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Meet the Neighbors: Animal Minds and Life in a More-than-Human World
Honeybees deliberate democratically. Rats reflect on the past. Snakes have friends. In recent decades, our understanding of animal cognition has exploded, making it indisputably clear that the cities and landscapes around us are filled with thinking, feeling individuals besides ourselves. But the way we relate to wild animals has yet to catch up. In Meet the Neighbors, science journalist Brandon Keim what would it mean to take the minds of other animals seriously?
In this wide-ranging exploration of animals' inner lives, Keim takes us into courtrooms and wildlife hospitals, under backyard decks and into deserts, to meet anew the wild creatures who populate our communities and the philosophers, rogue pest controllers, ecologists, wildlife doctors, and others who are reimagining our relationships to them. When we come to understand the depths of their pleasures and pains, the richness of their family lives and their histories, what do we owe so-called pests and predators, or animals who are sick or injured? Can thinking of nonhumans as our neighbors help chart a course to a kinder, gentler planet? As Keim suggests, the answers to these questions are central to how we understand not only the rest of the living world, but ourselves.
Meet the Neighbors opens our eyes to the world of vibrant intelligence just outside our doors.
In this wide-ranging exploration of animals' inner lives, Keim takes us into courtrooms and wildlife hospitals, under backyard decks and into deserts, to meet anew the wild creatures who populate our communities and the philosophers, rogue pest controllers, ecologists, wildlife doctors, and others who are reimagining our relationships to them. When we come to understand the depths of their pleasures and pains, the richness of their family lives and their histories, what do we owe so-called pests and predators, or animals who are sick or injured? Can thinking of nonhumans as our neighbors help chart a course to a kinder, gentler planet? As Keim suggests, the answers to these questions are central to how we understand not only the rest of the living world, but ourselves.
Meet the Neighbors opens our eyes to the world of vibrant intelligence just outside our doors.
368 pages, Paperback
Published July 22, 2025
About the author
Brandon Keim
3 books49 followersBrandon Keim is a freelance journalist specializing in science, nature, and animals. His latest book, Meet the Neighbors: Animal Minds and Life in a More-Than-Human World, is about animal personhood — knowing them as thinking, feeling beings — and our relationships to wild animals and to nature.
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October 17, 2024
Brandon Keim's excellent book Meet the Neighbors seems to be one that suffers from a title and cover that don't quite match what is inside. (Though, I do love the subheading phrase "more-than-human worlds.") It's strange that the idiom, "don't judge a book by its cover" is still so popular when it is arguably less practiced today than it ever was given the wide reach of the internet and availability of graphic design. The welcome mat with all of the animals on it resembles a child's nature show to me, but Keim did not write a cutesie book about animals as one-dimensional cartoon characters. I assume the title and design were created to reach as wide an audience as possible- anyone who likes other-than-human animals and wants fun facts about them. This strategy sometimes works for sales but often results in disappointment by readers who expected something lighter.
Keim's book is grounded in reality and is written with great sensitivity, deep thought, and a level of honesty I often do not encounter in these kinds of texts- even from those whose entire goal is to de-center humans in discussions about other animals. This is not a buzzfeed-esque fun-fact book (though there are certainly many fun facts and heartwarming stories within) nor is it a book focused solely on more-than-human animal traits. The parts that mostly focused on facts about animals were the beginning sections of the book which I thought could have used more organization. This initially left me worried that I might be reading another run-of-the-mill book of animal facts, which is just fine, but moving forward took me into another world entirely. This book is includes a mixture of general info and research about other animal minds and experiences as well as discussion about how humans treat and view fellow creatures. The latter can make it tough to read at times. However, even as a person who generally has a hard boundary against reading detailed accounts of animal cruelty and exploitation, I encourage folks to push through those parts. I make exceptions to this rule when the information is used to make larger, complex points and to combat common knowledge in important ways that cannot be done accurately without including said details. Basically, when it makes me think about things in ways I had not before, I will make my way through it. I believe this book does this. It does so in ways that are exceptional in comparison to others in the genre.
We are currently in a place, at least in much of western culture, where it is super cool to talk about climate change, but not to actually take responsibility for it. It is super cool to discuss amazing fun facts about other animals, as long as we always keep them a step below us and don't challenge the ways we exploit them. It is super cool to combat threats to endangered species, including blaming other species introduced by us, as long as the threats combatted aren't human (you know, the main threat.) Even in far left circles, these kinds of neoliberal and reactionary ways of thinking are common in regards to nonhuman animals. It's even fashionable to tokenize human struggles in reasoning as to why other species do not deserve respect and consideration. This book forces the reader to confront all of these anthropocentric biases and more. Keim acknowledges the great importance of the little bits of happiness we can gain from Dodo videos while also acknowledging that we "live in a world of wounds," as he said when he generously joined VINE book club last month. Keim also grapples with conflicts and questions that are often left out on the more liberatory side of things, such as when humans should intervene to help other animals and what kind of interventions are more wasteful or disruptive than they are helpful. He consistently asks the question- what would an individual from this species think or want? He ponders things such as the differences in opinion bears vs salmon might have in regards to habitat management and how humans choose which species to focus on helping or admiring. The most illuminating parts of the book for me personally, were those that discussed introduced/non-native, "overpopulated," and/or species labeled as "pests." I had not even realized just how much bias I had internalized about certain dilemmas even as a 18 year die hard (collective liberation) vegan with a ton of animal rescue experience who knows that these things are more complicated that the anthropocentric ways they are presented.
This book is what I was hoping the the book Pests: How Humans Create Animal Villains would have been. Even though MTN is not entirely about these species and conflicts, it tells multiple sides of the story in honest ways as much as a human can attempt to without being able to interview other species. I had no idea, for instance, that introduced (non-native) donkeys had rewilded in many places and helped other species survive through things like oasis digging in deserts. I had heard of "judas goats," but never knew about "judas donkeys," which were only mentioned in a footnote, but are truly one of the most heart wrenching examples of cruelty I have read about. I can't stop thinking about them, but do not regret learning this as part of the full story. I have read countless texts that explain how rats and feral cats threatened island nesting birds, which insisted that killing all of them was the only solution. Those texts neglected to mention that humans overfishing, habitat destruction, and killing of the ocean were countless times worse for said birds and everyone else. Keim also discussed how said purge of feral cats was also used to reduce competition with foxes, only to find that foxes at more threatened birds than the cats (who ate more rodents.) The culling of introduced pigs ended up taking away food from golden eagles, who then turned on the foxes, which then meant the eagles had to be "managed." I am a birder and often see people patting themselves on the back when telling people to keep their cats indoors (which I agree with for the record,) but will attack anyone who even questions how our actions affect birds (outside of the abstract or pointing the finger at other human groups- usually in oppressive ways.) We learn that feral cats are the "top killers" of birds when they aren't. We are. But, many writers (outside of animal rights and liberation niche texts) are encouraged not to talk about this as the reader needs the ability to channel the upset about what is happening onto someone else. Keim doesn't fall into that trap.
