
The Light Eaters
How the Unseen World of Plant Intelligence Offers a New Understanding of Life on Earth
Failed to add items
Add to Cart failed.
Add to Wish List failed.
Remove from wishlist failed.
Adding to library failed
Follow podcast failed
Unfollow podcast failed
$0.99/mo for the first 3 months

Buy for $25.19
No default payment method selected.
We are sorry. We are not allowed to sell this product with the selected payment method
-
Narrated by:
-
Zoë Schlanger
-
By:
-
Zoë Schlanger
About this listen
NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER
An Audible Best Nonfiction Listen of 2024
TIME’s 100 Must-Read Books of 2024 • A Best Book of the Year: Barnes & Noble and Publishers Weekly • An Amazon Best Nonfiction Book of the Year
“A masterpiece of science writing.” –Robin Wall Kimmerer, author of Braiding Sweetgrass
“Mesmerizing, world-expanding, and achingly beautiful.” –Ed Yong, author of An Immense World
“Rich, vital, and full of surprises. Read it!” –Elizabeth Kolbert, author of Under a White Sky and The Sixth Extinction
“A brilliant must-read. This book shook and changed me.” –David George Haskell, author of Sounds Wild and Broken, The Songs of Trees, and The Forest Unseen
Award-winning Atlantic staff writer Zoë Schlanger delivers a groundbreaking work of popular science that probes the hidden world of the plant kingdom, “destabilizing not just how we see the green things of the world but also our place in the hierarchy of beings, and maybe the notion of that hierarchy itself.” (The New Yorker)
It takes tremendous biological creativity to be a plant. To survive and thrive while rooted in a single spot, plants have adapted ingenious methods of survival. In recent years, scientists have learned about their ability to communicate, recognize their kin and behave socially, hear sounds, morph their bodies to blend into their surroundings, store useful memories that inform their life cycle, and trick animals into behaving to their benefit, to name just a few remarkable talents.
The Light Eaters is a deep immersion into the drama of green life and the complexity of this wild and awe-inspiring world that challenges our very understanding of agency, consciousness, and intelligence. In looking closely, we see that plants, rather than imitate human intelligence, have perhaps formed a parallel system. What is intelligent life if not a vine that grows leaves to blend into the shrub on which it climbs, a flower that shapes its bloom to fit exactly the beak of its pollinator, a pea seedling that can hear water flowing and make its way toward it? Zoë Schlanger takes us across the globe, digging into her own memories and into the soil with the scientists who have spent their waking days studying these amazing entities up close.
What can we learn about life on Earth from the living things that thrive, adapt, consume, and accommodate simultaneously? More important, what do we owe these life forms once we come to understand their rich and varied abilities? Examining the latest epiphanies in botanical research, Schlanger spotlights the intellectual struggles among the researchers conceiving a wholly new view of their subject, offering a glimpse of a field in turmoil as plant scientists debate the tenets of ongoing discoveries and how they influence our understanding of what a plant is.
We need plants to survive. But what do they need us for—if at all? An eye-opening and informative look at the ecosystem we live in, this book challenges us to rethink the role of plants—and our own place—in the natural world.
©2024 Zoë Schlanger (P)2024 HarperCollins PublishersListeners also enjoyed...
-
The Serviceberry
- By: Robin Wall Kimmerer
- Narrated by: Robin Wall Kimmerer
- Length: 1 hr and 56 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
As Indigenous scientist and author of Braiding Sweetgrass Robin Wall Kimmerer harvests serviceberries alongside the birds, she considers the ethic of reciprocity that lies at the heart of the gift economy. How, she asks, can we learn from Indigenous wisdom and the plant world to reimagine what we value most? Our economy is rooted in scarcity, competition, and the hoarding of resources, and we have surrendered our values to a system that actively harms what we love. Meanwhile, the serviceberry’s relationship with the natural world is an embodiment of reciprocity.
-
-
Engaging and optimistic
- By Steve on 12-18-24
-
Night Magic
- Adventures Among Glowworms, Moon Gardens, and Other Marvels of the Dark
- By: Leigh Ann Henion
- Narrated by: Leigh Ann Henion
- Length: 8 hrs and 51 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In this glorious celebration of the night, New York Times bestselling nature writer Leigh Ann Henion invites us to leave our well-lit homes, step outside, and embrace the dark as a profoundly beautiful part of the world we inhabit. Because no matter where we live, we are surrounded by animals that rise with the moon, and blooms that reveal themselves as light fades. Henion explores her home region of Appalachia, where she attends a synchronous firefly event in Tennessee, a bat outing in Alabama, and a moth festival in Ohio.
