48. A book with an unusually large version of an animal in the story

[Jennifer W]

Does anyone know if anything in Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West would work in this prompt?

[Bec]

Okay I wasn't really enthused for this one and last year I left the ones I didn't like until the end which was really annoying, so have knocked it off. I tried The Constant Rabbit but i just couldn't get into it and just wasn't interested so subbed it out for Crenshaw which was a touching, children's book, although the topic was quite deep - a family struggling with financial issues.

[Jacqie]

I read Untethered Sky by Fonda Lee. Total departure for her but if you love her you will adore this too! It's about rocs (giant birds) and their handlers.

[Wendy]

I'm reading The Essex Serpent for this one. A mythical serpent is allegedly drowning livestock and causing trouble in a small seaside town at the end of the Victorian era. But is it a monster, mass hysteria, or merely an allegory?

I recently read Reptile Memoirs for a different prompt, but it would work for this one too.

[Milena]

I am listening to Legends & Lattes, and it has a very large cat (a direcat?). The cat doesn't appear that much yet, but maybe it will be around more in the second half of the book.

[Kathy]

I read Remarkably Bright Creatures by Shelby Van Pelt. It's about a Giant Pacific Octopus which is a large type of octopus. Highly recommend this book.

[Trish, Annular Mod]

Nancy wrote: "I'm going the exceptionally large animal route and planning on Remarkably Bright Creatures."

I was going to ask if people thought this book would work for this prompt. As multiple people are thinking the same way, I'm going to as well.

Sheena wrote: "I'm leaning toward The Kaiju Preservation Society. The blurb mentions the Kaiju are "universe's largest and most dangerous panda " so hoping that works?!"

I think Kaiju are giant monsters in general, although the ones in this book might specifically be pandas.

[Severina]

I read A Case of Possession for this prompt. I had it earmarked for a different prompt, but lo and behold, giant rats turned out to be a big part of the plot.

[Nike]

Misty wrote: "Sheena wrote: "Nike wrote: "Oh my gosh! I read Clan of the Cave Bear in the 80s and had NO idea there were new books being published!! I might have to revisit the series."

I finally finished the s..."

Sorry for not responding until now. Thank you for your answer. That explains why many days that her last book is not so good, I didn't know about her stroke. I'll read it anyway but not for looking out for any huge animals and I will keep my expectations on a balanced level. Thank you so much 🙏

[Mahi]

The Utterly Uninteresting and Unadventurous Tales of Fred, the Vampire Accountant had a bunch of larger-than-normal animals!

[viemag]

I read Boy's Life by Robert McConnan for this prompt. There are three exceptionally large animals. One is a sea creature that lives in the river, one is a mystical deer that no hunter has ever been able to shoot, and one is a creature (probably a rhinoceros) that escapes from the carnival and appears once and a while to attack cars.

[Joy D]

for this prompt, I read:

The Fork, the Witch, and the Worm: Eragon by Christopher Paolini - 4* - My Review (The "worm" is a very large dragon that takes residence on a mountain and becomes the source of a legend)

[Anastasia]

I had some books slotted into this prompt :The Daughter of Doctor Moreau, which had "hybrid animals" that I really don't count as animals, and Remarkably Bright Creatures, which I am glad that I didn't have to use. A giant squid is normal size for its kind.

I was originally reading The Master and Margarita for the translated prompt when I heard the description of the cat, Behemoth. At first I thought he may just be a random fever dream of one of the characters. He was not. He is a full character in his own right. I read a few translated books every year, and how often does one come across an unusually large animal in a novel meant for adults. Not often enough for me to turn this one down.

It is also a great magical realism novel.

[Milena]

Anastasia wrote: "I had some books slotted into this prompt :The Daughter of Doctor Moreau, which had "hybrid animals" that I really don't count as animals, and [book:Remarkably Bright Creatures|5873..."

Thank you for saying this, Anastasia. This has been bothering me. Giant squid is a species of squid, and the one in the book was normal for its' species. Of course people are welcome to interpret it as large compared to other squid species.

[Sherri]

I read The Witch's Heart.

[LeahS]

After all the discussion above about The Master and Margarita, I read My Cat Yugoslavia by Pajtim Statovci for the literature map prompt, only to find it contained an unusually large cat. Much as I like moggies, I thought one large talking cat was enough for one challenge, so that book is now my one for this prompt and I shall find another for the map prompt.

Mmm. It's a book of two halves. One, which I thought was very good, deals with Emine, an Albanian girl living in the former Yugoslavia just before the death of Tito, her marriage and her new life as a refugee in Finland.

The other half is narrated by her son, Bekim, an unhappy young man, probably with mental health issues, his experience as an immigrant, his gay relationships or pickups, his pet snake, and of course, a large talking cat which he picks up in a gay bar (as you do). Unfortunately, the cat is deeply unpleasant, a demanding slob who is both racist and homophobic. I am assuming he is symbolic of all the mental pressures that Bekim is under, but I didn't feel that this worked particularly well, and the book would have been better catless.

