World of Wonders by Aimee Nezhukumatathil

 

Do you like to read any books about nature?  World of Wonders was the Diversity Book Club pick at work in 2024.  It is a beautiful book.

World of Wonders is a memoir that is a collection of essays that meld together the natural world with life experiences.  This book prompted very in depth and interesting discussions during my book club meetings.

My thoughts:

·       The author looked for parts of nature that mirrored her life experiences.  It was very interesting.

·       Nature is interesting and relatable which made it a great theme for every essay.

·       I thought it was very interesting that the book discussed otherness in how one defines oneself and how others define you.

·       I was very sad by the peacock feather story where the author drew a beautiful peacock for a school project.  Peacocks were very important to her family, but her teacher shut her down and told her she needed to draw something “American.”  This led to an interesting discussion on what the teacher could have done differently to make this a learning moment for the entire class about another culture.  How could the teacher have built up the student rather than tearing her down?

·       The author’s mother was from the Philippines and her father was from India. Despite being the first doctor in her family, her mother faces racism from patients in the hospital.

·       The author discusses finding her “pond” where she belonged.  This also prompted great discussion in our book group about finding our own ponds.

·       The essays were a good length and easy to pickup and read.  It was a great format.

Overall, I highly recommend World of Wonders by Aimee Nezhukumatathil for all those looking for a great book to discuss in a book club or those that love nature and learning more about others experiences.