What do you think?
Rate this book
H Is for Hope: Climate Change from A to Z
In twenty-six essays—one for each letter of the alphabet—the Pulitzer Prize-winning author of The Sixth Extinction takes us on a hauntingly illustrated journey through the history of climate change and the uncertainties of our future.
Climate change resists narrative—and yet some account of what’s happening is needed. Millions of lives are at stake, and upward of a million species. And there are decisions to be made, even though it’s unclear who, exactly, will make them.
In H Is for Hope, Elizabeth Kolbert investigates the landscape of climate change—from “A�, for Svante Arrhenius, who created the world’s first climate model in 1894, to “Z�, for the Colorado River Basin, ground zero for climate change in the United States. Along the way she looks at Greta Thurnburg’s � blah blah blah� speech (“B�), flies an all- electric plane (“E�), experiments with the effects of extreme temperatures on the human body (“T�), and struggles with the deep uncertainty of the future of climate change (“U�).
Adapted from essays originally published in The New Yorker and beautifully illustrated by Wesley Allsbrook, H Is for Hope is simultaneously inspiring, alarming, and darkly humorous—a unique examination of our changing world.
Climate change resists narrative—and yet some account of what’s happening is needed. Millions of lives are at stake, and upward of a million species. And there are decisions to be made, even though it’s unclear who, exactly, will make them.
In H Is for Hope, Elizabeth Kolbert investigates the landscape of climate change—from “A�, for Svante Arrhenius, who created the world’s first climate model in 1894, to “Z�, for the Colorado River Basin, ground zero for climate change in the United States. Along the way she looks at Greta Thurnburg’s � blah blah blah� speech (“B�), flies an all- electric plane (“E�), experiments with the effects of extreme temperatures on the human body (“T�), and struggles with the deep uncertainty of the future of climate change (“U�).
Adapted from essays originally published in The New Yorker and beautifully illustrated by Wesley Allsbrook, H Is for Hope is simultaneously inspiring, alarming, and darkly humorous—a unique examination of our changing world.
160 pages, Hardcover
Published March 26, 2024
35 people are currently reading
5,903 people want to read
About the author
Elizabeth Kolbert
28Ìýbooks2,195ÌýfollowersElizabeth Kolbert is a staff writer at The New Yorker. She is the author of Field Notes from a Catastrophe: Man, Nature, and Climate Change and The Sixth Extinction: An Unnatural History. She lives in Williamstown, Massachusetts, with her husband and children.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 30 of 60 reviews
March 12, 2024
“Hope is the pillar that holds up the world,� Pliny the Elder is supposed to have observed. “Hope is the dream of a waking man.� Go looking for hopeful climate stories and they turn up everywhere.
is like a picture book for adults, with twenty-six essays written by noted science writer Elizabeth Kolbert� accompanied by charming illustrations by Wesley Allsbrook � one for each letter of the alphabet (which sounds like the topics could be cutesy or strained, but they’re really not), and the core message really is about hope. Kolbert makes the case that action is needed on climate change (several of these essays are blunt about the challenges we’re facing), but she also writes about all of the wonderful projects (electrification, “green� concrete, opportunities for large developing economies like India’s to “leapfrog� over fossil fuel use straight to more sustainable energy sources) that are currently taking place, and hopefulness is the point (under N for Narratives, Kolbert stresses that we need to be careful how we discuss climate change: “A diet of bad news leads to paralysis, which yields yet more bad news�, yet, “People who believe in a brighter future are more likely to put in the effort required to achieve it.�) As I read a digital ARC, I’d be very interested to see what a physical copy of this book would look like � it will be shelved in Science and Nature alongside Kolbert’s other books, but will this be more like a graphic novel? A coffee table book? � and as much as I did enjoy reading this, I’m left bemused as to who might buy a copy. (Usual warning that, as I read an ARC, passages quoted may not be in their final forms.)
Kolbert begins at A for Svante Arrhenius (who first proposed the link between carbon dioxide and climate change in 1894; he imagined that living under “a warmer sky� would be delightful, but probably 3000 years in the future):
It’s easy now to poke fun at Arrhenius for his sunniness. The doubling threshold could be reached within decades, and the results of this are apt to be disastrous. But who among us is really any different? Here we all are, watching things fall apart. And yet, deep down, we don’t believe it.
And ends the essay collection at Z for Zero (with a discussion of the Hoover Dam, ground “zero� for climate change in the US, the construction of which was authorised in 1928, just a year after Svante Arrhenius� death) and I didn’t previously know that the Colorado River has been experiencing a “megadrought� since 1998:
From the observation deck, the drought’s effects were scarily apparent. An abandoned dock lay, in pieces, high above the lake’s edge. Instead of being submerged, the power plant’s four intake towers stuck up in the air, like lighthouses. The steep walls of the reservoir, which in pre-dam days formed Black Canyon, were lined in an enormous black stripe � a geological oddity known as the bathtub ring. The ring, composed of minerals deposited by the retreating waters, runs as straight as a ruler, mile after mile. At the start of the drought, the stripe was as high as a giraffe. By 2015, it had grown as tall as the Statue of Liberty. In 2022, it reached the height of the Tower of Pisa. The water level was so low that the dam's generators could operate only sporadically.
