Thirteen books about the joy in a life filled with non-human creatures

E.B. Bartels is a nonfiction writer, a former Newtonville Books bookseller, and a GrubStreet instructor, with a BA from Wellesley College and an MFA from Columbia University.

Good Grief: On Loving Pets, Here and Hereafter, Bartels’s debut narrative nonfiction book about the world of loving and losing animals, exploring the singular nature of our bonds with our companion animals, and how best to grieve for them once they’ve passed away, is out now from Mariner Books.

Bartels lives outside Boston with her husband, Richie, and their many, many pets: a red-footed tortoise (Terrence), a chihuahua-pitbull mix (Seymour), a small flock of pigeons (Bert, Lieutenant Dan, and Murray), and fifteen African cichlids (all named Milton).

At Lit Hub she tagged thirteen books about the joy that comes with a life filled with non-human creatures, including:

Hollow Kingdom by Kira Jane Buxton

In the dystopian world of Hollow Kingdom, humans have all perished to a mysterious virus and only non-human animals are left. A domesticated crow named Shit Turd, teams up with a dog, Dennis, who also lived with S.T.’s former owner (RIP Big Jim). While the book is written from the perspective of the crow, you watch S.T. come around to Dennis over the course of the book, seeing his thinking change from “wow, what a dumb dog” to “this is my most loyal friend.” No one loves you like a dog.

Read about another entry on the list.

My Book, The Movie: Hollow Kingdom.

The Page 69 Test: Hollow Kingdom.

--Marshal Zeringue