𝘐𝘯𝘴𝘱𝘪𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘨, 𝘶𝘱𝘭𝘪𝘧𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘩𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘵𝘸𝘢𝘳𝘮𝘪𝘯𝘨!

What an incredible an amazing story of survival, resilience and love. Powerful and moving, this beautifully written memoir captured me completely. I loved every page.

Thank you St. Martin's Press, NetGalley and Laurie Zaleski for this gifted copy.

𝘙𝘦𝘢𝘥 𝘪𝘧 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘭𝘪𝘬𝘦: 𝘗𝘰𝘸𝘦𝘳𝘧𝘶𝘭 𝘴𝘵𝘰𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘴, 𝘮𝘦𝘮𝘰𝘪𝘳𝘴, 𝘢𝘥𝘰𝘳𝘢𝘣𝘭𝘦 𝘢𝘯𝘪𝘮𝘢𝘭𝘴, 𝘕𝘰𝘯 𝘍𝘪𝘤𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯, 𝘏𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘵𝘸𝘢𝘳𝘮𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘴𝘵𝘰𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘴.

Funny Farm: My Unexpected Life with 600 Rescue Animals goes on sale tomorrow September 7, 2021.

https://www.instagram.com/booksandcoffeemx/

Bought at the eleventh hour, with much borrowing and white knuckling, the Funny Farm was the realization of Laurie’s mother’s fondest dreams. After a harrowing marriage, Laurie’s mother was inclined to take in all strays—human and animal—and offer a place of humor and warmth. In a ramshackle abode whose nearest neighbor was a junk heap and a wild wood, the author had at times a difficult, impoverished childhood, and simultaneously, a childhood filled with the wonder of nature. Readers who enjoyed Gerald Durrell’s My Family and Other Animals will also enjoy this memoir of growing up with a menagerie.

Review posted in Goodreads

Funny Farm is a memoir about how a family's relationships with animals help them deal with challenging times. Laurie, the author, grew up in prosperity until her mother took her children and moved to a small cabin/shack in the woods to escape domestic violence. The mother and children gave up all their material conveniences, but they survived the difficult time through the strength of the family bond and the animals the mother rescued

The book alternates stories from the author's childhood with those of the farmed animals that she has rescued.

Funny Farm is a poignant look at a family's love and the ability of animals to help people heal.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for providing me a galley in exchange for an honest review.

Funny Farm: My Unexpected Life with 600 Rescue Animals by Laurie Zaleski is a highly recommended collection of stories about animals rescued alternating with an autobiography.

Currently Laurie Zaleski is the founder and owner of New Jersey’s Funny Farm Rescue & Sanctuary and the founder, president and CEO of Art-Z Graphics. It was actually her mother's dream to own an animal sanctuary and Laurie now continues that legacy. Laurie's mother, Anne McNulty Zaleski, left her abusive husband in the 1970's and fled with her children to keep them safe. The family also left behind a very comfortable life to live in poverty in a ramshackle house. What they had was love for each other and a can-do attitude. Along the way the family took in various stray animals and Anne, a fierce animal lover, devoted her life to rescuing animals.

In between the autobiographical chapters that are also a fierce tribute to her mother Anne, Zaleski tells the stories of various animals that have been rescued over the years. The many animal stories are entertaining and showcase the variety of animals that she takes in as well as the struggle and work it takes to keep an animal sanctuary running. Today the Funny Farm has more than 600 animals and is a non-profit organization which runs with help from the Zaleski family and lots of volunteers.

This is an engaging book and the writing is straightforward and accessible. Alongside the facts and tough circumstances there are humorous and inspiring occurrences too, which makes for a well-balanced narrative. As someone with a house full of adopted animal family members it's always wonderful to read anything that supports adopt don't shop. Be sure to check out the Funny Farm website.

Disclosure: My review copy was courtesy of Macmillian.
The review will be published on Barnes & Noble, Google Books, and Amazon.

The Funny Farm is about the life (so far) of Laurie Zaleski, the author, and her Funny Farm. The Funny Farm (when the book was written) had over 600 animals. This is a heartwarming story for anyone who loves animals. I want to thank NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for an early copy to review.

