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We Loved It All: A Memory of Life
A personal evocation of the glory of nature, our vexed position in the animal kingdom, and the difficulty of adoring what we destroy. Acclaimed novelist Lydia Millet’s first work of nonfiction, We Loved It All , is a genre-defying tour de force that makes an impassioned argument for people to see their emotional and spiritual lives as infinitely dependent on the lives of nonhuman beings. Drawing on a quarter-century of experience as an advocate for endangered species at the Center for Biological Diversity, Millet offers intimate portraits of what she calls “the others”―the extraordinary animals with whom we still share the world, along with those already lost. Humans, too, fill this book, as Millet touches on the lives of her world-traveling parents, fascinating partners and friends, and colorful relatives, from diplomats to nut farmers―all figures in the complex tapestry each of us weaves with the surrounding world. Written in the tradition of Annie Dillard or Robert Macfarlane, We Loved It All is an incantatory work that will appeal to anyone concerned about the future of life on earth―including our own.
272 pages, Hardcover
First published April 2, 2024
About the author
Lydia Millet
40 books925 followersLydia Millet has written twelve works of fiction. She has won awards from PEN Center USA and the American Academy of Arts and Letters, and her books have been longlisted for the National Book Award, shortlisted for the National Book Critics Circle Award and Los Angeles Times Book Prize, and named as New York Times Notable Books. Her story collection Love in Infant Monkeys was a Pulitzer Prize finalist. She lives outside Tucson, Arizona.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 45 reviews
November 27, 2023
Maybe we haven’t spoken up for the others partly because of the unconscious, innate quality of our ties with them. Possibly we need the telescopic view — the distance of forgetting and the jolt of recognition as a remembrance surfaces — to know what we adore. Maybe we can only look back in longing, over time or space, when the object of our care is far away. And our old home is gone.
We Loved it All wasn’t quite as interesting as I had hoped it would be: part memoir, part lament for disappearing species, I found this to be a tad dense and esoteric. Author Lydia Millet does include interesting facts about her family (her father was an Egyptologist and his father a globe-trotting diplomat), herself (she used the advance from the sale of her first novel to go to grad school to study conservation), and Americans in general (“a 2021 Pew Research poll suggested half of US adults are unable to read a book at even an eighth-grade level”), and she includes interesting facts about the deadly pressures we’re putting on animals and ecosystems, but the writing wasn’t always clear to me: not clear at the paragraph level or in its overall intent (I think this is meant to prove that storytelling is an important part of activism?) I admire Millet for what I’ve learned about her here — in addition to being a celebrated novelist, she has spent decades as an advocate for endangered species at the Center for Biological Diversity in Tucson — and I can agree that she is uniquely poised to comment on the connection between storytelling and activism, but I found this to be a bit of a slog, despite being interested in the topic; other readers’ experience will no doubt vary. (Note: I read an ARC through NetGalley and passages quoted may not be in their final forms.)
My presence in both of these subcultures is liminal — I float around on the margins. Neither fish nor fowl. Not really an activist, due to my aversion to slogans and crowds and open conflict. But also not a constant participant in the establishments of publishing or writing. Since the social and economic hub of publishing is New York, where I’ve chosen not to live. And since most literary writers also work as professors at universities, which I’ve chosen not to do.
Despite some personal stories, this doesn’t really read like a memoir; and despite some interesting facts (for instance: in 2018, the US budget for protecting endangered species from extinction was less than one-fifth of what Americans personally spent on Halloween costumes for their pets), this doesn’t really read like a call to action. And since Millet frequently makes the point that a percentage of Americans embrace anti-intellectualism as an “expression of personal liberty” (resulting in 40% of Americans believing that the sun revolves around the Earth, less than half believe that humans evolved from earlier animals, 40% believe that humans “probably” or “certainly” existed at the same time as dinosaurs, etc.), this felt a bit like preaching to the choir: nothing in this book seems designed to capture hearts or change minds. I am totally open to being shown the way forward, but I failed to find a pathway here.
If regret is the ghost of the past, for me, extinction is the ghost of the future. Now my worry is less about leaving than of what will be left. I hate the feeling. And yet that turning outward of fear may be the only thing of true value that I’ve ever learned.
