Book: No Better Medicine: How Caring for Critters Helped Heal The Wounds Of The Past by Kelly Meister-Yetter -Enter to Win!

It is my pleasure to present to you today another book by Kelly Meister (now Kelly Meister-Yetter): No Better Medicine: How Caring For Critters Helped Heal The Wounds Of The Past. 

The first time we featured Kelly was on February 18, 2013 when we reviewed her book, Crazy Critter Lady.   Kelly's journey of recovery continues in No Better Medicine and we the lucky readers are permitted to accompany her on this amazing, heartfelt and raw journey.

Author Kelly Meister-Yetter, spent years in therapy as a result of childhood sexual abuse. Her life, for many years, was spent in "darkness and chaos." Lesser people might have shattered to bits, never breaking free of the depression that ensued as a result of having endured such horrific experiences.

From The Crazy Critter Lady:

Animal lover Kelly Meister-Yetter returns with No Better Medicine, another volume of charming critter tales guaranteed to warm your heart. Join Kelly as she tries to avoid being thrown by her new equine buddy, Bit - a horse who is literally afraid of his own shadow - and learn what happens when a local do-gooder decides to rescue her rogue gang of flightless ducks off that city pond. 

The most haunted of houses is the human mind.

-Patrick McGrath

No Better Medicine is a compilation of what I would like to call stories or essays that make the reader feel as if they  they are reading pages from Kelly's private journal.They are soul-baring thoughts and experiences made public in a tasteful, honest and REAL voice. Kelly takes the reader on a journey through her life of recovery after enduring years of sexual abuse.

Key to Kelly's on-going recovery are the 4-legged creatures who "colored her world, put a smile on her face and brought her immeasurable joy."

THOSE CREATURES INCLUDE:

DUCKS:

Pretty Boy Duck and his fondness for George Harrison songs

The gang at McKinnon's Pone who spent years cheering whenever they say her coming.

CATS:

Miss Muffin and her clandestine ability to catch the odd mouse.

CRAYFISH:

Yes, Kelly even rescued a crayfish!

HORSES

Her buddy Ruckus who taught her so much about horsemanship.

Her newest pal Bit, who continues Kelly's equine education.

DONKEYS

Cranky donkey Cricket, who was loved by everyone, in spite of her many moods.

No Better Medicine is 266 pages that are written from the heart, and interspersed with quotes that are raw and stem from a place of pain deep within. Many of the stories will make you laugh, cheer and sometimes cry. 

From Kelly:If there is one thing I would have you take away from my story-apart from the universal message that ALL species of animals are deserving of our kindess, compassion, and consideration-it is this; that while the CONSERVATIVE estimate is that one in four girls will be sexually abused before their 18th birthday, and one in six boys, the current belief is that it's one in THREE girls, and one in FIVE boys. The average pedophile molests over 120 children before he's caught.

ON LOSING A BELOVED PET:

As I've observed before, it IS necessary to move forward, to form new relationships with other critters, to let yourself love again, even though you KNOW that one day, your heart will be broken by yet another critter death. These wonderful relationships are vital to the well-being of our souls, and quite possibly theirs, too. They're what make life worth living.

They are what help ALL of us recover,

just by their very existence.

To order your copy at Amazon.com, click here!

To order your copy at Barnes & Noble, click here! 

ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Kelly Meister-Yetter is a writer, photographer, blogger, and author of Crazy Critter Lady and No Better Medicine. She shares her life with three ducks, four cats and a barn full of ornery horses. Based on her years of experience rescuing animals in need, Kelly also acts as an advocate for their care and humane treatment, donating her time and resources to numerous animal welfare organizations. When she's not volunteering at a horse rescue facility, Kelly enjoys training her horse, and waiting on her cats hand and foot. Kelly, the critters, and her husband live in Northwest, Ohio. You can find Kelly at www.crazycritterlady.com

GIVE-AWAY!!

Kelly has generously offered TWO of our readers (U.S. AND CANADA), the chance to win a copy of No Better Medicine. Entering is easy! Just enter on the Rafflecopter below!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

In Full Disclosure: I was not compensated for this review/give-away. I was sent a copy of No Better Medicine in exchange for my honest review.

