Books That Get The Creative Juices Flowing

by Lisa Jean Moore
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7 books
I work as a professor and a researcher, but I also sincerely love observing interspecies social life around me. In order to teach, conduct research, or even think, I take inspiration from the many different genres of books. These are books that have stirred up my head and heart. I’m in awe of what these writers have accomplished and feel more connected to other humans and nonhuman animals through my relationship with these works.
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The Unseen

Roy Jacobsen, 2020
The entire series of these books, The Barroy Chronicles, are remarkable; there are four (and I wish there were more). They take place on a Norwegian Island and follow the life of a fierce woman, Ingrid Barroy. Her resilience and perseverance astonish me as does Jacobsen’s integration of the natural world into her everyday life.

Loved and Missed

Susie Boyt, 2023
I truly laughed and cried (sobbed, actually) while reading this book about a mother, daughter, and granddaughter in England. As a parent, a daughter, and a granddaughter myself, Boyt’s precision and concision produces a book that is both relatable and devastating. After reading, I wanted to write a fan letter to her.

Afro-Dog

Blackness and the Animal Question
Bénédicte Boisseron, 2018
This book spans geography, time, and species to examine how race and animality are constructed by humans as meaningful categories. Boisseron’s work is extremely impressive and smart as she carefully analyzes the historical use and weaponization of dogs against people of color and, in particular, Black people. Her work shows it is impossible to disentangle the stories of people of the African diaspora from the violent breeding and training of canine others.

Children of Time

Adrian Tchaikovsky, 2018
Oh my goodness, this interplanetary universe of humans, spiders, ants and nanoviruses makes for a gratifying read about the unintended consequences of human engineering. The use of time in this book also offers a fascinating commentary on the evolution and sentience of nonhuman animals.

Frida

The Biography of Frida Kahlo
Hayden Herrera, 2018
As a big admirer of the work and life of the Mexican painter Frida Kahlo, this biography was magnificent. Herrera crafts a book that is highly readable and offers insight into the ways Kahlo’s life and great suffering inspired her creativity. I’m also a fan of the way animals - spider monkeys, birds, and cats - appear in Kahlo’s paintings.

A Tale for the Time Being

A Novel
Ruth Ozeki, 2013
I actually did write a fan letter to Ozeki upon completing this book, one I return to again and again to re-read. Much to admire in this book, but what compels me the most is Ozeki’s experimentation with putting herself as a character in this novel. The book also grapples with climate change in subtle and chilling ways.

Ordinary Affects

Kathleen Stewart, 2007
This book is about what it means to notice the mundane, everyday, slight, and quiet aspects of life. Without academic jargon or citational genuflecting, Stewart shows readers how to observe and interpret the emotional registers of our lives. Composed of vignettes, the book also generates my own tangential thinking, which makes for fertile ground.