Notes from a Busy March
The Nature of Reading Newsletter | Spring | March 22, 2026
Dear readers,
Hello! It’s been a long time—three weeks in fact since I sent out my last newsletter.
The last few weeks brought the last hurrah of winter, which had already been so long and dreadful. How cold it was, and after such snow-filled months! At least now, with the passing of the equinox, spring seems to perhaps, finally, be around the corner.
Besides chilly days, March has been filled with events. We started off with our February book club meeting the first week of March, since we had to reschedule the previous week due to snow. (Because of the same snowstorm, we also had to reschedule our Birding to Change the World event, which will now be tomorrow—more on that below.)
The first Saturday of March brought one of our biggest pop-up events of the year, the Annual Conference for the Native Plant Society of NJ. We were so happy to be back for our third year selling books at the conference. It had been a while since doing a full pop-up setup, but it was fun to return to planning the best layout and bringing in some new native plant gift items we’d started carrying in the last year.
You might have spotted a T-shirt in that picture, and yes—we even designed our own native plant merch to sell at the event!
For years I had wanted to draw a design with nine book covers as the focus, ideally with native plants or other locally relevant nature elements. In the weeks leading up to the conference, I spent hours drawing out the native plants, moving between Procreate on my iPad and Adobe Illustrator on my computer. I also consulted with several friends of the shop who are native plant experts, to come up with the nine native plants that ended up in the final design. I get a bit crazy when it comes to my own art/graphic design, but finally, it all came together!
We sold out of nearly all the shirts at this event and the one we popped-up at the following week (we do have two larges and one XL left) but we’ll be reordering the shirts for the exciting native plant event we have coming up in April (you’ll have to read more on that below!).
The garment-dyed, 100% cotton, heavyweight t-shirt is screen-printed on both sides—you can see the front in the pictures above, and on the back you’ll find our logo and the shop address. If you’d like to purchase a shirt and want a particular size, just let me know in a reply to this email so I can put one aside for you when we place our next order. Or if you’d like one of the three sizes we have left, just let me know!
The next event was another lovely collaboration with NPSNJ, this time with their podcast, The WildStory, for a panel conversation with the co-hosts of the podcast, Kim Correro and Ann E. Wallace, and authors N. West Moss and Elise Howard about the latest books from Ann, West, and Elise. It was a lovely, cozy evening filled with great conversation surrounded by the beautiful setting of the Cora Hartshorn Arboretum.
Just a week later, we had our March crafting event! This was our first watercolor event, and I was a bit nervous honestly, as watercolor is a medium I don’t have much experience in. I prefer media that allow me a great deal of control when painting or drawing, which is the total opposite of watercolor! After some rocky practicing, a combination of audacity and perseverance eventually moved me into territory where I was ready for the event, which also turned out wonderfully as a table of fellow beginners and I watercolored together.
If you’re thinking, wow Hailey, what a busy month, and you still have two more events to go! And you didn’t even mention anything about running the bookstore itself! I don’t know how you do it!, you’re repeating a sentiment that I’ve heard many times at the shop, particularly since we moved into our new space nearly a year ago. And while I often reply jokingly that I just never sleep or that I also don’t know how I do it, since the beginning of 2026 I’ve had to come to terms with a very unpleasant reality: that operating at 150% all the time isn’t sustainable.
But if I love something so dearly, if I’ve poured myself into it as much as I have with The Nature of Reading, if I’m filled to the brim with ideas at all times, and perhaps worst of all, if I know that I can accomplish any of the ideas if I just had the time or resources, why can’t I always stretch myself to the limit to devote as much to it as I possibly can?
Ah yes, because physical reality cannot be ignored, despite years of my best attempts to do so. Even within the countless layers of privilege that I know I am so lucky to have, the stresses of running a small business and the daily discoveries of further horrors unfolding within this country and throughout the world will eventually form a thick, tangled mess of vines that will destroy from within if left unaddressed.