I didn’t get a chance to write a review immediately upon completion of this, and nearly a week later, it’s all wisping away from me; I know it won’t leave a permanent mark, but again, if another reader finds this perfectly engaging, I wouldn’t be surprised. This is like-not-love for me, so three stars.
January 19, 2024
Huge Lydia Millet fan and couldn't wait to grab this up and peer into her thoughts.
A very personal series of essays, Millet intertwines her own story amongst that of conservationist. Her experience and training is vast, as she studied at the Center for Biological Diversity in Tucson, She actually utilized her first payments as an author to attend graduate school. In three connected chapters Millet shares much about her life, her family and her hopes and dreams. She writes as she is speaking directly to you, and I enjoyed that immensely! If you are interested in an incredibly gifted writer explaining nature in a beautiful manner this book is for you!
#wwnorton #weloveditall #lydiamillet
A very personal series of essays, Millet intertwines her own story amongst that of conservationist. Her experience and training is vast, as she studied at the Center for Biological Diversity in Tucson, She actually utilized her first payments as an author to attend graduate school. In three connected chapters Millet shares much about her life, her family and her hopes and dreams. She writes as she is speaking directly to you, and I enjoyed that immensely! If you are interested in an incredibly gifted writer explaining nature in a beautiful manner this book is for you!
#wwnorton #weloveditall #lydiamillet
February 14, 2024
This book was all over the place. While I did enjoy the stories and facts, reading them felt like being trapped in a room with a class full of students all waiting to tell you a story that has nothing to do with the lesson.
May 4, 2024
It is decided, a new favorite author.
April 17, 2024
***I won this book in a Goodreads Giveaway***
I'm not sure what the author was trying to do here. It's ostensibly a collection of essays, but there is no coherent theme and even within a single essay the author jumps from topic to topic in a way that I found disjointed and hard to follow.
Topics included her family, animal and plant factoids, environmental economics, and our place in the universe. These are all topics I enjoy, but I struggled to focus on this book as there was no flow to the narrative.
Ultimately, a disappointment.
I'm not sure what the author was trying to do here. It's ostensibly a collection of essays, but there is no coherent theme and even within a single essay the author jumps from topic to topic in a way that I found disjointed and hard to follow.
Topics included her family, animal and plant factoids, environmental economics, and our place in the universe. These are all topics I enjoy, but I struggled to focus on this book as there was no flow to the narrative.
Ultimately, a disappointment.
May 7, 2024
I could not put this book down and kept it at my bedside to read as a reward for finding an author who put into words what I feel. This is a bow to all living things, even the homely angler fish and the one celled little animals we tend to dismiss to the majestic elephants as well as our children.
Millet writes with a spiritual grace, honest humor with factoids sprinkled throughout the book. I have my radar on for books with woke messages but she does not preach and was empathetic feeling akin to nature well before wokeness started and the environmental movement began, er, except for that one incident with a tiny toad in childhood!
Highly recommend for the beauty of her writing and the message which is truly we did love it all.
Millet writes with a spiritual grace, honest humor with factoids sprinkled throughout the book. I have my radar on for books with woke messages but she does not preach and was empathetic feeling akin to nature well before wokeness started and the environmental movement began, er, except for that one incident with a tiny toad in childhood!
Highly recommend for the beauty of her writing and the message which is truly we did love it all.
February 8, 2024
A beautifully crafted love letter to nature by way of Lydia Millet's personal experiences in the natural world. Millet dissects our fascination and deep rooted relationship with animals from childhood picture books using animals with human characteristics to teach to adults shaping the animal world for our own benefit for food, companionship or test case. She has a gentle yet firm way of pointing out our many faults with near perfect precision making the reader feel simultaneously both guilty and fascinated by human behavior. As humans we have systematically eliminated so many species and continue to ruin our own chances for survival while revering nature and animal life. Joyous and a warning to perhaps cherish more of what we have before it is gone this will appeal to fans of her fiction as well as memoir/ nature essayists like H IS FOR HAWK. My thanks to the publisher for the advance copy.
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April 28, 2024I was really bored and didn’t finish
April 13, 2024
Pub Day: April 2, 2024
“I dreamed of a world where one day my child will turn to me and ask, oh Mother, what was war?”
I thought Millet’s novel A Children’s Bible was powerful, terrifying, and incredibly well-written so when I saw this audio pop up on Netgalley I knew I had to request it.