What an amazing story. I appreciated how this was written - the author’s childhood life mixed in with snippets about animals on the farm. Written well and filled with a sense of humor that made me literally LOL, I didn’t want to put this down.

I don't typically seek out memoirs, but Laurie Zaleski's Funny Farm was a pleasure. Sad, heartwarming, and ultimately uplifting, I was drawn to reading this to find out how one copes with rescuing so many animals! I was not disappointed. Zaleski tells her story with such a warm voice--I'm so glad I've learned more about her and the Farm she nurtured in honor of her mother. Highly recommended, especially if, like me, you're a fan of all those zoo and veterinary reality shows.

Special thanks to St. Martin's Press for inviting me to read this advance copy in exchange for a review.

This book alternates between Laurie’s and her siblings life growing up and stories about the animals at the farm.
It’s heart warming that her mother and then she rescued so many animals. At the same time it was a bit sad about their early life. I enjoyed the story and think that all animal lovers will too.
Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for the early copy

This was a lovely story that tracked the life of the author as well as the story of her Funny Farm.

I found myself invested in the author and her life; in all of the issues and troubles that came along with it. Anne McNulty (the author’s mother) was a wonderful woman that taught her children well. She taught them how to grow in compassion despite all the hardships they had and to be the best people that they could in the midst of whatever life threw at them.

The animal tales in funny farm were amazing and I really enjoyed hearing all the different personalities of the animals. Being a veterinary technician I did have some problems with how Laurie handled some of issues with the animals especially Yogi the bull and his horns. Dehorning calves is a painful situation, but it tends to make their quality of life better once they are adults. I’ve always thought that the quality life of the animal as well as the lives of those taking care of them are both very important. It is sometimes hard to balance that but I feel at times you have to think about those around the bull in the case of Yogi and his horns which are now causing so many health concerns.

I did really enjoy how Lori described megaoesophagus (very truthful in its horror) and how Chucky and later Tucker were treated and survived while having this genetic default. She made the family’s hardships into a great lesson both for her and for the Funny Farm.

The heartbreak in realistic tales of both Laurie’s family growing up and the animals in the Funny Farm were amazing and terrible at the same time. I felt very much invested in this novel and had a hard time putting it down once started. I definitely now want to take a trip to New Jersey and find the Funny Farm and experience it for myself.

As a huge supporter of rescue, I knew I had to read this book! And it was a total delight. Getting to hear Laurie’s story and how the Funny Farm came to be and meeting the animals was so much fun. Such a quick easy, and emotional read this was a book I’m glad I didn’t miss!

I received a complimentary copy of this book. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own. Thank you NetGalley, Laurie Zaleski and St. Martin’s Press for this edition and hearing my honest review. Looking forward to reading more with you
#partner

Laurie’s mother Annie had it all planned out. She became a successful businesswoman, bought 15 acres of farm in New Jersey and she was going to have her life long dream of an animal rescue satisfied. However, two weeks before she moved she died.
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This was not Annie’s dream, but quickly she realized her dream would be making her mother’s dream come true. She had no skills for animal rescue, no resources and a bad marriage with three kids. She decided to be brave and flee her marriage, throw herself into the rescue life with three kids in tow and soon realized that rescuing animals also helps rescue yourself.
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This is a story of being brave, passionate, taking the leap and finding a home among other rescues. Anyone who’s ever rescued any animal at all knows the simple truth, you are rescuing each other.
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Thank you @StMartinsPress and @netgalley for an arc in exchange for an honest review.

This took me way too long to finish, but at no fault of the author! I really enjoyed learning about the Funny Farm and the events in Zaleski's life that lead to her life in rescue. I wasn't familiar with this rescue before reading the book but now follow it on social media to see some of the animals whose stories are told in these pages. Zaleski does a good job of interspersing her own life story with stories of some of the rescued animals who came to live at the Farm. Having followed other rescues for some time, I know a bit about how hard this life is both financially and emotionally. I've volunteered at my local shelter and done some fostering, but I'm so glad there are people like Laurie Zaleski who go all in for the animals. Thank you for all that you do and for the education you provide so others can do their own part.

Thank you St. Martin's Press and NetGalley for the eARC in exchange for my honest review.