And along the way, there are many hopeful bits, as here with J for Jobs:
Recently, a Princeton-based team issued a report detailing how the United States could reduce its net emissions to zero by 2050. The researchers considered several possible decarbonization “pathways�. The one labelled “high electrification� would, they projected, eliminate sixty-two thousand jobs in the coal industry and four hundred thousand in the natural-gas sector. But it was expected to produce nearly eight hundred thousand jobs in construction, more than seven hundred thousand in the solar industry, and more than a million in upgrading the grid.
I like the idea of spreading a hopeful message � it can only help to combat paralysing fatalism � so maybe the point is to have books like this, with bite-sized info, laying around for people to flip through and get inspired. It can’t hurt.
October 13, 2023
H is for Hope is a well-researched graphic novel covering many aspects of climate change. As someone who works in the area of climate change I was really excited to read this book. The illustrations are great and there is a lot of fascinating information in the text. The book covers everything from wind to solar to cement manufacture to government legislation and beyond. Because the book is organized by the alphabet, the subject matter jumps rapidly from one area of information to another. I was able to follow the jumps and appreciate the very interesting material included in the book. However, I believe that this book would be difficult to follow by individuals who do not already have a significant understanding of climate change.
Thank you to NetGalley and Clarkson Potter/ Ten Speed Press for an advanced reader copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.
Thank you to NetGalley and Clarkson Potter/ Ten Speed Press for an advanced reader copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.
May 15, 2024
For a book ostensibly about hope, Kolbert ends on a stark note, which I appreciated. I don't haveÌýa lot of hope about this.
ClimateÌýchange isn't a problem that can be solved by summoning the "will." It isn't a problem that can be "fixed" or "conquered," thoughÌýthese words are often used. It isn't going to have a happy ending, or a win-win ending, or, on a human timescale, any ending at all. Whatever we might want to believeÌýabout the future, there are limits, and we are up against them.The physical book is nice to hold and I liked the artwork by Wesley Allsbrook.
June 6, 2024
"H is For Hope" dives into the issues of Climate Change in the form of essays, one for each letter of the alphabet.
In the essay "Kilowatt" she presents staggering facts "an American household of four is responsible for the same emissions as sixteen Argentineans, six hundred Ugandans, or a Somali village of sixteen hundred...They represent yet another way the Global North has exploited the Global South; call it atmospheric imperialism." This term is not one I've heard of before but is something interesting to think about. You don't usually stop to think about how much air you're killing in relation to people in the rest of the world.
In other essays she introduces companies some of which are working on creating a new type of concrete which doesn't produce co2 or a company who focuses their time on turbine energy. She also points out how Congressmen black climate change bills because their pockets are lined with other energy sources which is why barely any climate change bills get approved and those that do have been trimmed down so heavily it might not even matter.
The entire book focuses on the hope of a better future but in the end leaves me feeling hopeless to an extent because countries like China and Russia make no progress towards decreasing emissions and have no plans to do so. Ultimately, "Climate change is characterized not just by uncertainty but by something risk analysts call "deep uncertainty." There are known unknowns to worry about, and unknown unknowns."(79%)
Check out a podcast that I host with my boyfriend where we talk books and book related things:
...
and our Instagram:
Edit Review
In the essay "Kilowatt" she presents staggering facts "an American household of four is responsible for the same emissions as sixteen Argentineans, six hundred Ugandans, or a Somali village of sixteen hundred...They represent yet another way the Global North has exploited the Global South; call it atmospheric imperialism." This term is not one I've heard of before but is something interesting to think about. You don't usually stop to think about how much air you're killing in relation to people in the rest of the world.
In other essays she introduces companies some of which are working on creating a new type of concrete which doesn't produce co2 or a company who focuses their time on turbine energy. She also points out how Congressmen black climate change bills because their pockets are lined with other energy sources which is why barely any climate change bills get approved and those that do have been trimmed down so heavily it might not even matter.
The entire book focuses on the hope of a better future but in the end leaves me feeling hopeless to an extent because countries like China and Russia make no progress towards decreasing emissions and have no plans to do so. Ultimately, "Climate change is characterized not just by uncertainty but by something risk analysts call "deep uncertainty." There are known unknowns to worry about, and unknown unknowns."(79%)
Check out a podcast that I host with my boyfriend where we talk books and book related things:
...
and our Instagram:
Edit Review
December 18, 2023
**I received a copy of this through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. Thank you to NetGalley and the publishers for this opportunity.
This was an interesting read, and definitely very informative. However, I went into it with a different expectation in mind so I think that definitely skewed my enjoyment of it. I really liked the accompanying snippets of art work, and I thought the format was interesting. I just have to admit that I didn't love it. However, I think this would be a great read for students who want to learn more about Climate Change.
This was an interesting read, and definitely very informative. However, I went into it with a different expectation in mind so I think that definitely skewed my enjoyment of it. I really liked the accompanying snippets of art work, and I thought the format was interesting. I just have to admit that I didn't love it. However, I think this would be a great read for students who want to learn more about Climate Change.
June 25, 2024
The perfect dose of important information for my ever dwindling attention span.
June 16, 2024
Really liked this but I wish the essays were longer. A lot of them felt cut short or only like summaries.
