This was certainly a very different book from the ones I usually would read. It is deeply insightful and I thoroughly liked reading about relationships. Thank you net galley and the publisher for the copy.

The Oak Papers is an ode to oaks. The author shares thoughts and observations he formed while spending time with an 800-year old Honywood Oak on an estate in Sussex, England. He also writes about the uses and abuses of oaks throughout history. Sadly, while reading this book, my hometown was hit with a devastating ice storm that damaged many of the remaining oaks in the area.. It was a painful event made even more so by reading this book. Seeing what we are losing and cannot replace is heart-breaking. I have always loved our oak trees. I hope readers of this book form the same affection and are inspired to act to preserve our precious oaks.

In response to the end of a relationship which left him foundering, the author sought out a means to find some peace, some emotional equilibrium in his life. As a man with a leaning toward the natural world, Canton decided to look closer at some of the monumental oak trees that lived not far from him, particularly the Honywood Oak, which, at 800 years old, has witnessed so much of English history.

From the start, Canton asks permission to be physically close to this tree, a tree that has a small protective fence around it. He respects it and its caretakers and his respect deepens to something more as he returns again and again at different times of day, throughout the seasons, the year, then years, and learns of the true family of one oak tree and the family of creatures it supports. He learns and experiences the life cycle of all. He has written this book in a diary format of those visits.

And as he learns, he also finds himself changing emotionally. And he seeks out others who are naturalists, woodsmen or the like to learn of their experiences and more about trees and nature. Some of the information, both new and old, is really fascinating. I didn’t know that trees communicate to each other!

The personal journey is the meat of this book and the key takeaway for me is that it appears to be a journey each of us can take with necessary modifications, of course. I think my tree climbing days are well behind me so I would skip that.

I recommend this for those looking for a meditative book on the natural world.

A copy of this book was provided by the publisher through NetGalley in return for an honest review.

Thank you Netgalley for and advance copy of this book. Canton's tribute to the Oak was fitting to read as spring nears. It's meditative, thoughtful, and an investment in finding peace in oneself. I would like to sit beneath a canopy taking in Canton's words. This is a book I will revisit.

James Canton has written a lovely book about the peace he finds among trees—specifically, old oak trees.

Canton spent hours sitting next to, and sometimes in the branches of, a few favorite oaks. He observed everything around and within him. Noting the effect on himself led to a larger exploration.

He writes, “I made being beside an oak tree part of my daily ritual, like a religious practice.”

It’s nature writing and personal exploration, with a dash of history thrown in. The writing is beautiful: “The darkness of winter settles upon the earth slowly like a vast cloud that gradually floats across the sun and steals the light.”

This is a book to be read slowly and savored. Perhaps outside, while sitting under a tree, or indoors, looking longingly at bare, wintry branches.

I am a city slicker, and I love it. But I also long to spend more time outdoors. There are many poems and books written about this, but I just can't relate to them because they are generally written by outdoorsy types who clearly have at least a little disdain for concrete pounders like me. I was worried this book would be the same, but it is not. Author James Canton is a city person himself who, while nursing a broken hearts, begins to contemplate nature in the form of an old oak tree. The oak tree becomes a metaphor of sorts for life and its stages and gives the reader an appreciation for these ultra strong giants, and for nature itself and all it has to offer. It was easy to go along on this mental journey with Canton, and I think many will begin to appreciate things like trees or nature that we take for granted. The questions that the text asks of us about our future and how nature fits into it, are ones that will stay with you long after you have finished this thought-provoking book. I find myself pondering over some of the questions he posits (or that I myself asked as I read) even today.

To be honest, this book bored me a little at first, an English guy regularly stepping away from his daily life to spend time with
an 800-year-old oak tree, but it quickly grew on me as he discovers an alluring tranquility that makes his visits to the oak almost a spiritual practice. James Canton’s vivid descriptions, his research and reflections, and the appeal of the oaks themselves also help.

