Take a photo of a barcode or cover
4.02 AVERAGE
4.02 AVERAGE
adventurous
emotional
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
emotional
hopeful
informative
inspiring
lighthearted
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Slow middle, great ending.
adventurous
emotional
informative
inspiring
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
adventurous
emotional
reflective
sad
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
adventurous
inspiring
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
An enjoyable read. The dialogue wasn't my favorite, and I got frustrated with character choices, but a good adventure. It'd make a great movie! My favorite characters were, unsurprisingly, the giraffes.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Animal cruelty, Death, Gun violence, Death of parent
Minor: Animal death, Child death, Racial slurs, Blood, Car accident, Pregnancy, War
adventurous
emotional
funny
hopeful
informative
inspiring
lighthearted
reflective
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
adventurous
emotional
informative
reflective
sad
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
3.25 | A Grapes of Wrath road trip dressed in Water for Elephants clothes, only the seams didn’t quite match in this slow-burn adventure. I’m clearly an outlier in this opinion vs average Goodread reviewer…
I waded through the first ~half of this book, waiting for the characters to show me something deeper than repetitive grit and circumstance. I prefer books with emotional stakes or layered portraits and didn’t find this in Woody or Old Mans story (would have much preferred to read Red’s story!).
Somewhere in the last 25%, it found its heart and picked up for me. I thought the ending was very real and lovely.
File under: slog-to-start with a worthwhile payoff.
I waded through the first ~half of this book, waiting for the characters to show me something deeper than repetitive grit and circumstance. I prefer books with emotional stakes or layered portraits and didn’t find this in Woody or Old Mans story (would have much preferred to read Red’s story!).
Somewhere in the last 25%, it found its heart and picked up for me. I thought the ending was very real and lovely.
File under: slog-to-start with a worthwhile payoff.
This book is the Book of the Month for May 2025. Woodrow Wilson Nickel, age 105, feels his life ebbing away. But when he learns giraffes are going extinct, he finds himself recalling the unforgettable experience he cannot take to his grave. It’s 1938. The Great Depression lingers. Hitler is threatening Europe, and world-weary Americans long for wonder. They find it in two giraffes who miraculously survive a hurricane while crossing the Atlantic. What follows is a twelve-day road trip in a custom truck to deliver Southern California’s first giraffes to the San Diego Zoo. Behind the wheel is the young Dust Bowl rowdy Woodrow. Inspired by true events, the tale weaves real-life figures with fictional ones, including the world’s first female zoo director, a crusty old man with a past, a young female photographer with a secret, and assorted reprobates as spotty as the giraffes. Part adventure, part historical saga, and part coming-of-age love story, West with Giraffes explores what it means to be changed by the grace of animals, the kindness of strangers, the passing of time, and a story told before it’s too late.
It got me in the end. The book follows Woody as he writes a story about himself as an 18 year old as he now is over 100. The ending reflection of this book was so good it did make this book better. I found at times the style of writing and narrator of an 18 year old boy a little juvenile. Maybe it was just the 18 year old. He irritated me at times. The giraffes were spectacular and the saving grace of this book. I did like how Rutledge did not shy away from the harder conversations particularly with the backdrop of the Great Depression, the coming war, and racial tensions. Overall, solid book, I wished I had liked the main characters more