Besides the obvious difference between a dystopia and a non fiction this book was again terrifyingly powerful and extremely well-written. Composed with a lyrical prose, this novel evoked vivid images and haunting feelings about all the other creatures that coexist in this world with us. It felt as if Lydia was speaking directly to me as I listened and it was quite the experience.
The narration by Xe Sands was fantastic. Thank you Dreamscape Media for the alc via Netgalley.
“I dreamed of a world where one day my child will turn to me and ask, oh Mother, what was war?”
I thought Millet’s novel A Children’s Bible was powerful, terrifying, and incredibly well-written so when I saw this audio pop up on Netgalley I knew I had to request it.
Besides the obvious difference between a dystopia and a non fiction this book was again terrifyingly powerful and extremely well-written. Composed with a lyrical prose, this novel evoked vivid images and haunting feelings about all the other creatures that coexist in this world with us. It felt as if Lydia was speaking directly to me as I listened and it was quite the experience.
The narration by Xe Sands was fantastic. Thank you Dreamscape Media for the alc via Netgalley.
January 26, 2024
Stunning, thought provoking, and tender. Lydia Millet understands everything we feel about climate change and what we've done to cause it, and she love us all.
February 16, 2024
Leans towards Meditations of Life rather than a memory of life. The book weaves in and out of Millet's own personal anecdotes and family history, to those that occur throughout the world, through the eyes of wildlife. Even those of man and animals' adventures into space. We're all connected, she states multiple times. A beautiful sentiment while facing the ugly truths of how we got to where we are. Combined with valid criticisms against the absurdities of capitalism and North American law, I was hooked.
Refreshingly, Millet admits to her vulnerabilities and contradictions. She states them with a humble honesty. She doesn't try to make out any one party as the boogeyman, rather she presents the open-ended questions and reported instances of what is happening. What has changed in the decades of her life? What are we turning our attentions away from?
Whether you agree with her inclinations or not, that's for you to decide and reflect upon.
Yet sometimes her allegories didn't always land well within me. I wouldn't equate the loneliness to the ostracization felt in religious discussions to the devastation felt in endlings. You know, extinction? That's an exaggeration of personal experience to me, and it left an odd feeling of ownership. Even if I feel her point just fine. How can we imagine that loneliness if we have the current living luxury of never being the last.
We Loved It All is a collection of multiple reflections of a woman who's lived many life experiences. At the same time, it's Millet sharing moments that captured her attention about the world, the plant life, the animals dead or living among us. Challenging the flawed rhetoric: "Do other things matter only because they matter to us?" About the only things she didn't mention were the biochemistry of the actual earth itself and further depths about the destruction caused by colonization.
Recommend this read to people who wish to consider the future of this world with any seriousness. Don't expect any heavy calling outs from Millet. Or direct calls to action besides the ending chapter. Rather, Millet asks us to consider along with her what it is that we wish to leave behind. A nuanced desire to motivate. With bundles of hope.
I received the book for free through Goodreads Giveaways.
Refreshingly, Millet admits to her vulnerabilities and contradictions. She states them with a humble honesty. She doesn't try to make out any one party as the boogeyman, rather she presents the open-ended questions and reported instances of what is happening. What has changed in the decades of her life? What are we turning our attentions away from?
Whether you agree with her inclinations or not, that's for you to decide and reflect upon.
Yet sometimes her allegories didn't always land well within me. I wouldn't equate the loneliness to the ostracization felt in religious discussions to the devastation felt in endlings. You know, extinction? That's an exaggeration of personal experience to me, and it left an odd feeling of ownership. Even if I feel her point just fine. How can we imagine that loneliness if we have the current living luxury of never being the last.
We Loved It All is a collection of multiple reflections of a woman who's lived many life experiences. At the same time, it's Millet sharing moments that captured her attention about the world, the plant life, the animals dead or living among us. Challenging the flawed rhetoric: "Do other things matter only because they matter to us?" About the only things she didn't mention were the biochemistry of the actual earth itself and further depths about the destruction caused by colonization.
Recommend this read to people who wish to consider the future of this world with any seriousness. Don't expect any heavy calling outs from Millet. Or direct calls to action besides the ending chapter. Rather, Millet asks us to consider along with her what it is that we wish to leave behind. A nuanced desire to motivate. With bundles of hope.