Keim also did a lot of research and got a lot of big names to interview. Bobby Corrigan on rodents for example. Again, the way he approached the book exceeds what you often find in nature and animal literature. He interviews scientists, environmentalists, lawyers, wildlife "management" services, philosophers, naturalists, animal sanctuary founders, zoo employees, and so on. He also presents one of the most honest sections on hunting and fishing- particularly westernized hunting that rebranded itself as "conservationist" (after hunting drove many species to, or near to, extinction.) I don't know if I have ever read a text that acknowledged the horrors hunters have committed, the trouble with ecosystem imbalance caused by overpopulation of certain species (and harm to other species,) the other human activities that often cause more harm but get less attention/ire than hunting (such as urbanization,) the conservation efforts of a subset of hunters, and how those conservation efforts ultimately serve hunters, ranchers, and loggers more than other animals or ecosystems (by prioritizing sport, profits, trophies, and species hunters want to kill even at cost of true balance and other species harmed by their "conservation" practices.) Keim even calls out the permission fallacy and idea of animals "giving their lives" as a way to redirect from the reality that their lives are taken. He is not claiming taking a life is always wrong, on the contrary, it is sometimes a necessity including for other species. But, he combats this view usually touted by people romanticizing hunting by claiming animals are super into being shot or stabbed for conservation, tradition, sport, trophy, food, or all of the above. It's very rare to find that level of honesty and diligent research on a topic so sensitive to many people on all sides. Keim truly seemed more interested in understanding the dilemma than taking a side.
As a bird nerd, I learned so many new things about birds from this book. Some were depressing and far more were fascinating. Yet, he also has me thinking hard about what species I am fascinated by and how that affects my actions. I have lots of photos of birds eating insects and fishes. While I have definitely felt for these animals, especially when that damned ring-billed gull held that squirming fish for ages before finally killing them, what is it about birds that attracts me? And how does that affect my actions? I'm not saying I have never considered these things, but Keim gave me new ways to think about them. One might think based on what I have said here that there is a punishing way to these thought processes, but on the contrary, I actually found Keim's outlook freeing. It is often honesty, however painful, that is much less anxiety inducing in the long run. This book allows me to see myself as part of this world- an animal among many other animals- and to examine what that means to me
As you may be able to tell, I could write a book on this book. I want to leave some surprises for the reader as well. I highly recommend Meet the Neighbors and I hope that if you find your expectations dashed a bit, that you can move forward and take what else the text has to offer because there is a lot here that I have rarely found elsewhere.
This was also posted to my storygraph and blog.
Keim's book is grounded in reality and is written with great sensitivity, deep thought, and a level of honesty I often do not encounter in these kinds of texts- even from those whose entire goal is to de-center humans in discussions about other animals. This is not a buzzfeed-esque fun-fact book (though there are certainly many fun facts and heartwarming stories within) nor is it a book focused solely on more-than-human animal traits. The parts that mostly focused on facts about animals were the beginning sections of the book which I thought could have used more organization. This initially left me worried that I might be reading another run-of-the-mill book of animal facts, which is just fine, but moving forward took me into another world entirely. This book is includes a mixture of general info and research about other animal minds and experiences as well as discussion about how humans treat and view fellow creatures. The latter can make it tough to read at times. However, even as a person who generally has a hard boundary against reading detailed accounts of animal cruelty and exploitation, I encourage folks to push through those parts. I make exceptions to this rule when the information is used to make larger, complex points and to combat common knowledge in important ways that cannot be done accurately without including said details. Basically, when it makes me think about things in ways I had not before, I will make my way through it. I believe this book does this. It does so in ways that are exceptional in comparison to others in the genre.
We are currently in a place, at least in much of western culture, where it is super cool to talk about climate change, but not to actually take responsibility for it. It is super cool to discuss amazing fun facts about other animals, as long as we always keep them a step below us and don't challenge the ways we exploit them. It is super cool to combat threats to endangered species, including blaming other species introduced by us, as long as the threats combatted aren't human (you know, the main threat.) Even in far left circles, these kinds of neoliberal and reactionary ways of thinking are common in regards to nonhuman animals. It's even fashionable to tokenize human struggles in reasoning as to why other species do not deserve respect and consideration. This book forces the reader to confront all of these anthropocentric biases and more. Keim acknowledges the great importance of the little bits of happiness we can gain from Dodo videos while also acknowledging that we "live in a world of wounds," as he said when he generously joined VINE book club last month. Keim also grapples with conflicts and questions that are often left out on the more liberatory side of things, such as when humans should intervene to help other animals and what kind of interventions are more wasteful or disruptive than they are helpful. He consistently asks the question- what would an individual from this species think or want? He ponders things such as the differences in opinion bears vs salmon might have in regards to habitat management and how humans choose which species to focus on helping or admiring. The most illuminating parts of the book for me personally, were those that discussed introduced/non-native, "overpopulated," and/or species labeled as "pests." I had not even realized just how much bias I had internalized about certain dilemmas even as a 18 year die hard (collective liberation) vegan with a ton of animal rescue experience who knows that these things are more complicated that the anthropocentric ways they are presented.
This book is what I was hoping the the book Pests: How Humans Create Animal Villains would have been. Even though MTN is not entirely about these species and conflicts, it tells multiple sides of the story in honest ways as much as a human can attempt to without being able to interview other species. I had no idea, for instance, that introduced (non-native) donkeys had rewilded in many places and helped other species survive through things like oasis digging in deserts. I had heard of "judas goats," but never knew about "judas donkeys," which were only mentioned in a footnote, but are truly one of the most heart wrenching examples of cruelty I have read about. I can't stop thinking about them, but do not regret learning this as part of the full story. I have read countless texts that explain how rats and feral cats threatened island nesting birds, which insisted that killing all of them was the only solution. Those texts neglected to mention that humans overfishing, habitat destruction, and killing of the ocean were countless times worse for said birds and everyone else. Keim also discussed how said purge of feral cats was also used to reduce competition with foxes, only to find that foxes at more threatened birds than the cats (who ate more rodents.) The culling of introduced pigs ended up taking away food from golden eagles, who then turned on the foxes, which then meant the eagles had to be "managed." I am a birder and often see people patting themselves on the back when telling people to keep their cats indoors (which I agree with for the record,) but will attack anyone who even questions how our actions affect birds (outside of the abstract or pointing the finger at other human groups- usually in oppressive ways.) We learn that feral cats are the "top killers" of birds when they aren't. We are. But, many writers (outside of animal rights and liberation niche texts) are encouraged not to talk about this as the reader needs the ability to channel the upset about what is happening onto someone else. Keim doesn't fall into that trap.
