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    Shelter: A Love Letter to Trees
    Shelter: A Love Letter to Trees
    Shelter: A Love Letter to Trees
    Audiobook1 hour

    Shelter: A Love Letter to Trees

    Written by Ada Limón

    4.5/5

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    About this audiobook

    So many of us have a tree we treasure in our lives or a preferred stretch of woods to retreat to, especially during these long and confining pandemic years. Ada Limón, award-winning poet and beloved host of the popular podcast The Slowdown, has kept a catalog of cherished trees that have grounded and inspired her throughout her life; trees that have marked time and place and have expanded meaning about what it is to be alive on this planet. Here, in a piece that is equal parts a tribute to nature’s power and mystery, boldly confessional memoir, and honest reckoning with our world’s beauty and its many upheavals, she takes the reader on a tour tree by tree, from California to New York City, from Cape Cod to Kentucky. 

    There’s the grove of eucalyptus that recalls the sweet turbulence of first love; the mythic bay laurel, “sexed and sensual,” that fills the valley where Limón grew up; there are seeds of trees that traveled to the moon and back on Apollo 16 and are now fully grown and rooted here, acting as if they are no different from any other tree; the fruit trees—pear, peach, orange, apple—that “everyone in her bloodline” has picked to survive, and that her family now grows on their own land because “to own your own tree, to own the fruit you pick, is a big thing.” There are the trees—western hemlock and Sitka spruce—that have helped her through seismic losses, and others—like the otherworldly Yoshino cherry, whose life span is comparatively short—that remind us that everything has an end. And, crucially, there are the many benefits of trees: what they teach us about silence and stillness, about healing and hope.

    In twenty-three intimate vignettes, Limón demonstrates, through the force of her passionate intelligence and stunning lyricism, how connected we are to nature and how it better connects us to ourselves and one another. She proves herself to be the visionary of biophilia we all need now, as we confront the ills of climate change. Like the very trees it celebrates, “Shelter: A Love Letter to Trees” is a sensory refuge, and in keeping with the best nature writing, it invites us to slow down in these turbulent and ever-accelerating times, and affirms, often with ecstasy, our place in a natural world that has shaped and sustained us over the centuries.

    Editor's Note

    Walk through the woods…

    Take a leisurely walk through the woods and across the country in this homage to trees from U.S. poet laureate Limón. This personal essay — told in brief and bittersweet vignettes — pays respect to the power, beauty, and mystery of our strong and silent companions. “Shelter” is perfect to read in the shade of a tree on a summer day.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherEverand Originals
    Release dateJun 27, 2022
    ISBN9781094444390
    Author

    Ada Limón

    Ada Limón is the twenty-fourth U.S. Poet Laureate as well as the author of The Hurting Kind and five other collections of poems. These include, most recently, The Carrying, which won the National Book Critics Circle Award and was named a finalist for the PEN/Jean Stein Book Award, and Bright Dead Things, which was named a finalist for the National Book Award, the National Book Critics Circle Award, and the Kingsley Tufts Award. Limón is a recipient of a Guggenheim Fellowship, and her work has appeared in the New Yorker, the New York Times, and American Poetry Review, among others. Born and raised in California, she now lives in Lexington, Kentucky.

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    Reviews for Shelter

    4.5/5

    340 ratings32 reviews

    What did you think?

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    Review must be at least 10 words

