From Katrina Kittle, critically acclaimed author of The Kindness of Strangers, comes a wry and moving story of forgiveness, flexibility,... read full description
reviews
May 21, 2010
Started it yesterday morning and already up to page 260. Loving.
Such a lovely book. Read it in a day and a half. Someone here described it as being like a really good romantic comedy, plus animals, which I think is apt. It's the story of Cami, a vet whose husband leaves her, but that description makes it sound more serious than it is--it's about serious things, but it's ultimately a more lighthearted and funny book. Though it did make me tear up once or twice, because the idea of ani More...
Such a lovely book. Read it in a day and a half. Someone here described it as being like a really good romantic comedy, plus animals, which I think is apt. It's the story of Cami, a vet whose husband leaves her, but that description makes it sound more serious than it is--it's about serious things, but it's ultimately a more lighthearted and funny book. Though it did make me tear up once or twice, because the idea of ani More...
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Jun 04, 2011
Adrienne
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Okay, this is not my kind of book. I admit that. But I gave it a try anyway, and I'm not surprised that I didn't like it.
It's told (mostly) from the point of view of Cami, a veterinarian whose husband leaves her one morning when she's out on a humane society rescue. This is a common theme for her: rescuing animals. Throughout the book, we learn that her husband has rescued her from anorexia, and finally, at the end, she learns to rescue herself and live happily without necessarily need More...
It's told (mostly) from the point of view of Cami, a veterinarian whose husband leaves her one morning when she's out on a humane society rescue. This is a common theme for her: rescuing animals. Throughout the book, we learn that her husband has rescued her from anorexia, and finally, at the end, she learns to rescue herself and live happily without necessarily need More...
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Jan 10, 2012
Jennifer
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From My Blog...[return][return]The Blessings of the Animals by Katrina Kittle is a beautiful woven tapestry of the many facets of love. Dr. Cami Anderson is a wife, mother, Veterinarian and a volunteer for the Humane Society. Cami believes her life is going fairly well until the morning she arrives home with a rescued horse and her husband Bobby announces he is leaving her and their 17-year-old daughter Gabriel. While the story is primarily told through Cami, the reader does get a glimpse into t
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Nov 30, 2010
Trish
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I am a sucker for stories about vets and the animals they care for. This was an advance I picked up at BEA this year and I liked the way it began. It actually reminded me of Susan Richard's memoir, Chosen by a Horse, in that the opening scene was of a woman going to take some abused horses from their environment. Caring for the horse helped the horsewoman through her own painful divorce. But this was fiction, and great friends and handsome men show up with food, support, and love...it was a fun
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Sep 21, 2010
Bonnie
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This is the best thing I've read in awhile, she's coming to our University in November, can't wait to meet her. I will read other books by her.
I loved reading this book, it was interesting, engaging and entertaining.
Theme: Marriage, the ins the outs, the ups and downs, emotional maturity and immaturity. The writing is very good.
I loved reading this book, it was interesting, engaging and entertaining.
Theme: Marriage, the ins the outs, the ups and downs, emotional maturity and immaturity. The writing is very good.
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Jun 12, 2011
Jenny
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I don't know how Katrina Kittle does it... this is the third book of hers that I've read (with her first published book recently added to my TBR) and I have absolutely adored all of them. The Blessings of the Animals was no exception. It's just something about the way she brings the characters to life and makes them (and everything about the novel) feel so genuine. There was just a certain quality to this book (and the others I've read) that sets it apart from many of the other books I've read,
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Feb 24, 2011
Rhonda
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I picked this up b/c I read almost every book out there that is animal-related. I saw that this book received 4-5 stars from everyone, so I thought it must be fantastic. However, I was slightly disappointed. There WERE some parts that were animal-focused, and what the cover described, as the main character goes through a divorce and heals, in part because of the relationships she has with her animals. But, I found that the majority of the book, about 9/10ths of it, was just a basic chick-lit boo
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Dec 21, 2010
Shauna
rated it:
Lots of gratuitous profanity.
Favorite quotes
“Can’t you just give him antibiotics?” Tyler asked. “Wouldn’t that be faster than all this soaking and dealing with .. pus?
