The Overstory

Recommended by John Gordy

in response to Rec League

Rec League Summer Reading List! 📚 Tell us what you're reading/enjoying and we'll make a collection.

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Because lots of people in my life told me to read it. I will say more when I’m done

Starter Pack

2 months ago

Comments

Porter

@porterAug 18, 2026

I resisted because so many people told me to read it! Then it took me a minute to get into it. But THEN it became one of my all-time favorite books. So so worth it.

John Gordy

@johngordyAug 19, 2026

It did take six months of persuasion to pick it up. I’m six family stories in and I love how each is grounded in a tree. I’m looking forward to seeing how they all weave together

Karen Fischer

@thegumbopotAug 18, 2026

What do you like about it so far? And what is your biggest critique?

John Gordy

@johngordyAug 19, 2026

Caveat, only 100 pages in. I’m slow The family stories are hopeful and tragic but I appreciate the common element of the trees through time. There is a reference in the latest Michael Pollan book (you know you travel in small circles when all your books reference each other) about the consciousness of trees existing on an entirely different timeline. Critique? Too early to say. I’m trusting my IRL friends and my RL friends (@Porter) and enjoying the read. What’s your Overstory?

Across Rec League

The Overstory

Francesca McConchie

““An immense and intense homage to the arboreal world (its biological sophistication, its rich panoply of environmental benefits), the book is alive with riveting data, cogent reasoning and urgent argument. Pages that take you into menaced remnants of primeval forest or contemplate singularly splendid or fascinating trees teem with knowledge and gleam with aesthetic appeal.””

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Sarah Cooney

“I read this book in the depths of covid after my actor friends who loved trees recommended it to me. I grew up near one of the last remaining American chestnuts so this was very meaningful to me… this entire book changed my view of the world. I always think of this quote from Mildred Bliss: “…gardens have their place in the Humanist order of life; and, that trees are noble elements to be protected”