Keim also did a lot of research and got a lot of big names to interview. Bobby Corrigan on rodents for example. Again, the way he approached the book exceeds what you often find in nature and animal literature. He interviews scientists, environmentalists, lawyers, wildlife "management" services, philosophers, naturalists, animal sanctuary founders, zoo employees, and so on. He also presents one of the most honest sections on hunting and fishing- particularly westernized hunting that rebranded itself as "conservationist" (after hunting drove many species to, or near to, extinction.) I don't know if I have ever read a text that acknowledged the horrors hunters have committed, the trouble with ecosystem imbalance caused by overpopulation of certain species (and harm to other species,) the other human activities that often cause more harm but get less attention/ire than hunting (such as urbanization,) the conservation efforts of a subset of hunters, and how those conservation efforts ultimately serve hunters, ranchers, and loggers more than other animals or ecosystems (by prioritizing sport, profits, trophies, and species hunters want to kill even at cost of true balance and other species harmed by their "conservation" practices.) Keim even calls out the permission fallacy and idea of animals "giving their lives" as a way to redirect from the reality that their lives are taken. He is not claiming taking a life is always wrong, on the contrary, it is sometimes a necessity including for other species. But, he combats this view usually touted by people romanticizing hunting by claiming animals are super into being shot or stabbed for conservation, tradition, sport, trophy, food, or all of the above. It's very rare to find that level of honesty and diligent research on a topic so sensitive to many people on all sides. Keim truly seemed more interested in understanding the dilemma than taking a side.
As a bird nerd, I learned so many new things about birds from this book. Some were depressing and far more were fascinating. Yet, he also has me thinking hard about what species I am fascinated by and how that affects my actions. I have lots of photos of birds eating insects and fishes. While I have definitely felt for these animals, especially when that damned ring-billed gull held that squirming fish for ages before finally killing them, what is it about birds that attracts me? And how does that affect my actions? I'm not saying I have never considered these things, but Keim gave me new ways to think about them. One might think based on what I have said here that there is a punishing way to these thought processes, but on the contrary, I actually found Keim's outlook freeing. It is often honesty, however painful, that is much less anxiety inducing in the long run. This book allows me to see myself as part of this world- an animal among many other animals- and to examine what that means to me
As you may be able to tell, I could write a book on this book. I want to leave some surprises for the reader as well. I highly recommend Meet the Neighbors and I hope that if you find your expectations dashed a bit, that you can move forward and take what else the text has to offer because there is a lot here that I have rarely found elsewhere.
This was also posted to my storygraph and blog.
September 16, 2024
The first couple of chapters dealt with animal intelligence and communication, and they were the best parts of the book. However, they were kind of scattershot and muddled with various examples of rats, bees, etc., surprising us with their advanced thinking but these parts were kind of a stream of anecdotes.
The rest of the book was about animal rights and how we need to coexist with animals but it got very repetitive and some of the arguments seemed impractical and unconvincing.
The rest of the book was about animal rights and how we need to coexist with animals but it got very repetitive and some of the arguments seemed impractical and unconvincing.
May 3, 2026
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Brandon Keim sets out to reframe how we see the animals around us in Meet the Neighbors. He invites readers to view them as thinking and feeling neighbors instead of background noise. It sounds fascinating on paper, and at first, it is. The early chapters explore animal intelligence, communication, and behavior by highlighting just how much science has uncovered in recent years.
That sense of curiosity fades as the book moves forward. The discussion shifts into animal rights, conservation, and legal frameworks. These topics could have been compelling, but the delivery feels repetitive and surface-level. Instead of building toward a strong and cohesive argument, the sections start to blur together. I kept waiting for a deeper takeaway or a moment that would change how I think about the world around me. That feeling never quite arrived.
The audiobook experience didn’t help. Paul Woodson gives a steady and clear performance, but the tone stays flat for long stretches. It felt like sitting through a lecture that never quite finds its rhythm. This made it easy to zone out even when the subject matter should have been engaging.
What makes this more frustrating is that the ideas themselves matter. Rethinking how humans interact with animals and ecosystems is important. The book raises good questions about responsibility, ethics, and coexistence. It just doesn’t push those questions far enough to feel impactful or memorable.
Meet the Neighbors could be a solid introduction if you are new to animal cognition or environmental ethics. It may feel like a review of familiar ground without much added depth if you have read even a little in this space.
✏ Instagram ✏ My Blog ✏ The StoryGraph ✏ TikTok ✏ Facebook
Brandon Keim sets out to reframe how we see the animals around us in Meet the Neighbors. He invites readers to view them as thinking and feeling neighbors instead of background noise. It sounds fascinating on paper, and at first, it is. The early chapters explore animal intelligence, communication, and behavior by highlighting just how much science has uncovered in recent years.
That sense of curiosity fades as the book moves forward. The discussion shifts into animal rights, conservation, and legal frameworks. These topics could have been compelling, but the delivery feels repetitive and surface-level. Instead of building toward a strong and cohesive argument, the sections start to blur together. I kept waiting for a deeper takeaway or a moment that would change how I think about the world around me. That feeling never quite arrived.
The audiobook experience didn’t help. Paul Woodson gives a steady and clear performance, but the tone stays flat for long stretches. It felt like sitting through a lecture that never quite finds its rhythm. This made it easy to zone out even when the subject matter should have been engaging.
What makes this more frustrating is that the ideas themselves matter. Rethinking how humans interact with animals and ecosystems is important. The book raises good questions about responsibility, ethics, and coexistence. It just doesn’t push those questions far enough to feel impactful or memorable.
Meet the Neighbors could be a solid introduction if you are new to animal cognition or environmental ethics. It may feel like a review of familiar ground without much added depth if you have read even a little in this space.
June 14, 2024
***I won this book in a Goodreads Giveaway***
Meet the Neighbors tackles a broad and complicated subject area. What do animals think and feel and how can we, as humans, better incorporate them into society? I appreciate how the author broke this down in multiple ways.
What does the science say? He acknowledges this is a young field of research and covers both the results and limitations of studies. What does philosophy say? He goes way back, hundreds of years, to build up to our current thinking on the sentience of animals. What do the courts say? Yes, there have been court cases on the topic of animal personhood and rights. So far, no real victories for animal advocates beyond moral victories. What do we say as individuals? This is what it comes down to. What feels right in our own souls when it comes to interacting with individual animals as well as populations of animals?