I rested a hand on the horse’s withers. “Some people do. But you know what I’ve found? It makes the infection appear to get better. Everything clears up for three or four weeks, and then, just when you think you’re out to the woods, it comes back. There aren’t any shortcuts. You’re better off going slow and More...
Favorite quotes
“Can’t you just give him antibiotics?” Tyler asked. “Wouldn’t that be faster than all this soaking and dealing with .. pus?
I rested a hand on the horse’s withers. “Some people do. But you know what I’ve found? It makes the infection appear to get better. Everything clears up for three or four weeks, and then, just when you think you’re out to the woods, it comes back. There aren’t any shortcuts. You’re better off going slow and More...
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Oct 08, 2010
Melanie
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What a beautiful, beautiful book! It takes readers from gut-wrenching to laughing hysterically.
Camden Andersons' husband announces that he's leaving on the morning that should have been the "kids out of the house, let's make waffles!" morning. On the same day, she rescues an abused high-spirited horse that she coaxes back to health and sanity throughout the book. That horse, along with a couple of dogs, 1 4-legged and 1 3-legged cat, a goat, a draft horse and a miniature donk More...
Camden Andersons' husband announces that he's leaving on the morning that should have been the "kids out of the house, let's make waffles!" morning. On the same day, she rescues an abused high-spirited horse that she coaxes back to health and sanity throughout the book. That horse, along with a couple of dogs, 1 4-legged and 1 3-legged cat, a goat, a draft horse and a miniature donk More...
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Aug 29, 2010
April
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What a wonderful and incredible feeling to sit down with a book, open up the cover and instantly become engulfed within a story. That was exactly my experience with The Blessings of the Animals. I have been yearning to read Katrina Kittle for a while now and when the opportunity came to be part of her tour for The Blessings of the Animals, I was thrilled to death. Though this is my first book by Ms. Kittle, it will definitely not be my last.
It is a well known idea that animals have More...
It is a well known idea that animals have More...
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Aug 07, 2010
Andrea
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I cannot express how much I ABSOLUTELY adored this novel. I managed to finish it in a day, stealing away moments to try to finish it whenever I could and ended up staying up really late since I was so entranced by it. I want to be Cami, well maybe not with the whole having my husband just up and leave me but more in how she handled it. She was so strong and brave, she ended up thriving while her ex-husband remained as unhappy as before.
She really did end up making the divorce a good thing More...
She really did end up making the divorce a good thing More...
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Feb 02, 2012
Terri
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I LOVED this book! I fell in love with the character's completely. This is one of those stories you hate to see end. I wouldn't mind reading a sequel to it. I also liked the fact that everything didn't suddenly "fall into place" for the main character. It isn't tied up with a bow. The main story line in this novel is about marriage. What each character wants from it. I loved that the main character becomes wise through her experiences instead of a sniveling victim. She's brave
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Oct 17, 2010
Charlotte
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http://charlotteswebofbooks.blogspot.com...
Vet, Cami, is looking forward to celebrating her birthday with her husband and daughter when she gets called out to an animal rescue. When she gets home she is greeted with her husband's packed car and the announcement that he is leaving her. Even though her family and friends have rallied around her, she seeks solace in the animals. With the help of her friends and family, and the solace of the animals, Cami starts putting her li More...
Vet, Cami, is looking forward to celebrating her birthday with her husband and daughter when she gets called out to an animal rescue. When she gets home she is greeted with her husband's packed car and the announcement that he is leaving her. Even though her family and friends have rallied around her, she seeks solace in the animals. With the help of her friends and family, and the solace of the animals, Cami starts putting her li More...
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Aug 22, 2010
Juliette
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I picked this book up at the Minneapolis-St. Paul airport.
I was puttering around during a layover when this book caught my eye and pulled me into a bookstore.
Of course, put a horse on the cover of any book and I will run to it like a moth to a flame, but I considered this a feat considering the state of mind I was in. I was a complete wreck from the events I had just experienced in the past 24 hours. To come across something that was able to pull me away from my thoughts for a mere More...
I was puttering around during a layover when this book caught my eye and pulled me into a bookstore.