-
-
Must read! Cozy, informative, and will change you!
- By KaylaA on 04-15-25
By: Leigh Ann Henion
-
World of Wonders
- In Praise of Fireflies, Whale Sharks, and Other Astonishments
- By: Aimee Nezhukumatathil
- Narrated by: Aimee Nezhukumatathil
- Length: 3 hrs and 30 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
From beloved, award-winning poet Aimee Nezhukumatathil comes a debut work of nonfiction - a collection of essays about the natural world, and the way its inhabitants can teach, support, and inspire us.
-
-
Interesting approach to a nonfiction book...
- By Fact addict on 01-25-21
-
When the Earth Was Green
- Plants, Animals, and Evolution's Greatest Romance
- By: Riley Black
- Narrated by: Wren Mack
- Length: 9 hrs and 36 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Riley Black brings us back in time to prehistoric seas, swamps, forests, and savannas where critical moments in plant evolution unfolded. Each chapter stars plants and animals alike, underscoring how the interactions between species have helped shape the world we call home. As the chapters move upwards in time, Black guides listeners along the burgeoning trunk of the Tree of Life, stopping to appreciate branches of an evolutionary story that links the world we know with one we can only just perceive now through the silent stone, from ancient roots to the present.
-
-
AMAZING-READ QUEER BOOKS
- By Grace Haws on 04-23-25
By: Riley Black
-
Entangled Life
- How Fungi Make Our Worlds, Change Our Minds & Shape Our Futures
- By: Merlin Sheldrake
- Narrated by: Merlin Sheldrake
- Length: 9 hrs and 32 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
When we think of fungi, we likely think of mushrooms. But mushrooms are only fruiting bodies, analogous to apples on a tree. Most fungi live out of sight, yet make up a massively diverse kingdom of organisms that supports and sustains nearly all living systems. Fungi provide a key to understanding the planet on which we live, and the ways we think, feel, and behave.
-
-
Mycology for Everyone
- By Cephalopods Revenge on 05-12-20
By: Merlin Sheldrake
-
Vibrant Matter
- A Political Ecology of Things
- By: Jane Bennett
- Narrated by: Kathleen Godwin
- Length: 6 hrs and 18 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In Vibrant Matter, the political theorist Jane Bennett, renowned for her work on nature, ethics, and affect, shifts her focus from the human experience of things to things themselves. Bennett argues that political theory needs to do a better job of recognizing the active participation of nonhuman forces in events.
-
-
Super interesting, thoughtful, thorough
- By Brendabeast on 09-26-23
By: Jane Bennett
-
The Serviceberry
- By: Robin Wall Kimmerer
- Narrated by: Robin Wall Kimmerer
- Length: 1 hr and 56 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
As Indigenous scientist and author of Braiding Sweetgrass Robin Wall Kimmerer harvests serviceberries alongside the birds, she considers the ethic of reciprocity that lies at the heart of the gift economy. How, she asks, can we learn from Indigenous wisdom and the plant world to reimagine what we value most? Our economy is rooted in scarcity, competition, and the hoarding of resources, and we have surrendered our values to a system that actively harms what we love. Meanwhile, the serviceberry’s relationship with the natural world is an embodiment of reciprocity.
-
-
Engaging and optimistic
- By Steve on 12-18-24
-
Night Magic
- Adventures Among Glowworms, Moon Gardens, and Other Marvels of the Dark
- By: Leigh Ann Henion
- Narrated by: Leigh Ann Henion
- Length: 8 hrs and 51 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In this glorious celebration of the night, New York Times bestselling nature writer Leigh Ann Henion invites us to leave our well-lit homes, step outside, and embrace the dark as a profoundly beautiful part of the world we inhabit. Because no matter where we live, we are surrounded by animals that rise with the moon, and blooms that reveal themselves as light fades. Henion explores her home region of Appalachia, where she attends a synchronous firefly event in Tennessee, a bat outing in Alabama, and a moth festival in Ohio.
-
-
Must read! Cozy, informative, and will change you!
- By KaylaA on 04-15-25
By: Leigh Ann Henion
-
World of Wonders
- In Praise of Fireflies, Whale Sharks, and Other Astonishments
- By: Aimee Nezhukumatathil
- Narrated by: Aimee Nezhukumatathil
- Length: 3 hrs and 30 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
From beloved, award-winning poet Aimee Nezhukumatathil comes a debut work of nonfiction - a collection of essays about the natural world, and the way its inhabitants can teach, support, and inspire us.
-
-
Interesting approach to a nonfiction book...
