Wow, I should not be in the least bit surprised that Robin Wall Kimmerer has written another incredible piece, and yet The Serviceberry absolutely enraptured me and made me consider how I can better incorporate the principles of the gift economy into my life. I think anyone who may, like me, abhor the fact that they are stuck in end stage capitalism, can maybe even feel leaving optimistic on how to make things just even a little better for yourself and your community.

Kimmermer presents the serviceberry as an analogy for the gift economy - how the birds who feast on the serviceberry help spread the seeds and allow for the serviceberry to flourish while at the same time ensuring the birds may continue to be nourished; to how people picking the berries may then provide the surplus to their neighbors, who may then make a pie, which is then shared. In the end, the gift economy is about fostering community - "the prosperity of the community grows from the flow of relationships, not the accumulation of goods"

She ends the book encouraging folks to determine how they can incorporate the gift economy into their own life, and I promise to continue to find ways to do just that and encourage anyone who could use a little hope to do the same and read The Serviceberry.

Thank you so much to NetGalley and to Scribner for the advanced copy.

Thank you for this! This is just beautiful. It has me thinking about food and abundance in a whole new way. And I want to try one of these berries. It also has me thinking of gifts in another way.
I recommended this to like minded friends before I even finished it. It spoke to my soul. I know it will speak to theirs too.

The Serviceberry by Robin Wall Kimmerer is a thought-provoking extended essay that explores the gift economy in the natural world. Using the example of a serviceberry tree, which forms a symbiotic relationship with birds, Kimmerer examines how we can foster sharing, generosity, and abundance in human communities. She highlights that, unlike market transactions, the gift economy operates without the expectation of direct compensation, relying instead on trust and mutual care.

Kimmerer draws parallels to systems like public libraries, which thrive alongside market economies by offering communal benefits without profit motives. Through her reflections, she challenges readers to rethink consumption and encourages a more mindful approach to resources—urging us to "harvest honorably" with responsibility, restraint, respect, reverence, and reciprocity.

A beautifully written book that used serviceberries and the natural world to illustrate and illuminate the author's understanding and hope for a better economic world. Kimmerer's voice is so strong that I once again felt like this was a conversation and the wisdom and thoughts that she imparted with this book lasted long after I finished reading. A book that I would recommend to anyone and everyone.

Robin Wall Kimmerer has such a poetic way of writing nonfiction!! I loved this book. I have a new-found love for serviceberries and all they do for the natural world. The serviceberry’s abundance and gifting has opened up a new perspective for how I want to approach community and loving others. Very beautiful, influential book!

A beautiful beautiful short book about the importance of community and a gift oriented economy (vs a capitalist economy). I highlighted so many diff passages in this book, its truly a gem and helped me to rethink a lot about mutual aid and plants, of course!

This was such an incredible book and truly inspired me. I highlighted so many passages, which I wish I could quote. But I will for sure be getting a copy once this is published so I can save and share some of the wonderful things and insights that Robin Wall Kimmerer has.

The premise of these essays was eye opening and I think changed my thinking about the world. I felt like giving back to the precious earth that I inhabit and I so grateful everyday that I get to be in this world. I wish that as a whole we could get away from such transactional encounters and live more by gifts and giving. There would be less war and violence. While reading this book it got me thinking about how water is something free that the world gives us, yet there are so many people who don't have access to clean water. That is so wild to me, that we have to pay for something like water that we NEED every single day, that is free from the earth. But we have commodified it and require folks to pay for access. It also made me think of the people in Occupied Palestine, who have never been able to access good water from the occupiers. How terrible that the colonizers block indigenous folks from accessing something like that.

Anyway, please read this. Be kind to the people who you see, give back when you can. The world needs that.

Thanks to NetGalley and Scribner for a free copy of this ARC!

Robin Wall Kimmerer excels at writing books that connect nature to human nature. In this short book, she connects the gifts the natural world offers to human gift economies. From there, she considers our capitalist economy and it's environmental toll and then circles back to what nature can teach us about our relationship with things and with others. As always thoughtful and thought provoking, Kimmerer's is an automatic read for me. Thank you to NetGalley for an advanced copy in return for my honest opinion.

