Mary E. Carlson Dvm

I picked up this book because from the title and the cover I expected a more lighthearted, funny memoir with lots of animal shenanigans. It was very far from what I expected. While there were definitely some heartwarming parts or useful facts (like the warning that cats like to sleep on cat tires), most of it was just... about mundane parts of the author's life I had no interest in. I understand the point of a biography is to tell a person's life, but in my opinion, you need some reason to care about this person's life (because you already know them, because the style is funny, etc.) and I just didn't. That, and there were so many animals dying or being euthanised in this book, and I know that's part of the profession, but it just made me sad.

tldr; This isn't a bad book, but it's not the lighthearted funny read I expected, and I lost interest.… (más)

I appreciated Mary sharing her life with readers. In regards to a memoir about a person's life; this is a good read. However, if you are looking for more of an animal focused book, than, this book is fine. I myself was hoping for a little of both. Yes, Mary shares and introduces me to some of the animals that came into her life but when some of them died, I did not shed a tear or two. Not, that I wanted to cry but to get to that point just means that I was really invested in the animals. For me, the animals were more like casual friends.

Yet, it was nice to read how a city girl found her way to the West. I live in Colorado as well and have visited many other states but I have to say that Colorado is a glorious state to live in. We have some of the greatest mountain views around.

Back to the book. I do agree with some of the other readers that the book could have been a bit more streamlined. The transitions from Mary's life bouncing from one moment to the next was not always the smoothest. Although, I do hope that Mary does write more books.… (más)

I happened to get a galley of this book through my work, and I found it refreshingly different from many other veterinarian memoirs (although I enjoy those, too!). The author has had a varied career that has included forays into teaching and law as well as veterinary work, and her multifaceted experiences feed into her story just as much as her discussions of relationships and encounters with animals. What I found particularly interesting was that although not all the stories were happy ones (there was a significant amount of injury and death discussed in this book), it was nonetheless inspiring rather than depressing. The animals and people who have encountered Mary Carlson are fortunate, and this well-written book will allow readers to be fortunate enough to share some of her journey.… (más)