There are also some brief scenes of harm to animals.

[Anastasia]

@Leah S yeah for giant talking cats

[LeahS]

@Anastasia, I never thought I'd find a cat I disliked, so this was an unwelcome first for me. :)

[Andrea]

I read The Bear and the Nightingale by Katherine Arden for this prompt. Both the "Bear" and the "Nightingale" are unusually large.

[Marie (UK)]

i read Blackout which has an unusually large dog in it

[Lin]

Jillian wrote: "Remarkably Bright Creatures by Shelby Van Pelt is wonderful. It will likely remain my favorite book of the year. I’..."

I loved Remarkably Bright Creatures! It was a 4 1/2 ⭐️ read for me.

[NancyJ]

Linda wrote: "Jillian wrote: "Remarkably Bright Creatures by Shelby Van Pelt is wonderful. It will likely remain my favorite book..."

I loved this book too! I’ll use this for my second round. My bookclub read this along with The Soul of an Octopus. It was a really fun discussion.

[Ana O. ⭐]

The Sea of Monsters 3 stars

[Tracy]

There is a new book out that will work for this (and probably for the BIO option, although I don't know what the official BIO option is and am too lazy to look).

I'm assuming the BIO option is to read a book about an animal that is not just a large breed of a type of animal as a whole (e.g., a Great Dane as compared to a Chihuahua), but instead a large specimen of a particular animal (i.e., a particularly large Great Dane).

There is a new book out — as of March 28, 2023 — about a particularly large version of the Giant Octopus. The average Giant Octopus is 8-10 ft long, but the one in this book is 20 ft long!

The book is Sea Change by Gina Chung. I haven't read it, I just heard about it on the Currently Reading Podcast.

This book could also work for the following prompts (and possibly others):
• Published in 2023
• Asian Diaspora Author
• Author's Debut Book
• Cover With Text That Is Not Completely Horizontal

[Book Concierge]

I'm wondering if Moby-Dick or, the Whale would work for this prompt?

[Tracy]

This might have been my hardest prompt to fill. So of course I'm going to end up reading 2 books to fill it. One because they both sounded good, and two because they are both shorter books.

I've just finished The Crane Husband by Kelly Barnhill. Not hard to guess, but this involves a human-man-sized crane. This was only 128 pages, and I finished it in 2 easy days. I finished Demon Copperhead on the day I started this, so it could have been a one-day book otherwise.

I'm also planning on reading The Kaiju Preservation Society by John Scalzi, already mentioned earlier in this thread. This book is only about 256 pages.

Edit: Update - I've finished The Kaiju Preservation Society now. If you are still looking for a book to fill this prompt, and you are ok with sci-fi/fantasy (both elements are present), then I recommend this book. I enjoyed it much more than The Crane Husband. After reading Demon Copperhead and The Crane Husband I definitely needed a double palate cleanser, as both of these were quite heavy (although I really loved Demon Copperhead). I ended up using The Kaiju Preservation Society and another book as my double palate cleanser - worked well! This book involved another world (connected to our own, so doable for me) and a VERY large extraterrestrial (?panda?). Lots of fun, and some science problem solving reminiscent of Andy Weir books.

[Katie]

I've been trying to BIO for most of my prompts, but after a year of life with a Great Dane puppy, I'm in need of a sentimental story to help give me strength to appropriately respond to her chewing and barking. So I'm going with The Friend by Sigrid Nunez... and taking my big baby for a few extra walks.

[Samantha]

When this prompt was announced last year I was a little annoyed by it, I just could not imagine what I would read. A good reminder to myself that some of the prompts I think I will hate will get me to read something good.

After seeing Remarkably Bright Creatures mentioned several times I put it on hold at my library way back in January. After all these months I had several back up options but this ended up being great. I am glad that this prompt forced me outside my comfort zone and I got a chance to enjoy a book I would never have picked up otherwise.

[Jill]

What are you reading for this prompt, and how does it fit the "unusually large animal"?
I read The Book of Dragons by E. Nesbit The dragons were mainly huge animals in these. stories

[Pearl]

I read Remarkably Bright Creatures and I loved it. Thanks for the recommendations.

[Denise]

I read the Whalebone Theatre by Joanna Quinn. It is mentioned in passing the beached whale was a large whale, but i'm probably cheating a little bit

[Stacey]

I just finished The Essex Serpent by Sarah Perry. Beautiful writing and a particularly good theme, I'd give this one 4.5 ⭐ if I could. I'm not totally sold on the ending, but it's growing on me.

[Book Concierge]

From page 56: "Maine coons are pretty large. Diesel is actually larger than average for the breed."

✔ - 23 Oct 23
Classified As Murder – Miranda James – 3***
Book two in the series featuring librarian Charlie Harris and his Maine coon cat, Diesel. When an eccentric millionaire with a rare-book collection dies under mysterious circumstances, Charlie Harris gets involved in the investigation. I figured out the culprit fairly early, but it was still fun to watch the characters put the clues together.
LINK to my full review