Mo’s Five Books That Relate to Cities and Ecology

(3 of which are about projects to make your home sustainable, and 2 of which are children’s books about urban gardens to inspire you)

Toolbox For Sustainable City Living by Scott Kellogg and Stacy Pettigrew
(South End Press, $16.00)
This book gives detailed instruction on how to carry out various sustainability related home projects--from passive solar, to grey water recycling, to small turbines.

Dam Nation: Dispatches for the Water Underground edited by Cleo Woelfle-Erskine (Soft Skull Press, $19.95)
This book discusses in-depth the ecological devastation caused by dams and modern water systems and then gives detailed instructions on building grey water systems.

Worms Eat My Garbage: How to Set Up and Maintain a Worm Composting System by Mary Appelhof (Flowerfield Enterprises, $12.95)

The Curious Garden by Peter Brown
(Little, Brown & Company, $16.99)
This book is based on the Highline in Manhattan, a garden made on old elevated railroad tracks. My favorite line is “The garden was especially curious about old, forgotten things.”

The Gardener by Sarah Stewart (Square Fish, $6.99)
A girl moves from the country to the city and brings her garden to the rooftop of a row-house and a smile to her Uncle’s face.

[Editor's note: The Curious Garden and The Gardener are also among Maleka's June picks.]

August 2010, Mo Speller