I absolutely loved this book! It was well written and kept me interested all the way until the end. I can’t wait for more by author!! Highly recommend.

I loved Funny Farm. It was heartwarming, affirming, and funny. Laurie's childhood was far from easy, but both she and her mother forged ahead through adversity to succeed. Laurie's heart is so full of love for others - especially unique, abandoned, needy animals.

I was immediately drawn to this book by the subtitle - My Unexpected Life with 600 Rescue Animals. I read How to be a Good Creature by Sy Montgomery last year and this memoir reminded me a lot of that book.

There were a lot of similarities. For example, each chapter in this book ends with “Animal Tails” which highlights one or two of the animals living at the Funny Farm. I loved that aspect. The book is a memoir of Laurie Zaleski’s life, and each animal has a special place in her heart.

Laurie’s childhood was not easy, so this memoir is definitely heavy, but the Animal Tails bring a levity that was entertaining and heartwarming.

This book had alternating chapters between stories about the rescue animals and Laurie's life. I found the chapters about her life to be heart wrenching at times, some parts almost brought me to tears. It really reminded me of two of my favorite memoirs (The Glass Castle and Educated). The chapters about the rescue animals were cute, and I'm definitely going to be looking up all of the rescue animals she mentioned on her Instagram and FB page. I think the alternating chapters could totally be written into two separate books, I was really intrigued and wanted more details about both!

This is the type of book you'll read in one sitting, I really enjoyed it! I would recommend this to animal lovers and fans of memoirs!

An impressive real-life story. This already has a lot of high ratings, and expect it will receive a lot more. People like a good animal story, this is certainly unique. Recommended to basically anyone. This should sell well.

Thanks very much for the free ARC for review!!

Thanks to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for an advanced readers copy in exchange for an honest review.

4.5 stars

This is really two books in one, and one of the them was unexpected. Each chapter starts with the story of Laurie, her mother Anne, and her brother and sister, who leave an abusive husband/father and his financial support and start out with nothing and how Laurie built the farm into a rescue operation. The second half of each chapter tells heartwarming stories about of some of the hundreds of rescue animals the Zaleski family has rescued over the years.

A quick read that I thoroughly enjoyed. Anne seemed to be a one of a kind, special individual. I hope to make it down to South Jersey and visit Funny Farm on visiting days.

I highly recommend this book.

Author: Laurie Zaleski

Summary:
An inspiring and moving memoir of the author's turbulent life with 600 rescue animals.

Laurie Zaleski never aspired to run an animal rescue; that was her mother Annie’s dream. But from girlhood, Laurie was determined to make the dream come true. Thirty years later as a successful businesswoman, she did it, buying a 15-acre farm deep in the Pinelands of South Jersey. She was planning to relocate Annie and her caravan of ragtag rescues―horses and goats, dogs and cats, chickens and pigs―when Annie died, just two weeks before moving day. In her heartbreak, Laurie resolved to make her mother's dream her own. In 2001, she established the Funny Farm Animal Rescue outside Mays Landing, New Jersey. Today, she carries on Annie’s mission to save abused and neglected animals.

Funny Farm is Laurie’s story: of promises kept, dreams fulfilled, and animals lost and found. It’s the story of Annie McNulty, who fled a nightmarish marriage with few skills, no money and no resources, dragging three kids behind her, and accumulating hundreds of cast-off animals on the way. And lastly, it's the story of the brave, incredible, and adorable animals that were rescued.

Personal Review:
They had me with the cute photos on the front and the mention of a memoir. I loved that this story followed Annie's journey throughout her new adventures. Cliche... the phrase about who rescuing who...but this story played that out. I enjoyed the book and I love that is based on a real place that provides 24/7 support for the animals. All of my animal-loving friends should go get this book, please :).

More information here:
http://funnyfarmrescue.org/

Disclaimer: I was awarded this book from the publisher/Net Galley. Though I did not pay for the book, the opinions are strictly my own.

Happy Reading!

As a person who also does rescue though on a much smaller scale, this book was made for me.

Really heartwarming book. It's alwayscgrear to hear about the good people in life..

Highly recommend.