Lost: this broke my brain in college.\ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \
- Dept. of Speculation: vignette perfection!!!!\ \
- Circe: greek myths and witches for grown ups.\ \
- Little Weirds: a tender and perfect essay collection.\ \
- Assembly: a perfect execution of restraint.\ \
- Calypso: again, this wouldn’t be a list by me without Sedaris. I love him.\ \
- White Teeth: what can be said about Zadie Smith that hasn’t already been said?\ \
- The Doloriad: literally the most evil book I’ve read to date.\ \
- Nevada: trans roadtrip narrative, a queer cornerstone.\ \
- Birnam Wood: a perfect sprawling character driven thriller.\ \
- Beautyland: the most earnest novel on this list.\ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \
- No One Is Talk About This: perhaps the great Twitter novel?\ \
- Sisters: a modern gothic ghost story.\ \
- Paul Takes the Form of a Mortal Girl: queer smut!!!\ \
- Detransition, Baby: queer questioning of what it means to make a family.\ \
- Infinite Country: border politics and big family dramas.\ \
- Bunny: do we think this was the first TikTok book for lit fic? Horror lite.\ \
- Drive Your Plow Over the Bones of the Dead: misanthrope representation.\ \
- Real Life: bad friends and bad sex in the Midwest!!!\ \
- The Undocumented Americans: I loved this personal exploration of citizenship.\ \
- Pond: one of a kind, shimmering.\ \ \ \ \ \ \ \
- The Glass Castle: one of my favorite memoirs of all time.\ \
- The Friend: dog freaks unite.\ \
- Land of Milk and Honey: food writing!!!\ \
- Martyr!: sad sack artist, diaspora, hidden identities.\ \
- The Rabbit Hutch: Blandine is one of the most memorable narrators ever.\ \
- White on White: an excellent art novel.\ \
- I Love You But I’ve Chosen Darkness: maybe my favorite desert novel?\ \
- The Performance: climate change, a book in acts, I loved it.\ \
- Lapvona: this is my favorite Moshfegh, fight me!\ \
- The Life of the Mind: academia woes.\ \ \ \ \
- The Wall: dystopian adventure novel excellence!\ \
- Cold Enough for Snow: what claim do we have to know another's inner world?\ \
- The English Understand Wool: I could have read 1000 pages more of this.\ \
- Hurricane Season: one of kind, relentless, harrowing.\ \
- A Little Life: some call it trauma porn, some call it the book of our generation.\ \
- Girl, Woman, Other: a polyphonic modern classic.\ \
- Convenience Store Woman: lonely and charming.\ \
- Freshwater: a completely effective depiction of dysphoria.\ \
- The Sluts: cursed!!!! I loved it.\ \
- No One Belongs Here More Than You: this changed my teenage brain chemistry.\ \ \ \ \
- I Hold a Wolf by the Ears: surreal, eerie, perfect.\ \
- Luster: women on the verge, art, race, open marriages.\ \
- Indelicacy: I loved this tiny novel. Labor, class, women.\ \
- Pew: hysteria and mass psychosis build in this creepy little gothic story.\ \
- Open Throat: we need to be reading more about gay mountain lions.\ \
- Severance: our great apocalypse novel.\ \
- Motherhood: Heti went inside of my brain to write this.\ \
- Tonight I’m Someone Else: this book reminds me of a heatwave. Desire, youth!\ \
- The Employees: an incredibly singular look at work and consumption.\ \
- A Manual for Cleaning Women: this book smells like cigarettes and windex.\ \ \ \ \ \ \
- The Body Is Not an Apology: an actually helpful guide to radical self-love.\ \
- Pachinko: an intergenerational family epic.\ \
- Burnt Sugar: THE mommy issues novel!\ \
- The Year of Magical Thinking: loss and charting the unknown waters of grief.\ \
- A Minor Chorus: queer Indigenous survival.\ \
- Strangers to Ourselves: I really loved this deep dive into mental health.\ \
- Second Place: my favorite Cusk. Art, marriage, family.\ \
- The Copenhagen Trilogy: a masterful piece of confessional writing.\ \
- Painting Time: for everyone with art school trauma.\ \
- Mona: the third act of this short novel is incredible.\ \ \ \ \ \ \
- Monstrilio: literary horror with a monster metaphor.\ \
- In the Dream House: the most original memoir I’ve ever read.\ \
- Hot Milk: rage, myth, modernity!\ \
- Monarch: cryptic and weird, Jungian and eccentric.\ \
- Death by Landscape: an incredible essay collection about the age of extinction.\ \
- Vanishing Twins: marriage, queerness, LA.\ \
- The Shame: internet obsession and envy.\ \