February 28, 2025
This is an ABC book for adults, as the author relates a matter related to climate change for each letter of the English alphabet. This is a very quick read, with great illustrations accompanying the short text content. At the same time, though brief, it is thought provoking, and is both hopeful, and sometimes alarming. The H is for Hope is her central theme, and she relates developments from private and public domains that are making positive change and investments toward reducing carbon in the atmosphere. But there are also some things that have grown more concerning even since this book was published. X is for Xenophobia forecasts increasing numbers of the poorest people of the earth being driven from their homelands by devastating climate change, and being barred from entering countries which are most responsible for those climate disasters. And W is for Weather reports the annual increase in incidents of weather related disasters, and the billions of dollars of damage that continues to climb every year. One of the last chapters, Y is for You, touts the passage of things like The Inflation Reduction Act supported by a majority of Americans. This chapter reminds each of us to do what we can to influence continuing efforts to protect the future.
April 22, 2025
This is a light (in content, not tone) kind of thing that I listened to on audiobook. The promised hope in the title was on short supply, but I appreciated what said Greta Thunberg as quoted by Kolbert: “Hope is not something that is given to you. It is something you have to earn, to create.�
June 24, 2024
The art in this book is beautiful. A to Z didn’t work for me as a format. There was no cohesive narrative thread. Just kind of an info dump for each letter that was too brief to get beyond surface level. The title indicated that there was reason for hope but the content didn’t align with that.
April 9, 2024
A look at many of the ways we’re fucking up and a few ways we can slow the apocalypse, but did little in providing any semblance of hope
October 12, 2023
H for Hope is a series of essays on climate change, arranged alphabetically around key words, concepts and names (I had snorted at "Republicans" being one of the alphabet choices), and supported by lovely illustrations by Wesley Allsbrook as well as a handful of infographics. And yes, it does offer a primarily US-centric view on the environmental catastrophe, so from that angle I did learn a few things new to me. My main question, when reading, was who is meant to be the right audience for it? The tone of the essays was very accessible, and while there were some interesting discoveries, the majority of information would be familiar to people who have a modicum of interest in the environmental issues. Perhaps schoolkids? I read it on one longish train ride, anyway.
Thanks to #NetGalley and Clarkson Potter/Ten Speed Press for an early copy of #HIsforHope.
Thanks to #NetGalley and Clarkson Potter/Ten Speed Press for an early copy of #HIsforHope.
July 12, 2024
It’s hard to know how to approach Elizabeth Kolbert’s H is for Hope.
It’s a collection of essays on climate change based on the Massachusetts writer’s column for the New Yorker. The impulse, when one is a columnist or a publisher, is to see a year or several years worth of writing and say, “Isn’t this just a beautiful wad of content? We should publish it!�
But the problem is that newspaper columns, and journalism more broadly, are meant to to respond to the moment, to the news of the day. The columns that were cutting-edge when they were published run the risk of becoming stale-dated.
The mark of a good collected-columns book is the additional work the writer has done to deepen or extend the arguments they’ve already made, given more space and time for reflection. Does Kolbert make connections between her collected work � does she highlight the resonances between her ideas? Well, sort of.
Her discussion of planes that run on electricity, of green concrete and batteries made using seawater and rusty iron are interesting, if brief. Kolbert provides valuable insight on replacing oil and gas jobs with those in “high electrification� sectors and how countries such as India can “leapfrog� past energy grids that rely on coal and natural gas to solar generation and iron-air batteries.
Also worth noting is how Kolbert engages with the work of University of Manitoba scholar Vaclav Smil, specifically his idea that “the gap between wishful thinking and reality is vast.� Kolbert explains that many of the climate-focused technologies she writes about are still evolving, still largely unproven, and will require massive amounts of resources to fully implement, assuming government buy-in.
As the title suggests, H is for Hope is an abecedarian, with an essay for every letter of the alphabet. This playful structural choice is reflected in the design of the book, which contains a multitude of illustrations from North Carolina’s Wesley Allsbrook and lots of white print around small blocks of text.
H is for Hope is also larger than your average trade book, halfway between a children’s picture book and a coffee table book. It almost looks like a children’s encyclopedia from the 1980s or a Golden book, but this is definitely a title for adults � H is for hope but C is for capitalism and D is for despair.
The white space gives the reader time to contemplate the ideas Kolbert is parsing, from the specific technologies and their potential impacts to the system-level thinking she is trying to evoke. All that space showcases Allsbrook’s gorgeous illustrations, to the extent that it seems like this is a book intended to be a teaching tool in graphic design programs, oohed and aahed at by book design prize juries.
But those illustrations come at a price, with publisher Ten Speed Press choosing beauty over functionality. In the roughest of allusions to Marshall McLuhan, is the point here the message or the medium? Most books of non-fiction are designed to be containers for ideas, published in formats that can be stowed in your bag, that are easy to hold.
Put another way, do we want or need our of-the-moment discussions on climate change, with their anxiety and imperative to make change now, to be coffee-table books? Do we really need keepsakes for the end of the world?