    • 1/5
      Dnf. Annoying audio. More memoir than tree science. Quit listening at the sex with a tree story.
    • 5/5
      A beautiful moving little collection of essays and reflections and stories. My favorite line is something like: People get sick of you writing about the same grief over and over, so sometimes you have to say you're writing about trees. Limon is a poet and her words here are lyrical and magical. A lovely listen, as she reads the work aloud herself.
    • 5/5
      So precious. wow. i loved it so so much. thank you
    • 5/5
      Go for a walk and listen to this. A meditation on trees, on being part of the environment and being in relationship to all that which is alive.
    • 4/5
      Nicely done. A woman recalls key events in her life and connects them to the trees that she has loved.
    • 5/5
      Might have messed me up. So honest, soulful and bittersweet. Underrated.
    • 3/5
      The author reads a bit dull at times but overall, I love the vibe of the whole book.
    • 5/5
      It’s a brilliant book! I mean the sheer idea of it is so precious to my poetic heart :) it was
      a pleasure listening someone who truly understands the inner chemistry I experience quite often in regard to nature !
    • 5/5
      This was a kindly written work that I thoroughly enjoyed
    • 5/5
      Beautiful, like walking through a forest of memories with the author.
    • 5/5
      A luminous hymn to trees and to life! Thank you Ada Limon for sharing this beautiful and heartfelt book on Scribd, my favorite reading platform.
    • 5/5
      TBH, I hadn't heard of Ada Limon previously but I'm glad that I have now. Listening to get narrate this book of poetry has helped open me up to the idea of meditating since that's her listening felt while going for walks outside -- inspired to wonder the names of the trees that I saw and encouraged to engage with them more in the spirit of community.
    • 5/5
      Absolutely lovely. Some of the most beautiful writing/reading I’ve heard
    • 5/5
      A lovely read to wake up to in the morning
    • 5/5
      A nice listen and tribute to many kinds of trees and the stories remembered while being near them.
    • 5/5
      The poems are free verse. Her connection to trees is spiritual although she never says that. She brought out new aspects of our relationship with trees that are humbling and intriguing. Everyday I would listen to two poems. It's was a wonderful way to start my day.
    • 3/5
      I loved the fact the the author thought of writing about tress. It's impressing
    • 5/5
      Excellent. Poetic. Beautiful ❣️ Our love for trees captures our humanness.
    • 3/5
      It's nice and soft but could be more interesting. It becomes too personal as it develops and in my opinion doesn't provide shelter as I expected. Some parts were good enough.
    • 5/5
      Beautiful messenger of the trees to the listener thank you
    • 5/5
      This book made me love trees more! I want to plant more trees in my garden
    • 5/5
      Lyrical and thought-provoking. I so enjoyed listening to Ada Limón’s gorgeous reading of her tree-centered reflections about her life. What Bonnie Tsui did for swimming, Limón has done for trees. Highly recommended.
    • 5/5
      What a beautiful book filled with thoughtful poetry. Loved that the poet read aloud. Well worth a listen.
    • 5/5
      This book opens you up to the landscape of your own heart. I too have always loved trees and found myself listening closely to Ada Limon’s luminous chapters and reflecting on the trees in my own life that marked times and rites of passage. Listening to the audiobook of her beautiful voice from my phone under the shade of a small grove of hemlocks it transported. All 23 chapters floated by with great heart, poignancy, and precision. Brava!
    • 5/5
      I found this audiobook when I was having a bad day. Listening to it soothing me and made me feel grounded. I learned a lot about trees and plan to spend more time with them! I also plan to read (or listen) to more of her books! It made me realize how much I need to spend more time in nature…to feel the earth’s energy…and maybe talk & listen to a tree or two.
    • 5/5
      i so enjoyed listening to ms limón narrate this essay. i love trees and i loved the way ms limón divulged personal and intimate experiences as they related to trees - or as trees related to the stories.
      sadly, none of my reading friends have scribd nor are they very interested in listening to audiobooks.
    • 5/5
      The second chapter “Hug a Tree” is brilliant…so concentrated and dense and alive like the outer ring of a tree trunk that carries sap
    • 4/5
      The stories of her father and her insights on trees. The author reading gives poignancy
    • 5/5
      Beautifully written - so many ways in which we cherish trees. One normally doesn't think of these things ... a great reflection of your own life with the interaction of trees (these poems provoke the memory).
    • 4/5
      I think trees are regal. They are giving beings. Never asking or demanding of us. Humans all over the world should listen to them.
      Let's plant more for our future future generations!!

      1 person found this helpful