Just finished this year's anthology and wow – it's a mixed bag of emotions! Some essays hit me like a ton of bricks while others left me scratching my head.

The Lahaina wildfire piece? Absolutely haunting. I read it in one sitting with my jaw on the floor. But that Amazon rainforest transformation article? Could've used more punch – felt like it ended just as it was getting good.

Pro tip: Skip the Kindle version. The formatting is atrocious! Titles split across pages, no proper index... what year is this, 2005? Spring for the physical copy instead.

Standout piece for me was 'The White Oak Tree at Mclean's.' Who knew trees could be better therapists than most humans? Now I'm seriously considering hugging more trees (and not just for Instagram).

Bill McKibben did his thing with the selection, though I wish there was less climate doom and more weird nature facts. Like that whale communication piece – now THAT'S the content I signed up for!