Then there’s the fact that Ten Speed chose to print H is for Hope in China. This is because it is substantially cheaper to publish full-colour books in China instead of Canada or the U.S., even taking into account the (financial) cost of shipping the books back to North America. Simply put, this book on climate change was printed using manufacturing and printing processes that may not pass the green sniff test. (It’s possible Ten Speed did an environmental audit of the Chinese press they worked with, but since the publication record just says “Printed in China� without any mention of the paper or printing processes used, it’s possible they weren’t laudable.)
When it comes to climate change, the elephant in the room for most books is that their printing is predicated on pulping trees. Although ebooks and audiobooks are accessible in all kinds of important ways, we have yet to come up with a technology that would allow us to completely do away with printed books.
But it is possible to mitigate some of this damage: to print sustainably/locally and to make those other formats available.
Take, for instance, Amy Kaler’s 2022 book Until Further Notice: A Year in Pandemic Time. Published by Edmonton’s University of Alberta Press and printed at Houghton Boston Printers in Saskatoon, its publication information includes the following statement: “University of Alberta Press is committed to protecting our natural environment. As part of our efforts, this book is printed on Enviro Paper: it contains 100% post-consumer recycled fibres and is acid- and chlorine-free.�
Readers might find themselves disappointed some of those choices weren’t made here, or that Kolbert didn’t use her clout to insist on them.
H is for Hope is intriguing and amusing, a great example of human endeavour, of what’s possible in terms of art and design. But it’s hard to recommended for a thorough discussion of current climate change thinking.
It’s not easy being green.
(Published in the Winnipeg Free Press's Books Section on May 18, 2024)
It’s a collection of essays on climate change based on the Massachusetts writer’s column for the New Yorker. The impulse, when one is a columnist or a publisher, is to see a year or several years worth of writing and say, “Isn’t this just a beautiful wad of content? We should publish it!�
But the problem is that newspaper columns, and journalism more broadly, are meant to to respond to the moment, to the news of the day. The columns that were cutting-edge when they were published run the risk of becoming stale-dated.
The mark of a good collected-columns book is the additional work the writer has done to deepen or extend the arguments they’ve already made, given more space and time for reflection. Does Kolbert make connections between her collected work � does she highlight the resonances between her ideas? Well, sort of.
Her discussion of planes that run on electricity, of green concrete and batteries made using seawater and rusty iron are interesting, if brief. Kolbert provides valuable insight on replacing oil and gas jobs with those in “high electrification� sectors and how countries such as India can “leapfrog� past energy grids that rely on coal and natural gas to solar generation and iron-air batteries.
Also worth noting is how Kolbert engages with the work of University of Manitoba scholar Vaclav Smil, specifically his idea that “the gap between wishful thinking and reality is vast.� Kolbert explains that many of the climate-focused technologies she writes about are still evolving, still largely unproven, and will require massive amounts of resources to fully implement, assuming government buy-in.
As the title suggests, H is for Hope is an abecedarian, with an essay for every letter of the alphabet. This playful structural choice is reflected in the design of the book, which contains a multitude of illustrations from North Carolina’s Wesley Allsbrook and lots of white print around small blocks of text.
H is for Hope is also larger than your average trade book, halfway between a children’s picture book and a coffee table book. It almost looks like a children’s encyclopedia from the 1980s or a Golden book, but this is definitely a title for adults � H is for hope but C is for capitalism and D is for despair.
The white space gives the reader time to contemplate the ideas Kolbert is parsing, from the specific technologies and their potential impacts to the system-level thinking she is trying to evoke. All that space showcases Allsbrook’s gorgeous illustrations, to the extent that it seems like this is a book intended to be a teaching tool in graphic design programs, oohed and aahed at by book design prize juries.
But those illustrations come at a price, with publisher Ten Speed Press choosing beauty over functionality. In the roughest of allusions to Marshall McLuhan, is the point here the message or the medium? Most books of non-fiction are designed to be containers for ideas, published in formats that can be stowed in your bag, that are easy to hold.
Put another way, do we want or need our of-the-moment discussions on climate change, with their anxiety and imperative to make change now, to be coffee-table books? Do we really need keepsakes for the end of the world?
Then there’s the fact that Ten Speed chose to print H is for Hope in China. This is because it is substantially cheaper to publish full-colour books in China instead of Canada or the U.S., even taking into account the (financial) cost of shipping the books back to North America. Simply put, this book on climate change was printed using manufacturing and printing processes that may not pass the green sniff test. (It’s possible Ten Speed did an environmental audit of the Chinese press they worked with, but since the publication record just says “Printed in China� without any mention of the paper or printing processes used, it’s possible they weren’t laudable.)
When it comes to climate change, the elephant in the room for most books is that their printing is predicated on pulping trees. Although ebooks and audiobooks are accessible in all kinds of important ways, we have yet to come up with a technology that would allow us to completely do away with printed books.
But it is possible to mitigate some of this damage: to print sustainably/locally and to make those other formats available.
Take, for instance, Amy Kaler’s 2022 book Until Further Notice: A Year in Pandemic Time. Published by Edmonton’s University of Alberta Press and printed at Houghton Boston Printers in Saskatoon, its publication information includes the following statement: “University of Alberta Press is committed to protecting our natural environment. As part of our efforts, this book is printed on Enviro Paper: it contains 100% post-consumer recycled fibres and is acid- and chlorine-free.�
Readers might find themselves disappointed some of those choices weren’t made here, or that Kolbert didn’t use her clout to insist on them.
