Remember and Recommend: Don’t you just love to read a great debut novel? It gives me such hope – and gets me so excited to have another author to add to may favs. This is how I feel about Aryn Kyle, author of The God of Animals. Picture me doing the cabbage patch dance….”Go Aryn, it’s your book day, go Aryn.” And such a beautiful spelling for her name!

I can’t gush enough about this novel. I’m a sucker for a good coming-of-age book – and this one didn’t disappoint. I read it in three days and am now kicking my own fanny for going too fast…I miss the Winston family and all of their goings-on. This is one of those “good old-fashioned reads” that is sure to be a classic.

Kyle’s writing is crisp – the characters are so real, they could be anyone’s neighbor. I could feel the hot summers, especially when the air conditioning went out. I rode an untamed, slightly crazy horse and watched as foals were born. And, I remembered back to being eleven and unsure about everything. I learned about showing horses, keeping horses and the toll owning a stable takes on a family. And I wish I could do it all over again.

Make sure to add this to your TBR pile! You won’t regret reading and sharing this book.

Reading this for a book club selection? Check out LitLovers discussion questions and review.

Memorable Quotes:
I posted the opening sentence last week on the Book Beginnings on Fridays post – but I want to share it again – it does such a wonderful job introducing the main themes of the story:

“Six months before Polly Cain drowned in the canal, my sister, Nona ran off and married a cowboy.”

Comments:
Even though I’m not a big fan of short stories, I just joined Robs’ 100 Shots of Short – so I can add Aryn’s new book, Boys and Girls Like You and Me to the list. I’m hooked!

Have you read The God of Animals? What did you think?