- By Fact addict on 01-25-21
-
When the Earth Was Green
- Plants, Animals, and Evolution's Greatest Romance
- By: Riley Black
- Narrated by: Wren Mack
- Length: 9 hrs and 36 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Riley Black brings us back in time to prehistoric seas, swamps, forests, and savannas where critical moments in plant evolution unfolded. Each chapter stars plants and animals alike, underscoring how the interactions between species have helped shape the world we call home. As the chapters move upwards in time, Black guides listeners along the burgeoning trunk of the Tree of Life, stopping to appreciate branches of an evolutionary story that links the world we know with one we can only just perceive now through the silent stone, from ancient roots to the present.
-
-
AMAZING-READ QUEER BOOKS
- By Grace Haws on 04-23-25
By: Riley Black
-
Entangled Life
- How Fungi Make Our Worlds, Change Our Minds & Shape Our Futures
- By: Merlin Sheldrake
- Narrated by: Merlin Sheldrake
- Length: 9 hrs and 32 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
When we think of fungi, we likely think of mushrooms. But mushrooms are only fruiting bodies, analogous to apples on a tree. Most fungi live out of sight, yet make up a massively diverse kingdom of organisms that supports and sustains nearly all living systems. Fungi provide a key to understanding the planet on which we live, and the ways we think, feel, and behave.
-
-
Mycology for Everyone
- By Cephalopods Revenge on 05-12-20
By: Merlin Sheldrake
-
Vibrant Matter
- A Political Ecology of Things
- By: Jane Bennett
- Narrated by: Kathleen Godwin
- Length: 6 hrs and 18 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In Vibrant Matter, the political theorist Jane Bennett, renowned for her work on nature, ethics, and affect, shifts her focus from the human experience of things to things themselves. Bennett argues that political theory needs to do a better job of recognizing the active participation of nonhuman forces in events.
-
-
Super interesting, thoughtful, thorough
- By Brendabeast on 09-26-23
By: Jane Bennett
-
The Hidden Life of Trees
- What They Feel, How They Communicate - Discoveries from a Secret World
- By: Peter Wohlleben
- Narrated by: Mike Grady
- Length: 7 hrs and 33 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
How do trees live? Do they feel pain or have awareness of their surroundings? Research is now suggesting trees are capable of much more than we have ever known. In The Hidden Life of Trees, forester Peter Wohlleben puts groundbreaking scientific discoveries into a language everyone can relate to.
-
-
Tree Hugger
- By Darwin8u on 04-18-19
By: Peter Wohlleben
-
Kingdom of Play
- What Ball-Bouncing Octopuses, Belly-Flopping Monkeys, and Mud-Sliding Elephants Reveal About Life Itself
- By: David Toomey
- Narrated by: Jacques Roy
- Length: 6 hrs and 59 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Acclaimed science writer David Toomey takes us on a fast-paced and entertaining tour of playful animals and the scientists who study them. From octopuses on Australia’s Great Barrier Reef to meerkats in the Kalahari Desert to brown bears on Alaska’s Aleutian Islands, we follow adventurous researchers as they design and conduct experiments seeking answers to new, intriguing questions: When did play first appear in animals? How does play develop the brain, and how did it evolve?
By: David Toomey
-
The Seven Generations and the Seven Grandfather Teachings
- By: James Vukelich Kaagegaabaw
- Narrated by: James Vukelich Kaagegaabaw
- Length: 1 hr and 7 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Discover indigenous wisdom for a life well lived in "The Seven Generations and the Seven Grandfather Teachings." Based on ancient teachings from the Anishinaabe / Ojibwe people, this spiritual translation of the sacred laws guides us toward Mino-bimaadiziwin, "the good life" – a life of harmony, free from contradiction or conflict.
-
-
Deeply felt
- By millefleur504 on 04-27-25
-
Becoming Earth
- How Our Planet Came to Life
- By: Ferris Jabr
- Narrated by: Joe Ochman
- Length: 9 hrs and 27 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
One of humanity’s oldest beliefs is that our world is alive. Though once ridiculed by some scientists, the idea of Earth as a vast interconnected living system has gained acceptance in recent decades. We, and all living things, are more than inhabitants of Earth—we are Earth, an outgrowth of its structure and an engine of its evolution. Life and its environment have coevolved for billions of years, transforming a lump of orbiting rock into a cosmic oasis—a planet that breathes, metabolizes, and regulates its climate.
