Mountainside Mutts Book Club (December) Review:
The COMFORT of CROWS A Backyard Year by Margaret Renkl
Mountainside Mutts Book Club Review Rating: 🦴🦴🦴
The Comfort of Crows was the first book our club has chosen from a celebrity book-club list, and none of us were entirely sure what to expect. I’ve read several selections from Oprah’s list before, and without fail they’ve left me absolutely bawling my eyes out. So when someone mentioned there might be a thread of grief running through this one, there was definite trepidation.
The book is structured around the author’s garden—and her outlook—across the seasons of a single year, though on a deeper level it tracks the seasons of life itself. At some 260 pages it’s a relatively short read, though not always an easy one. The book is divided into thirteen weeks per season and follows the calendar year, which makes it feel like a natural place to begin. Each “week” is a self-contained essay rather than part of a continuous narrative. For me, that made the book easy to pick up—but also easy to put down. I tend to need a bit of suspense to pull me back in.
The writing is eloquent, but it can linger, especially in the audiobook version, which unfolds at much the same measured pace. I love a good Southern accent, but my Yankee tendencies—and the realities of owning and running a small business—mean I’m often pressed for time. One of the highlights of each week, though, is the beautifully illustrated plate created by the author’s brother. There’s no doubt this is a very talented family.
Like life itself, the book got better for me as it went on. Perhaps that’s because I came to understand the author’s voice more clearly, or maybe it’s simply that—with age—both writers and readers grow wiser. The later essays felt richer and more resonant. I especially appreciated the author’s humility: she’s unafraid to admit she makes mistakes, frequently. She also grapples with questions many of us in the book club wrestle with, such as how much we should intervene in wildlife in our attempts to “save” it. It’s hard not to anthropomorphize, but what right do we have to impose human thinking on the natural world around us?
Some of my favorite passages included the author’s quest to bring frogs to her garden, beginning with the addition of tadpoles to a small backyard pond. How magical is it to stumble across a frog in an otherwise unexpected place? Another essay that deeply resonated with me explored the reality of aging. Having recently been told that early signs of cataracts are appearing in my own eyes, this is a subject that has been on my mind. It’s inevitable. There are things we can do to support our health, but ultimately our time here is finite. Are we making the most of it? Are we truly embracing what each day has to offer?
As our final book of the year, this felt like a perfect choice. Many of the other books we’ve read together made an appearance—Fox & I, On Animals, The Sound of a Wild Snail Eating—and as a group we felt quietly validated in our selections. These books may not be for everyone. I’ve heard it said that some people are simply wired differently—that some of us feel a deeper connection to animals and the natural world than others.
One of our members shared that she plans to gift this book to several family members. Sharing a great book is one of my favorite gift ideas. And if doing so helps more people open their eyes to the extraordinary world around them, so much the better.
Wishing everyone a peaceful and happy holiday season.
Next Up:
Do you live in Rutland, Vermont and love books about nature? Our book club meets approximately every 6 weeks. What unites our members is a love for the animals and the natural world around us. Come join us.
Mountainside Mutts Book Club selection (Jan) is: Entangled Life: How Fungi Make Our Worlds, Change Our Minds And Shape Our Futures. We’ll meet at 6pm on 28 January 2026. We’d love to have you join the discussion. You can even join via Zoom. Find us on the Book Clubs App or email: als@mountainsidemutts.com for further information.
