A short, but powerful tome about challenging our relationship to the economy and each other. Kimmerer uses her background as a botanist to look at the humble serviceberry as a metaphor for the "gift" economy for which she advocates, as opposed to the economy of scarcity we have come to accept as fact. What if we share our bounty instead hoarding it? What if we form connections with each other instead of isolating ourselves?

With purposeful and insightful writing, this is a book that is as much meditation as invitation. Who do we want to be and how can we build a world that reflects those values?

Another epic book about the connection between culture and nature... I love Kimmerer's books, I feel as if she is telling me a long lost story. The author uses the abundance of berries to show us there is plenty of fruit for humans and birds from this one bush. But, the ideal of reciprocity and a gift economy is practical only in rural areas, as regarding food. Over the decades we have transitioned from rural to urban. The result is an increasing disconnect from nature.
How can we return to our roots and learn to live off of what the earth provides for all? Truly impactful and beautifully written!
Thank you to the author and publisher for a copy of this book!

5 wise, gentle stars
“Regenerative ecomomies which reciprocate the gift are the only path forward. To replenish the possibility of mutual flourishing, for birds and berries and people, we need an economy that shares the gifts of the Earth, following the lead of our oldest teachers, the plants.”

I loved Robin Wall Kimmerer’s The Serviceberry, because the short lyrical essays are a gift to the reader. Instead of the cut-throat scarcity world constantly clamoring for our attention, abundance abounds in a gift economy. Imagine having enough. “Serviceberry teaches us another way to understand relationships and exchange. A Serviceberry economy as our model prompts the opportunity for articulation of the value of gratitude and reciprocity as essential foundations for an economy. Reciprocity – not scarcity.”

As in Braiding Sweetgrass, Kimmerer writes beautifully and deeply. Her advice is gentle. “Know the ways of the ones who take care of you, so that you can take care of them…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 waste what you have taken. Share. Give thanks for what you have been given. Give a gift in reciprocity for what you have taken. Sustain the ones who sustain you and the Earth.” Oh, I want to live in a world like this. (I probably need to wait for my next, heaven life.)

The cover is gorgeous. I also loved the nature ink drawings. Peaceful. Real.

The Serviceberry makes you think, imagine, ponder, and question. Thank you, Robin Wall Kimmerer. Thanks also to Netgalley and the publisher for providing an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Well... Robin did it again. She made me feel something and got me thinking about myself and the bigger picture in a positive way. I love this book... short and sweet and ready to dig into you and stay there. I love the concept of reciprocity and gift giving and already plan to buy a copy to start the gift giving process with my own family... more for the information that it will gift than anything else.

Thank you NetGalley and Scribner for the ARC.

I read a lot of nature writing but Robin’s work is pure perfection. The way she writes feels like having a conversation with an elder who wants you to live your best life while also helping Earth and all her creatures do the same, in harmony. To read this book about the mundane Serviceberry is to do yourself an act of kindness.

Here, she writes about the value of gift economies and those that aren’t driven by capitalism, money, and greed. My mind and the way I live my life exists in a gift economy but when you live in a society that thinks the complete opposite, it’s hard. Reading this book helped remind me that the way I think isn’t wrong and that there are ways to fight back against capitalism and corporate culture and be happy with yourself and your life. Breaking free of what we are defined within is difficult. Books like this are the perfect example of how important reading is and how it can create and foster more empathetic people, which we need more of in our world today.

essentially a longform essay about a gift economy and what that looks like and how it is reflected in the natural world. This was an interesting listen and I think the length is appropriate as it was starting to get repetitive at the end.

- 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.