Welcome to Litsy!

Charming, reverent writing on animals, beautiful illustrations. Vignettes of experiences with animals and people, feelings of joy and grief, isolation and healing, meditations rather than lessons learned or a linear memoir.
Liiitle woo-woo with mentions of faith, dreams, mediums, but it's kind of just a background glow.

🪴🌳🌲 Forest: good habitats for many wild beasties.

Delightful.

When reading about messy hoomans gets you down, it's time to read about creachurs.

⭐️⭐️⭐️💫

“This is the gift great souls leave us when we die. They enlarge our hearts. They leave us a greater capacity for love.”

Montgomery‘s deep love for animals and the lessons they teach us emanates from her words. I related to her devotion to her dogs and I particularly liked the section on the Great Pacific Octopus. (I was reminded of Marcellus from Remarkably Bright Creatures!) It was just very short; I wish it were more expansive. 🎧

Read quite a few from my #TBR this month 🎃🥰

This book is amazing! Filled with heartwarming stories of all sorts of animals that the author has studied, loved, and lived with. Content warning for (pet) loss, grief, and depression, though all are dealt with thoughtfully and with care. Highly recommend, this book may become a go to book gift. #BookspinBingo @TheAromaofBooks

My #currentread is a delight! And the weather is lovely to read outside 🥰

I must admit I was quite disappointed in this book... Some parts were interesting, but others I didn't care much about.

Thank you to everyone who signed up for the #litsylovesanimalsswap . We are working on the swap matches and we will have them sent out in the next couple of days! It‘s going to be fun!

@ShelleyBooksie

@DinoMom and I are very excited to host our very first swap. Please share :)

Today I said goodbye to my companion of 16 years. He was an amazing boy who loved a good patch of sunshine. My home won't be the same without him.

This is the sweetest book! Love the stories, esp about Christopher Hogwood, the pig, and the illustrations. Already told my friend she should read it because of her love for her dogs & cats. My library‘s book challenge prompt this month is a NF how-to book, & I‘m grateful I asked about recs on Litsy because @Johanna414 told me about this one. Also grateful to @Readergrrl for sending this edition in the fall swap. A short but heartwarming book.

My first attempt at a pic was thwarted by Griffin sitting on the tagged book. 😂 I‘m excited about all the snacks in my #fallingforfallswap box! Thanks so much, Cynthia! @Readergrrl This will be the first time I actually read my swap book immediately because I‘m using it for this month‘s prompt in my library‘s challenge, thanks to @Johanna414 ‘s rec. Such a cute cover. 😻 @Avanders

@Alwaysbeenaloverofbooks - saw this today and thought of you. Sending you all the get well soon vibes!!!

My second Sy Montgomery book, and I loved it just as much as the 1st. She has such a unique, beautiful way of looking at the world!

Although this book is short, it packs a lot.of punch and emotion. I really enjoyed the way the author looks at the world and learning about her relationships with different animals such as Octavia the octopus and Clara Belle the tarantula.

I loved it! I‘m a sucker for books about nature interwoven with emotional and/or personal stories. I haven‘t read a nature themed memoir that I haven‘t loved.

#3books #ireadbasedsolelyontheircovers (and also because the blurbs sound good). In addition, many on Litsy have enjoyed The Animals at Lockwood Manor, though I was underwhelmed by it. 🤷‍♀️ The other two were good.

#3books I #borrowedfromthelibrary

Enjoyed them all. Love it when I discover a new series..the Mattie Winston cozy mystery, featuring a protagonist who is an ex-nurse turned assistant coroner in Wisconsin. I‘ve since read up to 8 books in the series.

Loving this cover illustration.

Hands down 5 star book! Her work is extraordinary and I really loved this book.

This felt like a perfect follow up to Braiding Sweetgrass, as it‘s an ode to the animals we bring into our families and how we change each other‘s lives.

Sy Montgomery writes from the heart, and as with all animal stories I cried several times, but this is beautiful. If there are animals in your home that you consider part of your family, I highly recommend this book!

Love this short little book. It‘s so great for an animal lover. Quick read and full of heart and fun stories. Definitely a great read for a pick me up!

Naturalist Montgomery has a life-long love for animals. Through the years & her expansive work that brought her to all over the world, she has encountered animals of all kinds. They changed her life in many ways. She shows us how she learnt a great deal about life from animals, find loveliness in all kinds, & how she‘s still learning to be a good creature. Lovely book with charming illustrations.

#MonthofMemoirs

I loved this book! I needed something uplifting, and this did the trick.