It’s an interesting exercise to spend times outdoors in nature, in the same place, at different times of the day over the course of a year, and follow, without ever mentioning her, Mary Oliver’s advice: “Pay attention, Be astonished. Tell about it.” It’s not enough to sit inside, the way I observe my garden and its creatures from the comfort of the loveseat in the sunroom. One has to go outdoors and be exposed to the weather, listen to the birds, touch the rough bark of the oak tree, sit leaning against its sturdy trunk or climb up into its boughs. It’s not even enough to walk through the woods with an occasional pause to notice the acorn woodpecker swooping across blue sky or the fresh spring green tips of the ferns beside the creek. You need to sit down, butt on earth, and be a part of it all for a while. This is exactly what James Canton does; then he writes about it, mixing diary entries with what he learns about oaks through observation, interviews, and reading. As he explores the botany, history, and lore of oaks, he touches on some of my favorite topics:Druids, forest bathing, the mycorrhizal network of the “Wood Wide Web”

A more vigorous editor might have pruned Canton’s excesses, e.g., descriptions of rapture can ring a little callow even though he is clearly a writer of maturity and depth; a conversation, as stimulating and fun as it might have been in person, gets tiresome when recorded in its entirety on the page. But these are just quibbles. I’m grateful to Canton for sharing his experience in such a way that the reader too comes to feel the calm and peace that he enjoys among oak trees. This is the kind of book I like to keep by my bedside, soothing reading to carry me into sleep.

During troubled times of a human relationship, the author finds solace from an 800-year-old oak in England, and later repeats the pattern with others. This led to a book combining journal entries of observed moments of the natural world with a review of ancient history and literature related to oak trees. It’s an OK (omitting the a) book, but really more about people’s reaction to oaks than the oaks themselves, more psychology than ecology.

Thanks to Harper One and NetGalley for an advance copy.

This book had a lot to learn about so many different kinds of trees. I enjoyed reading this book and recommend it to anyone. Thank you.

Love story about a 500 year old oak tree. Great book of meditation for all nature lovers, especially lovers of trees.

I received this book as a free ARC thanks to Netgalley & the publisher. This is my honest review.

“To gaze at the stars, to be in the company of oaks that will live so far beyond us, gives us peace, gives us the capacity to see ourselves in the context of a world so much more infinite, more significant than our own.”

Sometimes a book finds you. That’s how I feel about the Oak Papers - I had requested this title a while back because I thought that it sounded unique and I enjoy books on meditation. Little did I know how perfect this meditation on nature, specifically oak trees, would be - especially during an exceptionally stressful & difficult time. I also now feel called to spend some quality time out in the park.

“Was there a time when humans did not strike fear and alarm into the natural world around them?” The Oak Papers also gives a stark reminder of the destruction that careless, reckless, or even vengeful humans can leave in their wake and urges the reader to do better!

I found the following quote to be particularly meaningful (I literally gasped when I read it) because this is true of some many things in nature and around us in general. Going through life only selfishly focused on your own perceived issues and uncaring about those around you can only lead to destruction. “If we are not aware and alert, other men will come with chainsaws and take down the remaining bodies of the great oaks that live upon this earth. And if we do not protect the young oaks that have only now begun to grow, there will be no great oaks in the future. In eight hundred years’ time, will there be any ancient oaks in these lands?”

Thanks to NetGalley for providing an ARC in exchange for an honest review.
5 out of 5 stars.
“It is the treecreepers I have come to see today.”
Let me start by saying that I love trees. Since I was a child I have had an obsession with trees, likely due to the fact that I grew up in Maine surrounded by acres of trees, and my childhood was spent either indoors reading due to the winter outside, or running through the woods, hopping rocks across streams, or swimming. But the trees were always there.
This is a beautiful love story to oaks. Not only does the author take us through a journey through his own history, but he also goes back – way back – in history beyond himself to give us stories of trees through the ages.
This is a beautiful mixture of stories, quotes, science, emotion, journaling, imagery, memory, lullabies, songs, folklore, poetry, history, language… It was truly a work of art. I know that when he mentions the treecreepers he is referring to birds, but I love to imagine myself as a treecreeper – someone who loves to spend their time beneath the boughs of the trees, who feels the soul through the bark, senses the blood in the sap, finds complete beauty in the leaves through the seasons and even the bare branches in the winter.

Anyone who knows me knows I love oak trees. I didn’t know what to expect from this book other than the author was also a lover of oak trees. This book must be read when you’re in the right mood, otherwise it’s boring. I was sometimes captivated and sometimes bored.
If you’ve got a decent imagination and you’re looking for a lyrical, meditative book all about whisking you away into the world next to an oak tree through all seasons then this is exactly what you want. I am impressed by the author’s ability to continue to describe the feelings and sights and senses and sounds without repeating himself at all. That takes skill.

