While less a tour de force than "Poisonwood Bible", this is still a powerful and engaging novel about memory and family and coming to terms with reality.

Codi Noline returns to the sleepy mining town of Grace, Arizona, to care for her father, who is suffering from Alzheimer's disease. It is a bad time for her: disappointed in her personal life, she has closed down her emotions in defense against a heart that cares too easily. "I had quietly begun to hope for nothing at all in the way of love, so as not to be disappointed," she muses. In Grace, she finds friends, allies, and a love that endures. This strong second novel confirms the promise shown in The Bean Trees (LJ 2/1/88), a deserved critical and commercial success. Kingsolver's characters are winners, especially the women, who take charge of life without fuss or complaint. Her novel compares to those of Ann Tyler in its engaging people and message that is upbeat but realistic. Kingsolver's dedication to complex social and environmental causes enriches the story line. Highly recommended

After a while Barbara Kingsolver's books seem to all read alike. This happened to be the fourth of her books that I read. Unfortunately, it had nothing new.

I loved Poisonwood Bible and Prodigal Summer but this book really did not do much for me. I didn't really get into the characters or the story at all.

I loved this book. Kingsolver does a great job in detailing her characters and going into such depth of study that you relate with them. An interesting study in family dynamics and how much we hide of ourselves from those we love, even as we think they see us so clearly.

Animal Dreams centers on the Noline family, father and two daughters, but especially is the story of daughter Cody Noline. Cody returns to her hometown after growing up and finally escaping only to find out the hard way that there is no escape from life. She longs to find the meaning and purpose in her life as her sister seems to have found, but she's repressing all her memories and waiting for someone else to figure it out and tell her about it.

Cody comes to terms with her life with a little help from hometown outsiders and this book's resolution is a bit more upbeat and positive than Poisonwood Bible, although Kingsolver's style is very similar in both books so if you enjoy reading her narrative, Animal Dreams will not disappoint.

after reading this, i tried to read all the books kingsolver had written, but that's been ages ago so can't honestly remember it.

It is an engaging story of a woman without hope finding her way back to life. Set in the Southwest.

Animal Dreams is a novel about so many things: the gulf of miscommunication between parents and children; love; grief; war; the environment; personal responsibility; finding one's way home.

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This book was kinda slow, but a good book.

This was a novel about many different things that goes on during life. If you were to really sit down and read this novel, you'd realize that the whole coming together of everything that happens here is just for one purpose. There is alot of Native American legends written within this novel and i personally found this book quite lovely and very intersting. Worth the time i spent with it.

Pretty good book. Themes of environmentalism, like many of Kingsolver's novels.

A wonderful book. I have read it more than 3 times.

This book, by the author of THE BEAN TREES, just grabs you and doesn't let you go.
"Animals dream about the things they do in the daytime, just like people do. If you want sweet dreams, you've got to live a sweet life." So says Loyd Peregrina, a handsome Apache trainman and latter-day philosopher. But when Cody Noline returns to her hometown, Loyd's advice is painfully out of her reach. Dreamless and at the end of her rope, Codi returns to Grace, Arizona, to confront her past and face her ailing, distant father.

Spine is a little faded, but otherwise it's fine.

I really enjoyed this book. Kingsolver has a surreal style of writing that makes you forget that you're not in the story. I actually started reading her stuff in High School and was re-introduced to her work through a class in college.

LOVE LOVE LOVE THIS BOOK!!!! This is the 1991 release. Still in awesome condition, the pages are just a bit yellowed.

Interesting read.

Great book- somehow I ended up with 2 copies (??).

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