- THE SERVICEBERRY is a meditation on community reciprocity. Kimmerer uses the serviceberry as a jumping off point, exploring how the ways the berry is woven into the ecosystem can teach us to do the same.
- Kimmerer talks about not only how a gift economy can benefit humanity at a large scale, but also the many small ways we are already doing it: Buy Nothing groups, Little Free Libraries, sharing extra garden produce, and more.
- I think if you are really committed to getting involved mutual aid and your community, this is a must read.

Loved this short book, really digs deep into the idea of gift economy and how it's benefits are reflected in nature through symbiosis.

Robin Wall Kimmerer's voice is more important than ever. How lucky we are to have her words. This book reads like an extended essay or meditation on the gift economy, leaving a lingering message on the heart.

Robin Wall Kimmerer is a treasure. Every word she writes is wise, loving, and authentic. She is a voice for nature, for beauty, for the better world that we know is possible.

The Serviceberry: Abundance and Reciprocity in the Natural World, conveys another significant message from Robin Wall Kimmerer to all people living on this planet. It is a call to action, a plea, a stern encouragement to stand and take note. To what degree will their/your/our/my presence count toward solutions or complicities in the problems faced by the coming generations?

Brilliantly she chooses for her talisman the serviceberry, noting its consistent evidence of "abundance and reciprocity in the natural world." I would usually say this is a short read as one last convincement to readers . . . .but it is not simply short. It is just right. Absolute perfect. The message we need now.

Do not miss RWK's thirteen Guidelines of the Honorable Harvest, a few of which are:

Introduce yourself. Be accountable as the one who comes asking for a life.

Ask permission before taking. Bide by the answer.

Never take the first one. Never take the last.

Take only what you need.

Take only that which is given.

Never take more than half. Leave some for others.

There are not enough stars for this book, this messenger. Let it fill your ears, eyes and heart. Flourish, heal. Recognize and abandon harmful lifeways. Find, share and appreciate the serviceberries in your path.

*A sincere thank you to Robin Wall Kimmerer, Scribner and NetGalley for an ARC to read and review independently.*

I was given a copy of this book by the publisher and Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

This was an interesting article, really, about the interconnection of nature and by expansion how humans can replace a free market economy for one based on free gifts. It is very well written, and I found parts of it educational, but it was a little too “much” for me. A little too much on the side of free gifts being the way to go. A little too much on the evil of free commerce. But definitely inspiring to share our gifts, whatever they may be, with our communities in order to make them better for everyone.

Robin Wall Kimmerer is a master storyteller! Her knowledge of her indigenous culture, botany, the earth and her way with words make all of her writings must reads for everyone!

In this very short text, Kimmerer creates a peaceful and soothing mood that makes me want to plant a garden and appreciate everything so much more. However, the message delivered by Kimmerer is anything but peaceful and soothing. The concepts of economics and colonization are explored just enough to make the reader say "hmm" and "uh oh". She left me with a list of ideas to explore more in-depth.

Like so many things in my life, I have never questioned a market economy or economics in general. I certainly was not led to question how we ended up with our current economic state. Thank you to Kimmerer for opening my eyes in such a gentle manner. I immediately began to think of ways to participate in more gift economies and to find serviceberries.

Thank you Scribner for providing this book for review consideration via NetGalley. All opinions are my own.

Lovely book that offers a perspective on gift economy, Kimmerer’s signature voice and her use of plants and their ecosystems to illustrate thoughtful lessons in living on the Earth.

I enjoyed this one but wanted it to be longer cause I just love her writing so much. That was my only complaint

A very short but heartwarming read, at under 100 pages, Robin Wall Kimmerer shares her Potawatomi heritage and background as an Indigenous scientist as she reminds us in this essay of what life could be like in a gift economy, where gratitude and reciprocity are the currency. She looks to the natural world and its interconnectedness with the community, “where wealth comes from the quality of your relationships, not from the illusion of self-sufficiency.”

This is a book you should buy and read not only because of its importance but because her proceeds are being donated in a reciprocal gift back to the land for land protection, restoration, and healing. Then you can pass it along in hopes that the next reader will continue your giving chain, adding innnumerable links in its message of limitless exchange and inspiration.

Thank you NetGalley for this arc in exchange for my honest review

What a perfect time for this hopeful book to come out. Robin Wall Kimmerer continues to deliver in this short book that explores what our society could look like if we took the lessons of reciprocity and giving that nature shows us.

The Serviceberry is one of those books that I want to encourage everyone to read. What I expected from this book was an ode to nature. What I read was, yes, an ode to nature, but also an incisive look at our current economy, a model that favors scarcity, hoarding, and placing the good of the individual over the good of community and the environment. Kimmerer proposes an alternative economy, a "serviceberry economy", that places the longterm needs of all species at its center by instead focusing on reciprocity. This is, of course, a greatly simplified explanation of what Kimmerer states much more eloquently and in greater detail. She also acknowledges the challenges we would face in trying to apply such a model at a large scale today, but everything she shared left me with much to consider when it comes to my own consumeristic habits, as well as an overwhelming sense of gratitude for all that I do have.