-
-
Fascinating and well researched
- By Amazon Customer on 07-10-24
By: Ferris Jabr
-
Heart of the Hive
- Inside the Mind of the Honey Bee and the Incredible Life Force of the Colony
- By: Hilary Kearney
- Narrated by: Hilary Kearney
- Length: 4 hrs and 28 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Listeners will be awestruck by the hive as superorganism and how the individual bee lives and behaves within it, perfectly suited to each specific job it performs. From their intricate dances and information-rich pheromones to how they sense and respond to their environment, learn, and remember, this immersive journey into the world of bees offers an entirely new perspective on the wisdom of nature and our relationship to it.
-
-
Full of fun facts!
- By Nicole Fraker on 04-13-25
By: Hilary Kearney
-
Sand Talk
- How Indigenous Thinking Can Save the World
- By: Tyson Yunkaporta
- Narrated by: Tyson Yunkaporta
- Length: 7 hrs and 49 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
A paradigm-shifting book in the vein of Sapiens that brings a crucial Indigenous perspective to historical and cultural issues of history, education, money, power, and sustainability - and offers a new template for living. As an indigenous person, Tyson Yunkaporta looks at global systems from a unique perspective, one tied to the natural and spiritual world. In considering how contemporary life diverges from the pattern of creation, he raises important questions. How does this affect us? How can we do things differently?
-
-
um...
- By Michael D. Phillips on 01-12-21
By: Tyson Yunkaporta
-
The Sacred Balance (25th Anniversary Edition)
- Rediscovering Our Place in Nature
- By: David Suzuki, Robin Wall Kimmerer - foreword, Bill McKibben - afterword
- Narrated by: David Suzuki, Megan Tooley, Zack Sage
- Length: 13 hrs and 57 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The world is changing at a relentless pace. How can we slow down and act from a place of respect for all living things? The Sacred Balance shows us how.
-
-
It’s Now or Never
- By Anonymous User on 08-30-24
By: David Suzuki, and others
-
Turning to Stone
- Discovering the Subtle Wisdom of Rocks
- By: Marcia Bjornerud
- Narrated by: Rebecca Stern
- Length: 9 hrs and 41 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Earth has been reinventing itself for more than four billion years, keeping a record of its experiments in the form of rocks. Yet most of us live our lives on the planet with no idea of its extraordinary history, unable to interpret the language of the rocks that surround us. Geologist Marcia Bjornerud believes that our lives can be enriched by understanding our heritage on this old and creative planet. Contrary to their reputation, rocks have eventful lives—and they intersect with our own in surprising ways.
-
-
Very unusual book by a profound writer
- By F Shaw on 09-17-24
By: Marcia Bjornerud
-
Evolution Gone Wrong
- The Curious Reasons Why Our Bodies Work (Or Don't)
- By: Alex Bezzerides
- Narrated by: Joe Knezevich
- Length: 9 hrs and 12 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
From blurry vision to crooked teeth, ACLs that tear at alarming rates and spines that seem to spend a lifetime falling apart, it's a curious thing that human beings have beaten the odds as a species. After all, we're the only survivors on our branch of the tree of life. Why is it that human mothers have such a life-endangering experience giving birth? And why are there entire medical specialties for teeth and feet? In this funny, wide-ranging and often surprising book, biologist Alex Bezzerides tells us just where we inherited our achy, brilliant bodies in the process of evolution.
-
-
Answers questions you haven't thought of yet!
- By Mike on 05-25-21
By: Alex Bezzerides
-
The Nature of Oaks
- The Rich Ecology of Our Most Essential Native Trees
- By: Douglas W. Tallamy
- Narrated by: Adam Barr
- Length: 4 hrs and 16 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Oaks sustain a complex and fascinating web of wildlife. The Nature of Oaks reveals what is going on in oak trees month by month, highlighting the seasonal cycles of life, death, and renewal. From woodpeckers who collect and store hundreds of acorns for sustenance to the beauty of jewel caterpillars, Tallamy illuminates and celebrates the wonders that occur right in our own backyards. The Nature of Oaks will inspire you to treasure these trees and to act to nurture and protect them.
-
-
Inspirational
- By Kaysi12 on 07-22-22
-
For the Love of Soil
- Strategies to Regenerate Our Food Production Systems
- By: Nicole Masters
- Narrated by: Nicole Masters
- Length: 9 hrs and 15 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Learn a road map to healthy soil and revitalized food systems for powerfully addressing these times of challenge. This audiobook equips producers with knowledge, skills, and insights to regenerate ecosystem health and grow farm/ranch profits. Globally recognized soil advocate and agroecologist Nicole Masters delivers the solution to rewind the clock on this increasingly critical soil crisis in her first book For the Love of Soil. She argues we can no longer treat soil like dirt.