Book Review: Crazy Critter Lady by Kelly Meister

After having reviewed a delightful book by author Bob Tarte, I was contacted by author Kelly Meister, a friend of Bob's, asking if I would be interested in receiving her book, Crazy Critter Lady, to review as well.  I eagerly accepted figuring that if she was a friend of Bob's, whose writing I greatly admire, then the odds were pretty good that I was going to enjoy her book as well. My instincts were correct.

Kelly Meister, spent years in therapy as a result of childhood sexual abuse. Her life, for many years, was spent in "darkness and chaos." Lesser people might have shattered to bits, never breaking free of the depression that ensued as a result of having endured such horrific experiences.

The "saner" Kelly became, the less she chose to spend her time with "dysfunctional humans." She turned to animals instead.

From the publisher: Crazy Critter Lady takes readers on an emotional roller coaster ride, as Kelly discovers the hitherto-unknown delights of friendship with a band of flightless ducks, deals with Spanky the cat's low self-esteem, and learns life lessons taught by an aged horse. The author spends money she can't afford on creatures others are content to leave dying at the side of the road, and often risks rabies, and drowning in the process. Sharing her life with a quirky cast of characters, Meister invites you to come along and meet the gang.

Kelly and "Spanky"

Some of the "gang" include:

Winkie the leash/harness wearing "soul kitty" who passed much earlier than he should have. The pain and love in Kelly's words will touch the hearts of anyone who has lost a beloved "soul" pet.

Zoe the Barking Dog who was virtually ignored by her owners, but every day would wait by the fence of her yard, delighting in the biscuits and love that Kelly would give to her.

Kelly touched the lives of birds, frogs, mice, raccoon, her uncanny ability to sense what an animal was feeling had a Dr.Doolittle-esque quality.

Kelly's life now is about healing. She is healing the wounds of the past by helping a vast array of animals either "heal" or helps them cross the Bridge with loving kindness, in many cases it is kindness that the ailing animal probably never had experienced before, but at least was able to experience in it's final hours.

Kelly feels that the "critters" helped her to become "whole", helped her to heal the wounds of the past.

Crazy Critter Lady is touching, in many instances, humorous,  it is raw, honest, and throughout the entire book, it speaks the language of love. There are moments when you will rejoice, some where you will shed a tear, but in the end you will marvel at how through helping to save animals, with a dedication that is truly a passion, you will cheer for the woman who learned how to save HERSELF.

Kelly learned how to save herself by the lessons the animals she has touched have taught her. She learned how to be patient, loving and trusting through the animals that she met along the way. In her mind, "she owes them BIG."

There are many of us who can relate to wanting to return the gifts that animals have given to so many of us. If more people felt this way,  the world would be that much better.

In my opinion Kelly is hardly "crazy", those who can turn their backs on animals in need are the "crazy" ones, not Kelly.

"Duck Hug"

In this world we need more Kelly's and many of you who are reading this review ARE like Kelly. True animal lovers  can relate when Kelly says when referring to the gifts the animals have given her, "I owe them. I owe them BIG. It's a debt that I'm happy to spend the rest of my days repaying. So I'll keep chatting with chipmunks, I'll shoo squirrels out of the road. I'll rescue flightless ducks from frozen ponds. I'll stop to help injured raccoon and I'll worry about things like rabies later. If that makes me crazy, then so be it."

To that, I say, "YOU GO GIRL!!"

Kelly and the ducks!

As is stated in the early pages of this inspiring book: "The greatness of a nation, and its moral progress, can be judged by the way its animals are treated.
-Mohandas Gandhi

From Cat Chat: God Bless you, Kelly Meister, for all you have endured, for the creatures you have touched, for the lives you have saved. God Bless you for loving and fighting for the rights of those that cannot speak for themselves.



To purchase Crazy Critter Lady on Amazon click here
It is also available via Barnes & Noble by clicking here
Buy the e-book here

Connect with Kelly on her blog by clicking here
Visit her website here