Thank you to NetGalley for my advanced copy.

THE SERVICEBERRY by Robin Wall Kimmerer is a perfect title for readers of BRAIDING SWEETGRASS who want to revisit the themes and long for more of her wisdom, but it can also serve as a gateway introduction to the author and her work.

Kimmerer frames the book around the lessons provided by the serviceberry, her mouth-watering description making me hungry for the experience of trying this new-to-me fruit: "Imagine a fruit that tastes like a Blueberry crossed with the satisfying heft of an Apple, a touch of rosewater, and a minuscule crunch of almond-flavored seeds."

Beginning with that example, Kimmerer expands on the countless gifts the Earth provides and how a culture of gratitude can reframe our thinking.

With examples from gift economies, we learn how we can recognize our abundance and diminish our hyper consumption. Readers of her earlier work will appreciate revisiting themes such as reciprocity, gratitude, and responsible consumption. I find myself thankful that Kimmerer has found a platform and can challenge us to pause and reflect on a better way forward.

(Thank you to Scribner for providing this book for review consideration via NetGalley. All opinions are my own.)

Much like she does in her most well-known work Braiding Sweetgrass, Kimmerer invites readers to reimagine modern ways of living utilizing her unique dual perspective as a member of the Citizen Potawatomi Nation and professional botanist. In The Serviceberry, Kimmerer introduces the imagery of the titular tree's annual fruiting and the abundance of its berries. Birds and other wildlife visit the tree, as does Kimmerer herself. Each visitor to the tree shares in its bounty. What if we all only took what we needed and shared with one another? What if we viewed the abundance of plants as a gift? From that initial example of the serviceberry tree, Kimmerer then expands upon the ideas and real-life examples (mutual aid! public libraries!) of gift economies in action.

I am a huge fan of Robin Wall Kimmerer’s Braiding Sweetgrass (2013)—I named it as one of my personal best books of the 21st century, and I wasn’t alone in that—so this was one of my most anticipated books of the year. It felt like a gift to find this in my mailbox on Deepavali, especially since this is a book about gift economies. It’s very short—it’s really an expanded version of Kimmerer’s essay by the same name—so I read it all in a day.

With the titular berry—one with many names, which as Kimmerer says, shows its cultural significance—as a case study, Kimmerer provides a generous anticapitalist manifesto, arguing for a gift economy. As in all her work, Kimmerer draws on an Indigenous environmental worldview. The natural world, and humans’ healthiest belonging in it, is built on principles of abundance and reciprocity. She urges us to move away from transactional thinking and towards gratitude, towards understanding ourselves as parts of an ecosystem. Each berry already represents “hundreds of gift exchanges,” and consuming it enters us into another.

A gift economy is a counterpoint to capitalism and all its ills, including climate change. Kimmerer terms those who want to hoard, gatekeep, and steal as “Darrens,” after the CEO of ExxonMobil (and lucky, it rhymes with Karen). This made me laugh and was useful shorthand. I also love how Kimmerer advocates for both incremental and structural change and points out that they can coexist, a perspective I find to be frequently missing. Her vision in this book feels achievable because it’s rooted in the small scale.

I don’t think this essay offers ideas that are new—it expands and reframes some of Kimmerer’s prior work. I’d recommend this one to folks who have wanted to check out Braiding Sweetgrass but are daunted by its length. This one is a bite-sized revolution and a great introduction to Kimmerer’s work. I loved underlining my way through it.

Another solid book by Kimmerer that is highly readable. My main complaint with non fiction is often that it is way too long but I found this to be way too short as I was wanting more of her poetic and insightful writing.

This is just the right book for the current time we are in as a society. Kimmerer has managed to pack a wealth of knowledge in just over 100 pages. For those who are hoping to do more, give more, support more in 2025 this is the perfect invitation.

A short and simple book that talks about the gift economy and how it might lead us toward a more connected, more sustainable, and more satisfying life.

Short, sweet and full of poignant insights as Kimmerer's writing normally is. I liked how beautiful her prose was, and continues to be, especially when writing about nature. This felt like a cross between a criticism book (economics, etc) and an observational creative nonfiction piece. I enjoyed it, and will be reading more of her work (I still haven't finished Braiding Sweetgrass lol) but Serviceberry is a beautiful and delightful accompaniment to what could be considered Kimmerer's magnum opus. Thanks Netgalley for the ARC.

Kimmerer has done it again. In a world that constantly feels like it's too much, too dark, too cold, The Serviceberry reminds us of the world's (and our own) capacity for healing, symbiosis, and abundance. I adore Kimmerer's message, and it's one I think many more readers would benefit from. Kimmerer is a truly gifted storyteller, and I hope she chooses to impart more of her wisdom on the world.