-
-
More Narrative Than Prescriptive
- By Gardener David on 08-13-20
By: Nicole Masters
-
Abundance
- By: Ezra Klein, Derek Thompson
- Narrated by: Ezra Klein, Derek Thompson
- Length: 7 hrs and 14 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
To trace the history of the twenty-first century so far is to trace a history of unaffordability and shortage. After years of refusing to build sufficient housing, America has a national housing crisis. After years of limiting immigration, we don’t have enough workers. Despite decades of being warned about the consequences of climate change, we haven’t built anything close to the clean-energy infrastructure we need. Ambitious public projects are finished late and over budget—if they are ever finished at all.
-
-
Advice to the Democratic Party from Klein & Thompson
- By Betsy Fowler on 03-31-25
By: Ezra Klein, and others
People who viewed this also viewed...
-
The Sacred Balance (25th Anniversary Edition)
- Rediscovering Our Place in Nature
- By: David Suzuki, Robin Wall Kimmerer - foreword, Bill McKibben - afterword
- Narrated by: David Suzuki, Megan Tooley, Zack Sage
- Length: 13 hrs and 57 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The world is changing at a relentless pace. How can we slow down and act from a place of respect for all living things? The Sacred Balance shows us how.
-
-
It’s Now or Never
- By Anonymous User on 08-30-24
By: David Suzuki, and others
-
The Serviceberry
- By: Robin Wall Kimmerer
- Narrated by: Robin Wall Kimmerer
- Length: 1 hr and 56 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
As Indigenous scientist and author of Braiding Sweetgrass Robin Wall Kimmerer harvests serviceberries alongside the birds, she considers the ethic of reciprocity that lies at the heart of the gift economy. How, she asks, can we learn from Indigenous wisdom and the plant world to reimagine what we value most? Our economy is rooted in scarcity, competition, and the hoarding of resources, and we have surrendered our values to a system that actively harms what we love. Meanwhile, the serviceberry’s relationship with the natural world is an embodiment of reciprocity.
-
-
Engaging and optimistic
- By Steve on 12-18-24
-
Entangled Life
- How Fungi Make Our Worlds, Change Our Minds & Shape Our Futures
- By: Merlin Sheldrake
- Narrated by: Merlin Sheldrake
- Length: 9 hrs and 32 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
When we think of fungi, we likely think of mushrooms. But mushrooms are only fruiting bodies, analogous to apples on a tree. Most fungi live out of sight, yet make up a massively diverse kingdom of organisms that supports and sustains nearly all living systems. Fungi provide a key to understanding the planet on which we live, and the ways we think, feel, and behave.
-
-
Mycology for Everyone
- By Cephalopods Revenge on 05-12-20
By: Merlin Sheldrake
-
The Secret Life of Plants
- A Fascinating Account of the Physical, Emotional, and Spiritual Relations Between Plants and Man
- By: Peter Tompkins, Christopher Bird
- Narrated by: D. Michael Hope
- Length: 16 hrs and 28 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Explore the inner world of plants and its fascinating relation to mankind, as uncovered by the latest discoveries of science. A perennial best seller! In this truly revolutionary and beloved work, drawn from remarkable research, Peter Tompkins and Christopher Bird cast light on the rich psychic universe of plants. Now available in a new edition, The Secret Life of Plants explores plants' response to human care and nurturing, their ability to communicate with man, plants' surprising reaction to music, their lie-detection abilities, their creative powers, and much more.
-
-
Skeptics beware. Lots of psychobabble.
- By Aardvarkmikey on 03-08-21
By: Peter Tompkins, and others
-
Becoming Earth
- How Our Planet Came to Life
- By: Ferris Jabr
- Narrated by: Joe Ochman
- Length: 9 hrs and 27 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
One of humanity’s oldest beliefs is that our world is alive. Though once ridiculed by some scientists, the idea of Earth as a vast interconnected living system has gained acceptance in recent decades. We, and all living things, are more than inhabitants of Earth—we are Earth, an outgrowth of its structure and an engine of its evolution. Life and its environment have coevolved for billions of years, transforming a lump of orbiting rock into a cosmic oasis—a planet that breathes, metabolizes, and regulates its climate.
-
-
Fascinating and well researched
- By Amazon Customer on 07-10-24
By: Ferris Jabr
-
An Immense World
- How Animal Senses Reveal the Hidden Realms Around Us
- By: Ed Yong
- Narrated by: Ed Yong
- Length: 14 hrs and 17 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The Earth teems with sights and textures, sounds and vibrations, smells and tastes, electric and magnetic fields. But every kind of animal, including humans, is enclosed within its own unique sensory bubble, perceiving but a tiny sliver of our immense world. In An Immense World, Ed Yong coaxes us beyond the confines of our own senses, allowing us to perceive the skeins of scent, waves of electromagnetism, and pulses of pressure that surround us.
