A love letter to Ruth Emmie Lang, author of Beasts of Extraordinary Circumstance

Dear Ruth Emmie Lang,

I'm sorry it took me so long to read Beasts of Extraordinary Circumstance, but I'm so glad I finally did so I can tell the world how much I loved it. I've had it on my shelf since October 2017, when Steph Opitz picked it for Book of the Month. It wasn't a book I would picked without Steph's recommendation. It didn't sound like something I would like. I don't usually like magical realism. I don't really animals or nature very much (I know, I know.) But Steph introduced me to Taylor Jenkins Reid with The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo, so I vowed to always choose her picks when she was a Book of the Month judge. But on my shelf it sat, unread. Then I signed up for the sixth Litsy Markup Postal Book Club, and I thought, why not use one of the (many) Book of the Month books sitting on my shelf unread? So I picked six and had my group pick, and they all picked Beasts of Extraordinary Circumstance.

The choice was made for me: I had to read it in July. So I put it in my bag to read at my favorite happy hour. From the first page, I was in love. It's a magical feeling to be immediately under a book's spell. It's even better when you get that feeling from a book you didn't think was your thing. I sat and read over 100 pages and sipped my sparkling rose and laughed and underlined and smiled. When the bartender asked me what I was reading, I said, "I don't even know how to describe it. Here: read the jacket copy." Also during that happy hour, I texted one of my best friends this picture and asked if she'd read it. She hadn't and asked if she should. I said, "I'm only on page 38, but yes. I don't think a book has ever made me think of someone as much as this one makes me think of you." And I still feel that way after finishing. If I, who does not really like magical realism, nature, or animals, can love this book, then she, who loves all three will love it (I hope. I trust.)

For all those things I don't love that this book has, it also has a lot of things I love: multiple locations, time jumps, characters who feel like real people, an interesting narrative structure, and books, both real and imagined. This book made me marvel, but it also made me smile. While I impatiently wait for you to finish writing The Wilderwomen, I'll keep telling everyone I can to read this gem of a novel and delight not only in its wonder but also that it's your first novel. I don't even need to hear a description of it, or any novel you write, to know I'll read it. And before it collects dust on my shelf for over a year. But first, I'm mailing it to LitLogophile, umbrellagirl, and BookishBelle. I can't wait to get it back in November and see all of their notes and underlines and re-read it.

Love,
Your Newest Fan

Rating: 4.5 out of 5
Length: 346 pages
Publication date: November 14, 2017
Source: Book of the Month (Try a free month!)

Want to read for yourself? Buy Beasts of Extraordinary Circumstance from an independent bookstore or Amazon (Kindle edition.)

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