Task #12: A book in which an animal or inanimate object is a point-of-view character

[Book Riot]

Use this space to discuss books you're reading or that might fit the 12th Read Harder task.

[Kimberley]

Probably Three Bags Full by Leonor Swan which has been on my list for a while.
Or Black Beauty, which I have never read...

[Kimberley]

* Leonie Swann sorry.

[Chelsea]

Have been wanting to read The Art of Racing in the Rain for a while!

[Brandon]

The Travelling Cat Chronicles
Fantastic Mr. Fox

[Ann]

Brandon wrote: "The Travelling Cat Chronicles
Fantastic Mr. Fox"

I loved The Travelling Cat Chronicles. I'm going with Fox 8 by George Saunders: "short but powerful," as Ron Charles says in his review.

[Cendaquenta]

Swordheart - one of the protagonists is a man whose soul is trapped in a sword
Petra - children's book starring a rock
Visitation - haven't read this, but I think the protagonist is a house, and the story is about the different people who come to live in it during various periods in history
Flush - Virginia Woolf's biography of the poet Elizabeth Barrett Browning, told through the eyes of her pet spaniel

Would an allegory count? For example Animal Farm or The Complete Maus, where the animal characters are stand-ins for, or artistic representations of, people.

[Brandon]

If you count children's books, there are a ton of choices for this. One that I like is Sylvester and the Magic Pebble.

[Martha]

I'm finally going to get a chance to read Watership Down

[Therese]

Here is a list of books from an animal POV that might help:

https://www.goodreads.com/list/show/3...

[Megan]

The Bees
I think this counts.

[Sheri]

Watership Down or My Name is Red by Orhan Pamuk.

[Jessica]

Have read a few that I really liked. Redwall, lovely series, if a bit brutal at times, lots of different forest animals fighting against evil and lots of tasty food. Tailchaser's Song, a cat out to rescue his friend and ends up in a mythical fight. The Unadulterated Cat, typical Pratchett humor! Duncton Wood, a young mole have to save his people from the evil tyrant in the English countryside.

[Theresa]

The Collector Collector is told from the POV of a bowl. What? That's definitely outside the box for me, so I think I'll go with it. I'll use Watership Down as a backup in case it's too odd.

[Serendipity]

I'm hoping to read My Name is Red. From what I've heard it should count.

[Shelley]

I am up to The Amazing Maurice and His Educated Rodents in the Discworld saga, which seems to be from a cat's perspective, so I'll hold off on it until next year.

Just as a more general question, what do y'all feel about non-humanoid aliens or imaginary creatures? I was thinking Gork, the Teenage Dragon (which was terrible and I do not recommend at all, only using it as an example) or The City of Dreaming Books (which was amazing and should be read by absolutely everyone). I think that I will try not to use a book like that, but would find it an acceptable stretch if need be.

[Chrissy]

I’m planning on Martin Marten. I really enjoyed both Three Bags Full and The Bees, for people looking for recs.

[Miriam]

Laika looks fine to me.

Also, the books by Leonie Swann are great fun, I highly recommend them, Three Bags Full is kind of a cozy mystery with sheep. Really cute.
GrayGarou are also good, but they don't seem to be translated into English, yet. You can find editions in some other languages, though

[Karen]

For those of you who like audio books Delicious Foods by James Hannaham is THE BEST I've ever heard. The author narrates it and he's outstanding. (The inanimate object POV narrator is crack... it's not exactly a light story).

[Lauconn]

I read this a long time ago, but if you like dinosaurs, Raptor Red is from the dinosaur's POV, and I remember it being pretty fun.

[Sarah Ruth]

Margaret wrote: "One of my all-time favorite books, Skinny Legs and All by Tom Robbins, has several inanimate objects as point-of-view characters."

I am finding so many new books to add to my list just by skimming through these threads. This looks like something I would really enjoy.

Wish I had found this when I was putting my list together, as I was hoping to find one with inanimate objects rather than animals. However, now that I have found Watership Down I'm really anxious to read that one as well.

Maybe if I find myself with extra time I'll pick this one up too.

[Karen]

My pick is Ka: Dar Oakley in the Ruin of Ymr by John Crowley.

Although there are so many good possibilities:
The Trumpet of the Swan

The 101 Dalmatians

Bambi

The Story of a Seagull and the Cat Who Taught Her to Fly by Luis Sepúlveda.

[Jesica]

I'm going with The Tusk That Did the Damage. Heard it recommended on a Book Riot podcast a while back and haven't gotten around to it yet!

[Susanne]

I can also recommend Three Bags Full by Leonie Swann!

However, I would recommend to AVOID the Felidae series by Akif Pirinçci, since the author is active in the German far-right and has made some pretty disgusting islamophobic, homophobic and misogynistic statements in speeches, essays and non-fiction books (see his Wikipedia article for details). Or at least not support him by buying his books. :)
The first book is #1 in an "animal detectives" list on goodreads, that is why I thought someone should mention it.