Of course, put a horse on the cover of any book and I will run to it like a moth to a flame, but I considered this a feat considering the state of mind I was in. I was a complete wreck from the events I had just experienced in the past 24 hours. To come across something that was able to pull me away from my thoughts for a mere More...
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Aug 26, 2010
Melissa
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Of course, as the title suggests, the animals play an important role through her hero journey. The animals in the story are really made 3 dimensional and of course, play a pivotal role in Cami's story. You end up really love these highly visual animal characters in this story and there is at least one tear jerking scene (but it isn't about death, to relax those like me who hate those stories).
Not only is this story about Cami's journey through divorce and how she is saved by her ani More...
Not only is this story about Cami's journey through divorce and how she is saved by her ani More...
Feb 26, 2011
Kristin (Kritters Ramblings)
rated it:
Read this in three sittings. I enjoyed my last Katrina Kittle read and I was super excited when I saw this on the Crazy Book Tours website.
From the way she describes her characters and their settings to how they interact and the situations they find themselves in - her writing just draws you in and keeps you hooked. A woman battling through separation and divorce, as she tries to raise her teenage daughter and continue her growing veterinary business. I felt connected to these charac More...
From the way she describes her characters and their settings to how they interact and the situations they find themselves in - her writing just draws you in and keeps you hooked. A woman battling through separation and divorce, as she tries to raise her teenage daughter and continue her growing veterinary business. I felt connected to these charac More...
Aug 20, 2011
Elizabeth
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I loved this book! This is normally not the type of book that I would normally pick up and look at let alone read but it was a gift so I took a shot at it and was most pleasantly surprised.
The book was very simply written and very easy to read. I think if I had the time I could have sat down and finished it in a day or two. The characters were not the most fleshed out but the storyline was strong enough that the flaws were easy to overlook. You could definitely tell that the author had jus More...
The book was very simply written and very easy to read. I think if I had the time I could have sat down and finished it in a day or two. The characters were not the most fleshed out but the storyline was strong enough that the flaws were easy to overlook. You could definitely tell that the author had jus More...
Sep 03, 2010
Wendy
rated it:
Full disclosure: Katrina is a friend of mine, but I tried to stay objective. Nevertheless, I could not put this book down! The basic story is about Camden, a veterinarian who also volunteers with the local humane society in animal rescue cases. Katrina also in each of her books tackles a topic that is important to society today. For example, in "Kindness of Strangers," it was child abuse. In "The Blessings of the Animals," she looks at marriage. This is a great, great book an
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Jul 04, 2011
Mary Rose
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A modern story for a modern age. A well done story of one woman's journey thru divorce, but as life often is these days it gets a bit side tracked here and there, the book is this great cocktail party where you met all these wonderful people with great back stories and these full lives and you've all agreed that you must do this again sometime, but that sometime never happens and you always look back wondering what the heck happened to those people. The only characters that you ever seem to ge
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Oct 12, 2010
Alison
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Don't know if this makes sense, but the word I would use to describe this novel is "cozy." A relatively conventional event in a woman's life (her husband leaving her) and a cast of adorable and lovable characters that surround her, with lots of gatherings of those people and a bunch of cute animals thrown in. Kittle tells a warm story and at the same time makes a statement about marriage without getting heavy-handed or preachy. I'm not really a critter-lover at all and this was the
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Jun 28, 2011
Elizabeth
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I was surprised at how much I enjoyed this chick lit. My favourite quote is not from the text itself but from the acknowledgements: "If you write nonfiction, you have to fight to prove every fact, but if you write fiction, everyone assumes it's all true." Kittle wrote this after going through a divorce and although she claims that the characters are pure fiction, I'm sure that may have something to do with the powerful feel of the emotions coursing through the pages of this novel. I e
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Dec 03, 2010
Nancy
rated it:
I really enjoyed this book and would give it 3.5 stars. Yes, the author brought in more issues than
hopefully a family would encounter, and yes, she got more philosophical than needed but the essense
was right on. When a husband walks out without any warning (he had always been moody...), the woman has to deal with her own response as well as her 17 year old daughters, friends and family and her business as a vet and her volunteer work with the humane society. She develops a positio More...
hopefully a family would encounter, and yes, she got more philosophical than needed but the essense
was right on. When a husband walks out without any warning (he had always been moody...), the woman has to deal with her own response as well as her 17 year old daughters, friends and family and her business as a vet and her volunteer work with the humane society. She develops a positio More...
