Better World Book Club discussion

Discuss!

Can I do this without spoiler alerts? Lol.


I'm on page 20! I just reactivated my Netflix so you don't understand what an accomplishment that is.

:) No spoilers, silly, we actually want people to like, read the book, ya know :-p

I read the book and really liked it.

My mother wants to read the book after I'm done. Don't get your hopes up about it causing her to change her behavior though. If it tastes good, she eats it. No rules. I'm pretty sure she would eat her grandchildren if they were ground up in Breyer's ice cream.

Well, I just finished reading it. I really liked the first fifty or so pages... and then... well, happiness is a pig. I get it.

To begin with I found it moving that she included her personal life in as far as the difficulty of her father's death coinciding with Chris's arrival in her life. After awhile though I was pretty sick of hearing about her life and the life of every person in the town. I know it was a relatively short book, but I would've liked a condensed version. (There's no pleasing me.)

I didn't cry over the inevitable passing (spoiler alert: animals don't live forever), but I did feel sad over the two brief stories shared at the end: Gretchen's especially, and Maggie's to some extent as well.

The photos are cute.

The reading group discussion suggestions are interesting, or rather I would be very interested in how a reading group comprised mostly of carnists would respond. Would this book really make anyone reconsider dietary habits? My mother wants to read it, but if a stroke, high blood pressure, and diabetes haven't inspired her to change, I don't think Christopher Hogwood will either.

One question in particular took me by surprise: "Lavishing as much money and attention on any animal as Sy Montgomery had on Christopher Hogwood is wasteful when there are human beings in need of assistance. Do you agree or disagree with this statement? Why?"

It kind of astounds me that many people view compassion as some finite resource, that if we give love to something, we automatically are depriving something else of love/attention. I've found in my own life it has been the exact opposite. Caring about animals has exposed me to human issues of which I was previously unaware. "Compassion is a muscle" and all that.

The suggested reading group activities seems like a good excuse for me to post a picture of MY BABY!

"2. Bring pictures of your own pets to your next book-club gathering and discuss how they have changed your lives."

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LOOK AT THAT BABY ANGEL!!!!!

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^^Cutest piggy pig ever!

I can't make it to the meeting, but I'd still love to see some pics on here! I mean... if you think your pets can compete with my Sora.

Christopher Hogwood isn't the only one with Christmas photos:

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Also, it occurs to me to say that I relate very much to the feeling expressed by several of the author's friends that came with knowing that Chris would get to live out his life naturally. I grew up on a farm. We had cows and I thought nothing of feeding them watermelon rinds and corn in the backyard and then going back in the house to eat hamburgers/steak/etc. I didn't recognize that disconnect. When I visited Kindred Spirits Sanctuary (thanks to Jessi & Sophia) earlier this year, feeding the cows there and knowing that they weren't going to be slaughtered, but instead would be able to simply live, well, it resonated with me. I don't think I even realized until then just how that disconnect as a child deadened a part of my empathy. I can't express it that well, but I imagine it was something similar to a few of the experiences mentioned in the last chapter. BUT ANYWAYS, did you see how cute my baby is? Those eyebrows! Those cheeks! Awwwwwww.

This is the best book ever. 3 stars, huh Dara?! I better go back and re-read some so I can discuss more, since I have the memory of a gnat... and I will post pictures of my dogs and of Miss Piggie AKA Penny. I read the book right after I saved Penny, so it really hit home. And I totally cried.

I loved the book! I volunteered at saveyourassrescue.org in NH last week and she knew Sy. Sorry I will not be at book club this month but I am going to Hair.

How in the crap do you add pics? I know we went over this before. Memory of a gnat... I can relate. How did you not cry, Dara!?! I cried. Like a baby. And then went to book club and Sophia had just finished too! Way to be a procrastinator (too lazy to spell check that, BTW).

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Minus the asterisk!

And how did I not cry... hmmm... I AM A ROBOT. How's that for awesome?

Not very? Oh well. I thought some of the stories told as side notes at the end were sad. I probably would have cried at those had they been elaborated more.

The Lion King still makes me cry... so I know I'm human.

You're not a robot. I cried at the stories at the end too. I can't remember whose story it was (the one where the gunman comes and asks "Is this one of them?") pretty much shocked me and I still think of it and get sad.

The Lion King was/is very sad.

Yeah, note to self: do not finish a sad book right before book club or you will show up with red, puffy eyes! The Food Revolution is getting me all teary-eyed in some parts too!