All this is to say that I’ve realized I need to build some greater balance into my life and have more assistance with running the shop. And so this month, one of the larger projects I’ve undertaken is bringing in our lovely part-time booksellers for more weekly hours, training them in the granular intricacies of inventorying and order preparation, placing stepping stones of delegation that will hopefully lead to some more time for me to focus on the things that matter most (and to rest, I suppose, if I must…).
I hope that with further help in some of the more time-consuming areas of the shop, I can devote more of my time instead to the wonderful parts of the job, like this newsletter. But, I suppose we’ll have to see. I have a tendency to think that the solution to feeling overwhelmed is to heap more onto my plate, so we’ll see how well I manage these changes. We can only hope for the best!
And with that, I should probably return to my Sunday and perhaps enjoy the sun that has just started peaking out from behind the clouds. I hope you all are having a lovely weekend, and I’ll see you back here next week.
All best wishes,
Hailey
After rescheduling a month ago because of a snowstorm, it’s finally here: our How Birding Can Change the World event! Join us tomorrow evening at the Madison Community Arts Center for a panelist discussion featuring local birding experts with presentations inspired by one of our most favorite books, Birding to Change the World by Trish O’Kane. You can order a copy here to read here before the event or purchase a copy at our pop-up the night of the talk. The event is free and open to all, just please register here in advance so we can get a final headcount!
The Madison Environmental Commission and I are also very excited to announce the next event in our Nature Lover’s Speaker Series: we’ll be featuring the book Plant This, Not That: Over 200 Native Plant Swaps for a Sustainable, Pollinator-Friendly Garden. Besides discussing one of our favorite topics (native plants) we’re also so lucky to be joined by the author, Elise Howard, who will share her vast knowledge in an interview with the wonderful Sarah Hunt of Sarah Digs Plants. You can purchase a copy here to read before the event, or you can get a copy at our pop-up the night of the talk. The event is free and open to all, just please register here in advance so we know how many people to expect!
After Marissa loses her mother at six, the most intimate relationship of her life begins. Her marine biologist father, determined to channel his grief into completing his wife’s research, whisks her across the globe to Thailand. There she meets Arielle, and a fairytale friendship takes hold. During the week, the girls live at the resort owned by Arielle’s parents; on the weekends they join the tight-knit community of researchers on a nearby island. Together the girls discover the fragile wonders of its reefs, forests, and beaches. Together they learn to dive into the deep, holding their breath for minutes at a time, as effortlessly synchronized as the manta rays they come to know by name. Together they learn to swim their way out of danger. But then comes a wave Arielle can’t outpace, leaving Marissa gutted with loss. Years later, Marissa is back in New York, adrift and haunted by the memory of her friend. Over the course of two fateful days, as another cataclysm approaches the city and the past comes flooding back, she discovers how to sustain herself in a precarious world.
This debut picture book from acclaimed and New York Times bestselling author Margaret Renkl—with collage illustrations by her brother, fine artist Billy Renkl—invites readers to observe and wonder about the various inhabitants in the vibrant ecosystem of a wildlife-friendly backyard garden. Each page turn introduces a new plant or animal friend, buzzing and dancing with quiet wonder. Billy Renkl brings the weedy garden to life through his signature mixed-media collages. The book includes backmatter with more information about the residents of the garden, eco-friendly gardening tips, and instructions on how to make your own collage art project at home or in school.
From the eighteenth century to the twenty–first, Tiny Gardens Everywhere shares the surprising history and inspiring contemporary panorama of urban gardening: nurturing health, hope, and community. Tilled into this rich history of urban agriculture is an inspiring layer of contemporary activism. Each chapter includes contemporary stories of people from all walks of life who, in their gardens, are continuing a great tradition of mutual aid, political resistance, and bold experiments in sustainability. A manifesto for the next food revolution, Tiny Gardens Everywhere blends past and present, archive and experience, to offer a truly inspiring vision of the transformative potential of gardening and urban life.