Jan 31, 2011
Jaqueline
rated it:
Any animal lover knows the many blessings they are. Cami is a veterinarian and this is the connection for her love of animals. What humans can't seem to give naturally animals can. This is one of those starting over kind of books with heartfelt life lessons that bring the tears to sting the eyes. When her husband, Bobby, a chef and restaurant owner, leaves her for a young waitress, she has to explain it to her 17 year old daughter somehow. Cami's solace is her brood of misfit rescue animals who
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Jul 14, 2011
Meredith
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I really enjoyed this book. We've heard the story before: awesome woman's idiot husband leaves her seemingly out of nowhere for a younger woman; after bout of devastation, awesome woman ends up being even more awesome. What sets this book apart is how well it is written and how real the emotions are: the love for the father of your child, the love for your friends, family...this could have been sugary “chit lit”, but instead I found it really honest both in terms of pain and triumph. And if you
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Apr 11, 2011
Linda
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I am liking this book. Granted I am an animal lover, but this story about a woman who finds her life in turmoil after her husband leaves her is quite intriguing. Being a vet she has many animals, and how she finds solace sometimes in a sweet nuzzle from her three legged cat or from the crazy horse (that bit her after she saved it) helps her blood pressure to go down...so far loving this! Now I have actually finished this book and I enjoyed it a lot. If you liked Very Valentine it is similar to
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Jan 07, 2012
Allison
rated it:
It was an ok book. I read it in a week and if I had time I could of read it in a day or two. I don't know if I would be interested in reading any of her other books. I just wasn't blown away by the writing or the book.
Animals are truly a blessing to those who have them. I know when I have had a bad day I can always count on my dogs to help cheer me up. Even the fish and sharks at work have a calming affect on me. If you haven't felt this with your animals, take the time to listen and More...
Animals are truly a blessing to those who have them. I know when I have had a bad day I can always count on my dogs to help cheer me up. Even the fish and sharks at work have a calming affect on me. If you haven't felt this with your animals, take the time to listen and More...
Oct 11, 2010
the little reader
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what a pleasant surprise of a book!?! i really enjoyed the story, the character, the writing – everything was wonderful, and despite its bulk, it read fairly quickly and easily. spunky and full of emotional nuggets of wisdom, this was a book that left me immensely satisfied, both as a reader and as a human being that loves her people and animals.
"Throughout my teens I’d flirt with starvation – as well as with rock climbing, flying lessons, hitchhiking and lots of solo travel, a More...
"Throughout my teens I’d flirt with starvation – as well as with rock climbing, flying lessons, hitchhiking and lots of solo travel, a More...
Aug 23, 2010
Aurali
rated it:
I won this book on firstreads and am very glad that I did, otherwise I may have not had the opportunity to read it. I thought the book was funny, interesting, and unexpected. I usually am not a huge fan of novels about romantic relationships but this one had a lot of great characters and realistic interactions and the story was about a whole lot more. I always thought I knew how I would react to the situation Cami finds herself in, but her thoughts and reactions really made me reassess myself
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Nov 08, 2010
Amy
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This was a book that I picked up on a whim at the library - ok, the cover, horses, and the whole animal/vet thing had me hooked! After reading several chapters, I immediately went to the bookstore to buy my own copy so that I could share it with my mom. There is nothing about this book that stands out in particularly as a WOW, must read, but the characters and situations are REAL. I thoroughly enjoyed this book and have purchased another one by the author.
Aug 29, 2010
Michelle
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I couldn't put this book down! It was recommended by my sister and I am really glad she did! This book hit so close to me because of going through a divorce, it was right on!! Even right down to the renaming of the ex! I wanted to keep reading and wish the book hadn't have ended. I have taken a while off from reading because I couldn't find anything that I was absolutely into...this book has brought back my interest in reading!
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