While the book could be dry at times, and some chapters will speak to individuals more than others, it was still a worthwhile read for animal lovers and those who are focused on conservation. The chapter on coyotes was particularly poignant for me as it encompassed the struggle between happiness and suffering that exist in life and how sometimes all we can do is try to lessen the suffering a little bit.
Meet the Neighbors tackles a broad and complicated subject area. What do animals think and feel and how can we, as humans, better incorporate them into society? I appreciate how the author broke this down in multiple ways.
What does the science say? He acknowledges this is a young field of research and covers both the results and limitations of studies. What does philosophy say? He goes way back, hundreds of years, to build up to our current thinking on the sentience of animals. What do the courts say? Yes, there have been court cases on the topic of animal personhood and rights. So far, no real victories for animal advocates beyond moral victories. What do we say as individuals? This is what it comes down to. What feels right in our own souls when it comes to interacting with individual animals as well as populations of animals?
While the book could be dry at times, and some chapters will speak to individuals more than others, it was still a worthwhile read for animal lovers and those who are focused on conservation. The chapter on coyotes was particularly poignant for me as it encompassed the struggle between happiness and suffering that exist in life and how sometimes all we can do is try to lessen the suffering a little bit.
April 12, 2026
Trigger Warnings:
Animal injury and death
Animal use in research
Killing of animals
Meet the Neighbors: Animal Minds and Life in a More-than-Human World by Brandon Keim is a nonfiction exploration set across contemporary America, from courtrooms and wildlife hospitals to backyards and deserts. Keim, a science and nature journalist based in Maine, takes everything we’ve learned in recent decades about animal intelligence and asks the question that really matters: now that we know honeybees deliberate democratically, rats feel empathy, and snakes have friendships, what are we actually going to do about it? He takes you along to meet pest controllers who refuse to kill, wildlife doctors patching up urban animals, and legal advocates fighting for animals to be recognized as persons under the law. It’s one of those books that quietly shifts the way you see the world, you’ll finish it and look at the raccoon in your yard or the bird outside your window completely differently. If you’ve ever felt something deep for animals and weren’t sure what to do with that feeling, this book meets you right there.
Animal injury and death
Animal use in research
Killing of animals
Meet the Neighbors: Animal Minds and Life in a More-than-Human World by Brandon Keim is a nonfiction exploration set across contemporary America, from courtrooms and wildlife hospitals to backyards and deserts. Keim, a science and nature journalist based in Maine, takes everything we’ve learned in recent decades about animal intelligence and asks the question that really matters: now that we know honeybees deliberate democratically, rats feel empathy, and snakes have friendships, what are we actually going to do about it? He takes you along to meet pest controllers who refuse to kill, wildlife doctors patching up urban animals, and legal advocates fighting for animals to be recognized as persons under the law. It’s one of those books that quietly shifts the way you see the world, you’ll finish it and look at the raccoon in your yard or the bird outside your window completely differently. If you’ve ever felt something deep for animals and weren’t sure what to do with that feeling, this book meets you right there.
July 2, 2024
Meet The Neighbors by Brandon Kind If anyone is like me they probably first thought this book was a thriller about devious neighbors and secrets but no this is about our furry and winged neighbors we live so closely with. The author has filled his book with experts court cases and reasons why we should do our best to live peacefully with animals that aren’t so different from ourselves. In the book we learn how coyotes socialize we learn about rats who have remorse elephants who mourn their dead in birds whose sum mate for life and we even hear about those people who think nothing of killing them and going about their day. I have always loved animals but until recently I really did view them as just dumb animals and it’s books like this that’s definitely changing my view of these creatures we co-exist with on this planet. I did think there was way too much talk about rights not that I don’t believe animals deserve them but when you go overboard peoples vision tends to glaze over and they stop listening or at least I know that’s the case with me. I did fine a lot of the talk about happy the elephant was very interesting and I absolutely would recommend this book I found it very entertaining and informative most of it was all so interesting. Please forgive any mistakes as I am blind and dictate my review.#WWNortonandCompany, #NetGalley,#BrandonKind, #MeetTheNeighbors,
August 28, 2024
EXACTLY. This book sums up everything I've felt about animals my whole life, but it's much more eloquent and well-researched than my usual teary "Hey, animals have lives and feelings, too!" outbursts.
The parts about the horrible things we humans do to our non-human neighbours made me sick and angry, but I think it's important for us all to know about stuff like that. Like someone in the book is quoted as saying, "Suffering is not less real because we don't look at it." So true. And maybe by looking at it, we can build up enough communal rage to actually make some important changes.
Excellent book.
The parts about the horrible things we humans do to our non-human neighbours made me sick and angry, but I think it's important for us all to know about stuff like that. Like someone in the book is quoted as saying, "Suffering is not less real because we don't look at it." So true. And maybe by looking at it, we can build up enough communal rage to actually make some important changes.
Excellent book.
April 26, 2026
Rating: 3.75 rounded up to 4 😊
I had low expectations when I started this audiobook and I am happily surprised.
While listening to this book, I learned a lot, regarding both the scientific research as well as especially the philosophical discourse.
While listening, it felt like visit from a respectable neighbor or an uncle that you don't see regularly that came over for a cup of tea or some drinks and started talking about his latest work. In a way unstructured but with a natural flow.
At times, I wanted to have snippets of videos embedded into the book. Not exactly like a documentary, but a mixed format, where you could also see the mentioned environment or animals visually for 15-20 seconds, for example. I wonder if there are e-books like that.
Regarding the philosophical discourse, I'm more inclined to respect nature's own checks and balances but at the same time agree that the animals need to be represented in human projects with impact on nature.
I had a lot more to comment on, but it's better to talk about those over a cup of tea or some drinks... 😉
I had low expectations when I started this audiobook and I am happily surprised.
While listening to this book, I learned a lot, regarding both the scientific research as well as especially the philosophical discourse.
While listening, it felt like visit from a respectable neighbor or an uncle that you don't see regularly that came over for a cup of tea or some drinks and started talking about his latest work. In a way unstructured but with a natural flow.
At times, I wanted to have snippets of videos embedded into the book. Not exactly like a documentary, but a mixed format, where you could also see the mentioned environment or animals visually for 15-20 seconds, for example. I wonder if there are e-books like that.
Regarding the philosophical discourse, I'm more inclined to respect nature's own checks and balances but at the same time agree that the animals need to be represented in human projects with impact on nature.
