One of my favorite books of 2025 may be nearly two decades old, but that isn’t going to stop me from recommending it wholeheartedly to everyone I know.
If you have yet to experience Animal, Vegetable, Miracle by Barbara Kingsolver, you’re in for a world of good change. As a budding locavore (by definition, one who eats local foods whenever possible), this book inspired, educated and devastated me, in equal turns.
Kingsolver is a Pulitzer Prize-winning author known for The Poisonwood Bible and Demon Copperhead. Here, she and her family embark on a monumental journey—living one calendar year, subsisting only on foods grown by themselves or within 100 miles of their home in Appalachia.
The family’s chronicle of growing food, finding community and reconnecting with the Earth is a triumph. Among delightful and hilarious anecdotes, readers can find insight into the agricultural establishment, recipes from the farm and seasonal menu suggestions. This is a book I’ll return to again and again.
