For the past few years, on the Happier with Gretchen Rubin podcast, my co-host and sister Elizabeth and I have set an annual challenge for ourselves and readers.

This year, it’s “Go Outside 23 in 23“—that is, go outside for 23 minutes each day in 2023. Great things happen when we go outside!

Many people—and this is certainly true for me—like to read a book to evoke a certain frame of mind.

Also, some people are doing their reading outside as part of their daily outdoor time. So we asked listeners for books they’d suggest for getting in an outdoor mood, and shared their recommendations in episode 417.

They suggested many terrific books:

• The Urban Bestiary, Lyanda Lynn Haupt
• The Hidden Life of Trees, Peter Wohlleben
• The Shepherd’s Life, James Rebanks
• Land Healer, Jacob Fiennes
• The Peace of Wild Things: And Other Poems, Wendell Berry
• A Walk in the Woods, Bill Bryson
• Braiding Sweetgrass, Robin Wall Kimmerer
• Pilgrim at Tinker Creek, Annie Dillard
• Upstream, Mary Oliver
• Caught Inside and Lighting Out, Daniel Duane
• Arctic Dreams, Barry Lopez
• Born To Run, Christopher McDougall
• LL Bean catalogs!
• Sea of Tranquility, Emily St. John Mandel
• Little House books, Laura Ingalls Wilder
• My Side of the Mountain, Jean Craighead George
• Anne of Green Gables, L. M. Montgomery

Join us for #Outside23in23! Don’t worry if you didn’t start on January 1—you’re never behind. Start where you are.

We’ve heard from so many people about how much they (and also their dogs) are enjoying this time outdoors.