I received the book for free through Goodreads Giveaways.
April 18, 2024
Known for her award-winning fiction writing, author Lydia Millet (Sweet Lamb of Heaven, A Children’s Bible), here turns her lyrical style to the memoir and while not perfect, the results are enchanting and deeply moving. Only loosely structured, the book flows through thoughts and recollections that vary in length from a single short paragraph to several pages, each just long enough to convey its intended idea in eloquent prose. The focus isn’t solely, or even primarily, on her own life however, as she allows her thoughts to roam across the nature of humanity, our worries and fears, the beauty of the world around us, and most importantly, the peril we have put it in.
The free-flowing and non-chronological arrangement can sometimes make it feel like she’s just rambling, especially towards the book’s midsection, but she proves adept at tying her thoughts together when needed to drive home a particular point. It’s charming to read about some of the more outrageous events she’s experienced, often relayed with a friendly wit, and her inner thoughts are often easily relatable (“I’ve always felt I look better in mirrors than in photos. Whenever I have to look at a photograph of myself instead of a mirror image, it feels like my familiar home has just turned out to be a hovel.”), keeping the reader easily engaged.
But despite (or perhaps because of) all the rhapsodizing over the beauty of nature and the joys of a life well-lived, there is a deep well of sadness that permeates the book. Millet, like many of us, can’t help but look at the wonders that exist around us and feel a sense of loss, knowing that the choices we’ve made as a species will likely lead to the erasure of much of it, and that her own children or grandchildren may only ever hear of it as a remembrance. Every time she catalogs one of the amazing creatures that are being driven to extinction, the sense of awe her writing inspires is also paired with mourning over their pending disappearance. She does evoke some hope that perhaps humanity will course correct in time, and if more people appreciated the incredible gift we’ve been given maybe we might. But if our world is fated to become nothing more than a memory, at least it’s been captured as beautifully as it is here.
The free-flowing and non-chronological arrangement can sometimes make it feel like she’s just rambling, especially towards the book’s midsection, but she proves adept at tying her thoughts together when needed to drive home a particular point. It’s charming to read about some of the more outrageous events she’s experienced, often relayed with a friendly wit, and her inner thoughts are often easily relatable (“I’ve always felt I look better in mirrors than in photos. Whenever I have to look at a photograph of myself instead of a mirror image, it feels like my familiar home has just turned out to be a hovel.”), keeping the reader easily engaged.
But despite (or perhaps because of) all the rhapsodizing over the beauty of nature and the joys of a life well-lived, there is a deep well of sadness that permeates the book. Millet, like many of us, can’t help but look at the wonders that exist around us and feel a sense of loss, knowing that the choices we’ve made as a species will likely lead to the erasure of much of it, and that her own children or grandchildren may only ever hear of it as a remembrance. Every time she catalogs one of the amazing creatures that are being driven to extinction, the sense of awe her writing inspires is also paired with mourning over their pending disappearance. She does evoke some hope that perhaps humanity will course correct in time, and if more people appreciated the incredible gift we’ve been given maybe we might. But if our world is fated to become nothing more than a memory, at least it’s been captured as beautifully as it is here.
March 27, 2024
We Loved It All: A Memory of Life is author Lydia Millet's first work of nonfiction. Comprised of three free flowing essays, the book centers on living through climate change. Millet draws from her personal life, educational experience and work with the Center for Biological Diversity to make the compelling case for us as both individuals and society to reconsider our practices and the systems that support or incentivize them.
Each of the essays ("When the Perfect Comes," "Mine Eyes Have Seen the Glory" and "Ring the Bells") Include chapter sections and paragraphs ranging from a short few sentences to multi page. While they have an overall course and theme linked to climate change and Millet's life experiences, they are otherwise wide-ranging. They draw from scientific literature, politics, history, popular culture and many other sources.
Millet is as engaging here as in her fiction, and while there is much levity, especially when she reflects on some of her early career jobs like being a proof reader for a publisher of men's magazine that included Hustler. However, the essence of the work is much more somber and deeply concerned with mortality and the world those currently living will leave behind.
Recommended to animal lovers, book clubs with a civic bent or those looking for an introductory text to some of the challenges of climate change. It is concise, but full of potential discussions.
