Unlikely Animals // a book pairing
“That’s why we like living with animals so much; they exhibit their joy so outwardly, remind us how to be better alive.”
“We could spend years talking about it, what we would do with one more earthly day in our fleshy physical bodies. Some of us wanted to run again, to sweat, to feel our legs and our blood pumping with use. Others wanted another go at sex, to really remember to enjoy it this time. The living don’t know how good they have it.”
This book came to me last fall thanks to
’s Bibliophilia series and when I saw a copy at my local bookstore just a few days later, the bookish serendipity was too sweet to pass up.Katie writes: “Here are some of the elements you can expect: a group of narrator ghosts, an eccentric dead millionaire, a man with a brain disease, a pet fox, a missing person, and a girl who may or may not have the gift of healing.”
October feels like the perfect time to crack open this heartwarming and complex story of a woman finding her way back home in the most unlikely ways.
Unlikely Animals by Annie Hartnett
Smells like: the lush, loamy scent of a cemetery after a rainstorm, chalk dust and pre-teen angst, nail polish remover.
Looks like: a packed audience murmuring as the house lights dim before the show in a dusty community theatre, the joy of a dog whose soldier just got home.
Tastes like: vanilla cupcakes with yellow icing, a blooming onion, a bowl of Cornpops
Feels like: dog kisses, new love, a long hug, a reunion, embarrassment, existential panic, grief, fingers running through a fox’s fur.
Sounds like: friendly, gossipy ghosts, an apology.
Pairs well with: Pax by Sara Pennypacker, a leaf peeping hike,
Other books by Annie Hartnett: Rabbit Cake
Memorable Quotes:
“That’s why we like living with animals so much; they exhibit their joy so outwardly, remind us how to be better alive.”
“It’s unfair how the body crumbles while the soul still lives in it.”
“You're not too messed up at all, you're just as messed up as you should be.”
“man, we thought at Maple Street, how we missed the excruciating pain of being”
“No one ever stops loving their high school best friend, no matter how we lose them. Some of us at Maple Street had lost our childhood best friends to world wars, to polio, to childbirth, to other violent ends, or just to plain old boring time and separation, but we’d all taken a piece of that love to the grave. That first love. It had shaped us all.”
Spark better conversations with book pairings
Share with a friend or with your book club to inspire your own bookish conversations
*Immediately requests from the library. This looks so good!
Oh this is lovely! I'm so glad you enjoyed this book, Krista. I'll give credit to my friend Kaylie who recommended it to me! Book recommendations make the world go round :)