Beth Fish Reads: Featuring . . . The Blessings of the Animals by Katrina Kittle

02 July 2010

Featuring . . . The Blessings of the Animals by Katrina Kittle

This Friday and every Friday for the next several months I'll be featuring a book in the Harper Perennial Imprint. Some were recently published, some will be released later this year, all are worth a closer look.

Katrina Kittle's newest novel, The Blessings of the Animals, centers around a veterinarian and her relationships with family and friends and, of course, animals. For some reason—maybe because I loved the James Herriot books or maybe because I love animals—I've always been drawn to books that feature vets.

Here's the publisher's summary.

Veterinarian Cami Anderson has hit a rough patch. Stymied by her recent divorce, she wonders if there are secret ingredients to a happy, long-lasting marriage or if the entire institution is outdated and obsolete. Couples all around her are approaching important milestones. Her parents are preparing to celebrate their fiftieth anniversary. Her brother and his partner find their marriage dreams legally blocked. Her former sister-in-law—still her best friend—is newly engaged. The youthfully exuberant romance of her teenage daughter is developing complications. And three separate men—including her ex-husband—are becoming entangled in Cami's messy post-marital love life.

But as she struggles to come to terms with her own doubts amid this chaotic circus of relationships, Cami finds strange comfort in an unexpected confidant: an angry, unpredictable horse in her care. With the help of her equine soul mate, she begins to make sense of marriage's great mysteries—and its disconnects.

With Cami as the hub, The Blessings of the Animals, explores a variety of relationships, not just between lovers but also between mothers and daughters, between friends, and of course with animals. I am looking forward to learning how Cami finds her way after divorce and more about her connections to a horse, a goat, and a cat:

Now the hard part is going to be waiting for The Blessing of the Animals to be released on August 2. Several lucky people picked up copies at BookExpo America, and I am looking forward to reading their reviews. This novel is on my late-summer reading list. Perfect for relaxing on the beach. This might also make a good book club choice; in fact there is an online reading guide.

To learn more about Kittle, visit her author page at HarperCollins or her website.

This book was featured as part of my

Spotlight on the Harper Perennial imprint. For information about the imprint, please read Erica Barmash's welcome note posted here on June 18, 2010. I encourage you to add your reviews of Harper Perennial books to the review link-up page; it's a great way to discover Good Books for Cool People. You might also want to visit the The Olive Reader, the Harper Perennial blog.

The Blessing of the Animals at an Indie

The Blessings of the Animals at Powell's
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Published by HarperCollins / Harper Perennial, August 2010
ISBN-13: 9780061906077

12 comments:

Sandy Nawrot, 7/2/10, 7:28 AM: Hear ye, hear ye, all publicists! I have been on an "accept no review copies" tangent while I get my act together. I will cast aside this tangent like a bad habit if you want me to review this book!

So there. Just the title makes me want to cry. All of my animals are blessings, each and every one of the furry little critters.
bermudaonion, 7/2/10, 7:54 AM: Oh, how I want this book too. I'm an animal lover and know just how much they become a part of the family.
Tea, 7/2/10, 8:03 AM: I love to read about people who love animals especially veternarians. I loved all of James Herriot books too. Missed reading the one about his father.
Jenn's Bookshelves, 7/2/10, 8:18 AM: Oh I LOVED Herriot's books! I wanted to be a vet growing up, I read his books when I was a teen. I'll definitely be checking out Kittle's book!
Jennifer-Girls Gone Reading, 7/2/10, 8:48 AM: Oh this book looks like it will be perfect for a good cry! I am going to have to grab this one in August and surround myself with my pets while I weep. Sounds wonderful-thanks for letting me know it was coming up.
Molly, 7/2/10, 9:26 AM: I loved this review. The book seems to have so much more depth than the title indicates. I would be most interested in reading it when it becomes available.
Julie P., 7/2/10, 11:08 AM: I am so ready to read this book and review it -- can't wait! I loved the last Katrina Kittle book I read.
Jen - devourer of books, 7/2/10, 11:57 AM: I'm really looking forward to this one - and am almost a little sad that I lent it out to my favorite bookseller and will now have to wait to read it.
Dorte H, 7/2/10, 1:13 PM: Another lover of James Herriot!?

I even consider re-reading the two Herriot books I have in our library because I am writing a story set in Yorkshire (quite brave, as I have never been there).
Nicole (Linus's Blanket), 7/2/10, 5:35 PM: I haven't read Katrina Kittle, but I am looking forward to the experience. I just read Bad Marie, which is also a Harper perennial Book, so I Can attest that they have some good ones.
Katrina, 7/6/10, 9:20 AM: Thank you, thank you, all. Your kind words of anticipation mean the world to me. And I'm a James Herriot lover, too! When I was a freshman in college I got to meet him, which was wonderful. He was still a practicing vet, but he "received" people in his little clinic during certain hours. He served us tea, signed books, and was utterly charming.
Katrina, 7/6/10, 9:30 AM: Thank you, thank you, all. Your kind words of anticipation mean the world to me. And I'm a James Herriot lover, too! When I was a freshman in college I got to meet him, which was wonderful. He was still a practicing vet, but he "received" people in his little clinic during certain hours. He served us tea, signed books, and was utterly charming.