-
-
If you’ve never read about the wonder of animal sensory capabilities this is for you
- By MediaBaron on 06-27-22
By: Ed Yong
-
The Sacred Balance (25th Anniversary Edition)
- Rediscovering Our Place in Nature
- By: David Suzuki, Robin Wall Kimmerer - foreword, Bill McKibben - afterword
- Narrated by: David Suzuki, Megan Tooley, Zack Sage
- Length: 13 hrs and 57 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The world is changing at a relentless pace. How can we slow down and act from a place of respect for all living things? The Sacred Balance shows us how.
-
-
It’s Now or Never
- By Anonymous User on 08-30-24
By: David Suzuki, and others
-
The Serviceberry
- By: Robin Wall Kimmerer
- Narrated by: Robin Wall Kimmerer
- Length: 1 hr and 56 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
As Indigenous scientist and author of Braiding Sweetgrass Robin Wall Kimmerer harvests serviceberries alongside the birds, she considers the ethic of reciprocity that lies at the heart of the gift economy. How, she asks, can we learn from Indigenous wisdom and the plant world to reimagine what we value most? Our economy is rooted in scarcity, competition, and the hoarding of resources, and we have surrendered our values to a system that actively harms what we love. Meanwhile, the serviceberry’s relationship with the natural world is an embodiment of reciprocity.
-
-
Engaging and optimistic
- By Steve on 12-18-24
-
Entangled Life
- How Fungi Make Our Worlds, Change Our Minds & Shape Our Futures
- By: Merlin Sheldrake
- Narrated by: Merlin Sheldrake
- Length: 9 hrs and 32 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
When we think of fungi, we likely think of mushrooms. But mushrooms are only fruiting bodies, analogous to apples on a tree. Most fungi live out of sight, yet make up a massively diverse kingdom of organisms that supports and sustains nearly all living systems. Fungi provide a key to understanding the planet on which we live, and the ways we think, feel, and behave.
-
-
Mycology for Everyone
- By Cephalopods Revenge on 05-12-20
By: Merlin Sheldrake
-
The Secret Life of Plants
- A Fascinating Account of the Physical, Emotional, and Spiritual Relations Between Plants and Man
- By: Peter Tompkins, Christopher Bird
- Narrated by: D. Michael Hope
- Length: 16 hrs and 28 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Explore the inner world of plants and its fascinating relation to mankind, as uncovered by the latest discoveries of science. A perennial best seller! In this truly revolutionary and beloved work, drawn from remarkable research, Peter Tompkins and Christopher Bird cast light on the rich psychic universe of plants. Now available in a new edition, The Secret Life of Plants explores plants' response to human care and nurturing, their ability to communicate with man, plants' surprising reaction to music, their lie-detection abilities, their creative powers, and much more.
-
-
Skeptics beware. Lots of psychobabble.
- By Aardvarkmikey on 03-08-21
By: Peter Tompkins, and others
-
Becoming Earth
- How Our Planet Came to Life
- By: Ferris Jabr
- Narrated by: Joe Ochman
- Length: 9 hrs and 27 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
One of humanity’s oldest beliefs is that our world is alive. Though once ridiculed by some scientists, the idea of Earth as a vast interconnected living system has gained acceptance in recent decades. We, and all living things, are more than inhabitants of Earth—we are Earth, an outgrowth of its structure and an engine of its evolution. Life and its environment have coevolved for billions of years, transforming a lump of orbiting rock into a cosmic oasis—a planet that breathes, metabolizes, and regulates its climate.
-
-
Fascinating and well researched
- By Amazon Customer on 07-10-24
By: Ferris Jabr
-
An Immense World
- How Animal Senses Reveal the Hidden Realms Around Us
- By: Ed Yong
- Narrated by: Ed Yong
- Length: 14 hrs and 17 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The Earth teems with sights and textures, sounds and vibrations, smells and tastes, electric and magnetic fields. But every kind of animal, including humans, is enclosed within its own unique sensory bubble, perceiving but a tiny sliver of our immense world. In An Immense World, Ed Yong coaxes us beyond the confines of our own senses, allowing us to perceive the skeins of scent, waves of electromagnetism, and pulses of pressure that surround us.
-
-
If you’ve never read about the wonder of animal sensory capabilities this is for you
- By MediaBaron on 06-27-22
By: Ed Yong
-
The Hidden Life of Trees
- What They Feel, How They Communicate - Discoveries from a Secret World
- By: Peter Wohlleben
- Narrated by: Mike Grady
- Length: 7 hrs and 33 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
How do trees live? Do they feel pain or have awareness of their surroundings? Research is now suggesting trees are capable of much more than we have ever known. In The Hidden Life of Trees, forester Peter Wohlleben puts groundbreaking scientific discoveries into a language everyone can relate to.