I had a lot more to comment on, but it's better to talk about those over a cup of tea or some drinks... 😉
October 12, 2025
as a huge fan of thinking ab the feelings of animals, i didn’t necessarily need this book. but i certainly did enjoy it. chapter on coyotes was my fav. did i shed a tear listening to the part ab animals in love? of course i did!
this book i will compare to fuzz and pests. those ones are better. but also different. but just better in general. all three are gorgeous girls and should all be read. they complement each other quite well. but fuzz and pests are near and dear to my soul and i’ll never stop thinking ab them. i think i will eventually stop thinking ab this one. but this one was still very very good and interesting.
also. made me think ab hunting morals which is always an interesting topic in my mind. much to ponder
this book i will compare to fuzz and pests. those ones are better. but also different. but just better in general. all three are gorgeous girls and should all be read. they complement each other quite well. but fuzz and pests are near and dear to my soul and i’ll never stop thinking ab them. i think i will eventually stop thinking ab this one. but this one was still very very good and interesting.
also. made me think ab hunting morals which is always an interesting topic in my mind. much to ponder
July 24, 2025
DNF at 75%. I really really enjoyed the beginning of this, but then he really got anti-zoo and as a zookeeper I couldn’t continue. He was spreading so much misinformation about zoos and I just couldn’t listen anymore.
January 31, 2025
interesting thesis, lots of possibilities, I wanted to enjoy it. This dragged more than it needed to. Better editing?
April 10, 2026
I discovered midway through my reading of Meet the Neighbors that it was surprisingly available as an audiobook through Libby because it's one of those "big community reads." A good choice, probably, in that a lot of people need to read a book like this that treasures nature and wild animals and encourages us to be better stewards of the environment.
That said, Meet the Neighbors is likely better suited to a different reader than me. The first chapter caught my attention with its science focus and engaging discussion of what animals actually experience. (Did a much better job of this than Playing Possum) But then the author shifted away from science into more personal stories of how people and communities interact with the animals in their midst.
Mostly, this looked like wildlife conservationists begging us to care about wild donkeys and urban wildlife vets rehabilitating all kinds of animals we usually let die on the side of the road. In other words, pages and pages of big, heartfelt stuff that would probably bring a tear to a softer reader's eye. Meanwhile, I'm over here like, "hey, where'd the science go?"
Admittedly, there's still plenty of interesting material in the back half of the book, it's just buried in personal accounts that mostly bored me. One key takeaway seems to be that maybe invasive species - like donkeys! - aren't the troublemakers they're often made out to be. Animals and habitats are endlessly adaptable, given time. It's bulldozing humans who make the most trouble for animals, a concept I can absolutely believe as I watch the current administration gut the Forest Service in favor of Big Timber. What fun times we live in. Maybe they should all read this book?
That said, Meet the Neighbors is likely better suited to a different reader than me. The first chapter caught my attention with its science focus and engaging discussion of what animals actually experience. (Did a much better job of this than Playing Possum) But then the author shifted away from science into more personal stories of how people and communities interact with the animals in their midst.
Mostly, this looked like wildlife conservationists begging us to care about wild donkeys and urban wildlife vets rehabilitating all kinds of animals we usually let die on the side of the road. In other words, pages and pages of big, heartfelt stuff that would probably bring a tear to a softer reader's eye. Meanwhile, I'm over here like, "hey, where'd the science go?"
Admittedly, there's still plenty of interesting material in the back half of the book, it's just buried in personal accounts that mostly bored me. One key takeaway seems to be that maybe invasive species - like donkeys! - aren't the troublemakers they're often made out to be. Animals and habitats are endlessly adaptable, given time. It's bulldozing humans who make the most trouble for animals, a concept I can absolutely believe as I watch the current administration gut the Forest Service in favor of Big Timber. What fun times we live in. Maybe they should all read this book?
June 2, 2025
I believe the point of this book is to think about animals, all animals more compassionately. “If we understand other animals, as thinking, feeling, self-aware beings, with friends and families and relationships, as fellow persons and neighbors in a more than human city, then we ought not to kill them unless truly necessary.”
The book begins by establishing the intelligence that animals have and the importance of community within many animal worlds. The second section concerns animal rights. The third section talks about some animals that are traditionally maligned in our coexistence. The final section talks about animals in the wild and how they should be managed, if at all.
A chapter of the book called “The Invaders” talks about Non-native species of animals that are considered invasive and should be destroyed. “What might people learn if they set aside, preconceived God notions about nativity and non-nativity and if they looked with clear eyes at what these species actually did?” In many cases, in fact, non-native species provide benefits to the environments they are inhabiting. Often these non-native species are callously exterminated in the name of conservation. “Callousness can only be maintained at the cost of compassion.“
The book begins by establishing the intelligence that animals have and the importance of community within many animal worlds. The second section concerns animal rights. The third section talks about some animals that are traditionally maligned in our coexistence. The final section talks about animals in the wild and how they should be managed, if at all.
A chapter of the book called “The Invaders” talks about Non-native species of animals that are considered invasive and should be destroyed. “What might people learn if they set aside, preconceived God notions about nativity and non-nativity and if they looked with clear eyes at what these species actually did?” In many cases, in fact, non-native species provide benefits to the environments they are inhabiting. Often these non-native species are callously exterminated in the name of conservation. “Callousness can only be maintained at the cost of compassion.“
February 1, 2026
I thought this book was going to be educational and I would learn some things about animals. That’s how I felt like it was marketed. However, this book is more like a philosophical argument for why animals should have rights (which I wholeheartedly agree with). It feels like a book I would have been required to read in graduate school. I have not finished it and don’t know if I will. It’s not what I thought it was going to be.
January 21, 2026
This was a DNF for me. While I enjoyed the tidbits of information about animals, I was really turned off by the parts that detailed the suffering of animals. I don’t dispute that this is part of what the author was trying to illustrate to add context to the bigger whole, but on a personal level, it was just too disturbing.
April 22, 2025
Deeply empathetic, highly insightful, and very entertaining. This book deepened my understanding of what it must feel like to share a planet with a noisy, destructive, wasteful, murderous, generally pain-in-the-ass species like humans. I will never look at urban wildlife the same way again.
April 16, 2026
I really enjoyed this book a lot, and thought that the author did a great job researching his subject. Certainly he talked and met with many specialists involved with just about every aspect of wildlife care, habitat, and their impact on the earth, and human impact on the wildlife.