- Braiding Sweetgrass: sacred Indigenous nature wisdom.\ \
- Sarahland: maybe my favorite short story collection ever.\ \
- The Pisces: classic Broder, still her most memorable to me.\ \ \ \ \ \ \
- Bluets: there’s no one like Nelson, a genre busting legend.\ \
- The Days of Abandonment: unhinged Ferrante is my favorite Ferrante.\ \
- Boulder: motherhood, thankless identities, freedom.\ \
- Emergent Strategy: society-help to craft the collective future we deserve.\ \
- Paradise Rot: horror and wonder, hyper-sensual.\ \
- Dogs of Summer: 90’s queer girlhood expertly depicted.\ \
- The Book of Ayn: radical selfishness and ego-death in our modern age.\ \
- Y/N: the extremities of fan culture, a lucid fever dream.\ \
- Fake Accounts: a precise skewering of internet culture.\ \
- Brutes: girlhood is horror!!!\ \ \ \ \
- Tender is the Flesh: we love a cannibalism plot.\ \
- Something New Under the Sun: a darkly satirical take on our ecological reality.\ \
- Normal People: it was a cultural reset.\ \
- The Hard Crowd: Kushner is one of my favorite thinkers, I love this collection.\ \
- Hamnet: transportive, the only book that could get me to care about Shakespeare.\ \
- Revenge of the Scapegoat: familial trauma, chronic illness, academic labor.\ \
- The Goodby People: post-Manson, pre-Disney Los Angeles.\ \
- The Seas: a perfect, sparkling coming of age novel.\ \
- They: an uncanny depiction of artistic suppression and its consequences.\ \
- The Deeper the Water the Uglier the Fish: sisters, abuse, mental illness.\ \ \ \ That's all for today! Love you, mean it!](https://sunnysbooktruck.binderybooks.com/item/JJficBy182vkmlZBITvZ/)
Sunny's Top 100 Books of the 21st Century
Girls and gays edition
27 books
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Bookwyrm Ink\ \ Bookwyrm Ink\ \ • Jun 22 2025
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\ \ Join for free or login](https://azthiabookwyrm.binderybooks.com/item/16nDq4CPE5O0OB3WS77T/)
Here is my summer audiobook list ✈️☀️!
Here is my summer audiobook list ✈️☀️
13 books
Sapph-Lit\ \ Nina\ \ • Jan 21 2025
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Books for the next 4 years & beyond!
me & my pile of books against the world 🥺 i’ve only read about 10 of these and have built the rest of this TBR thanks to booktok 💗 information is power, literacy is political (duh) and we take care of each other
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Ezeekat Press\ \ Jaysen\ \ • Dec 1 2024
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This was a very fun reading wrap-up to make and I hope you all enjoy the shift into some Non-Fiction Reads!! Let me know what you read that you loved this month, or if you've read any of these books!!
Books Featured in this Video:
Flopping In a Water Wonderland by Jason June Darkly by Marisha Pessl Orbital by Samantha Harvey Wicked by Gregory Maguire The Message by Ta-Nehisi Coates Underland by Robert Macfarlane Jesus And John Wayne by Kristin Kobes Du Men Braiding Sweetgrass by Robin Wall Kimmerer Fairy Tail by Hiro Mashima
My Other Places:
Discord: https://discord.gg/5QqNANjdc7 Ezeekat Press Subscriber Community: https://ezeekat.binderybooks.com/ Fable Book Club: https://fable.co/club/ezeekats-book-club-with-ezeekat-332055432165 Fable Anime Club: https://fable.co/club/ezeekats-anime-club-with-ezeekat-513994156898
8 books
Boozhoo Books\ \ Naomi\ \ • Nov 12 2024
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Indigenous Book Bingo Check-In
Update on my personal Indigenous Book Bingo Card, includes a blank card for new members
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Boozhoo Books\ \ Naomi\ \ • Aug 20 2024
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Quiet Time Book Club, Books Discussed and Next Meeting
Here is a list of the books we talked about tonight and next week's meeting date.
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Boozhoo Books\ \ Naomi\ \ • Aug 18 2024
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Notes From The Mixed Up Desk, Sunday August 18
quick weekly update, giveaway update, future events
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Boozhoo Books\ \ Naomi\ \ • Aug 7 2024
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Books Included on Indigenous Book Bingo
Here is a list of the books included on Indigenous Book Bingo.
