Reading List

Kristen reads a lot to prepare for each Pullback episode (editing Kyla note: I sometimes read too). Some of the sources are books, and some of those books are truly fantastic. When Kristen reads a book for the podcast that she would like to recommend, we include it here. Books are arranged alphabetically by theme.

Animal Rights, Welfare

The End of Animal Farming: How Scientists, Entrepreneurs, and Activists Are Building an Animal-Free Food System

By Jacy Reese

The future is animal-free? That’s what Jacy Reese argues! Read this book if you’re interested in learning about how plant-based milk, plant-based meat and lab-grown meat are revolutionizing the way we eat.

Eating Animals

By Jonathan Safran Foer

You should read this book. But be prepared: I have never had to take so many crying breaks. Factory farming is a devastating subject, and Jonathan Safran Foer does readers a favour by refusing to hold back. But I also appreciate how he uses introspection to give the reader a respite from the gorier aspects of factory farming and slaughter.  

Bosh! How to Live Vegan

By Henry Firth and Ian Theasby

This super practical guide to vegan living was indispensable in our podcast’s Veganuary challenge. The authors are Youtubers and have published a few recipe books. I like this book, though, because it gives you general principles and advice for avoiding animal products without being socially ostracized.

28 Days Vegan: A Complete Guide For Beginners

By Lisa Butterworth, Amelia Wasiliev

Kyla’s Pick If you’re already a vegan this book offers wonderful simple recipes, but the deeper value is in the smooth step-by-step guide and easy substitution notes offered throughout. It’s not just a month long meal plan; it’s a tool for those interested in dipping into that sweet plant-based lifestyle but aren’t sure where to start. A great investment for Veganuary (a challenge for anytime of the year).

Clothing

The Conscious Closet: The Revolutionary Guide to Looking Good while Doing Good

By Elizabeth Cline

Read this to learn all about how you can build an ethical closet. I cannot recommend this book highly enough. Truly, it is so practical – even if you’re not that into fashion. What I liked best about this book is the framework Cline creates. You can choose where you fit in her style categories – I’m a minimalist – and use that to direct what you should do when you go through the steps of building a conscious closet.

Fashionopolis: The Price of Fast Fashion and the Future of Clothes

By Dana Thomas

Read this book if you want a truly comprehensive overview of the fast fashion industry. Fashionopolis is unremittingly well-researched and well-written. I appreciated the first half of the book most of all. But if you’re into optimism, the second half also introduces some new innovations that might move us toward a sustainable and equitable fashion industry.

Climate Change

The Uninhabitable Earth: Life After Warming

By David Wallace-Wells

This may be the most important book to read if you are anyone who is alive today. I say that without hyperbole: I was amazed by Wallace-Wells’ ability to pull together oodles of facts on climate change into a single, comprehensible story. Pick it up if you want to learn what’s in store for all of us in the next century. Be prepared to take anxiety breaks.

Rising: Dispatches from the New American Shore

By Elizabeth Rush

I can’t say enough good things about this book. Rush takes you through her journey of the American coastline, where she interviews some of the country’s most climate vulnerable people. It really sends home the message that the climate crisis is happening now, not in some distant future.

We Are the Weather: Saving the Planet Begins at Breakfast

By Jonathan Safran Foer

If Uninhabitable Earth delivers the logical case for fighting the climate crisis, We Are the Weather is its emotional counterpart. In this beautifully reflective book, Jonathan Safran Foer makes the case for eating a mostly plant-based diet, for the planet.  

Human Rights

Zero Waste