This month we’re reading The Glorians: Visitations from the Holy Ordinary by Terry Tempest Williams. When the world seems more uncertain than ever, we need moments of devoted attention that sustain us in the deepest ways. Terry Tempest Williams introduces us to the Glorians: “ordinary, often overlooked presences—animal, plant, memory, moment—that reveal our shared vulnerability and interconnectedness with the natural world. The Glorians can be as small as an ant ferrying a coyote willow blossom to its queen or as commonplace as the night sky. But what they can collectively show us—about the radical act of attending to beauty and carrying forward against all odds—is immense.” We hope you can join us to discuss this beautiful book and the encounters with Glorians that we’ve had in our own lives.
As I mentioned above, one of the busiest pop-up events we do each year is the Native Plant Society of New Jersey Annual Conference. It was our third year at the event this year, and it was as wonderful as ever. Here are the three books that sold the most at the conference—first up is of course Larry Weaner’s Garden Revolution, as he was the keynote speaker. Then we had How Can I Help? by Doug Tallamy, who was the 2025 keynote speaker (and is also our top-selling author at the shop). Lastly, we have a newcomer to the ranks, since her book just came out earlier this month: Plant This, Not That by Elise Howard. And if you’ve read the event section, you’ll know that we’re lucky enough to have her join us this April for a talk at the Madison Community Arts Center. Learn more about these favorites and order your own copies below.
Garden Revolution: How Our Landscapes Can Be a Source of Environmental Change by Larry Weaner and Thomas Christopher
Larry Weaner is an icon in the world of ecological landscape design, and now his revolutionary approach is available to home gardeners. Garden Revolution shows how an ecological approach to planting can lead to beautiful gardens that buck much of conventional gardening’s counter-productive, time-consuming practices. Instead of picking the wrong plant and then weeding, irrigating, and fertilizing, Weaner advocates for choosing plants that are adapted to the soil and climate of a specific site and letting them naturally evolve over time. This lushly-photographed reference is for anyone looking for a better, smarter way to garden.
In How Can I Help?, Tallamy tackles the questions commonly asked at his popular lectures and shares compelling and actionable answers that will help gardeners and homeowners take the next step in their ecological journey. Topics range from ecology, evolution, biodiversity and conservation to restoration, native plants, invasive species, pest control, and supporting wildlife at home. Tallamy keenly understands that most people want to take part in conservation efforts but often feel powerless to do so as individuals. But one person can make a difference, and How Can I Help? details how. Whether by reducing your lawn, planting a handful of native species, or allowing leaves to sit untouched, you will be inspired and empowered to join millions of other like-minded people to become the future of backyard conservation.
Plant This, Not That: Over 200 Native Plant Swaps for a More Sustainable, Pollinator-Friendly Garden by Elise Howard
These days, home gardeners know that many traditional, non-native garden plants—like English ivy, barberry, and burning bush—don’t support our bees, butterflies, birds, and other creatures. And that native plants are more likely to thrive, because they evolved as part of the local ecology, so they often require less fussy maintenance and don’t depend on pesticides and fertilizers. But gardeners ready to make the switch may ask: Where do I begin? And how do I find the best native plants for my landscape? Plant This, Not That considers some of the most common non-native (and often, invasive) plants in North American gardens and suggests substitutions for more beneficial and equally beautiful natives. Each native plant listing includes a full-color photo, along with sun, water, and soil requirements; ornamental features (including bloom time and color and whether the plant has berries, fruit, and/or fall color); and the pollinators known to depend on and support that plant. Accompanying maps show every plant’s locally native range, down to the county level. The book also features an overview of how native plants contribute to our local ecosystems, where to shop for them, advice on maintaining a mostly native garden, and resources to learn more about native planting.
I am so glad to hear that you're bringing in more help. Overwhelming yourself is part of business ownership! But your lovely store and all that you've created will only thrive if you care for yourself, too.