-
-
Tree Hugger
- By Darwin8u on 04-18-19
By: Peter Wohlleben
-
The Nature of Oaks
- The Rich Ecology of Our Most Essential Native Trees
- By: Douglas W. Tallamy
- Narrated by: Adam Barr
- Length: 4 hrs and 16 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Oaks sustain a complex and fascinating web of wildlife. The Nature of Oaks reveals what is going on in oak trees month by month, highlighting the seasonal cycles of life, death, and renewal. From woodpeckers who collect and store hundreds of acorns for sustenance to the beauty of jewel caterpillars, Tallamy illuminates and celebrates the wonders that occur right in our own backyards. The Nature of Oaks will inspire you to treasure these trees and to act to nurture and protect them.
-
-
Inspirational
- By Kaysi12 on 07-22-22
-
The Seven Generations and the Seven Grandfather Teachings
- By: James Vukelich Kaagegaabaw
- Narrated by: James Vukelich Kaagegaabaw
- Length: 1 hr and 7 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Discover indigenous wisdom for a life well lived in "The Seven Generations and the Seven Grandfather Teachings." Based on ancient teachings from the Anishinaabe / Ojibwe people, this spiritual translation of the sacred laws guides us toward Mino-bimaadiziwin, "the good life" – a life of harmony, free from contradiction or conflict.
-
-
Deeply felt
- By millefleur504 on 04-27-25
-
Twelve Trees
- The Deep Roots of Our Future
- By: Daniel Lewis
- Narrated by: Kaleo Griffith
- Length: 9 hrs and 29 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The world today is undergoing the most rapid environmental transformation in human history—from climate change to deforestation. Scientists, ethnobotanists, indigenous peoples, and collectives of all kinds are closely studying trees and their biology to understand how and why trees function individually and collectively in the ways they do. In Twelve Trees, Daniel Lewis, curator and historian at one of the world’s most renowned research libraries, travels the world to learn about these trees in their habitats.
-
-
lots of detail
- By David M Hazelton on 03-06-25
By: Daniel Lewis
-
Plants Have So Much to Give Us, All We Have to Do Is Ask
- Anishinaabe Botanical Teachings
- By: Mary Siisip Geniusz, Wendy Makoons Geniusz - editor
- Narrated by: Wendy Makoons Geniusz
- Length: 10 hrs and 49 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Mary Siisip Geniusz has spent more than thirty years working with, living with, and using the Anishinaabe teachings, recipes, and botanical information, she shares in Plants Have So Much to Give Us, All We Have to Do Is Ask. Geniusz gained much of the knowledge she writes about from her years as an oshkaabewis, a traditionally trained apprentice, and as friend to the late Keewaydinoquay, an Anishinaabe medicine woman from the Leelanau Peninsula in Michigan and a scholar, teacher, and practitioner in the field of native ethnobotany.
-
-
Use of plants
- By Anita on 11-10-24
By: Mary Siisip Geniusz, and others
-
The Revolutionary Genius of Plants
- A New Understanding of Plant Intelligence and Behavior
- By: Stefano Mancuso
- Narrated by: Gibson Frazier
- Length: 4 hrs and 14 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Do plants have intelligence? Do they have memory? Are they better problem solvers than people? The Revolutionary Genius of Plants - a fascinating, paradigm-shifting work that upends everything you thought you knew about plants - makes a compelling scientific case that these and other astonishing ideas are all true.
-
-
Inaccurate book description
- By windelbo on 02-18-19
By: Stefano Mancuso
-
The Seed Detective
- Uncovering the Secret Histories of Remarkable Vegetables
- By: Adam Alexander, Tim Lang - foreword
- Narrated by: Calum Beaton
- Length: 8 hrs and 30 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Have you ever wondered how peas, kale, asparagus, beans, squash, and corn have ended up on our plates? Well, Adam Alexander has. In The Seed Detective, Adam shares his own stories of seed hunting, with the origin stories behind many of our everyday food heroes. Taking us on a journey that began when we left the life of the hunter-gatherer to become farmers, he tells tales of globalization, political intrigue, colonization, and serendipity—describing how these vegetables and their travels have become embedded in our food cultures.
