Year in (Book) Review: The Blessings of the Animals

I can't help it. I procrastinate. I always think I'm going to stop, and then something distracts me and I don't.

But here we are, only halfway through February, and my goal of 30 book reviews in the new year seems perilously in danger.

Luckily for me -- and for you -- this first one is a lovely start. I promise to pick up the pace.

You may remember last summer I reviewed a haunting, inappropriate-for-a-summer-getaway-but-so-damn- good-that-I-couldn't-stop-reading-it-even-though-it-was-creeping-me-out-and-sort-of-ruining-my-4th-of-July- holiday book called The Kindness of Strangers, by Katrina Kittle.

You may also remember that very same author was my uber-cool sophomore English teacher and has over recent years morphed into my writing mentor. And also a friend, I think. Or, at least, we'll be friends once I get over not being able to address her as anything other than Miss Kittle.

She's knocked another one out of the park with The Blessings of the Animals, and the more I read from her the more excited I get to read what's next from her. And because she is not a procrastinator, there's always something next.

Blessings opens: "On the morning my husband left me, hours before I knew he would..." and somehow, the simplicity and straightforwardness of this line sets the tone for everything that's to follow. Our narrator is empathetic, because she's heartbroken. We've all been heartbroken. She's pragmatic, even about heartbreak. I've never been pragmatic about anything, I'm fairly certain, but I can admire and respect it in others. And she's funny. And she brings Muriel the goat into our lives and that, in and of itself, is enough reason to fall into this book.

Last year, post-Independence-Day-Pedophilia-Debacle, I expressed anxiety over reviewing a book by someone I knew, someone I adore, because I wasn't sure how to maintain my integrity if it sucked. I'm so glad it didn't, I'm so glad this one is even better, and I'm so glad I can happily spread the love here.

Awesome side note (or, at least, awesome to anyone who thinks this is the kind of thing that qualifies as awesome): when discussing the "blurbs" for the cover of Blessings with her agent, or publisher, I can't remember, they asked Katrina who she'd most like to have write it. She said Sara Gruen, fresh off her overwhelming success and mid-movie-making for her wonderful, wonderful Water for Elephants. They agreed, she'd be an amazing quote. They also told Katrina, politely I'm sure, it was never gonna happen. So Katrina, quite the pragmatist herself, Facebooked Sara and asked, animal lover to animal lover, if she wouldn't mind taking a break from her movie making and book selling to read a new novel, and perhaps, should she feel moved to do so, write a sentence or two. Sara obliged. I hope Katrina stuck her tongue out at those skeptics.

"In this beautifully crafted novel, Katrina Kittle deftly illustrates the devastation of betrayal and loss, the healing power of love and compassion, and the joy and comfort that comes from knowing -- and relating to -- animals." Sara Gruen, New York Times bestselling author of Water for Elephants. 

Way to kick ass, KK.