We live in a time when every choice matters. The Serviceberry by Robin Wall Kimmerer

“When an economic system actively destroys what we love, isn’t it time for a different system?” Robin Wall Kimmerer asks us in The Serviceberry. She contrasts the Indigenous idea of a gift economy, where one views abundance as a gift to be shared, to the market economy that allows wealth to be privately held by a few.

Her illustration is the native serviceberry tree, whose berries were a staple that Native Americans used in pemmican. “Imagine a fruit that tastes like a Blueberry crossed with the satisfying heft of an Apple, a touch of rosewater, and a minuscule crunch of almond-flavored seeds.” Birds and animals rely on the berries.

She tells of a woman whose Serviceberry trees were so productive, she gave the berries away, an example of a gift economy where wone with an abundance shares with others. She references public libraries as another example of a gift economy, for the books belong to everyone.

Take only what you need, what is given. Never take over half or waste what you have been given. This teaching is contrary to a market economy focusing on buying more, waste actually a positive: buy cheap, toss, buy more, keep the factories going.

I participate on a social media site for our city where we give stuff away. People get what they need, and items are recycled and not trashed. A few years back, our apple trees were so productive we couldn’t keep up. We made applesauce and apple butter and froze them and baked. We have given away boxes of apples. Our two mile square city has a half dozen Little Free Libraries. My weekly quilt group brings fabric and patterns and supplies to give away on the ‘free table” and we often share quilts we entirely made with fabric found there.

People do want to share.

It will take a revolution, or worse, to change the market economy. But we can each personally choose to live with gratitude, sharing what we have.

Thanks to the publisher for a free book through NetGalley.

Want to live a better life? Get enough sleep, stay hydrated, eat healthy foods, take walks, and read anything and everything by Robin Wall Kimmerer. Then try the next step, put what you read into action. This action might take the form of participating in some form of a gift economy, which is the hefty and thought-provoking message of her newest book, The Serviceberry: Abundance and Reciprocity in the Natural World. It’s a small book and an audacious one, filled with large theories of ideas of how to foster a different kind of economic model based on symbiotic principles found in the natural world, which RWK sees and internalized and replicated by different societies (including her own as a scientist and a member of the Potawatomi nation) Forming the core of her theory and critical analysisis the illustrative biological life of the serviceberry plant/tree and how the overlapping needs of the many stakeholders are met through cooperation instead of competition, with the nation of scarcity a manufactured concept to limit resources and drive up prices and demand. This may sound like an overreach, but RWK’s writing is a unique combination of scientific backed evidence overlaid with riveting lyrical writing. As always she writes love letters to the natural world and cautionary tales for those that would misuse it. Could this be more timely? We all owe RWK a great debt of gratitude for this wonderful palm sized miracle of a book.

I love everything robin wall kimmermer writes and this is no exemption. Just like all her other books, this one left me reflecting on my own relationship with nature and the world. Everyone should rad this and her other books, they are full of so much wisdom and knowledge that everyone could benefit from. Will absolutely be purchasing this to add to my own collection

This read came at the exact right time.

Robin Wall-Kimmerer does a fantastic job of weaving economic observation with botanical and indigenous knowledge. I learned so much and had some of my heart healed.

I cannot wait to purchase a finished copy.

Robin Wall Kimmerer has done it again. Another incredible book using Wall Kimmerer's narrative style merging of biology and indigenous wisdom through stories and anecdotes. The serviceberry is a natural system based upon the principle of a gift economy through nature, and speculation on how we as a society could learn from this. I am always highly recommending Robin Wall Kimmerer's other works, including Braiding Sweetgrass and Gathering Moss-this will be another title to add to the list. It brings me hope and joy to think that these books will spark a more thoughtful, reverent and conscious future in those who come across them.

Many thanks to NetGalley and Scribner for the advance reader copy in exchange for my honest review.

This book was a soothing, healing balm. I thought it was going to be a scientific book about the serviceberry. What I got was a pleasant surprise about sharing, mutual respect, and circular, ecological economies. This book inspired me to consume less, give generously, and adopt a mindset of abundance and gratitude. For readers who enjoyed Braiding Sweetgrass but maybe got lost in the weeds, this book is a delightful short manifesto to get us back on the track of reciprocity with our earth.

Book Review -The Serviceberry: Abundance and Reciprocity in the Natural World
by Robin Wall Kimmerer

Robin Wall Kimmerer, the author of Braiding Sweetgrass, has written an extended essay exploring the ethics of reciprocity and the concept of a gift economy. As we’ve grown to expect, Kimmerer seamlessly draws connections between indigenous wisdom, nature and the human world. In The Serviceberry, the author leans on the example of the serviceberry tree which forms a reciprocal relationship with the birds it feeds. She draws on this system of sharing and interdependence, generosity and abundance as a possible model for our own communities. Kimmerer states that we are not strangers to systems that share common resources, such as public libraries, parks and public trails, that exist in parallel to market economies. The author offers some basic practices to begin to cultivate gift economies in our own communities. She invites the reader to organize in a manner that identifies us as “ecosystem citizens” first, and consumers second.

I particularly enjoyed the equally intelligent and relatable approach Kimmerer brings to the discussion of economics. Her emphasis on abundance and mindful consumption, as a means of nurturing mutual well-being also stood out to me. Bonus - the book is beautifully illustrated by John Burgoyne

Many thanks to the author @RobinWallKimmerer, @ScribnerBooks, and @NetGalley for the pleasure of reading this digital book in exchange for an honest review.

