Stocked with awing and sometimes slightly appalling facts - from the avocado-feasting habits of the sadly-extinct giant sloths to frog species that projectile vomit up their young to the epidemic of 'ecological grief' - Tapestries of Life is as enlightening as it is enjoyable, floating you through studies of particular specimens and explanations of ecological phenomena with easy-to-follow expositions and surprisingly humorous effect. Sverdrup-Thygeson's endeared narration of the flabbergasting wonders of the natural world and how its elements and procedures weave into our own systems and reciprocities is energetic and enlivening, and serves as a fantastic first encounter with such subjects (or an extremely welcome pick-me-up in a period where many of us found ourselves shut in our homes for prolonged stretches and unable to escape in search of a haven in wilder environments).

Thank you to NetGalley and HarperCollins UK (Nonfiction) for kindly passing on this ARC! 💫

Tapestries of Life is a book brimming with sparkling stories about our interaction with nature. You and I are woven into nature's wickerwork, much denser than you think. Millions of species give us food, medicine and a livable environment, in addition to nature giving us knowledge and joy. In an engaging way, Anne Sverdrup-Thygeson tells exciting and thought-provoking stories about nature. The author takes us out into the rainforest, where the orchid bees make perfume and pollinate the nuts you eat at Christmas. Into the cool shade under the big trees of the city streets, the ones that make us need less air cooling.

Down in the trenches where the soldiers used luminescent mushrooms as lanterns on moonless nights. We get to read about trees in the old forest that give us cancer medicine and the kingfisher that inspired the construction of light rail. But also about how our conduct can endanger all this. Because in our ability to exploit nature, there is also the risk of undermining our own livelihood. We are talking today about a natural crisis, where species are threatened and habitats disappear - a crisis as acute and serious as the climate crisis. If we are to secure our own future, we must change the way we live. We must learn to play on a team alongside the natural world and become as symbiotic with mother nature as possible.