I received a free digital version of this book via NetGalley thanks to the publisher
Each of the essays ("When the Perfect Comes," "Mine Eyes Have Seen the Glory" and "Ring the Bells") Include chapter sections and paragraphs ranging from a short few sentences to multi page. While they have an overall course and theme linked to climate change and Millet's life experiences, they are otherwise wide-ranging. They draw from scientific literature, politics, history, popular culture and many other sources.
Millet is as engaging here as in her fiction, and while there is much levity, especially when she reflects on some of her early career jobs like being a proof reader for a publisher of men's magazine that included Hustler. However, the essence of the work is much more somber and deeply concerned with mortality and the world those currently living will leave behind.
Recommended to animal lovers, book clubs with a civic bent or those looking for an introductory text to some of the challenges of climate change. It is concise, but full of potential discussions.
I received a free digital version of this book via NetGalley thanks to the publisher
April 7, 2024
This is not really a memoir. By Millet's own admission, she is neither a journalist nor a historian. And I don't think she's even a memoirist. But that quality is actually what makes this book fun and quietly thoughtful. What Millet offers us (in lieu of emotional angst and some terribly scarring life story exploited by mercantile sociopaths to "move units") is a lot of casual wisdom, which may not be enough for a lot of readers but was certainly quite enjoyable for me. It should come as no surprise that animals and nature represent the lodestar of Millet's musings. But she also examines the folly of remembering, a string of preposterous jobs and pastimes (dressing up as a strawberry for a political protest, working as a copy editor in the Larry Flynt empire), motherhood, and a litany of failed relationships (she appears to be in a happy one now). Millet's casual "Hey, guys, this just happened to me; don't make a big fuss over this" tone goes a long way here. (This is also a vibe you get from much of her fiction.) I will confess that there was a part of me that longed for a little more depth, but that's only because I'm very well aware -- through correspondence and interviews over the years -- just how smart Millet is. But Millet is going to Millet. This is her voice. And while this isn't a classic, it's still an enjoyable diversion from one of our most underrated living novelists.
May 18, 2024
“If we can pause in the clamor of story, assuming the stillness that allows us to see, we know it as we know our children are good. And need us. All that we really have to know is the need of all the young— the young beasts and the seedlings, along with the young we get to call our own. It’s the young, these days, who ask us for mercy and wait for us to answer. Ask that we act in their names instead of our own. Ask that we tell ourselves a better story than the one about winning and losing, about conquering and subsuming. A story that embraces the past along with the future, the powerless and speechless along with the loud and the blustering. Even a story, say, that invites us not to want to be better than. But to want to be good” (248).
“Look! Look. Heaven was here the whole time. And we were never meant to be alone” (250).
3.5 stars rounded up! this book had me somewhat apathetic and confused for the first… very large chunk. but then i realized i was In It (the book). a lot to mull over! observations/facts about other creatures and plants mixed with memoir that held an overarching awareness of environmental devastation and extinctions through it all. it even invoked the lorax! it was hefty! but ultimately hopeful!
“Look! Look. Heaven was here the whole time. And we were never meant to be alone” (250).
3.5 stars rounded up! this book had me somewhat apathetic and confused for the first… very large chunk. but then i realized i was In It (the book). a lot to mull over! observations/facts about other creatures and plants mixed with memoir that held an overarching awareness of environmental devastation and extinctions through it all. it even invoked the lorax! it was hefty! but ultimately hopeful!
April 1, 2024
Lydia Millet's "We Loved It All" casts a mesmerizing spell. It's a genre-bending masterpiece, weaving memoir, insightful ecological commentary, and poignant reflection into a stunning tapestry.
Millet's prose is pure poetry. Each sentence shimmers with beauty, whether describing the intricate details of nature or the profound ache of extinction. Her personal stories intertwine with a larger narrative, urging us to re-evaluate our relationship with the natural world.
The book doesn't shy away from the harsh realities of our environmental crisis. Yet, there's a tenderness present too, a love for the creatures we share this planet with. It's a moving call to action, reminding us of the wonders we stand to lose.
"We Loved It All" is more than just a book; it's an experience. It will leave you pondering your place in the world, grateful for its beauty, and determined to fight for its future.
Millet's prose is pure poetry. Each sentence shimmers with beauty, whether describing the intricate details of nature or the profound ache of extinction. Her personal stories intertwine with a larger narrative, urging us to re-evaluate our relationship with the natural world.
