After a rough start, Animal Book Club in Charlottesville, Virginia is a happy success. I tell our origin story so that you might create an animal book club in your community.
Merlin (2025)
To begin, we partnered with our public library. Catherine Fae volunteered to co-host. We vigorously promoted our book club via event calendars, flyers, and social media.
Our first meeting was at the library. We were excited. We had delicious snacks. One person showed up. Still, we enjoyed the conversation and told ourselves it was a start. But when nobody came to the next two meetings, I wondered if we should quit.
Instead, we turned to our social networks, realizing that there’s truly no substitute for word of mouth. And we partnered with Botanical, so we could enjoy one of the area’s very best restaurants while talking about animals and books and animal books.
And it worked! Six people showed up. We had a great time. Nowadays, our attendance varies from six to twelve people, and several of us show up every month. We tackle hard topics — practical and philosophical — and we all share our love for animals.
We even meet outside book club. Jana and Bob visited Sentient Sanctuary to celebrate their 30th anniversary. Carissa created lesson plans to help teachers to help children to grow compassion for animals. Slowly but surely, we are nurturing community.
I’m so happy we started and didn’t give up. If you’re considering starting (or joining) an animal book club, I encourage you to give it a try, and don’t give up. You’ll soon happily discover that there’s simply no shortage of good animals, good people, and good books.
Animal Books
To help you get started, here are a few of our Animal Book Club books.
- Merle’s Door by Ted Kerasote (2008)
- The Good Good Pig by Sy Montgomery (2007)
- West with Giraffes by Lynda Rutledge (2021)
- My Beloved Monster by Caleb Carr (2024)
- Running With Sherman by Christopher McDougall (2019)
- Alfie and Me by Carl Safina (2023)
- Grizzly Confidential by Kevin Grange (2024)
- Under the Henfluence by Tove Danovich (2024)
- Remarkably Bright Creatures by Shelby Van Pelt (2025)
- A Woman Among Wolves by Diane Boyd (2024)
- Black Beauty by Anna Sewell (1877)
- Raising Hare by Chloe Dalton (2025)
- Funny Farm by Laurie Zaleski (2023)
- The Tiger by John Vaillant (2011)
- An Immense World by Ed Yong (2023)
- Horse: A Novel by Geraldine Brooks (2024)
Sentient Sanctuary
Sentient Sanctuary is a nonprofit think tank and animal sanctuary in Scottsville. Our mission is more happiness and less suffering for all sentient beings, including humans.
Jefferson-Madison Regional Library
With nine locations and a bookmobile, JMRL serves more than 200,000 residents in the City of Charlottesville and the Counties of Albemarle, Greene, Louisa, and Nelson.
Botanical
Botanical is a plant-based restaurant with locations in Charlottesville and Crozet (and manages C’ville VegFest too). We stand for inclusivity, compassion, and sustainability.