I'm a fan of Braiding Sweetgrass and this book is a great addition to Kimmerer's other books. I know fans of Kimmerer are going to come away from reading this ready to put these ideas into action in their life and in their communities. I enjoyed reading Kimmerer's thoughts on these topics and hope to see other books from her in the future focused on ideas like this we can put into action. The art is also lovely.
I posted a blog review of the book as well
https://paperbackpagan.wordpress.com/2024/09/11/the-serviceberry-by-robin-wall-kimmerer/

My word, can Robin Wall Kimmerer write a stunning sentence. This short book is a love letter to nature. Braiding Sweetgrass was one of my favorite reads of 2022 because Kimmerer writes so beautifully about nature. In this one, she explores the connected relationship between nature and humanity, specifically within indigenous communities (of which she is a member) and how their nations treat the natural world, with a mutual respect and admiration. Put that against our own communities who often use nature in an exploitative, harmful way, which bleeds the environment and nature itself, dry. She focuses specifically on the serviceberry of the title to carry her point that our relationship to nature should be one focused on giving and caring. Kimmerer’s writing is like poetry, flowing with gorgeous imagery and a kind voice. I loved this.

The Serviceberry
Robin Wall Kimmerer

We are currently in the season when we forage for huckleberries which grow wild in the mountains of Northwest Montana. Over the last couple of years, there has been a disturbing trend of these bushes being overpicked, frequently by commercial pickers, sometimes to the point of causing damage to the bushes. Aside from us, bears love these berries, and more recently, there have been more bear activity into populated areas, searching for food. One grizzly was just euthanized by Fish and Wildlife officials today for repeated “encounters.”

Robin Wall Kimmerer’s “The Serviceberry” hits home. We are reminded that we are part of a biological and economic ecosystem, dependent on cooperation and reciprocity. More often than not, we forget this and treat nature as if it is ours to exploit, not realizing that our actions lead to consequences for other plant and animal members of that ecosystem, and eventually come back to haunt us.

Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for providing the ARC for my honest, but as you can see from my first paragraph, heavily biased review.

I really enjoyed reading The Serviceberry by Robin Wall Kimmerer. In this book, Kimmerer discusses the gift economy of the Earth versus the scarcity economy of capitalism. She educates about Indigenous gift economies and encourages the reader to invest in small scale gift economies that center gratitude for the gifts of Earth.

I love how Kimmerer questions the assumptions made by colonialism and capitalism. I felt like this book gave me hope for new ways to interact with the community. Even if we can’t change our capitalist economy overnight, it is still worthwhile to invest in a local gift economy.

I’d recommend this book for anyone who is hoping for a more sustainable way to interact with our communities and with the Earth.

I received an advance copy of this book for free, and I’m leaving this review voluntarily.

A short and sweet essay introducing the need to pursue gift economies that focus more on relationship and reciprocity than taking until there's nothing left to take.

Thank you NetGalley and the publishers for an eARC in exchange for my honest review. This is a thoughtful exploration of the gift economy in the face of mass production, mass consumption, hoarding, and other capitalist systems. Kimmerer orients the reader with a simple example— the gift of the serviceberry that provides food for herself, her neighbors, and the forest ecosystem— before diving into the larger ways we rely on each other. The shift in mindset is accompanied by tangible actions, including incremental change and creative disruption. As a librarian, this was a joy to read.

I especially love the end note of the book: “The author’s advance payments for this book about the gift economy of the natural world will be donated as a reciprocal gift, back to the land, for land protection, restoration, and justice in support of healing land and people.” It reinforced my desire to not only share the book but look into local sanctuaries. Kimmerer being able to impart her generous spirit in such a short piece is the hallmark of a great writer.

I loved loved loved this book. Anything by Robin Wall Kimmerer is just so nourishing. When reading her work, I feel the same way I feel when I read Mary Oliver's poetry. It's soulful and deep. I feel more connected to stillness and observation, to nature, to where I live, to cycles of plants/animals, to the beauty of ordinary moments. I feel connected to minute details, ie. a fallen bird feather, a blade of grass, veins in a leaf, as well as the collective and systems, ie. economics, ecology, human psychology. Highly recommend this book.

Thank you Scribner and NetGalley for this ARC! What a gift. Very much appreciated!

Robin Wall Kimmerer’s “Braiding Sweetgrass” is one of my most favorite books of the past few years, so I eagerly looked forward to The Serviceberry. Unlike Sweetgrass, The Serviceberry is a short book at only 128 pages; more an extended essay than a complete book. This is fine - it’s worth reading 128 pages on the important topic of the gift economy and how its principles might fit into our capitalistic society.

