Unlikely Animals by Annie Hartnett

 Emma Starling comes back to her hometown of Everton, New Hampshire because her father is dying from a brain disease. Emma's father, Clive, has also been fired from his job as an English professor at a small liberal arts college because he has been hallucinating seeing animals. In fact, he has befriended the ghost of Ernest Harold Baynes, who was considered a real life Dr. Doolittle and let wild animals live with him and his wife in the early 20th century. In Unlikely Animals, the reader gets an up-close and personal view of many of the inhabitants of the town of Everton, including the spirits of those whose graves are at the town cemetery.  These spirits act as sort of a Greek chorus throughout the novel. Author Hartnett has written as real gem of a book filled with humor, heart, and quirkiness. Don't miss it. It's one of the best books I've read this year! A great read-alike for Kevin Wilson, Katherine Heiny, and Billie Letts.