-
-
Fascinating and relevant
- By Valerie Loo on 03-04-23
By: Adam Alexander, and others
-
Exceptional
- Build Your Personal Highlight Reel and Unlock Your Potential
- By: Daniel M. Cable
- Narrated by: Daniel M. Cable
- Length: 7 hrs and 47 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Imagine switching on the television to see a highlight reel of the best moments from your life. Like a professional athlete, with every clip you'd learn how to repeat past successes, pinpoint positive blind spots, and build confidence in your skills. In Exceptional, London Business School professor and expert social scientist Daniel M. Cable reveals how building your own personal highlight reel - a collection of positive memories about yourself from your network - is key to accessing your potential.
By: Daniel M. Cable
-
Blight
- Fungi and the Coming Pandemic
- By: Emily Monosson
- Narrated by: Rosemary Benson
- Length: 8 hrs and 39 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Fungi are everywhere. Most are harmless, some are helpful. A few are killers. Collectively, infectious fungi are the most devastating agents of disease on Earth, and a fungus that can persist in the environment without its host is here for the long haul. In gripping, accessible prose, Emily Monosson documents how changing climate, trade, and travel are making us all more vulnerable to invasion.
-
-
Illuminating
- By Logan Jones on 02-27-24
By: Emily Monosson
-
Braiding Sweetgrass
- Indigenous Wisdom, Scientific Knowledge and the Teachings of Plants
- By: Robin Wall Kimmerer
- Narrated by: Robin Wall Kimmerer
- Length: 16 hrs and 44 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
As a botanist and professor of plant ecology, Robin Wall Kimmerer has spent a career learning how to ask questions of nature using the tools of science. As a Potawatomi woman, she learned from elders, family, and history that the Potawatomi, as well as a majority of other cultures indigenous to this land, consider plants and animals to be our oldest teachers.
-
-
Finally, Words
- By Donovan P Malley on 06-30-19
-
When the Earth Was Green
- Plants, Animals, and Evolution's Greatest Romance
- By: Riley Black
- Narrated by: Wren Mack
- Length: 9 hrs and 36 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Riley Black brings us back in time to prehistoric seas, swamps, forests, and savannas where critical moments in plant evolution unfolded. Each chapter stars plants and animals alike, underscoring how the interactions between species have helped shape the world we call home. As the chapters move upwards in time, Black guides listeners along the burgeoning trunk of the Tree of Life, stopping to appreciate branches of an evolutionary story that links the world we know with one we can only just perceive now through the silent stone, from ancient roots to the present.
-
-
AMAZING-READ QUEER BOOKS
- By Grace Haws on 04-23-25
By: Riley Black
-
Gathering Moss
- A Natural and Cultural History of Mosses
- By: Robin Wall Kimmerer
- Narrated by: Robin Wall Kimmerer
- Length: 7 hrs and 46 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Living at the limits of our ordinary perception, mosses are a common but largely unnoticed element of the natural world. Gathering Moss is a beautifully written mix of science and personal reflection that invites listeners to explore and learn from the elegantly simple lives of mosses.
-
-
Soul Stirring
- By KatieBourgeois on 02-23-19
What listeners say about The Light Eaters
Highly rated for:
Reviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Maggie
- 06-02-24
The caring authenticity of the author
Thank you for exploring the lives of the plant world. Your research is fascinating and inspiring.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
5 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Blue Horizon
- 06-23-24
Staggering, beautiful, engrossing
An absolutely fantastic exploration of the world. A must-read for all humans. Beautifully written, wisely considered, and humanely told.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
4 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- CVBullen
- 08-14-24
Incredible insight into the plant world
Every page was a new insight. I love this book and hope everyone reads it. it will redefine your view of plants and the position of humans in the natural world.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
2 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Anonymous User
- 07-26-24
I learned to appreciate plants more
This read like a science textbook, and I was happy to find it was on audible. Interesting but laborious to read.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- April Mays
- 10-18-24
Education blended with pleasure
What a beautiful well thought out book. This book put in to words what I have felt all my life.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Meghan Martinez
- 03-22-25
Fascinating
This book offers a fascinating look at plant intelligence. It is immensely readable and thought provoking
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- A.H. Derman
- 07-16-24
Glorious
Lovely, glorious science writing on an intriguing topic, written passionately, poetically yet extremely erudite in its dealings with scientific concepts and explanations. A masterpiece!
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
3 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Susan
- 07-25-24
Science is awesome
Mind blowing, expansive, so very necessary. There is so much in here. I can hardly wait to listen to it again.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
2 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Amazon Customer
- 08-04-24
I Watch Alot Of Docos And DID KNOW All This!
Really detailed! you will never look at plants the same again!I i want more! any gardener will love this!
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Groot
- 07-02-24
Best Book I've Read In Years
Thank you so much for writing this amazing book! I learned so much! Excellent narration too!
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!