I received a free copy from the publisher through Netgalley and voluntarily reviewed it.

I am so glad I got this one through Netgalley. This book changed how I think about nature and ecology. It has expanded my knowledge so much and I loved learning so much in depth knowledge about a topic I am interested in, but knew little about. It was so engaging reading this book and learning more about how ecosystems work, the importance of pollinators, caterpillars, the way individual people can help and more.

I liked the positive tone of this book. While it shares a lot of sad reality about how nature isn't doing well, the author very much focuses on what we can do to help. I liked realizing the impact even a single yard can have and how the author explains how to handle this. I also liked how he also understands people want some specific plants that might not be natives or still have lawn in their yard and how to incorporate those and still have your lawn help the ecosystem as well. It was obvious how much knowledge he has about the topic.

This is book is fully made up of questions the author got asked and his answers to those. These questions are sorted by theme in a chapter. I liked this way of organizing the book as there would be a lot of questions and thus information about a certain topic before moving on to the next. I liked how the question and answer format allowed me to easily pick it up and read for as long as I wanted. It was easy to pick it up and get back into it with a new question and I could set the book aside after reading one or more questions.

It took me a long time to get through this book as I wanted to take my time and allow for my brain to process the new information. Some days I didn't read at all, some days I read one or a few questions and other days I could read whole pages in a row. I enjoyed being able to experience this book that way and to expand my knowledge. It inspired me and if a future house has a garden I definitely want to apply some of the things I learned from this book.

The focus of the book is on the United States and it names specific plants and flowers that are native to the USA or issues that currently play in the USA. Despite not living in the USA I thought this book was very helpful as a lot of the general principles apply across continents. It made me excited to look up what native plants are in the Netherlands and hopefully find some good sources for that.

To summarize: I really enjoyed this book. It was awesome learning so much new information about a topic I am interested in, but didn't know a lot about. This book vastly expanded my knowledge of nature and ecology. It also inspired me to apply some of the ideas to my own garden if a future house has one. I liked the question and answer style of the book with the questions grouped per topic. It was easy to pick the book up and read as many questions with answers as I wanted. I also really liked the encouraging tone and the focus on how individual people can make a difference and help nature with their yard. All in all I had an awesome time reading this book and can recommend it to everyone wanting to know more about ecology and what they can do to help nature.

DNF'ed at around 40% simply because this book wasn't what I was personally looking for. It's great if you have a particular project in mind, or perhaps if you flip through it when you have a VERY specific question about a real-world ecosystem you interact with. I think this is a perfect book to own in physical form as part of a broader collection of ecology books that you browse regularly. But for a casual reader looking to learn more about ecosystem restoration and the like, this format just doesn't do it, so I'm moving on. Thank you to NetGalley for providing this copy! I will likely still recommend this book from time to time when the moment is right for it.

Filled with questions and knowledgeable answers, this book by Doug Tallamy fills a niche for those wanting to learn both broadly and in depth about creating ecosystems using native plantings. It’s a great read and I highly recommend it.

This is a great book for anyone wanting to learn more about biodiversity and sustainability right in your own backyard. I enjoyed the question and answer format of this book. This format made it a little different than his other books but it was still a great read and full of great information for anyone interested in nature, gardening, biodiversity and sustainability.

As a reference book, I think this is top notch. I also appreciated the simple but effective question and answer layout. I gave it four stars because the tone is quite dry at times. That's why as a reference book it works because you're looking for quick answers and not a casual read from front to back. Also, the pictures used were fascinating.

Many of do not know where to start with conservation and are overwhelmed. The author uses l\lectures to show us how to use conservation in our own backyards. He talks about evolution and the environment and how we can use ell this ourselves in oiur own environment. I recommend this book for environment readers.

I thoroughly enjoyed Nature’s Best Hope (2020) and I love love love that the author followed it up with a Q&A book. It is just that.: a book of our questions and his answers. Simple, but super concept. For sure, this is a book I’ll be buying and coming back to again and again.
4 stars!

The content of How Can I Help? is fantastic! The ease of reading is meh.
The book is chunked into major topics, which helps you hone in on the section you're looking to read about, and Tallamy gives great answers to questions that many of us may have about things like transforming our yards, oak trees, invasive species, and native plants. Within each section of the book is a series of questions and answers. It's difficult to read for an extended time as it feels disjointed. Additionally, there is no further breakdown within each large section, so if you're looking for something specific, you'll read the whole section to find it.

I love the advice and think this book brings a bounty of knowledge. However, it's hard to use to its full potential.

Good info for gardeners and backyard bird watchers. Will be one to put out on display in the spring and summer as people are doing planting for the season.

The problem begins with our estrangement from nature…
Urban Sprawl: in 2009, 80% of the people in the world lived in or near a town or city. In the state of Washington alone, over 35,000 acres of wildlife habitat are destroyed or degraded each year for housing and other development. Rural settings are no longer safe havens for native species due to monocropping, GMOs, and pesticide use, causing wildlife to immigrate into cities and suburbs in the search of food and shelter.

Urban public spaces, parks, yards, and parking strips appear green but are often planted with turf-grass and exotic or invasive plants which offer little or no sustenance to native fauna. Worryingly, the EPA reports that homeowners in the U.S. use 70 million pounds of herbicides & pesticides per year. The ugly reality is that your backyard may be laced with a toxic cocktail of chemicals that are deadly. Of 30 commonly used lawn pesticides 19 are found in our groundwater, 22 are toxic to birds, all 30 are toxic to fish and aquatic organisms, 29 are deadly to bees, and 14 are toxic for mammals; some fungicides and pesticides can kill 60-90% of the earthworms where they are applied. In addition, the EPA reports that the run-off from lawn care products into our fresh water includes carcinogens, hormonal disruptors, and neurotoxins, and that there are no federal regulations for these products.

How Can I Help? Saving Nature with Your Yard by Douglas Tallamy offers many answers. He outlines how individuals and families can take small actions that add up to create backyard wildlife sanctuaries that create healthy ecosystems and wildlife corridors in our neighborhoods.

This book will enhance any library. It is easy to navigate and has information for both beginners and seasoned gardeners. I would recommend this book for homeowners, teachers, and gardeners, or anyone really, who yearns to reconnect with nature.

How Can I Help? is a great guide if you want to increase the biodiversity and sustainability of your yard. Imagine if everyone did their little bit? I'm so excited to put a lot of the described practices into place.

This is an excellent book by the leader of the movement to save our birds and all of nature by planting native plants and trees. It is an extreme deep dive into the subject in the form of questions and answers. At over 300 pages, it is not for light reading but it will tell you anything you need to know.

I read a temporary digital copy of this book for review.