Scan barcode
niecierpek's review
3.75
This wasn’t bad, but I probably wouldn’t have finished it if it wasn’t a bookclub read. It’s a collection of essays, and I have a feeling that some of them were rehashed pieces she published somewhere else beforehand.
Some chapters were better than others, but it was really uneven. I learned a few things, like the really surprising number of lions in captivity. I liked the chapters on chickens and donkeys best. But that’s three out of twenty…
lyriclorelei's review against another edition
informative
reflective
slow-paced
3.0
These are definitely varying degrees of interesting, or maybe I'm not enough of an animal person.
waitwhathelp's review
informative
lighthearted
reflective
relaxing
medium-paced
3.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal death
siobhanward's review against another edition
informative
slow-paced
3.0
Ever since I read Orlean's <i> The Library Book </i> I've been reading her stuff, trying to find something that compares. Unfortunately, this one didn't hold up great. Rather than being a book written intentionally, it's (I assume) a collection of her writings from other places, and it really feels like that. At least 20% of the book is devoted to Orlean's own feelings on animals, her relationships with them and her adventures in hobby farming. It felt like I was reading someone's blog, rather than a book. The essays in between just kind of felt flat. Some felt really dated (the essay about tiger keeping in the US seems kind of unnecessary after Tiger King), and honestly I just didn't vibe with how many of them were about captive animals.
I would have loved to have learned more about humans working in animal preservation and research, or more historical topics, but this just really didn't cover any of that. While I still appreciate the work that Orlean put into this, it just wasn't really for me.
I would have loved to have learned more about humans working in animal preservation and research, or more historical topics, but this just really didn't cover any of that. While I still appreciate the work that Orlean put into this, it just wasn't really for me.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal cruelty and Animal death
suebrownreads's review against another edition
4.0
At first I wasn't crazy about this book, but it grew on me. I didn't care for the reader which is the author, but then I came to understand her matter-of-fact, dry sense of humor. Since I love animals, I enjoyed hearing her stories, and about her travels!
caralee22's review
2.0
I went to see David Sedaris and he recommended this book to the audience. With the exception of the essay on the lost dog and the one on Keiko the whale, I didn't enjoy it much Very disappointing because I loved The Library Book. Can't win them all.
rebekahjenkins's review
4.0
It’s not horrible, I did enjoy it more than I thought I would, but it wasn’t a great read. 3.75 stars, rounding up. Some of the first essays are really great, I enjoyed the one on Free Willy/Keiko the best, but others seemed to be placeholders. And then the final chapter was actually really interesting but it was structured completely different and it threw off the unity of the book. Still better than How to Be a Good Creature which is more what I expected.