If you enjoy reading books by Robert Macfarlane then you might also like the following authors:
Nan Shepherd’s writing quietly guides readers into deep relationships with natural landscapes. Her prose is thoughtful and sensory, patiently observing details others might overlook.
In The Living Mountain, Shepherd explores the Cairngorm mountains not just as scenery, but as living presences full of life and meaning. Readers who enjoy Macfarlane’s sensitive approach to nature will find Shepherd’s voice inviting and insightful.
Barry Lopez writes vivid accounts that blend ecology, history, and personal reflection. His style is precise and lyrical, sharing a passionate attention to the natural world similar to Macfarlane.
In Arctic Dreams, Lopez beautifully portrays northern landscapes and their inhabitants, prompting readers to rethink their connection to nature and place.
Kathleen Jamie brings a poetic clarity to her essays, illuminating everyday nature and landscapes with personal warmth and precision. Her book Sightlines explores how humans interact with the natural environment, from remote islands to museum displays.
Jamie’s gentle insights and careful attention to detail resonate with the style that makes Macfarlane’s writing approachable and meaningful.
Helen Macdonald masterfully blends memoir, nature writing, and reflection on relationships between humans and animals. Her prose is honest and deeply moving, offering readers both emotional depth and detailed observation.
In H is for Hawk, Macdonald recounts training a goshawk while processing grief and loss. Fans of Macfarlane’s introspective approach to nature will appreciate the emotional honesty and careful observations that define Macdonald’s storytelling.
Tim Dee is known for thoughtful narratives that blend nature, memoir, and cultural history. He writes with a reflective, attentive style that captures moments of quiet significance in the natural world.
In Four Fields, Dee explores landscapes across continents, connecting stories of birds, natural spaces, and human settlement. Readers who appreciate Macfarlane’s thoughtful blend of nature exploration and personal reflection will similarly connect to Dee’s intimate approach.
Rebecca Solnit writes with curiosity and poetic insight about the relationship between humanity and landscape. Her thoughtful essays often explore themes like memory, environment, and the stories we find in nature.
If you like Macfarlane's reflective nature writing, you'll enjoy Solnit's book A Field Guide to Getting Lost. In it, she reflects on loss, wandering, and how we find ourselves in unfamiliar places.
Olivia Laing mixes personal narrative and cultural history with elegant writing and emotional depth. She examines themes of solitude, creativity, and our relationship with places and art.
One of her acclaimed books, The Lonely City, explores isolation in urban life, connecting her own experiences to those of artists and thinkers. If Macfarlane's thoughtful observation appeals to you, you'll likely connect with Laing's perceptive reflections.
William Atkins journeyed into some of the world's most remote landscapes to explore their history, ecology, and the people who inhabit them. He combines travelogue, nature writing, and cultural exploration in a fresh way.
If you appreciate Robert Macfarlane's investigations into wild places, consider reading Atkins' The Immeasurable World: Journeys in Desert Places. It vividly captures the stark beauty and human fascination with deserts around the globe.
Horatio Clare is an engaging author who writes lively accounts of his journeys through landscapes and nature. His work blends lyrical descriptions with thoughtful reflections on humanity's place in the natural environment.
If you enjoy Macfarlane's attentiveness to both the large and small details of the landscape, you'll find much to savor in Clare's book Down to the Sea in Ships, a colorful account of sailing on cargo vessels and exploring our relationship to the sea.
J.A. Baker was a writer whose sharp, keen-eyed observations convey the atmosphere of the natural world with great intensity and beauty. Like Macfarlane, Baker has an incredible ability to draw readers deeply into landscapes and wildlife encounters.
His book The Peregrine is a striking account of his close observations of peregrine falcons on England's east coast—a mesmerizing depiction of obsession, nature, and wildness.
Roger Deakin had a genuine passion for wild settings and the simple joy of immersing himself fully in nature. His engaging and vivid style draws you into direct experiences of the outdoors, highlighting conservation, environmental awareness, and intimacy with nature.
In his wonderful book Waterlog, he embarks upon a personal journey swimming through lakes, rivers, and seas across Britain—inviting readers along for a captivating adventure that renews our appreciation for the natural world.
Amy Liptrot writes openly and honestly about nature, personal struggles, and finding clarity through wild landscapes. Her calm, reflective prose creates an emotional connection as she explores isolation, healing, and transformation set against the remote Orkney Islands.
Her memoir, The Outrun, beautifully examines how returning home deepened her relationship with nature and provided her a meaningful route out of addiction and toward recovery.
Aldo Leopold approached nature writing with simplicity, depth, and thoughtfulness.
Known for his wise reflections on the relationship between people and nature, Leopold conveys the significance of respecting the land and wildlife through ethical responsibility, emphasizing careful observation and empathy toward our environment.
In his classic work, A Sand County Almanac, he eloquently promotes a land ethic that urges appreciation and protection for the natural world around us.
Patrick Leigh Fermor brings readers along on journeys far from the familiar, through vivid descriptions and absorbing anecdotes. His deeply curious nature and generous spirit infuse his writing, combining history, culture, and geography seamlessly.
In his memorable travel narrative, A Time of Gifts, Fermor recounts his youthful trek across Europe in the 1930s, richly painting people, places, and cultures encountered along the way.
W. G. Sebald offers readers a unique blend of literature and travel writing. His quiet, reflective narratives thoughtfully examine themes of memory, loss, displacement, and history.
Sebald's style gently layers subtle insights with haunting atmosphere, often combining narrative, history, and photographs.
In The Rings of Saturn, he uses a walk along England's East Anglian coast as a frame for contemplations that drift between personal and collective history, landscape, and memory.