As someone who spent several years in wildlife rehabilitation, I applaud Keim's dig into the wildlife world, bringing to life the reasons why humans need to learn to live with the wildlife that surrounds them. Keim travelled North America to study and learn about the different species, but what I really liked was his different times and reasons for being in Canada. He talks with Brad Gates, from Gates Pest Control, a humane pest removal service based in the GTA and follows him while a raccoon mama and babies is removed from an attic.(There are many humane pest removal services that don't kill the animals they are removing) He talks with a specialist about the Cormorant issue at Cherry Beach (in Toronto) and how its being managed. He writes about the Coho salmon in Northern BC, and the Indigenous people who share this food with the local black and grizzly bears. There is also a very well documented section on zoo animals and animal rights, most particularly Happy the elephant and the court cases surrounding this animal. There is a very informative section on coyotes and why its "open season" on those animals. So many more species mentioned!!! We humans need to remember that wildlife belong here, and we have encroached on their territories. What can we do to learn to live in harmony with our fellow beings?
Don't use poisons. Don't use glue traps. Don't use neck traps or leg traps.
Books like this are a step in the right direction in learning how to co-exist with those who make our lives richer if we take the time to pay attention.
{As an aside, Keim garnered lots of information from wildlife rehabilitation specialists. In Canada these places do not receive government funding and rely on donation and their own fundraising to exist. Most larger rehabs rely on volunteers to treat and release hundreds of animals a year. Give a thought to donating to help these centres out. Most in southern Ontario treat all small mammals, ( squirrels, raccoons, groundhogs, beaver, possums (I know not a mammal), coyote and fox, some bats, raptors and small birds, some do turtles and snakes }
As someone who spent several years in wildlife rehabilitation, I applaud Keim's dig into the wildlife world, bringing to life the reasons why humans need to learn to live with the wildlife that surrounds them. Keim travelled North America to study and learn about the different species, but what I really liked was his different times and reasons for being in Canada. He talks with Brad Gates, from Gates Pest Control, a humane pest removal service based in the GTA and follows him while a raccoon mama and babies is removed from an attic.(There are many humane pest removal services that don't kill the animals they are removing) He talks with a specialist about the Cormorant issue at Cherry Beach (in Toronto) and how its being managed. He writes about the Coho salmon in Northern BC, and the Indigenous people who share this food with the local black and grizzly bears. There is also a very well documented section on zoo animals and animal rights, most particularly Happy the elephant and the court cases surrounding this animal. There is a very informative section on coyotes and why its "open season" on those animals. So many more species mentioned!!! We humans need to remember that wildlife belong here, and we have encroached on their territories. What can we do to learn to live in harmony with our fellow beings?
Don't use poisons. Don't use glue traps. Don't use neck traps or leg traps.
Books like this are a step in the right direction in learning how to co-exist with those who make our lives richer if we take the time to pay attention.
{As an aside, Keim garnered lots of information from wildlife rehabilitation specialists. In Canada these places do not receive government funding and rely on donation and their own fundraising to exist. Most larger rehabs rely on volunteers to treat and release hundreds of animals a year. Give a thought to donating to help these centres out. Most in southern Ontario treat all small mammals, ( squirrels, raccoons, groundhogs, beaver, possums (I know not a mammal), coyote and fox, some bats, raptors and small birds, some do turtles and snakes }
April 24, 2026
Hadde veldig veldig lyst å elsk denne boka, men føltes mer ut et førsteutkast av en brainstorming, enn en ferdig bok. Akk og ve
December 21, 2025
This book was a beautiful coincidence, especially the Barbara Smuts quote about squirrels at the beginning, as I’ve been putting nuts and seeds out in a feeder for our squirrel (and bird) neighbors for more than a year. I have to admit, I didn’t have high hopes about this book. I am happily surprised!
Other than the 5th chapter that was mostly about the legal matters which I knew of, and didn’t care to follow in detail, it is quite a page-turner. I realized quickly that when the focus was on the specifics of an animal’s life, their experiences, rather than the human animals and what they were doing, I was much more interested. I took notes, highlighted, and enjoyed this book very much. A couple of good things about it:
- Lots of interesting information I did not know
- Really well written, and I loved the in-text citation format
- It is not just a bunch of interesting info about animals, it is a really well organized, thought-provoking book.
- I’m already a critical animal studies scholar doing an interdisciplinary humanities PhD, and I’m vegan too. So I didn’t need to be convinced to care about nonhuman animals. I was already on board. BUT… I am sure that this is a book that would interest anyone who says they like animals.
So I urge you to read it, and gift it to your friends. “The point was to feed your imagination,” says Keim. It achieves that purpose, and reaches beyond.
I agree with Keim that we might be too late to avert a climate crisis, but it does not mean that thinking about (and doing) what is possible and within one’s grasp for a kinder, more thoughtful and fairer life is meaningless.
Because “We still need to nourish islands of care and abundance and make the world better for those who survive. For our neighbors” (p.293)
My thanks to the author and the people who contributed to the making of the book.
Other than the 5th chapter that was mostly about the legal matters which I knew of, and didn’t care to follow in detail, it is quite a page-turner. I realized quickly that when the focus was on the specifics of an animal’s life, their experiences, rather than the human animals and what they were doing, I was much more interested. I took notes, highlighted, and enjoyed this book very much. A couple of good things about it:
- Lots of interesting information I did not know
- Really well written, and I loved the in-text citation format
- It is not just a bunch of interesting info about animals, it is a really well organized, thought-provoking book.
- I’m already a critical animal studies scholar doing an interdisciplinary humanities PhD, and I’m vegan too. So I didn’t need to be convinced to care about nonhuman animals. I was already on board. BUT… I am sure that this is a book that would interest anyone who says they like animals.
So I urge you to read it, and gift it to your friends. “The point was to feed your imagination,” says Keim. It achieves that purpose, and reaches beyond.
I agree with Keim that we might be too late to avert a climate crisis, but it does not mean that thinking about (and doing) what is possible and within one’s grasp for a kinder, more thoughtful and fairer life is meaningless.
Because “We still need to nourish islands of care and abundance and make the world better for those who survive. For our neighbors” (p.293)
My thanks to the author and the people who contributed to the making of the book.
February 20, 2025
Growing up, my grandma would tell me stories of growing up in Oklahoma during the dust bowl. Many of these were stories about animals with whom she’d been close with. She always told me that people underestimated the depth, intelligence, and soulfulness of animals. I remember my family rolling their eyes, hearing the story for the tenth time, but even from a young age it seemed a correct observation. Anyone who has spent a lot of time around animals, or has had a deep emotional connection with an animal knows this implicitly. Luckily there’s been good ol’ western philosophy and Christianity to talk you out of what you’ve known in your heart to be true. Seems like that’s at least starting to change.
