Year of the Goat

Margaret Hathaway used to manage the Magnolia Bakery in New York City. Her boyfriend Karl Schatz was the photo editor of the online version of Time magazine.

But when these two successful city folks fell for goats, they fell hard.

To make sure that they were not wrapped up in the romantic idea of raising goats and making cheese, the two decided to take a year out of their busy New York lives and try on the lifestyle for size. They lived in their van with their dog, Godfrey, and they went from farm to farm all across the US. Over the course of a year, every farm they visited served as an example and every farmer taught them lessons.

Hathaway writes well, and it's relaxing and pleasant to breeze through the book, especially if you have an interest in small-scale farming.