The gift economy, as Kimmerer explains between bites of sweet berries, is a system where something is given without any expectation of immediate material payment or reward, Think of it like a mother nursing a baby. She gives the gift of food to her baby because that is what is needed, but the baby doesn’t pay her for the food. The mother may receive gifts of wellbeing and happiness, and the gift may also provide other benefits in terms of the mother’s health, but the baby obviously does not come to the mother and offer payment in exchange for food. Perhaps someday that baby may grow up to be a mother giving another baby milk, perhaps not. But in the gift economy, we are led to believe, nature is set up in such a way that there is enough for all, and all will receive what they need. The birds eat the berries, they distribute the seeds and new berries grow..

The confounding question is whether the gift economy has a place in today’s society, and whether it might even find a way to coexist. Kimmerer argues that coexistence is possible, if we acknowledge the gift economy and use it whoever it is possible to do so. As I was reading, I had several ideas of things I could do, and I look forward to exploring this concept more in my life. It made me feel healthy and connected to the world even thinking about it.

My hearty thanks to Scribner and NetGalley for the opportunity to read this ARC in exchange for my honest review.

Weighing in at just under 128 pages, this very slender book by the talented essayist and botanist, Robin Wall Kimmerer, invites readers to sample an idea she brought up in her bestselling <I> Braiding Sweetgrass</I>.

The idea of "gift economy" explores the concepts of abundance and gratitude as the basis of economic progress—but before any hard-nosed modern Western thinkers dismiss it is a hippy-dippy pie-in-the-sky dreaming, Kimmerer provides convincing and commonplace examples of how the gift economy, which was the basis for many Indigenous cultures, is still alive and well, even in the middle of capitalism's ecological nightmare.

So a gift economy, Kimmerer explains, happens all over North America when zucchini squash ripen. People bring bags of zucchini to work, put them at the curb, pop them into people's cars. Zucchini ripen with such abundance that growers are happy to share. Why share? Because it's inherently gratifying, and, in the idiom of Indigenous culture, it's far better and more sensible to "store" food in the bellies of your friends than to stockpile it.

In a gift economy, when someone has an abundance, it is shared. Think this won't work on a larger scale? Consider the free-cycle movement, volunteers of every stripe, the common roadway, a public library.

It's a radical idea, yes, and counter-intuitive to mainstream economics, which is based, Kimmerer posits, on scarcity. That there is never enough to go around and value is driven by scarcity. She suggests that as a driver, scarcity does not really encourage either production or distribution. We live amid abundance, but mostly view everything as a commodity to acquire. When it's just as clearly all a gift, given abundantly enough for everyone to get along.

Kimmerer is herself a gift to readers and thinkers. She shares her abundance of both ideas and hope, encouraging a move—even a tiny move—toward a different way of looking at our world.

Thank you Scribner and NetGalley for the eARC in exchange for my unfettered opinion.

Thank you to Scribner, Net Galley and the author for the ARC! I definitely think this book would be best read as a physical copy. The illustrations are beautiful and the style of writing lends itself to quick and relatively easy reading, but with several highlightable lines that would be nice to physically mark. It would be great on a coffee table!

Although it was short, it did get a bit redundant. Still, I learned a lot and walked away inspired to check out more Little Free Libraries and Buy Nothing groups at the least. I mostly picked this up to learn more about the Native American perspective on resources and the “gift economy” and thought it was interesting to glean wisdom. Especially as a Christian, I can now see how Western Christianity fails to steward our blessings in a way that contributes to the cyclical nature of gifts in the way God designed. It also makes ms think about how the things we pray for are right in front of us, but we may be missing out on them as we hold back our gifts from others and miss out on the potential relationships around us.

I was so glad to have the opportunity to read The Serviceberry. I loved Braiding Sweetgrass by Robin Wall Kimmerer. I moved The Serviceberry: Abundance and Reciprocity in the Natural World to the top of my TBR/To Be Read list.

The Serviceberry was Robin Wall Kimmerer's thoughts on economics.

When I finished reading The Serviceberry (and even now when I think about the book) by overwhelming thought is that I'd really love to pay my taxes by sending in a truckload of zucchini.

I thought about Robin Wall Kimmerer this week when someone had a table of books and stuff and cucumbers on a table at the side of the road in the city limits. I think of The Serviceberry when I see all the little free libraries around.