Restraint. Respect. Reciprocity.
These three words sum up this delightful book on gift economics. We need to have everyone on earth hear this message!

Robin Wall Kimmerer's The Serviceberry ponders about our gift economy using something as simple as berries to relay the concept. This book weaves indigenous knowledge, ecology, philosophy, and sociology together to model how relationships of reciprocity and a give-and-take can benefit us all, rather than hoarding and selfish interests.

Thank you to NetGalley and Scribner for the ARC.

This was an easy read but it was incredibly impactful. I've never really thought of giving and sharing as an economic model but having read this book, I can see how world changing sharing could be. Indigenous practices are so intuitive and this is no exception.

If you are looking for a cozy, inspiring, and quick read for this holiday season, you have got to read The Serviceberry. Kimmerer is such a great essayist and weaves a tapestry with these writings on "gift economy" and its correlation to the berry. Each short essay had pieces that struck me, and the book, though short, carries a lot of impact.

Seriously, this is the perfect read for the holiday season. It's excellent.

Thanks to Netgalley and Scribner for the e-ARC!

I love Robin Wall Kimmerer. I loved the ideas she presented here and the characteristic beautiful language that she uses to present it. I only wished there was more.

She has such a way with words! I loved the concept of a mutual gift economy with nature and plants growing and extrapolating into the need for a gift economy in how we support each others work and efforts. Working for a nonprofit, I can see the reflection of this mutual give and take in how we support other organizations and receive support and funding from them in return. This book takes a concept as simple as sharing berries and makes a case for the end of capitalism as we know it. If that isn’t magic, what is?

I was so excited to see Robin Wall Kimmerer expanding on her essay in Essence magazine of the same name. Friends, she did not disappoint. The Serviceberries is an approachable, accessible book that will remain as relevant and as thought provoking as its predecessor “Braiding Sweetgrass” still is at 10+ years after its release. It should be required reading alongside any financial literacy curriculum, in my opinion.

I have pre-ordered my copy with Birchbark Books and encourage anyone and everyone to do the same. This book is ripe for holiday reading!

Take some time and enjoy this one.

Tokšá aké, book friends


Special thanks to Robin Wall Kimmerer for sharing this gift, Scribner and NetGalley for the opportunity to review an eARC. It was a complete joy to read; a breathe of fresh air.

I’ll
Update this review when I post to social, 2 weeks prior to it’s pub date, as requested.

The Serviceberry is a lovely and powerful essay on reciprocity and the potential of a gift economy in the face of our unsustainable current models— illustrated by the analogous natural systems that create the serviceberry and its ecosystem. It’s a timely message—thought-provoking and inspiring.

Astounding and thoughtful. I want to be guided by Robin for the rest of my life. Serviceberries are my favorite berry and I have picked them for years. I enjoyed learning more about them and especially from this author. This should be essential reading for all.

This essay was such a revelation about a gift economy. It makes so much sense; so much a book of hopefulness. I love Kimmerer’s voice.

What a lovely book! Using serviceberries as a central touchpoint, Robin Wall Kimmerer writes about interconnection, reciprocity, kindness — and the fact that our resources are limited, and we must give, share, and connect. The serviceberry tree produces (apparently) sweet, juicy berries, which are eaten by woodland creatures, who distribute the seeds as they roam.  Distributing the seeds this way ensures both the continuation of the serviceberry species and the animals that feed on it.  Neither is self-sufficient. It’s a lovely and timely message, well told.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC.

Reading Robin Wall Kimmerer's prose is something I find meditative, thoughtful, informative and inspiring. Similar to Braiding Sweetgrass, in The Serviceberry, a short and approachable read, Kimmerer shares her perspective of how things could be if there were some small and not-so-small shifts in how individuals and groups act in their everyday interactions and how they relate to the natural world around them. The line drawings that are interspersed in the book are similarly poignant in it's understated simplicity. There's a lot of food for thought in this slim volume and I hope it starts many conversations. Many thanks to NetGalley and Scribner for the e-arc.