H is for Hope is intriguing and amusing, a great example of human endeavour, of what’s possible in terms of art and design. But it’s hard to recommended for a thorough discussion of current climate change thinking.
It’s not easy being green.
(Published in the Winnipeg Free Press's Books Section on May 18, 2024)
May 14, 2024
Don't expect to feel hopeful after reading this
November 27, 2024
I read this book in preparation for Kolbert's upcoming author talk at my public library. And I'm glad I did. I have to confess that I had avoided it because it's so hard to think about the climate changes humans have initiated and what might lie ahead. But Kolbert's book--an alphabet book for adults--is ingenious, informative, and important. It's also very readable--I finished it in a a couple of hours.
Like the title says, the book is not all doom and gloom. There are reasons for hope. But Kolbert is also realistic. She moves through the alphabet, beginning with the A--a biography of the Swedish scientist Svante Arrhenius (1859-1927) who first identified the role of carbon dioxide in climate--and ending with Z--zero as in ground zero, an entry about Hoover Dam and Lake Mead. The topic selections are clever, and the abecedarian structure proves an effective way to present a lot of information in a manner that doesn't overwhelm. Some but not all of the info was familiar to me, a person who tries to stay informed about environmental issues. The entries held my interest regardless. The book would be a good introduction for those who are newer to the topic as well as a good read for those who are well-versed in it.
Hoover Dam. I have to say that it depresses me to learn that the video about the dam and tour have still not been updated to reflect the current situation, where the lake is so low that the generators touted by the video are often not able to run. Kolbert ends the book with this disconnect (when she questioned the tour guide about this, the woman told her she wasn't supposed to comment on climate change). I visited Hoover Dam in the early 2000s and was appalled then that the presentation was so dated. Apparently, twenty years later, it's still promoting the same "ain't progress great" message without context.
And this leads into the real takeaway, the important message that Kolbert gets across in her book: we are not going to be able to "fix" climate change (which doesn't at all mean we shouldn't try to minimize it). The processes we've started by burning fossil fuels and cutting down forests and other greenhouse-gas-producing practices are not going to stop even if we stop doing these things--positive feedback loops have been set in motion that are self-propelling. Change is here, and we are going to have face it one way or another.
Like the title says, the book is not all doom and gloom. There are reasons for hope. But Kolbert is also realistic. She moves through the alphabet, beginning with the A--a biography of the Swedish scientist Svante Arrhenius (1859-1927) who first identified the role of carbon dioxide in climate--and ending with Z--zero as in ground zero, an entry about Hoover Dam and Lake Mead. The topic selections are clever, and the abecedarian structure proves an effective way to present a lot of information in a manner that doesn't overwhelm. Some but not all of the info was familiar to me, a person who tries to stay informed about environmental issues. The entries held my interest regardless. The book would be a good introduction for those who are newer to the topic as well as a good read for those who are well-versed in it.
Hoover Dam. I have to say that it depresses me to learn that the video about the dam and tour have still not been updated to reflect the current situation, where the lake is so low that the generators touted by the video are often not able to run. Kolbert ends the book with this disconnect (when she questioned the tour guide about this, the woman told her she wasn't supposed to comment on climate change). I visited Hoover Dam in the early 2000s and was appalled then that the presentation was so dated. Apparently, twenty years later, it's still promoting the same "ain't progress great" message without context.
And this leads into the real takeaway, the important message that Kolbert gets across in her book: we are not going to be able to "fix" climate change (which doesn't at all mean we shouldn't try to minimize it). The processes we've started by burning fossil fuels and cutting down forests and other greenhouse-gas-producing practices are not going to stop even if we stop doing these things--positive feedback loops have been set in motion that are self-propelling. Change is here, and we are going to have face it one way or another.
Read
April 21, 2024This is a bit of a weird book. It is formatted like a children's book, but the writing is clearly not directed at children. It is an alphabet book, where each letter of the alphabet is a distinct mini-essay, but Kolbert also tries to maintain a continuous flow between the essays, meaning that a lot of the alphabetical headings are really stretched to match their topics. And all these stylistic choices would lead you to believe that it is meant as some sort of primer to the subject of climate change, but the subject matter is widely variable, largely focused on human psychology ("Despair", "Narratives") and technological fixes ("Flight", "Green Concrete"), among other things. Ironically, "Hope" only briefly touches on the need for hope, and spends most of its time talking about iron-air batteries.
This book is a bit of a mess in its messaging. In "Blah Blah Blah" it highlights Greta Thunberg's speech mocking the empty words of world leaders, but later unironically quotes Biden and Hillary Clinton. Quite a few entries are dedicated to up and coming green tech, but in "Objections" it quotes Vaclav Smil's critique that we are overly dependent on technologies that, as of right now, are still science fiction. C is for "Capitalism", but Kolbert seems unwilling to commit to laying the blame on a system built around endless growth, which may explain why so much of the book is dedicated to market solutions to climate change.
If the goal of this book is to demonstrate how messy the problem of climate change is, I guess it's sort of effective. But this book largely felt like it lacked vision and lacked teeth.