Yes, parts are sad, but overall it's heartwarming and sweet, especially for those of us who have loved and lost a furry, feathered, or scaly friend. 💚

Lovely and happy (but also bittersweet), a joy to read in this time. Short and sweet, and I plan on giving it to my 12 year old daughter now. (That's Lexi, my 4 year old Bernese Mountain Dog.)

A sweet memoir about animals and what they have taught the author about life, loss, and connection.

#booked2020 #animaloncover

It‘s Dewey‘s Readathon day! I‘m going to be tackling a couple plays and other short books when I can today. It‘s definitely harder with two kids. If you are reading, please join in the fun! Currently reading this on audio and loving the unique memoir about the impact animals have had on the author‘s life. #readathon

Finished this lovely, heartwarming book and thought, “This will be one of this year‘s favorite reads!” The book I had just finished was Kindred, a totally different vibe, but which also made me say, “This will be one of this year‘s favorite reads!” March is shaping up nicely for me! Loved both books I read so far.

What do three border collies, a trio of emus, a tarantula, an octopus and other various animals have in common? They have all impacted writer and naturalist Sy Montgomery‘s life in some way. As she details in this delightful memoir.

Japanese New Year holiday runs from 12/28 to 1/6, so lots of time for reading and reflection. 2019 was not a good year for me. The tagged book is my first read on this first day of 2020; the author eloquently describes the importance of connection by describing her interaction and relationships with the animals in her life. Lesson learnt; my resolution this year is to have empathy and be a good creature the best I can.

Mikey says “Stop trying to drop hints, Mom. I already AM a good creature.”

“Love is the highest and best use of a life.” This is one of the most beautiful books I have ever read. I will be revisiting this story again and again, because like the author I too have been the student under my animals teaching learning to be a good creature. 5⭐️

Very moving and full of love. Happily, four out of 13 of the animals whose stories appear in this memoir are dogs. One is an octopus @Aimeesue !!! #pets #animals #nature #zoology #memoir #autobiography

#7days7covers Day 4

Day 6 #7days7covers #covercrush Seven days, seven covers I love. No explanation.

Anyone wanting to play along, please do!

Emu pies? Eww. Lol. 😂

O in Care of Magical Creatures NEWTs:
3.5 ⭐️

I have always been a fan of memoirs and this is a very interesting take on the genre. I really enjoyed hearing her stories and the impacts animals had on her life in every way possible. Anyone who loves animals will enjoy this. I got the overall message from the book but I don‘t see myself remembering much of the actually details.

#magicalreadathon2019 #audiobook #scribd #mpls #twincities

I did not expect to like this as much as I did but it was just beautifully written. I feel attached to each of the animals Sy Montgomery told a story about. I even cried!

#nonfiction2019 #somethingwithadeath

I just adore Sy Montgomery! Her love of animals just makes me smile.

I've loved Sy's writing since "The Soul of an Octopus," and I can't recommend this memoir enough. Animals give us so much incentive to see everything differently. It's a wonderful, optimistic read, and yeah you'll probably cry a little.

This was a sweet little memoir based around the lessons Montgomery learned from the animals in her life. I honestly bought this just for that cover art. ☺️

It was a little out of order chronologically speaking, so expect some skipping around. But each relationship is poignant and weighty and beautiful. And I wanted to go home and hug my dog and my cat as soon as I finished this. 🌕🌕🌕🌕🌑

1 - 🎧 How to Be a Good Creature 🐙
2 - my hold on The Prey of Gods should only be a couple weeks 🎉
3 - The Martian 🎬

#weekendreads @rachelsbrittain

This is a beautiful little book & a great listen. Seeing what animals have taught Sy & just her incredible bond & love with & for the creatures in her life was sweet, funny, poignant, & moving. If you‘re an animal lover, you should read this book immediately. There are some hard parts (some of the animals have had bad life experiences) but Sy doesn‘t go into detail on that but rather focuses on how a little love is transformative for all.

A charming antidote to much of what is going on in the world right now. We need more good creatures.

Fresh week, fresh read!

I love this book and I love this dog- even though she‘s not mine. I‘ve learned about some creatures that I‘ve never heard of too.

An extended nap cut into my reading time today, but now I‘m settling into this one for the evening. I‘m trying to avoid all thing GoT - I have to wait until Tuesday to watch the new episode with my fiancé. Here‘s hoping I can avoid any spoilers until then! ?

Starting this one today. It seems like a lovely pick for spring.