deblog

Well I didn’t get as much reading done as I would like this year… but then – do I ever? I think I did a pretty good job of keeping track of what I read this year though… so this is my list.

1. Matters of Faith – Kristy Kiernan
2. Your Hear Belongs to Me – Dean Koontz
3. Plum Lucky – Janet Evanovich
4. Little Bee – Chris Cleave
5. Naomi and Ely’s No Kiss List – Rachel Cohn
6. Nick and Norah’s Infinite Playlist – Rachel Cohn
7. Godmother: The Secret Cinderella Story – Carolyn Turgeon
8. Outlander – Diana Gabaldon
9. Loving Frank – Nancy Horan
10. In Hanuman’s Hands – Cheeni Rao
11. The Reader – Bernhard Schlink
12. Life of Pi – Yann Martel
13. Relentless – Dean Koontz
14. The Women – T.C. Boyle
15. Love or Something Like it – Deirdre Shaw
16. A Big Little Life – Dean Koontz
17. Say When – Elizabeth Berg
18. The Art of Racing in the Rain – Garth Stein
19. Full House – Janet Evanovich
20. Full Tilt – Janet Evanovich
21. Full Speed – Janet Evanovich
22. Full Blast – Janet Evanovich
23. Full Bloom – Janet Evanovich
24. Full Scoop – Janet Evanovich
25. Dragonfly in Amber – Diana Gabaldon
26. Breathless – Dean Koontz
27. The Girls from Ames – Jeffrey Zaslow
28. Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland – Lewis Carroll
29. Through the Looking Glass – Lewiss Carroll

As far as a favorite I don’t think I could pick one… It was a good year for reading. I started the Outlander series by Diana Gabaldon – they are long books 800-900 pages each… So far I am really enjoying the series but I try to squeeze a few small books in between each book…. I also REALLY love some of the dog books I read this year, The Art of Racing in the Rain and A Big Little Life are amazing and inspirational for anyone who has had a dog in their life… Also – I’m not as big of an Evanovich fan as it looks… I just can’t turn down books that are handed to me and I like to get them back to their owner ASAP. But her books really do make for some good light reading between some of the “heavier” books I’ve read this year.

So in the last week I have read two AMAZING dog books that I wanted to review/recommend here. I will warn that both books span the often too short lifetime of the dogs involved, so both books will require at least one box of Kleenex each. But the rewards are worth the sadness, just as owning a dog is.

First is A Big Little Life by Dean Koontz
Dean is my favorite author, so I am VERY biased here, but honestly, for anyone who has ever loved a dog, especially a golden, this is the best book ever.
Some background: I receive a snail mail newsletter from Dean a few times a year. After he got his first dog, Trixie, a golden retreiver who retired young as a service dog from Canine Companions for Independence, he began to include little bits of wisdom from Trixie in his newsletter. They were always funny, cute and so dog appropriate that I loved it. Trixie eventually went on to “write” four books of her own. All of which I highly recommend as quick, uplifting, fun and funny reads.
Well, Trixie eventually went to the other side of the rainbow bridge as Koontz often puts it… And that is where this book comes in. This is a memoir of Dean’s life during the time that Trixie graced his and Gerda’s lives. He takes you through the journey of learning about how a dog is more than a dog and how a person’s love of a dog is so much more than any non-dog person can truly understand. As Dean struggles to put to words the true beauty, innocence and love of a dog he does sometimes get a bit spiritual, but never preachy or specific to one religion.
Overall: Dean does a great job of trying to describe how important dogs are to us dog lovers… He shares the laughter, joy and sorrow that comes with having furry children. It is a short book, makes for a quick read.

Second book is The Art of Racing in the Rain by Garth Stein
This book is written from the perspective of a family dog, Enzo. Enzo tells you about his life from when he was selected by a man, Denny, from a group of puppies and through his journey with Denny as Denny finds a wife and has a child and eventually his departure from Denny’s life. I loved the way that this book was written from Enzo’s perspective, the point of view is not dumbed down or written funny because it is a dog’s point of view. Enzo shows himself to be an intelligent and well spoken being as he shares his story with us. Along with my warning at the beginning that both books span the life of a dog I will also warn that this book includes the end of another character’s life as well as many other struggles in Enzo’s family. This book will make you think of your dog/dogs in a different way and help you to see their struggle to communicate. Denny, Enzo’s master, is a race car driver so there is a lot of racing metaphor throughout the book. Near the end the racing metaphors get pretty thick. I found myself skimming a few of those to get back to the main story at times, but overall it was a quick read that I really enjoyed.