Innovative and original, Simons’s guide asks readers to care for themselves and their own balance and wellness but also “to form an underground web of connection with each other, like aspen trees do” and to aspire to nothing less than “a shift in how we relate to each other and to the whole of the living Earth.” Drawing from indigenous traditions, a deep interest in intuition and dreams, and practical and spiritual-minded conversations with thinkers like V. (formerly Eve Ensler) and Terry Tempest Williams, Nature, Culture, & the Sacred stands apart for its breadth and richness, especially in its clear-eyed linking of attention to injustice, from Standing Rock to civil rights to multinational corporations abuses of indigenous populations, and its conviction that we each have the tools to contribute to change.

Simons emphasizes storytelling techniques and exercises to expose truths, build movements, achieve social change, and even “shift our relationship to time.” Profiles of “sheros” whose work embodies Simons’ conception of “emergent, love-inspired leadership” both round out the book and demonstrate the power of those storytelling techniques. Each chapter ends with “Prompts for Deeper Learning”—“How might you strengthen your partnering with others to leverage power?”—that challenge readers in ways few books do.

Takeaway: This uplifting guide to transformative change challenges readers to face a global war on women.

Great for fans of: 25 Transformational Stories From Women Making An Impact In The Lives Of Others, Julie Burton and Chris Olsen’s Her Path Forward.

Production grades
Cover: A-
Design and typography: A
Illustrations: N/A
Editing: A
Marketing copy: A