Something bought in London on a whim

“Under the subtle influence of the hare, my own wants have simplified. To be dependable in love and friendship more than in work. To leave the land in a more natural state than I found it. And to take better care of what is to hand, seeing beauty and value in the ordinary.”
― Chloe Dalton, Raising Hare: A Memoir

Have you ever loved a book so much you didn't want it to end?

Therefore, you slowed down and only read a snippet or a chapter a day, which is the opposite of what you really want to do: devour it all in one sitting!

That happened to me this past autumn when I FINALLY picked up a book I had purchased on a whim in a (very) crowded bookshop we ducked into near Trafalgar Square in London.

What initially caught my eye was the illustration on the cover. As you know, I am a sucker for anything depicting hares (as a refresher, here's my blog post about why).

The copy of Raising Hare that I bought in London about a year ago.

The illustrations are by uber-talented Denise Nestor.

I turned the book over and read blurbs like, "Raising Hare is a glorious book ~ for its warmth, its precision, its joy. It's not dreamy or romantic about the natural world ~ it is something far better than that."

And then I opened to the dust jacket description, which began, "When lockdown led busy professional Chloe to leave the city and return to the countryside of her childhood, she never expected to find herself custodian of a newly born hare.Yet when she finds the creature, endangered, alone, and no bigger than her palm, she is compelled to give it a chance at survival."

I was instantly sold, and so, therefore, was the book ~ to me!

Of course, we returned to our lives after that holiday, and as you know, last spring, summer, and fall were a whirlwind for us.

So the book sat. And sat. I would look at it and think "I really need to read that!" and then go about my day, falling into bed at night.

Finally figuring out that I am simply too tired to enjoy reading at bedtime as I once did, sometime around November I decided to change up my morning routine to include time to read just for fun.

It began with no longer looking at my phone first thing upon waking (and getting sucked into emails, texts, and checking for messages or comments on social media).

That can wait an hour, right?

Now, after daily devotional reading and journal writing, I give myself 15 - 30 minutes of reading for entertainment before the busyness of the day.

Oh, how I enjoyed savoring each and every chapter of this memoir! Raising Hare made me realize just how little I actually knew about these elusive creatures, because author Chloe Dalton also realized that herself.

Like another favorite author (Bill Bryson), Dalton not only tells an engaging true story but also weaves in facts, lore, legends, and history from her meticulous research about these animals that have never been domesticated.

I won't ruin the book for you, but will leave it at this: Raising Hare changed me, as have a handful of beloved tomes read throughout my life. It made me think and then want to learn more.

It's so well-written, I wanted to dog-ear every page, not just the ones whose corners I did fold down so that I could go back to a passage and read it aloud to Chris.

And that, to me, is a great litmus test!

If you would like to grab a copy of this book, we have a new stack for sale on the coffee table at the shop.

We've actually had to restock it several times already, because Raising Hare has won several awards and is on "Best Books of 2025" lists by many major publications on both sides of the pond.

I love hearing people exclaim, "Oh, I have been wanting to read this book!" or, "I read this and loved it; I'm going to buy it for ____."

These are the moments we live for in the shop.

xo,