This book is a bit of a mess in its messaging. In "Blah Blah Blah" it highlights Greta Thunberg's speech mocking the empty words of world leaders, but later unironically quotes Biden and Hillary Clinton. Quite a few entries are dedicated to up and coming green tech, but in "Objections" it quotes Vaclav Smil's critique that we are overly dependent on technologies that, as of right now, are still science fiction. C is for "Capitalism", but Kolbert seems unwilling to commit to laying the blame on a system built around endless growth, which may explain why so much of the book is dedicated to market solutions to climate change.
If the goal of this book is to demonstrate how messy the problem of climate change is, I guess it's sort of effective. But this book largely felt like it lacked vision and lacked teeth.
April 13, 2025
H Is For Hope is a collection of essays that relates to the journey and topic of climate change. Going through alphabetical order, there are 26 essays that illustrations different subtopics related to climate change. Some are about prominent scientists & inventions while others delve into opposition & uncertainty. Each essay is accompanied by detailed art that enlightens the meanings behind the author's words of caution, information & directness.
I wasn't exactly too sure what the premise of this book was when it was initially announced for release. But after reading it, I do know H Is For Hope is a very informative book in learning about climate change and its impact on our future. I will say the essays are not too lengthy, and combined with the artworks, lasts no more than three pages each. The purpose of this book is to inform and it succeeds in introducing many ideas and the complexities that is accompanied when discussing about how to prevent and integrate "green" actions into society and social policies. Admitted by the author, it won't be easy and there is much hesitation from politicians to do so. Additionally, there are many opponents to these actions. However, as she states, if more people are informed and aware, the greater the chances of implementation and a start to recovering the planet from falling into an apocalypse. The illustrations are uniquely textured and reminds me of vintage style that you would find on certain magazines & newspapers. H Is For Hope is not overwhelming on the pessimism, but an observation of how our world is changing before us and how it is time we take the steps to determine how we want it to be.
I wasn't exactly too sure what the premise of this book was when it was initially announced for release. But after reading it, I do know H Is For Hope is a very informative book in learning about climate change and its impact on our future. I will say the essays are not too lengthy, and combined with the artworks, lasts no more than three pages each. The purpose of this book is to inform and it succeeds in introducing many ideas and the complexities that is accompanied when discussing about how to prevent and integrate "green" actions into society and social policies. Admitted by the author, it won't be easy and there is much hesitation from politicians to do so. Additionally, there are many opponents to these actions. However, as she states, if more people are informed and aware, the greater the chances of implementation and a start to recovering the planet from falling into an apocalypse. The illustrations are uniquely textured and reminds me of vintage style that you would find on certain magazines & newspapers. H Is For Hope is not overwhelming on the pessimism, but an observation of how our world is changing before us and how it is time we take the steps to determine how we want it to be.
Read
June 15, 2024How? Saw randomly on the new book section a while ago and I sure need hope when it comes to climate change.
What? 26 short illustrated essays, from Arrhenius (Swedish scientist who in 1896 at least figured out that CO2 emissions from fossil fuels would warm the planet, but who thought it would take a long time and be a good thing) to Zero (the number we need to reach as quickly as possible if there's to be any chance of preserving human life as we know it).
Yeah, so? Despite the title pointing to Hope, and despite the articles which focus on some new hopes, mostly in material sciences -- new wind farms, the Inflation Reduction Act, electric planes, carbon-negative concrete, how many jobs an energy revolution might bring -- I left this book without a lot of hope. Yeah, a positive rather than fatalist attitude is necessary (N for Narrative); yeah, despair is unproductive and a sin (almost the entirely of D for Despair, a chapter which hits like a ton of bricks and then evaporates, very much unlike a ton of bricks); yeah, this depends on us (Y for You).
And yet, Q is for Quagmire, R is for Republicans, X is for Xenophobia. Kolbert, in an NPR interview, says the takeaway from this book is that climate change is coming and we have a choice in how we deal with it: we can deal with it intelligently or we can pretend it doesn't exist -- but it's coming all the same. I agree with her there, and I guess I'm just still low on hope that we can get through this intelligently.
What? 26 short illustrated essays, from Arrhenius (Swedish scientist who in 1896 at least figured out that CO2 emissions from fossil fuels would warm the planet, but who thought it would take a long time and be a good thing) to Zero (the number we need to reach as quickly as possible if there's to be any chance of preserving human life as we know it).
Yeah, so? Despite the title pointing to Hope, and despite the articles which focus on some new hopes, mostly in material sciences -- new wind farms, the Inflation Reduction Act, electric planes, carbon-negative concrete, how many jobs an energy revolution might bring -- I left this book without a lot of hope. Yeah, a positive rather than fatalist attitude is necessary (N for Narrative); yeah, despair is unproductive and a sin (almost the entirely of D for Despair, a chapter which hits like a ton of bricks and then evaporates, very much unlike a ton of bricks); yeah, this depends on us (Y for You).
And yet, Q is for Quagmire, R is for Republicans, X is for Xenophobia. Kolbert, in an NPR interview, says the takeaway from this book is that climate change is coming and we have a choice in how we deal with it: we can deal with it intelligently or we can pretend it doesn't exist -- but it's coming all the same. I agree with her there, and I guess I'm just still low on hope that we can get through this intelligently.
September 19, 2024
XXXXX
AN ILLUSTRATED ABC BOOK ON CLIMATE CHANGE
XXXXX
"Climate change resists narrative--yet some account of what's happening is needed.
