Our Bookshelf
At Leaf + Quiet, we don’t just love plants, we love books, art and all things inspirational. Here are just a few books we've read, are reading, or are on our beside table waiting their turn. We've provided our Associate links to Amazon, so you can support our funky little plant shop, even when you aren't in Missoula. As a small, independent local business, every little bit helps. So, thank you. And please follow us on Instagram and share your favorite plant and nature inspired books with us.
The Secret Garden
Reading “The Secret Garden” as a child of about eight inspired my desire to create secret plant-filled worlds of my own. From my own backyard to my funky little plant shop, Leaf + Quiet in Missoula, MT. This classic has been inspiring children for decades as to the beauty and magic of the plant world and deserves a place on every child’s or plant lover’s bookshelf.
How To Grow Fresh Air: 50 Houseplants To Purify Your Home Or Office
by B.C. Wolverton
Houseplants produce oxygen, filter toxins and increase the moisture of the air in our homes and offices. Learn how you and your family can benefit from these precious gifts, simply by hosting and caring for beautiful plants.
How to Make a Plant Love You: Cultivate Green Space in Your Home and Heart
by Summer Rayne Oakes
Insightful, inspiring and informative,
“How to Make a Plant Love You” is an engaging read filled with simple, yet detailed plant care instructions.
The Overstory: A Novel
by Richard Powers
A powerful story of the interconnected world of plants, this may be one of the best novels you ever read, and one not easily forgotten. There aren’t many books our diverse book club members all enjoyed, and this is one.
Carrots Love Tomatoes: Secrets of Companion Planting for Successful Gardening
by Louise Riotte
Everyone knows how important it is to sit compatible guests together at a dinner party, when gardening it’s critical to know which plants make great companions and those that do not. This book will help you turn your garden into a naturally nurturing ecosystem and ensure a more bountiful harvest.
The Botany of Desire: A Plant's-Eye View of the World
by Michael Pollan
Michael Pollan uses his gorgeous prose to tell us fascinating anecdotes of four plant species and the intimately reciprocal relationship between people and plants. This accessible, beautifully written book could affect the way you feel about your place in nature. It did us.
Braiding Sweetgrass: Indigenous Wisdom, Scientific Knowledge and the Teachings of Plants
by Robin Wall Kimmerer
This book is where the mythology and magic of plants meets science. You’ll learn how the natural world offers us gifts and lessons and how we might become capable of learning them, if we are open to learning their language.
Fox and I: An Uncommon Friendship
by Catherine Raven
Catherine Raven meets a fox and reads him “The Little Prince.” Like Catherine, I live in Montana, but if I ever meet a fox, maybe I will read him this tale of friendship and nature in Montana.
Second Nature: A Gardener's Education
by Michael Pollan
Michael Pollan’s funny, profound, and beautifully written meditation on gardening, he tackles everything from pests, woodchucks, and tree planting, to the sacred American Lawn and social history. For every gardener who has ever struggled, this is the book.
Green Thoughts: A Writer in the Garden
by Eleanor Perenyi
Delightful gardening reference or dangerously great read? Who said a book can’t be both? Another great book for yourself or your favorite gardener.
Old Herbaceous
by Reginald Arkell
A classic British novel, this is a witty character portrait with some gardening tips thrown in for good measure. Fun and charming.