Beautiful writing, quite meditative and woven with lovely literary quotes and facts about mostly oaks but also other trees. Tree lovers will love it...those of us who enjoy nature but aren't as obsessed by oaks might find it a bit repetitive.

This was an absolutely beautiful title and the nature lover in me loved every page. There is something to be said about communing with the natural world and the author encouraged me to take up this practice again. I learned a lot about ecology I did not know and would love to see this tree in person. A great read for any nature lovers!

I just finished THE OAK PAPERS by James Canton. There was so much about oak trees: the history, importance, symbolism- in comparison to humans and nature. The story seemed well researched and thoughtful. The author reflecting on his draw to the magnificent oak, in times of uncertainty, and in meditation was quite interesting.

I liked this meditation on a tree (nature), but it won't be for everyone. The writing is very thoughtful and deep at times. Recommended for nature lovers.

Thanks very much for the ARC for review!!

After suffering a relationship breakup, James Canton begins visiting an 800-year-old oak tree, the so-called Honywood Oak in Essex, England (as well as two others near his home) for solace, and over the next two years, keeps a diary of his visits and interviews psychologists, scientists, spiritualists and woodworkers to puzzle out exactly why what the Japanese call “shinrin-yoku,” or “forest bathing,” is so emotionally beneficial. The results of these conversations, as well as entries from his diaries and excerpts from poetry and literature, are collected in “The Oak Papers,” an engaging deep dive into oak trees. While there is science here (for example, that trees give off phytoncides, which are chemicals that have a measurable effect on human physiology), the tenor of this book is much more literary and spiritual—even etymological, as when Canton explains that the Celtic word Druid comes from “dru,” meaning oak, and “wid,” translated as “to see or to know.” Canton seeks to become one of those with “oak knowledge,” and the reader is invited to follow him on his journey, one of the chief pleasures of which is reading Canton’s beautiful nature writing, as when he describes how the oak’s “twisting branches flare and fly into the blue sky like witches’ hair.” Given that Canton chronicles his visits to oak trees over two years, the entires can feel a little repetitive at times, and I think the book would have benefitted from tighter editing. But “The Oak Papers” will be appreciated and enjoyed by anyone looking to experience a little therapeutic forest bathing from the comfort of home.

Thank you to NetGalley and HarperCollins for providing me with an ARC of this title in return for my honest review.

Canton uses nature not as something to conquer but a way to connect. He spent years visiting the 800 year old Honywood Oak, reveling in it's majesty and picking up a few lessons along the way.

Throughout the Papers he explores his growing affinity to the natural world, and the solace which he receives from the tree. The book is graced with a variety of characters, all who have the same slow gravity of Canton, but who bring a variety of perspectives to the healing he receives from the Honywood Oak. These were my favorite parts. Canton’s discussions with others felt like therapy and were relatively fast paced compared to other passages of him describing the days under the oak.

Papers is a calming, but occasionally sleepy, book. I wished I could have heard more about Canton’s motivation to seek out the oaks, but I loved his ongoing research about the combined history of humans and oaks. The intricate details he picks out - from the bark to the creatures who live within the oak - will make me slow down on my next hike.

The Oak Papers by James Canton exposes the reader to the sublime relationship the author maintains with the mighty oak tree. Particular attention is spent on a four hundred year old tree on an Essex estate. There are natural descriptions in this book that rival the most beautiful words I have ever read. Poetic and informative, the author is a gifted writer.
This book, however, is not a quick read. It is the length of the book and the stationary subject that promotes prolonged interaction with the text, much like the author and his beloved tree. "Let's stay a while and enjoy," the book seems to say. There is not much action. The reader must be invested to appreciate the work.
I like trees. In fact, I have a tree I visit every so often, so I "get" what the author is doing. I highly praise Canton's poetic descriptions. His knowledge of literature celebrating oaks is also impressive . Sometimes, though, I would have preferred the author to include more personal associations in addition.
Overall, I recommend The Oak Papers to readers who appreciate the stillness that accompanies the contemplation of a tree or anything beautiful in nature.