Millions of lives are at stake. And upward of a million species.
And there are decisions to be made, even if it's unclear who, exactly, will make them."
The above quote (in italics) comes from this inspiring and alarming book by Elizabeth Kolbert (with illustrations by Wesley Allsbrook). Kolbert is a staff writer for "The New Yorker" magazine where she has received many awards. She is regarded as one of the great science journalists. Kolbert is also a Pulitzer Prize-winning author. (Allsbrook is an autistic graphic artist who has received many awards for her work.)
Climate change is a term that describes global warming and its effects on the Earth's climate system. (Global warming is the ongoing increase in global average temperatures.)
In a series of twenty-sex brief essays (one for each letter of the alphabet), the author takes us on an illustrated tour through the history of climate change and the uncertainties it presents. This results in a book that is inspiring, alarming, and even humorous, a truly unique examination of our changing world.
This book delves into climate change mitigation as well as climate change's social, economic, and political aspects.
This is not a primer on climate change nor does it sugar-coat the reality of climate change. It tells it like it is, making this book both informative and disturbing.
Finally, this book is effectively illustrated throughout with pen-and-ink style drawings.
In conclusion, Kolbert gives us a well-presented look at the world's most pressing issue!!
XXXXX
(2023; introduction; 26 essays; main narrative 155 pages; acknowledgments; about the author & artist; further reading)
XXXXX
AN ILLUSTRATED ABC BOOK ON CLIMATE CHANGE
XXXXX
"Climate change resists narrative--yet some account of what's happening is needed.
Millions of lives are at stake. And upward of a million species.
And there are decisions to be made, even if it's unclear who, exactly, will make them."
The above quote (in italics) comes from this inspiring and alarming book by Elizabeth Kolbert (with illustrations by Wesley Allsbrook). Kolbert is a staff writer for "The New Yorker" magazine where she has received many awards. She is regarded as one of the great science journalists. Kolbert is also a Pulitzer Prize-winning author. (Allsbrook is an autistic graphic artist who has received many awards for her work.)
Climate change is a term that describes global warming and its effects on the Earth's climate system. (Global warming is the ongoing increase in global average temperatures.)
In a series of twenty-sex brief essays (one for each letter of the alphabet), the author takes us on an illustrated tour through the history of climate change and the uncertainties it presents. This results in a book that is inspiring, alarming, and even humorous, a truly unique examination of our changing world.
This book delves into climate change mitigation as well as climate change's social, economic, and political aspects.
This is not a primer on climate change nor does it sugar-coat the reality of climate change. It tells it like it is, making this book both informative and disturbing.
Finally, this book is effectively illustrated throughout with pen-and-ink style drawings.
In conclusion, Kolbert gives us a well-presented look at the world's most pressing issue!!
XXXXX
(2023; introduction; 26 essays; main narrative 155 pages; acknowledgments; about the author & artist; further reading)
XXXXX
October 13, 2024
This book is a series of essays rather than a cohesive narrative, but it is still very readable, as is virtually everything Kolbert writes. She makes the point, repeatedly, that we are thirty years too late (at least) getting started in earnest on decarbonizing the world economy. She offers many examples of new technologies that will reduce our reliance on fossil fuels, but at the end of the book, I was left with very little of the book's namesake, hope. It is interesting, given that she wrote a book about it (Under a White Sky), that she does not even mention sun-dimming technologies. Given the overall thrust of this book, i.e., that we may have waited so long to start that we cannot now avoid disaster, that she does not discuss the potential of sun-dimming particulates, injected into the stratosphere, to buy us 30-50 years to decarbonize. Perhaps she got the same kind of knee-jerk pushback from her liberal friends that I regularly get from mine on this topic after her book on it, and now she would prefer to avoid discussing it.
May 23, 2024
Kolbert has done it again with a book firmly centered on the changing climate and what it means. I have enjoyed her works since the Sixth Extinction and this is no exception.
This book (in my opinion) straddles the gulf between a children's book and an book for adults only because of the illustrations. This is firmly a book that is a call less to action than to attention. The idea being that, until we pay attention, nothing will happen.
I would love to see this book become an introduction to climate change that is read in schools but, unfortunately, the many pointed (though factual) comments toward one side of the political spectrum makes that unlikely.
I hope that Ms. Kolbert keeps sounding the alarm with her writing. Hopefully, more people will listen.
Thank you to the publisher and Netgalley for the opportunity to read an advance copy of this book.
This book (in my opinion) straddles the gulf between a children's book and an book for adults only because of the illustrations. This is firmly a book that is a call less to action than to attention. The idea being that, until we pay attention, nothing will happen.
I would love to see this book become an introduction to climate change that is read in schools but, unfortunately, the many pointed (though factual) comments toward one side of the political spectrum makes that unlikely.
I hope that Ms. Kolbert keeps sounding the alarm with her writing. Hopefully, more people will listen.
Thank you to the publisher and Netgalley for the opportunity to read an advance copy of this book.
December 20, 2024
The audiobook, which I listened to, clocks in at just over ninety minutes. It's far shorter than Kolbert's previous works. But that's intentional. Ordinary citizens don't need endless pages of data—we need to feel. To feel the crisis as something visceral, immediate. Hope in saviour technologies, politicians, or billionaires is misplaced. The only hope lies in action, in living as though our lives depend on it. Because, of course, they do.
