Strange Company
By Jean Ryan
MadeMark Publishing (March 12, 2017), 118pp.
The Short of It:
A collection of super short essays that promise to awaken your need for nature and its beauty.
The Rest of It:
Regular readers of this blog know how packed my schedule is. It’s not often that I have time to step out into nature and just observe the beauty around me but oh, how I crave it. Strange Company allowed me to do that if only for a short while.
Strange Company is a collection of nature essays about all sorts of things. Do animals feel compassion? Do they think as humans do? If the act of bleeding out a rare Horseshoe crab for the sake of science isn’t damaging to the creature itself, does it make it right to keep doing it? What about pesticides? Do you ever think about the impact that they might have on say… a bird’s food supply?
On a personal note, I absolutely believe that animals feel compassion. Every pet I’ve ever had has connected with me in some way. After the death of my mother, my dog would not leave my side. Years ago when I was diagnosed with Lupus and seriously questioned if I could survive it, my cat was right there, as I spent days in bed trying to work up enough energy just to go to work. So it’s no surprise to me that domesticated animals or even those in the wild can feel compassion. Just look into their eyes!
What I loved about this collection is that although each essay is short, often only a few pages long, they gave me a lot to think about. There’s a little bit of science for those who like facts, but there’s also a lot of heart. Ryan is a nature lover and it shows in her writing. I’ve read and enjoyed her work before and I am happy to say I enjoyed this collection as well.
Source: Review copy provided by the author. Thank you!
Disclosure: This post contains Amazon links.
Book Chatter 
This sounds like a unique collection. I totally agree with you about animals and compassion. Lucy and Roxie rarely leave my side…even now. It is heartwarming to me.
And they don’t even need a true illness to sense it. I can be down or just having a craptastic day and my pup is right there by me. She even sighs heavily when I do. Very cute.
Yep, sometimes short essays or stories are just what you need!
Not sure how into stories you are but this one you would enjoy because of the animal aspect.
Thanks so much for your heartfelt words. I am delighted that these pieces resonated with you. And thank you as well for accommodating me by reviewing a nonfiction book, which I realize is not your preferred genre. I appreciate your kindness.
Jean,
My pleasure!! I enjoy your writing! Also, when listing this review in my review index I noticed that Survival Skills was not included in my index so I fixed that. I still have your other book to review and hope to have it up by the end of this month. Thanks for sending them to me!
Ti
I love short essays, and agree that animals do have compassion.
Seems like a beautiful book. I’m an animal lover so I’m sure I’d fall for the essays. Our dog is there for us on so many levels. Without her, life would not be half as much joyful as it is. I will look for it.
My sweet pup is going through a fear of flies right now. If a fly gets into the house she is terrified. I know this is a result of the bee infestation in our chimney last year but she was never stung. She just hears buzzing and immediately takes cover. It took me twenty minutes to find the fly last night and then suddenly I was her hero. Animals. God love them.
This sounds like one of those books where you feel calm when you’re finished with it.
It has that effect but it will also get you a little riled up too. Like the harvesting of that one crab’s blood. Technically no harm to the crab but then again, how does one really know?
I’ve read Ryan’s work before.