Do You Know How Trees Work?

Reading is not for everyone.  

In fact, I think my Dad has read one novel in his life. He may argue he's read more, but that's if you count Arnold Schwarzenegger's workout guides. Hey, I wasn't always a reader either. Up until the second grade, I think most of my teachers didn't think I could read. I recall moments of looking at words on a page, understanding what they meant, but when the teacher called on me to read them - I'd freeze. It wasn't until my Mom made me do our school reading challenge did I actively start reading. I remember being so motivated to win the grand prize - free tickets to Six Flags! But a lot of the motivation also stemmed from being able to choose my own stories, rather than have them be assigned by a teacher. 

Fast forward to adulthood and I realized I wasn't reading as much as I used to. I had lost that motivation, and I was definitely over Six Flags. I tried some book clubs with friends that always fell through, but honestly I just couldn't find anything interesting. I still longed to be enraptured in a story. So as second grade Kayla did, I joined another reading challenge (this time on Goodreads). I had to read 12 books in one year. It was close, but I completed it last minute by cramming in a couple books at the end of the year. But it didn't feel like a chore - books were fun again and I was eager to move on to the next read.

This year I started the challenge again, but my boyfriend pushed me to increase my number. I put in 26.  I didn't think I'd come close to completing it, but I guess it wouldn't have been a challenge then.

When choosing my reads, I usually go back and forth between fiction and non-fiction. Reading fiction has the tendency to enlighten my creative side, and also makes me more socially aware. Non-fictional reads are purely informational. That might seem boring to some, but they aren't like textbooks. If it is, put it down and go look for something more inspirational.

I like to think of reading non-fiction as a form of self-improvement. Why? Well for starters you made the choice to learn something new. I think that choice is enough of a reason already. Second, you actually learn something new. Admit it - you don't know everything. Lastly, not only do these topics make great conversation starters, but they make you more appreciative of the subject at hand. A lot of books have had this effect on me, and I wanted to start sharing them with you.

My first recommendation is, "The Hidden Life of Trees" by Peter Wohlleben.

You must read this book.

A good friend recommended this book to me, and I'll be honest, I had no interest in reading about trees. I imagined the author talking about a tree and saying the same thing over and over again. Then it would end with why we need to save the Earth. However, my friend insisted. Plus she had read books I recommended to her so now I was just starting to feel bad. I downloaded the book, relieved it was on the shorter side (less than 300 pages), and dived in.

I took a Horticulture course in college and I despised it. The most valuable information I learned in this course was that because of a plant's upright position, water travels faster down to the roots. This is why you should stand your kitchen sponge up rather than laying it flat to dry. It prevents that wet, moldy smell. But allow me to say that if this class had us read this book, or even delivered the same information, I'd probably be an Arborist right now. Every chapter had something incredibly different and new to learn- just about trees! Those trees that sit in front of our house, that we walk by everyday, that we sit under during lunch. Those trees are absolutely fascinating.

Going back to my reason of being more appreciative of the reading subject, this book aced it. Trees are not just plants - they are alive, aware, and mysterious. Surprisingly, we still don't know how they truly work. We send rockets out to space, we sequence DNA, we create differential equations, but can you believe we still don't understand everything about trees? They've shared our home with us since Day 1- it's incredible to realize we haven't completely figured them out.

This book contributed to my continuous reading spiral. How's that challenge going? I've read 24 of 26 books so far this year- two to go! And if you think I'm going to stop when I reach my goal, you're silly. Go read this book to see what I mean - sometimes it's the simplest things that inspire us.