The book doesn't shy away from the harsh realities of our environmental crisis. Yet, there's a tenderness present too, a love for the creatures we share this planet with. It's a moving call to action, reminding us of the wonders we stand to lose.
"We Loved It All" is more than just a book; it's an experience. It will leave you pondering your place in the world, grateful for its beauty, and determined to fight for its future.
April 22, 2024
Millet comments that language is the key to our redemption, a notion that seems to be at the core of this work. In this book, she reflects on her family, faith, nature, and the environment in no particular order. We also get arcane tidbits about animals and a rehashing of extinctions about which we already know. One assumes this is her way of using language to move the needle on our self-centeredness. What the dizzying number of details and subjects actually do, to me anyway, is make it challenging to focus (read: appreciate) any given point. Also at play is the question of whether any of it is actually interesting. Plants, animals, and the environment certainly are, at least to the extent that I hadn’t already learned, read, or pondered much of what she shares. Some will find meaning and beauty in her language. These things are certainly present, somewhere buried in the details.
Many thanks to W.W. Norton & Company and NetGalley for providing this eARC.
Many thanks to W.W. Norton & Company and NetGalley for providing this eARC.
December 8, 2023
This book is SO good! It's probably best described as a book of essays, but they're more personal than that. Millet weaves together stories around conservation issues, childhood, and motherhood. Because I am not a mother, I thought the motherhood angle might put me off (it usually does), but it didn't at all - in fact, just the opposite, really, because of the way she melds the reminiscences of her childhood with stories of her own children. If anything, this book helped me appreciate motherhood in a way I never have. The closest comparison I can make about her conservation writing is Terry Tempest Williams because its deeply personal as Terry's is. As a fan of her fiction, I also loved her writing about herself as a writer. So, it's essays, it's memoir, it's environmental writing, and it's beautifully, brilliantly written. Wow.
March 22, 2024
We Loved It All - A Memory of Life written by Lydia Millet and narrated by Xe Sands is a fascinating collection of essays that are part memoir, part observation about the natural world around us
Xe Sands has a beautiful voice which is perfect for this audiobook, gentle, insightful and clearly with a deep empathy for the content. Perfect
The book is a deeply personal account and this is reflected in the narrative. It is a celebration of Millets family and her beginnings on the road of conservationist. It is a record of species already extinct and of those on the brink. It is an absolutely fascinating listen and a more gentle approach to raising awareness of a very, very important issue
Thank you very much to Netgalley, Dreamscape Media, the author Lydia Millet and narrator Xe Sands for this illuminating and heartfelt ALC. My review is left voluntarily and all opinions are my own
Xe Sands has a beautiful voice which is perfect for this audiobook, gentle, insightful and clearly with a deep empathy for the content. Perfect
The book is a deeply personal account and this is reflected in the narrative. It is a celebration of Millets family and her beginnings on the road of conservationist. It is a record of species already extinct and of those on the brink. It is an absolutely fascinating listen and a more gentle approach to raising awareness of a very, very important issue
Thank you very much to Netgalley, Dreamscape Media, the author Lydia Millet and narrator Xe Sands for this illuminating and heartfelt ALC. My review is left voluntarily and all opinions are my own
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March 19, 2024I really appreciated this personal essay collection by Lydia Millet. Her writing on nature, motherhood and us as a society is very engaging. There was moments that really resonated with me and others I found beyond fascinating. The audio narration was very well done. Millet writes as if she is talking directly to you which makes it even more of a personal experience. Beautiful writing by a talented writer of our time. If you have picked up other works by Millet I think this one will surprise you in a good way, unique and thought provoking.
This one worked really well for me on audio! Most NF/Essays/Memoirs do.
Thank you Dreamscape Media 🎧
Releases 4/2
Follow me on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/Lyon.brit.A...
This one worked really well for me on audio! Most NF/Essays/Memoirs do.
Thank you Dreamscape Media 🎧
Releases 4/2
Follow me on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/Lyon.brit.A...