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Boozhoo Books\ \ Naomi\ \ • Jun 28 2024
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[Hello Everyone,\ \ Thank you so much to everyone who has shown up to support and to join our little community of readers who are passionate about Indigenous books. As I mentioned in my video, the ultimate goal is to be our own imprint and publish Indigenous stories.\ \ We talk about all kinds of books here. I read in every genre so you will get a wide range of recommendations.\ \ Here is everywhere you can find me online:\ \
- JOIN THE BOOZHOO BOOKS DISCORD\ \ https://discord.gg/3jpQ4m9X25\\ \ My Discord is great to join because all of my events will be listed there. In my Discord, we do readalongs of Indigenous books and horror written by women. In July, we will be reading Braiding Sweet Grass by Robin Wall Kimmerer and Linghun by Ai Jiang. I will also be doing a readalong of Black Sun, the first book in the Between the Earth and Sky Trilogy by Rebecca Roanhorse.\ \ There are many channels about different subjects. One of my favorite channels is the horror movies channel. I want to do a horror movies night.\ \
- Good Day To Read Indigenous Book Club on the Fable App\ \ https://fable.co/club/good-day-to-read-indigenous-with-fromthemixedupdesk-125290577858\\ \ Our July Read is Lizards Hold The Sun by Dani Trujillo. Dani has also agreed to do a zoom call with us at the end of the month.\ \
- Women in Horror Book Club on the Fable App\ \ https://fable.co/club/women-in-horror-with-fromthemixedupdesk-534117318256\\ \ Our July Read is Diavola by Jennifer Thorne. This looks to be a spooky vacation horror, which is perfect for summertime. You can expect a summer horror reading list coming from me shortly!\ \
- On TikTok:\ \ https://www.tiktok.com/@fromthemixedupdesk?is\_from\_webapp=1&sender\_device=pc\\ \
- On Bookstagram:\ \ https://www.instagram.com/fromthemixedupdesk\\ \ Again, I am so happy that you have showed up for Indigenous books. Please let me know below if there is any specific content you'd like to see from me or any questions you might have for me about Bindery, or in general.\ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ ](https://boozhoo.binderybooks.com/item/ZcE2VBkHUSrrKVztXy9k/)
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Boozhoo Books\ \ Naomi\ \ • Jun 10 2024
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[Here is everything I read, watched and listened to last week.\ \ 1. Exhibit: A Novel by R.O Kwon\ \ This is a short novel (around 200 pages) about an Asian woman who works as a photographer. She tells her husband she wants to be hit during sexy time and he does not understand. She finds excitement with an injured ballerina.\ \ Literary fiction. Lush poetic prose. Heavy on character, light on plot. I enjoyed both of the female characters passion for their art and for each other. Highly recommend.\ \ 2. The Devil and Mrs. Davenport by Paulette Kennedy\ \ This is a 1950s gothic thriller about a psychic housewife, an abusive husband, a murdered girl and a paranoraml psychologist.\ \ I read this one for my Women in Horror book club on Fable. I loved this book! Very atmospheric. I would highly recommend for fans of Shirley Jackson and Simone St James. Very quited, understated gothic horror. I appreciated the author's note discussing the books that she read for research. That is always a huge plus for me. Would love to see a sequel about her daughter and her inherited powers and the salons she held in the 70s.\ \ Wachting\ \ 1.** Interview With The Vampire- Episodes 4-5. (amc plus)**\ \ I don't think there is a better show on TV right now. Acting, set design, writing. I am warming up to Armand, though Lestat dominates when he is on screen. I'm curious on what the show is going to bring as Armand seems to be the scary one and the detective warns us that Louis is worse. I didn't read the books so I am not sure how closely the show is following the books.\ \
- First Omen (available on Hulu)\ \ This was probably the best horror movie I have watched this year so far. I have not watched the original series so I am going to start that this week. Good writing, great images, great score. Not a lot of jump scares, which I appreciate.\ \ Listening\ \
- **Noah Kahan **\ \ 6 months into the year, Noah Kahan and Hozier still dominate my playlists. I am thinking that I need to branch out and listen to a new artist/album every week because I easily fall into the habit of just repeating the same album (last year it was Florence and the Machine) I think this week I will start with Chappel Roan. Feel free to suggest some music below. Much like my reading style, I really do like it all.\ \ This Week's TBR\ **1. Braiding Sweet Grass, Robin Wall Kimmerer (**Indigenous Non-Fiction)\ **2. The Davenports, Krystal Marquis **(Ya Historial Romance)\ **3. The Ruins, Scott Smith **(survival horror)\ \ What are you reading?\ \ ](https://boozhoo.binderybooks.com/item/74hYNf1RkEGQ8kmliKni/)
Weekly Reading, Watching, Listening Update
An Update On Content Consumed Last Week
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Mood Reads\ \ Hannah\ \ • Apr 16 2024
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\ \ Upgrade for $5 or login](https://moodreads.binderybooks.com/item/g1pQ1ohjYyHijOzV5QLK/)
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Mood Reads\ \ Hannah\ \ • Feb 19 2024
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(Bi)Weekly Wrap Up: 2/5 - 2/19
Okay everyone what have we been reading lately?!? #BookTok #readingupdate #weeklyreadingwrapup #booksiread #booktokreviews
6 books
Mood Reads\ \ Hannah\ \ • Feb 18 2024
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\ \ Upgrade for $5 or login](https://moodreads.binderybooks.com/item/kIB73HXfdDzqR0Aj2qjI/)
A book review-ish essay on Braiding Sweetgrass, the “more than human world,” and indigenous post-apocalyptic novels
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Mood Reads\ \ Hannah\ \ • Feb 15 2024
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I only have this much energy today because I fell asleep at 7:30 last night, make no mistake! #aditl #adayinmylife #my5to9after9to5 #teachersoftiktok #booktoker #booktokfyp #BookTok
5 books
The Inky Phoenix\ \ Kathryn Budig\ \ • Oct 10 2022
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Celebrating Indigenous Peoples’ Day with these amazing authors:
For lovers of YA: Firekeeper’s Daughter by @angelineboulley
For lovers of dark magic and suspense: Empire of Wild by @cherie.dimaline
For lovers of Earth, Nature, and beauty: Braiding Sweetgrass by Robin Wall Kimmerer
3 books