camoo3032's review against another edition
informative
reflective
slow-paced
2.5
This book is an autobiography interdispersed with science. Although both were interesting, the way they were spread throughout the book disrupted the flow of it. You never knew what the next page would contain (personal life or method of an experiment)
Content Warnings
Moderate: Medical content and Cancer
Minor: Injury/Injury detail, Blood, Death, Misogyny, War, Car accident, Child abuse, Pregnancy, and Grief
sally96's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
slow-paced
5.0
electricdryad's review
challenging
emotional
hopeful
informative
inspiring
reflective
slow-paced
4.5
neladon's review against another edition
adventurous
informative
inspiring
mysterious
reflective
medium-paced
3.5
apriladventuring's review against another edition
informative
slow-paced
3.5
📚 Book #85: “Finding the Mother Tree” by Suzanne Simard
📕 This book is Simard's memoir of her time researching the communication between trees through fungal networks. Growing up in a logging family, she was familiar with the forests and quickly took to studying the connections between birches, firs, and larches in her local forests. She faced tons of scrutiny in a male-dominated field, especially as she proposed ideas that went against the mainstream. Throughout all this, Simard works through the challenges or raising children, maintaining a healthy marriage, and pushing against policy-makers.
⭐️⭐️⭐️💫 3.5/5: I expected to like this more, but found it a bit inconsistent. It quickly jumped from highly interesting to slow and boring. Simard is credited with much of our understanding of the "wood wide web." She conducted several brilliant experiments to determine the interconnectedness of plants in the forest and the mycorrhizal network. All of this is cool to learn about, but is interspersed with a little too much personal memoir that I feel could have been a separate and more intentional book. I appreciated that Simard acknowledges her research confirms what indigenous populations have long known. It felt like "Braiding Sweetgrass" but wasn't pulled off as well.
🤓 You should read this if you want to learn more about the scientific method as it pertains to being in the field, or about mycorrhizal fungi. If you liked "Braiding Sweetgrass" Robin Wall Kimmerer or "Entangled Life" by Merlin Sheldrake, you may like this.
📕 This book is Simard's memoir of her time researching the communication between trees through fungal networks. Growing up in a logging family, she was familiar with the forests and quickly took to studying the connections between birches, firs, and larches in her local forests. She faced tons of scrutiny in a male-dominated field, especially as she proposed ideas that went against the mainstream. Throughout all this, Simard works through the challenges or raising children, maintaining a healthy marriage, and pushing against policy-makers.
⭐️⭐️⭐️💫 3.5/5: I expected to like this more, but found it a bit inconsistent. It quickly jumped from highly interesting to slow and boring. Simard is credited with much of our understanding of the "wood wide web." She conducted several brilliant experiments to determine the interconnectedness of plants in the forest and the mycorrhizal network. All of this is cool to learn about, but is interspersed with a little too much personal memoir that I feel could have been a separate and more intentional book. I appreciated that Simard acknowledges her research confirms what indigenous populations have long known. It felt like "Braiding Sweetgrass" but wasn't pulled off as well.
🤓 You should read this if you want to learn more about the scientific method as it pertains to being in the field, or about mycorrhizal fungi. If you liked "Braiding Sweetgrass" Robin Wall Kimmerer or "Entangled Life" by Merlin Sheldrake, you may like this.
bookbirder's review against another edition
5.0
I loved this book and would recommend it to anybody with the slightest interest in their environment. It may be long and non-fiction, but it is well-written with a chronological story and the results of many interesting studies. I actually found it easier to read than the much shorter [b:The Hidden Life of Trees: What They Feel, How They Communicate – Discoveries from a Secret World|28256439|The Hidden Life of Trees What They Feel, How They Communicate – Discoveries from a Secret World|Peter Wohlleben|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1464281905l/28256439._SX50_.jpg|48295241], due to the author's storytelling and the use of new research topics as the book progresses (as much as I enjoyed The Hidden Life of Trees, it did feel slightly repetitive in the topics covered).