The Hidden Life of Trees

German writer Peter Wohlleben looks at how trees grow and live alongside one another within their ecosystems, and the subtitle promises discoveries about what trees feel and the ways they communicate. The original German edition carries the title Das geheime Leben der Bäume. Wohlleben mixes popular science with his own experience of working in forest management and in tourism. He also sets out his own ethic for managing woodland, which holds that forests should be left as undisturbed by people as possible. On that basis he argues against monoculture plantations and against the use of heavy machinery in the forest.

Jay Shetty listed it in his Daily Wisdom piece on finding the bright side of life, and Morgan Housel called it a fascinating look at how complex a seemingly simple thing can be, noting that trees raised in their mothers' shade grow slowly into dense, strong wood.