[Megan]

Therese wrote: "Here is a list of books from an animal POV that might help:

https://www.goodreads.com/list/show/3..."

The Golem and jinni is on that list and that’s already on my kindle so that’s my choice.

[Tracy]

Maybe time to read finally read my copy of Watership Down?

I also have Redwall, and I love the idea of Tarka the Otter that someone mentioned.

[Stephanie]

I am planning to read Fox 8, and it's a really short read too!

[Tabitha]

Thinking either Redwall or Watership Down for this task. Never read either, but always meant to. . .
Also, I highly recommend Charlotte's Web which still remains one of my favorite childhood books.

[Mandi]

A lot of good recommendations in here already!

Someone recommended She and Her Cat for the manga prompt and said it meets this one as well for double dippers.

I found You Are a Cat! while selecting a "choose-your-own-adventure" book for a Popsugar prompt and then I found I Am a Cat while misremembering the title of that book, and both seem like they'd work for this prompt. And between all of those and some other recs in here, I now have way too many cat books on my TBR list haha.

[Carrie]

I've had The Bees on my kindle for so long, looking forward to finally reading it for this challenge!

[Brandon]

Big yes to Charlotte's Web! Redwall did not do as much for me when I tried it, but it obviously works for some people.

[Ann]

Dog Gone It by Spencer Quinn is the first in a series told from Chet’s (a dog) POV. I love the series, and have pre-ordered the next release.

[Mya]

Skinny Legs and All, by Tom Robbins, includes several inanimate objects as characters. Although technically they are animate, so let's go with "non-human" instead.

(Whoops! Already recommend by Margaret, above. I looked for it but somehow missed that.)

[Teresa]

My current shortlist : Hogan's Hope: A Deaf Hero's Inspirational Quest for Love and Acceptance written from a deaf dog's pov, also won a lot of awards in 2018, The Ship Who Sang about a sentient spaceship, and Empire From the Ashes about an artificial intelligence spaceship.

[Monica]

The Book of Dog can be used for this task. I read this last year.

[ChezJulie]

Anatomy of a Soldier by Harry Parker sounds like it would fit the bill. It tells the story of a British soldier and other characters, "not as they see themselves but as all the objects surrounding them do: shoes and boots, a helmet, a bag of fertilizer, a medal, a beer glass, a snowflake, dog tags, and a horrific improvised explosive device..."

[Deb]

The Art of Racing in the Rain fits this category I’ve read it, so will look for something else. But this is one of my favorite books.

[Jessica]

Jonathan Livingston Seagull works for this.

Barsk: The Elephants' Graveyard (about elephants in a post-human galaxy)

Beasts of New York

Timbuktu

The Story of Edgar Sawtelle (one of the POV characters is a dog)

[Mandy]

Karen wrote: "For those of you who like audio books Delicious Foods by James Hannaham is THE BEST I've ever heard. The author narrates it and he's outstanding. (The inanimate object POV narrator ..."

Second this book SO HARD. The book is amazing, and the audiobook is definitely in my top 3 favorite audiobooks ever.

[Lindsey]

Stephanie wrote: "I am planning to read Fox 8, and it's a really short read too!"

Me too. I flicked through it at the library and it looks like it's very funny!

[Kristen]

Would the Eragon series count for this one? I can’t remember if Saphira is a POV character, or if we only hear her through Eragon.

[Karin]

Here are some recommendations



I encourage folks to NOT read The Art of Racing in the Rain, the women in that book are so one-dimensional it hurts.

[Karin]

Mandy wrote: "Karen wrote: "For those of you who like audio books Delicious Foods by James Hannaham is THE BEST I've ever heard. The author narrates it and he's outstanding. (The inanimate object..."

Thirding this book. It's actually based off a true story, believe it or not.

[Inger]

Chelsea wrote: "Have been wanting to read The Art of Racing in the Rain for a while!"

Ohhh that's a good one.

[Inger]

Martha wrote: "I'm finally going to get a chance to read Watership Down"

This has been on my re-read list for a couple of years, and I think it's what I'm going to use for this task as well. AND Netflix is doing it as a mini-series so that will be a fun follow-up.

[Bonnie G.]

Karin wrote: "Mandy wrote: "Karen wrote: "For those of you who like audio books Delicious Foods by James Hannaham is THE BEST I've ever heard. The author narrates it and he's outstanding. (The in..."

I am so looking forward to this one. The book has been on my shelf forever, and I apparently didn't know anything about it because I would not have known it fit the prompt.

[Cheryl]

I'm going with .

[Sara]

Megan wrote: "The Bees
I think this counts."

I'm planning on reading this. I believe it would count as bees are a part of the animal kingdom.

[Stephanie]

I believe The One and Only Ivan would count. If yes, it is a great read and quick one as it is a middle grade novel that won the Newbery Award.

What about A Dog's Purpose as well? I personally cannot read animal stories so I am back to the drawing board for my title.

[Charley Girl]

Chelsea wrote: "Have been wanting to read The Art of Racing in the Rain for a while!"

Great book! Enjoy!