The book's structure—an alphabet of vignettes—feels almost whimsical, each letter bringing its own observation, its own challenge. It's a small, clever conceit, and yet it doesn't trivialise the message.
We can embrace creativity, Kolbert seems to say, even as we reckon with a reality so stark it defies imagination: we may not turn things around this time.
Kolbert doesn't shy away from the enormity of the odds. But she also refuses to indulge in despair.
In fact, the chapter on D is the shortest, and it reads:
That's the kind of clarity Kolbert brings—concise, urgent, unflinching. It's what we need, whether we want it or not. I rate *H Is for Hope* 5 stars.
The book's structure—an alphabet of vignettes—feels almost whimsical, each letter bringing its own observation, its own challenge. It's a small, clever conceit, and yet it doesn't trivialise the message.
We can embrace creativity, Kolbert seems to say, even as we reckon with a reality so stark it defies imagination: we may not turn things around this time.
Kolbert doesn't shy away from the enormity of the odds. But she also refuses to indulge in despair.
In fact, the chapter on D is the shortest, and it reads:
DESPAIR
Despair is unproductive.
It is also a sin.
That's the kind of clarity Kolbert brings—concise, urgent, unflinching. It's what we need, whether we want it or not. I rate *H Is for Hope* 5 stars.
July 19, 2024
Kolbert is one of our best journalists on the climate crisis. This book was not written for me, but I see a number of reviews that liked it and learned some factoid from it.
It is not a deeply thought analysis of what we might do about the climate. It is some very thin stories for casual reading, aimed at people with little-to-no study of climate issues. The format, however, might be a really good idea, because reading books like The Uninhabitable Earth and The Deluge can be like hitting yourself with a hammer after a while.
I wish there were more hope, but I cling to the notion that just as we have no idea how bad it could get, we also don't know what might ameliorate the coming disaster.
It is not a deeply thought analysis of what we might do about the climate. It is some very thin stories for casual reading, aimed at people with little-to-no study of climate issues. The format, however, might be a really good idea, because reading books like The Uninhabitable Earth and The Deluge can be like hitting yourself with a hammer after a while.
I wish there were more hope, but I cling to the notion that just as we have no idea how bad it could get, we also don't know what might ameliorate the coming disaster.
August 18, 2024
Way better than most books on this topic. I felt it was more factual and less accusatory, I mean after all this mess started with the dawn of industrialization, NOT the baby boomers.
The fact that it lets you know the facts of the situation and doesn't overwhelm you with the reality might be enough to engage people. It allows you to understand the issue and keep it there instead of a political finger-pointing game that will certainly lose focus on the real problem and become a way to demonize someone.
Whatever it is, we have built ourselves and this world into a DIRE place.
4 stars
Happy Reading!
The fact that it lets you know the facts of the situation and doesn't overwhelm you with the reality might be enough to engage people. It allows you to understand the issue and keep it there instead of a political finger-pointing game that will certainly lose focus on the real problem and become a way to demonize someone.
Whatever it is, we have built ourselves and this world into a DIRE place.
4 stars
Happy Reading!
April 15, 2024
Not as good or substantial as her previous books. More like an appendix to the other books. Some interesting snippets, but not enough to justify the price of the book (less than 100 pgs ebook, and that includes all the illustrations/art). Cute idea (1 short topic per letter of the alphabet), but the material would've been better served (& the readers better served) if this material was part of a larger more substantial work, rather than just short random bits held together by the cute organizational gimmick.
April 17, 2024
Wonderful illustrations made this tough subject a thousand times more approachable. Nobody writes climate change better than Kolbert. If you haven't read her before, this is a great way to get up to speed on energy use in the US and around the globe -- and yes, there are rays of hope . A few rays of hope, whether in low-cost batteries that run on rust, or in "green concrete." Quick read,essential book.
May 13, 2024
Kind of a hybrid "text book/graphic novel". If only every junior high student was required to read this...sigh. A very basic primer on the whats and hows of climate change with some really nice illustrations. And although she writes "D is for Despair. Despair is unproductive" it is really hard not to.
July 12, 2024
I have never read a book more inaccurately titled. Nor have I read a book that was both incredibly informative and incredibly condescending, until now. The artwork was lovely. And the points were all accurate. I probably would have given this a better rating if they had picked a more appropriate title, like, "We're All Going to Hell in a Handbasket".
July 31, 2024
I loved this. It was just the right amount of information without being overwhelming. It's 26 short essays, one for each letter of the alphabet. As others have said, it IS odd that it's called H is for Hope when the book leaves you feeling very dismal. However, I think it's always important to have hope. We just need to put action behind it. This isn't going to go away. And the situation is DIRE.
August 26, 2024
Kolbert is a great writer, interweaving narratives and relevant data. The illustrations are wonderful. The title and first half (through N) were slowly building hope, but O-Z were increasingly despairing and depressing. I value realism, but this reality is so troubling. I guess that was the intended effect, but with the title, I felt like I was taken for a ride I didn't intend.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 60 reviews
Can't find what you're looking for?
Get help and learn more about the design.