Of course I’ve heard the usual evidence—elephant and whale intelligence and behavior and rituals, etc. but over the past few years in particular I’ve really wanted to read a book like this that gives a survey course on the current state of knowledge about the emotional and intellectual capabilities of animals. This really is that book. I learned a ton and really thought the book was laid out well. Starting with general examples of animal depth (which are often stunning—turns out they are complex beings with deep interior lives), and moving into real life applications, debates, cases, then bringing it back to how people are trying to help, and finally ending at an overview of the current state of the philosophy of humane morality around animal well being in the Anthropocene. Nicely done.
Of course I’ve heard the usual evidence—elephant and whale intelligence and behavior and rituals, etc. but over the past few years in particular I’ve really wanted to read a book like this that gives a survey course on the current state of knowledge about the emotional and intellectual capabilities of animals. This really is that book. I learned a ton and really thought the book was laid out well. Starting with general examples of animal depth (which are often stunning—turns out they are complex beings with deep interior lives), and moving into real life applications, debates, cases, then bringing it back to how people are trying to help, and finally ending at an overview of the current state of the philosophy of humane morality around animal well being in the Anthropocene. Nicely done.
March 11, 2025
Author Brandon Keim shows his deep love for animals and the natural world on every page of this wonderful book. Laboratory animals, invasive species, wildlife rehabilitation, hunting, and conservation are just some of the issues he touches on. More often than not, Keim reaches no solid conclusions—rather, he encourages the reader to think deeply and broadly and above all, with compassion. In this age of climate change, science denial, and a United States government that is retreating from any and all considerations of our environment and its care, books like this are vital. We must look at the big picture, and we must act to preserve the Earth and its inhabitants before it’s too late.
May 3, 2025
I LOVED this book! I learned so much about animals’ cognitive and emotional intelligence, and I really enjoyed Keim’s storytelling. This book serves as a compelling call for people to change the way we perceive and interact with animals but arguing that they are intelligent creatures deserving of rights.
As a Christian I struggle to walk the line between humans having dominion over animals and being responsible for stewarding them well, but I definitely think we too often treat animals as disposable or even evil, and that we need to treat them with more love and kindness. I recommend everyone read this book!!!
As a Christian I struggle to walk the line between humans having dominion over animals and being responsible for stewarding them well, but I definitely think we too often treat animals as disposable or even evil, and that we need to treat them with more love and kindness. I recommend everyone read this book!!!
February 19, 2025
Really wonderful book :) everyone should read this
April 8, 2026
In my opinion, a great non-fiction book will start with evidence and let the readers make their own conclusions. A good one will save their thesis for the end. A poor non-fiction book starts with the conclusion and props it up with whatever it can find. This book is a poor non-fiction book.
Now I feel I should state where I am coming from on this because I suspect in many cases I'm an outlier. I don't believe humans are more special than anyone else. I do believe that we have an obligation towards conservation. However, I do not view our intelligence and self-awareness as anything more than an evolutionary trait that led to our explosion of population. So, for me, it's not the idea that human intelligence that matters to me. I know that animals have intelligence, too. I knew that before I read the book. It's the idea of *why* that matters and how it is both different and the same as humans. I mean, plants can feel in the physical sense. They know where the sun is and point towards it. So tell me why they are different from your other anecdotes on animals. Because this is all my starting point.
Secondly, there were a lot of stories that would flit to and fro about this anecdote and that. There is no logical throughline the author is creating to present his narrative. The throughline is his premade conclusion. Rabbits can taste and can enjoy that. Tell me why that matters. Dont just tell me it matters and then move on to how starlings are pretty. Show your work.
I disagree with his positions on hunting and especially zoos. It's about the zoo portion that I realized there is no explanation of past or current dissenters to his work. The only quotes are from people who agree with him. I question if those people had their quotes selectively chosen and agree with they portrayal as a whole. I remember a book about the overfishing of lobsters. it has whole chapters dedicated not just to the scientists but to the fishermen and history. I understood the whole breadth of the scenario to make my own conclusion. I'm not allowed to make my own conclusion from this book. It's given to me.
This book is making me ask a lot of questions and isn't even coming close to answering them. Mostly, my questions are about the bias of this book. And for a book written in 2024, it should be able to do better than this.
Also, this is not for the writing itself but for whoever made the ebook. I thought there were no citations until I clicked on a random passage accidentally and found them. That's shitty notating. give me a number so I know the author isn't pulling shit out of his ass and I don't have to click every single sentence to see what's going on like a crazy person.
Now I feel I should state where I am coming from on this because I suspect in many cases I'm an outlier. I don't believe humans are more special than anyone else. I do believe that we have an obligation towards conservation. However, I do not view our intelligence and self-awareness as anything more than an evolutionary trait that led to our explosion of population. So, for me, it's not the idea that human intelligence that matters to me. I know that animals have intelligence, too. I knew that before I read the book. It's the idea of *why* that matters and how it is both different and the same as humans. I mean, plants can feel in the physical sense. They know where the sun is and point towards it. So tell me why they are different from your other anecdotes on animals. Because this is all my starting point.
Secondly, there were a lot of stories that would flit to and fro about this anecdote and that. There is no logical throughline the author is creating to present his narrative. The throughline is his premade conclusion. Rabbits can taste and can enjoy that. Tell me why that matters. Dont just tell me it matters and then move on to how starlings are pretty. Show your work.
I disagree with his positions on hunting and especially zoos. It's about the zoo portion that I realized there is no explanation of past or current dissenters to his work. The only quotes are from people who agree with him. I question if those people had their quotes selectively chosen and agree with they portrayal as a whole. I remember a book about the overfishing of lobsters. it has whole chapters dedicated not just to the scientists but to the fishermen and history. I understood the whole breadth of the scenario to make my own conclusion. I'm not allowed to make my own conclusion from this book. It's given to me.
This book is making me ask a lot of questions and isn't even coming close to answering them. Mostly, my questions are about the bias of this book. And for a book written in 2024, it should be able to do better than this.
Also, this is not for the writing itself but for whoever made the ebook. I thought there were no citations until I clicked on a random passage accidentally and found them. That's shitty notating. give me a number so I know the author isn't pulling shit out of his ass and I don't have to click every single sentence to see what's going on like a crazy person.
May 7, 2026
I picked up this book thinking it would be a collection of anecdotes and fun facts about the animals and birds that we share our space with. The book, however, was so much more than just that.
It is a well researched book which seeks to decentre human beings and look at conservation from a very different perspective to the one we are used to.
