Nature Reads on Earth Matters is a show where we explore the stories behind books that bring us closer to nature and the world around us. Every month, we team up with the good folks at Sunda Shelves, an independent bookstore and café with a passion for wild places and thoughtful reads. This month, together with co-host Dylan Jefri Ong (co-founder, Sunda Shelves), we speak to Azamuddeen Nasir, a passionate nature communicator and PhD researcher at Monash University Malaysia. Known online as AnakUmiSukaHutan, Azam creates engaging Malay-language content about Malaysia’s forests, wildlife, and lesser-known ecosystems like peat swamps, bringing science and conservation to life for a wider audience through humour, storytelling, and lived experience. He joins us to share some of his favourite nature reads.

Books discussed during this episode:

1. Fishes of Tasik Bera Pahang - Amirrudin b. Ahmad, Muhammad Fahmi-Ahmad, Mohd Aqmal-Naser, Syed Ahmad Rizal Tuan Nek, Zahar Azuar Zakaria, Mohd Ilham Norhakim Lokman, Muhammad Rasul Abdullah Halim, Intan Faraha A. Ghani, Md. Zain Khaironizam & Mohammad Noor Amal Azmai

2. An Introduction to the Land Snails and Slugs of Malaysia – Thor-Seng Liew and Junn-Kitt Foon

3. A Field Guide to the Mammals of Thailand and South East Asia – Charles M. Francis

4. A Field Guide to the Reptiles of South East Asia – Indraneil Das

5. Butterflies of Peninsular Malaysia – Rosli Omar, Azidah Abdul Aziz, and Sofwan Badrud’din

6. A Handbook on the Peat Swamp Flora of Peninsular Malaysia – I. Faridah-Hanum, Shamsul Khamis, and Khali Aziz Hamzah

7. A Field Guide to the Birds of Peninsular Malaysia and Singapore – Allen Jeyarajasingan

8. Ferns of Malaysia In Colour – A. G. Piggott

9. Handbook and National Red-List of the Freshwater Mussels of Malaysia – Alexandra Zieritz and Manuel Lopes-Lima

10. A Photographic Guide to Snakes and Other Reptiles of Peninsular Malaysia, Singapore and Thailand – Merel J. Cox, Peter Paul Van Dijk, Jarujin Nabhitabatha, and Kumthorn Thirakh

11. Fishes of the Freshwater Ecosystems of Peninsular Malaysia – Mohd Zakaria-Ismail, A. Fatimah, and M. Z. Khaironizam

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