Many thanks to NetGalley and Scribner publishing for approving my request to read the advance read copy of The Serviceberry in exchange for an honest review. Somewhere between 3 & 4 stars in my opinion; rounding up. I want to believe there is the opportunity for such economics, but those opportunities are getting to be few and far between.

Expected publication date is Nov 19, 2024. 128 pages

Another beautifully written book by the author of "Braiding Sweetgrass." Through lyrical prose, horticultural knowledge, and anecdotes, Kimmerer nudges the reader to appreciate economies that place our connections with others and the earth as the highest priority. Highly recommended. Thanks to NetGalley and Scribner for the ARC.

#TheServiceberry

The Serviceberry by Robin Wall Kimmerer @braidingsweetgrassbook is out in November and all of the author’s advance will be donated to the land for protection, restoration, and justice to support healing ❤️‍🩹

This essay compares capitalism to the gift economy practiced by indigenous nations. Dr. Kimmerer shares how we can participate in the gift economy by eating in season, recognizing interconnection and forming community, and appreciating and sharing abundance. She draws attention to flourishing being mutual— when one heals, a whole community can be healed. Finally, I learned so much on how important birds are to everyone else in the food chain.

I can’t quote the book before publication, but I promise there are so many beautiful ones. This is a wonderful book to preorder for sure! I’m so grateful to @simonbooks and @netgalley for allowing me to read this prior to publication. Thank you so much! 🥰

Robin Wall Kimmerer’s latest book, The Serviceberry, paints a picture of a world where resources are regarded as gifts instead of commodities.

This book will leave you longing for a community of free farm-fresh food stands, family-run pumpkin patches, and little free libraries where neighbors truly care about one another. It is both bittersweet and hopeful.

The Serviceberry serves equally as a wonderful introduction to Kimmerer’s other works and also a continuation of them. What can nature teach us about reciprocity and how can we apply those lessons within our society?

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for providing an ARC of the book.

In The Serviceberry, Robin Wall Kimmerer succinctly articulates what many feel intuitively without precisely knowing the words. Economies that prioritize personal connection, both with our fellow humans and with the earth itself, are the only sustainable path forward.

As expected, Kimmerer writes beautifully, delicately weaving her botanical expertise with personal anecdotes.

This is a lovely accessible introduction to the spiritual, interpersonal, and material benefits of gift economies. Long enough to give you something to mull over, short enough to leave you craving more.

ARC provided by NetGalley and Scribner.

The world needs to hear more from Kimmerer. Her perspective is critical and we really can’t immerse ourselves enough in it. We have a lot of decolonizing work to do and she is giving us the toolkit.

Thanks to Net Galley and Simon and Schuster for an advance copy of this beautiful little book. Such wisdom and insights on appreciating the earth and sharing the gifts it provides. By passing along each gift, a personal connection is made- which in itself is priceless.

"The Serviceberry" is an expansion on some of the threads woven into "Braiding Sweetgrass," and truly a can't miss piece. This is a look at how the gift economy can exist within the confines of capitalism and a scarcity economy, and it's really remarkable to think through it all with Kimmerer's attention to natural detail

Thank you to the publisher and Netgalley for giving me an early look at "The Serviceberry."

I loved reading Braiding Sweetgrass so I was excited to be sent an ARC of Robin Wall Kimmerer's newest work. In all of her work you can feel how much she care's about the earth, and want's her readers to feel the same. Her discussions on capitalism and gift giving were extremely interesting. Thinking about capitalism and the damage it as done to communities can be disheartening, but reading about Kimmerer's views on reciprocal gift giving can really make a person feel inspired. Reading the Serviceberry has made me think about actions that I can personally take to create more reciprocity in my relationships, and I hope others will think the same.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for providing me with an eARC of this book!

Having read and loved Braiding Sweetgrass, this was high on my list of anticipated releases. I will read anything Kimmerer puts out. She is so smart, and you can feel how much she cares with every word.

I did not know going in that this started as an essay that became expanded upon, so this is a great place to start with Kimmerer's work if you're new to her. I was a little sad that I couldn't sink my teeth in like with Braiding Sweetgrass, but this turned out to be exactly what I needed.

The concepts discussed are not new but are so important if we want to sustain life in any regard. As somebody who wishes capitalism wasn't a thing because it's absurd, but am only one person leading me to feel discouraged and depressed, Kimmerer swoops in and reminds me that small acts can lead to big change. I can't wait until this is released so I can share all of the fabulous quotes.

I loved this. 🫶