April 20, 2024
3.5 stars. Having read and loved Millet’s last two novels, I was eager to pick up this essay collection. The themes she covers in fiction are even more prominent here: a changing climate, human coexistence with animals, childhood/motherhood, existential dread, and finally a plea to save the planet and care for all young creatures. I would describe the essays as meandering and meditative, sprinkled with memoir, science, literature, and history. It’s not a particularly uplifting book, but it does reflect the world we live in, environmentally and culturally, so it’s comforting in a way that says “we can fret about these things together.” If you, like me, are drawn to books like the Sixth Extinction or American Serengeti, then I would add this to your reading list.
April 21, 2024
We Loved It All: A Memory of Life is a terrific book, especially for writers and facilitators of group discussions. I keep rereading it and jotting down notes and quotes. I would describe it as a collection of mini-essays about life --- animals and plants, the author's memories of her childhood, thoughts about what we are doing to the world around us. I'm learning all kinds of new information but the thing I like best about reading Lydia Millet is that she motivates and engenders critical thinking. Thank you to W.W. Norton & Company, Goodreads Giveaways, and Lydia Millet for this thought-provoking read ---I loved it all!!!
April 26, 2024
I loved Dinosaurs, I liked A Children’s Bible, but I absolutely wept listening to this book. It might feel meandering, sometimes stoic, often despairing, hardly a memoir, widely drawn—but that helps it read as a conversation, a confession. It felt like finally someone could put words to my own thoughts, especially as she pondered on the guilt and hope and responsibility of motherhood in a dying world. She perfectly captures what we have lost and how quickly humanity has dismissed the natural world as barely essential, let alone remarkable.
It’s a quiet book, perhaps hard to define. But she writes with such heart and empathy and, most impressively, hope even in the face of defeat.
It’s a quiet book, perhaps hard to define. But she writes with such heart and empathy and, most impressively, hope even in the face of defeat.
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April 12, 2024CW: biblical references, babies/ motherhood, animal cruelty, animal death, colonialism, extinction, death of baby mention,, religious references, addiction mention, suicide, harm to children, addiction mention, medical content, profanity, drugs use, pedophilia and sexual abuse mention, rape mention, mentions of racist and misogynist jokes, references to porn and sexual harassment, attempted suicide, divorce, explosion/ mass emergency, gory injury, war, bombing
April 18, 2024
There is much to like here. Very thoughtful and beautiful writing. However, the arrangement of the material felt haphazard, jumbled, and unhelpful. The book reminded me of “commonplace books” or a diary or journal that is not regularly kept but written in fits and starts over a very long period of time. I did appreciate the different perspective and approach to similar subject matter as in The Children’s Bible.
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April 29, 2024I had seen this book at the store where my book club meets, but thought I'd try this one as a library book as opposed to buying it. By sheer description, this is a book that I should have loved. I like the broad and many topics, but there no central theme or main idea to connect her musings. It eventually got to the point where I have too many other books to read, to continue with a book that I am not finding the time to pick back up again...
May 8, 2024
Its always hard for me to give a low score for a book though Goodreads considers 2 stars to mean "it was Ok", and I think that fits for how I felt about this book. It really was not at all what I was expecting though and I ended up skimming it towards the end as I just wasn't particularly interested in what she was writing about. I had thought it was going to be at about environmental issues, nature, but there was not much of that at all.
May 10, 2024
Unlike any memoir I've read, Lydia Millet, a prolific fiction writer, as well as Deputy Creative Director for the Center of Biological Diversity, intertwines her life story with our collective human story and relationship to the world around us, most specifically, with animals. It explains how her seemingly diverse background is all connected, just as all life is connected. It's a work of non-fiction that reads like prose and poetry. I thoroughly enjoyed this book.
March 19, 2024
This book might best be described as a memoir composed of meditations or essays. The author makes interesting observations, but without a narrative thrust or call to action, the book feels purposeless and diffuse.
I enjoyed the narration by Xe Sands—it’s very soothing, so this book might be a good choice to listen to for help falling asleep at night.
Thanks, NetGalley, for the ARC.
I enjoyed the narration by Xe Sands—it’s very soothing, so this book might be a good choice to listen to for help falling asleep at night.
Thanks, NetGalley, for the ARC.
March 28, 2024
Millet’s memoir is a meditation on nature and the things we’ve lost, or about to lose. There’s a lot of intriguing information about animals entwined with Millet’s own memories. Her elegant prose and sly humor sustain the reader as she unabashedly considers the future of her own children in a collapsing world.
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