The Dogtown Chronicles: Our Life and Time with Sheep, Goats, Llamas and Other Creatures

After former New Yorker and San Franciscan Ober meets Richard Kirschman at a party, she moves to Dogtown—his 10-acre property in West Marin County, Calif.—for a temporary house-sitting job that morphs into a lifelong passion for animals, in this charming memoir. Kirschman's enclave—built in 1976 and located within Point Reyes National Seashore, north of San Francisco—is home to a wide variety of animals and wildlife that have found shelter there over the years. Enhanced by Kirschman's gorgeous color photographs and line drawings by Connie Mery, Ober's book explores how wildlife and domesticated pets enrich our lives by teaching us about the natural world and how to care for our fellow creatures. Critters include cat Lucky; Scottish Highland steers Moe and Curly; roosters Buck and McGurk; Lakeland terrier Woody; llama Lloyd; sheep Jacob, Lulu, Blanche, Leah; goats Mephisto, Isabella, Slaus; Arabian gelding Sharif; geese Alger Hiss and Mother Goose; and many more. Ober's observations are delightful and sometimes heart-wrenching—particularly sections about the elderly, mistreated, and malnourished Sharif, whom the couple rescue and nurse back to health.