The book, for example, talks extensively about how we perceive native and non- native species differently. Many choose to believe that all non-native species are a threat the ecosystem, and therefore can and must be eliminated to conserve biodiversity. However, many of these non-native species have carved out a space for themselves in the ecosystem, and removing them might actually destabilise the balance. There is also the philosophical issue of taking accountability for having willingly or unwillingly introduced the species in the new habitat- why should the non-native species pay the price for a human intervention?
The author speaks about how human beings tend to look at a single member of the species differently from how they perceive the species as a whole. We might despise pigeons, but could form a connection to an individual bird which will then become special for us. There is also the ongoing debate on what is more important- spending a lot of resources on treating a single individual that needs help, or using that money to preserve habitats, thereby affecting millions of animals and birds (plot twist- this choice is often never a binary).
For me, the section on the legal right of more than human species was of particular interest. I am currently involved in a struggle to save a national park in my city from destruction and the questions that the author raised about "who speaks for them" and "who has the right to speak for them" found resonance.
This is a book I would recommend to anyone who wants to learn more about the animal world, conservation and the responsibility that we humans have towards protecting the more than human world. Each section reads very differently from the others, which sometimes appears jarring- I would recommend taking a break between sections, so one can internalise what the author says before going on to the next section.
It is a well researched book which seeks to decentre human beings and look at conservation from a very different perspective to the one we are used to.
The book, for example, talks extensively about how we perceive native and non- native species differently. Many choose to believe that all non-native species are a threat the ecosystem, and therefore can and must be eliminated to conserve biodiversity. However, many of these non-native species have carved out a space for themselves in the ecosystem, and removing them might actually destabilise the balance. There is also the philosophical issue of taking accountability for having willingly or unwillingly introduced the species in the new habitat- why should the non-native species pay the price for a human intervention?
The author speaks about how human beings tend to look at a single member of the species differently from how they perceive the species as a whole. We might despise pigeons, but could form a connection to an individual bird which will then become special for us. There is also the ongoing debate on what is more important- spending a lot of resources on treating a single individual that needs help, or using that money to preserve habitats, thereby affecting millions of animals and birds (plot twist- this choice is often never a binary).
For me, the section on the legal right of more than human species was of particular interest. I am currently involved in a struggle to save a national park in my city from destruction and the questions that the author raised about "who speaks for them" and "who has the right to speak for them" found resonance.
This is a book I would recommend to anyone who wants to learn more about the animal world, conservation and the responsibility that we humans have towards protecting the more than human world. Each section reads very differently from the others, which sometimes appears jarring- I would recommend taking a break between sections, so one can internalise what the author says before going on to the next section.
May 8, 2026
I already believe that turning this world of ours into the sole domain of a single animal, the human being, is both a great crime and a great foolishness, so I wasn’t sure if I needed 12 hours of an audiobook telling me the same, but as is only appropriate, with my human-like arrogance I was wrong in my presumption.
This is a book about creating and feeding empathy for the animals that surround us, wherever you might meet them, and about encouraging hope in the face of defeat via the reminder that no great defining achievement was won in a day (the path to social freedoms is the path of a thousand little cuts). It also moved me to tears with the tale of a certain young and sickly cormorant called Cosmo, misshapen and short-lived because of what we did, and yet how full of life for what there was.
Meet the Neighbors might be too long, but I find its importance hard to deny - and wouldn't want to anyway.
Yet it’s not a naive vision of an all-loving utopia. Keim acknowledges the hardships of caring for animals and the complexities of choosing who to care for and how. He describes many of the bad things we do, and also many of the people who work hard to make the world a better living place for all animals. Amongst the carers there are pragmatic idealists and idealistic pragmatics, but also those that work with good intentions but bad information or those driven by pure delusion (Herzog's The Grizzly Man comes to mind). There are many losses and many uncertainties, but there are also victories, and hope, for as long as there are creatures working towards a better world, however difficult it can be to define it.
I can imagine quite a few readers of this becoming such as well. The importance starts from acknowledging the life in others and actually looking to see it. This book might help.
This is a book about creating and feeding empathy for the animals that surround us, wherever you might meet them, and about encouraging hope in the face of defeat via the reminder that no great defining achievement was won in a day (the path to social freedoms is the path of a thousand little cuts). It also moved me to tears with the tale of a certain young and sickly cormorant called Cosmo, misshapen and short-lived because of what we did, and yet how full of life for what there was.
Meet the Neighbors might be too long, but I find its importance hard to deny - and wouldn't want to anyway.
Yet it’s not a naive vision of an all-loving utopia. Keim acknowledges the hardships of caring for animals and the complexities of choosing who to care for and how. He describes many of the bad things we do, and also many of the people who work hard to make the world a better living place for all animals. Amongst the carers there are pragmatic idealists and idealistic pragmatics, but also those that work with good intentions but bad information or those driven by pure delusion (Herzog's The Grizzly Man comes to mind). There are many losses and many uncertainties, but there are also victories, and hope, for as long as there are creatures working towards a better world, however difficult it can be to define it.
I can imagine quite a few readers of this becoming such as well. The importance starts from acknowledging the life in others and actually looking to see it. This book might help.
April 23, 2026
What begins as a lighthearted collection of stories about the surprising intelligence and emotions of various animals, soon delves into deeper questions about how we should morally and legally regard animals beyond our default anthropocentric perspective. The author explores how recognizing animals as persons (or at least with more respect) might change the way we approach topics like wildlife ecology, wilderness management, and human-animal conflicts. It’s thought-provoking, challenging, and inspiring.
Read
April 6, 2026Absolutely not a traditional read for me. My love for animals drew me to this title. It was fairly detailed with historical and current views and actions related to animal welfare, treatment, and conservation in urbanized areas. It was packed with scientific observations and knowledge on animals as well, which I greatly appreciate. The narration was great and I liked the focus on specific animals. It’s eye opening how nature is so politically, socially, and emotionally entwined. Don’t be afraid to get involved in and stand up for the rights, consideration, and well-being of all species, not just humans.
April 7, 2026
File this book under, "Books about things I should probably know, but didn't know I should know". Which, I imagine, is exactly why it was chosen as the 2026 "Libby Reads" book. It's all about our relationship with animals who live in urban areas (raccoons, mice, rats, coyotes) and what it should look like. I learned a lot and spent a lot of time thinking about the squirrels who lived in our walls when I was growing up and all the ways we tried to address the issue.
April 14, 2026
I am glad I picked up this book. It reminded me why I became a vegetarian (even though I'm more of a flexitarian now). It really opened my eyes to how we treat animals differently depending on their usefulness to humanity. There were a couple of chapters that I thought were a bit dry, but that's to be expected of a scientific book. I enjoyed the anecdotes of his interactions with wildlife and how he studied them in their natural habitat.
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