Well, no surprise that this was stunning. How Kimmerer can pack such a gentle punch in just a few pages never ceases to amaze me.

‘I lament my own immersion in an economy that grinds what is beautiful and unique into dollars, converts gifts to commodities in a currency that enables us to purchase things we don’t really need while destroying what we do.’

Human connection to each other, our environment and the beings we share with it is truly all that matters. I’m leaving this piece feeling reenergized in the fight for climate justice, and grateful for the reminder that sharing really is caring. We need each other! Give more, take less, small changes in a cruel system do make a difference.

Thank you NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

“The Serviceberry: Abundance and Reciprocity in the Natural World” by Robin Wall Kimmerer is a beautiful extended essay about a plant and berry called the serviceberry. With Kimmerer’s elegant writing style, accompanied by beautiful illustrations by John Burgoyne, she weaves in thoughts about the gift economy, the limits of our current economy that is based on scarcity and ecology. Her vision of community such as sharing produce is inspiring. For example, she talks about cultures where wealth is measured by how much you can share versus save. I wanted to read this because I am interested in native plants, and I loved “Braiding Sweetgrass.” I’m so glad I did because this short book gave me a lot to think about. I hope that I get to taste a serviceberry soon as well! Thanks to Scribner and NetGalley for the eARC.

I thought this was a really lovely essay about what we can learn from the serviceberry and ecology more broadly about gratitude, reciprocity, community, and gift economies. I found it's message very inspiring.

What a beautiful, hopeful and remarkably written text to inspire positive interaction with our whole community, not just the people but our natural wonders as well. Thank you!

In this extended essay Robin Wall Kimmerer uses the natural world example of the serviceberry to work through how changes in mindset could offset some of the harm of our modern economy. Fundamentally adopting an attitude of abundance and trust can bear so many gifts, both to an individual and to other elements of an environment.

Kimmerer is a master of telling these stories, weaving seemingly unrelated tales into a message that can transform my understanding. I enjoyed this immensely and will return to it again and again as I consider ways to adopt these ideas into my day to day consumption.

Thank you to the author, publisher, & NetGalley for providing an early review of this book to be released on 19, November 2024

I love the world view that Robin Wall Kimmerer has. This extended essay is focused on the Serviceberry and how it connects with reciprocity. It made me think about the gift economy and how it can be a part of mine and the ways that is already is.

Our economy is obsessed with scarcity, competition, get and have more, more, more. The serviceberries show us a different way—the gift economy in the natural world.

And beyond the birds and the berries… what can we learn from gift economies for ourselves? How can we model this as families, communities, and on a larger scale? Previously, I only knew this idea as “hobbit birthday parties,” something felt throughout the hobbit culture even if not explicitly named. In The Serviceberry, being introduced to gift economies of indigenous peoples and even some practices we have today as a contrast to our mixed/market economy is refreshing and exciting. It is a reliance on trust and mutual care.

“Gift economies arise from the abundance of gifts from the earth,” she says, and if we will rethink consumption and approach resources more mindfully, we nurture our relationships and interconnectedness instead.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the opportunity to read and review. I am honored and highly recommend The Serviceberry.

Robin Wall Kimmerer is absolutely brilliant and I love her writing---the soulfulness and beauty of it, and the kinds of themes she interweaves. So happy I had the chance to read this early!

A great read about the economics of a serviceberry and gifting in a society and how it could change our attitudes about the world we live in. It uses the serviceberry as a lesson and its history and an example of what a gifting economy would look like in the world. We need to regain our humanity and this book sheds some light on one direction we could take to achieve a better life.

I love Kimmerer so much, and her first book really radically changed my worldview. This small book dives more in depth into the idea of a gift economy that she introduced in "Braiding Sweetgrass." Again, I am blown away by her way of putting things and the simplicity with which she speaks of a concept and worldview that have the power to save the world if only we would embrace them. Her way of explaining indigenous ways of knowing really sings to my soul, and I will read anything that she writes.

I love everything about this book. The mix of ecology and economics as well as the championing of a gift economy and better, more thoughtful relationships with the world around us is such a nice read. The style and voice is strong and informative and it just makes me want to do more somehow.

Thanks NetGalley for the ARC

For a short book - more like a long essay - this one definitely packs a punch. Don't let the calming sweetness of the author's voice lull you into complacency, as you will actually be digging deep into some very interesting ideas about theories of economics and discussions about how to look at economics in a different way. She builds on the theme of reciprocity which is huge in Braiding Sweetgrass, and she brings in the gift economy and how to start trying to heal the world after we've seriously damaged it with our capitalistic supply and demand and extraction based resource use. She offers some thoughts on how to even start small so you don't feel hopeless in the face of billionaires and climate change. This was a wonderful book and truly just what I needed to read in the weeks leading up to the US election. I highly recommend it! Thank you Netgalley for the advance copy.

I LOVE Robin Wall Kimmerer! Braiding Sweetgrass is one of my all-time favorite books, and this one is also excellent. It's much shorter than Braiding Sweetgrass and focuses entirely on the concept of gift economies modeled on the natural world that we can implement in our own lives. Since reading this book I've thought more intentionally about gift economies in my own life and the idea of reciprocity, particularly among friendships.