Mini Reviews - Once Upon a Goat by Richards and Barclay, Pastoralia by G. Saunders, The Long and Living Shadow by D. Winston

I don't feel like any of these require a lengthy review, so here we go again with the mini reviews.  Pardon my mostly-absent week. I spent the entire Labor Day weekend cleaning out my breakfast nook, which I'd turned into a very messy art studio. It had gone well beyond acceptably disordered, so I've moved everything out and now we're just pondering how to bring everything back but make the room orderly. We want to find a storage solution for all the paint, brushes, etc. that is attractive but it may take some time to find. At any rate, I needed a day to recover after spending the weekend hauling canvases, bottles, brushes, and boxes of paint to another room. 

Onward. 

Once Upon a Goat by Dan Richards and Eric Barclay is an adorable picture book in which a king and queen long for a family. When they ask their fairy godmother for a child, the king makes the mistake of saying, "Any kid will do." 

And, a kid is exactly what they get, a baby goat. At first they're horrified and even decide to cast the kid out of the castle after he causes too much chaos and eats the royal roses. But, then it begins to rain heavily and they feel bad about sending the poor little guy out on such a rough night. After bringing him back inside, he slowly becomes part of the family. And, then their fairy godmother returns and sees her mistake. 

Out in the countryside, the fairy godmother peeks around a tree and, sure enough, there's the baby the king and queen asked for — living with a mother and father goat. She intends to switch them but the king and queen have become so attached to their kid that they come up with an alternative solution. Hint: it means the castle is never tidy. 

Recommended - While the storyline in Once Upon a Goat is predictable to an adult, it's super cute and I can imagine it tickling small children. I love the illustrations, love the kindness of the king and queen and their willingness to tolerate a messy castle because they adore their little goat, much like parents who put up with the messes that come with having small children. 

Pastoralia by George Saunders is a book of short stories with one novella. As in many of his collections, there's a "theme park going downhill" story, the novella of the title name, "Pastoralia", and it was my favorite. A man and woman are living in cave, each with his and her own Separate Area into which they retreat at night. They're not related, not attracted to each other. They're supposed to just grunt all day, skin and cook their daily goat, pretend to eat bugs and paint wall art. With fewer visitors coming, they fear they'll lose their jobs soon and occasionally their daily goat doesn't show up in their slot so they must eat crackers, instead. 

Meh - Saunders' theme park stories are wildly creative and absurd. I tend to love them, even the ones that get a bit . . . violent (his earlier work, especially). But, the rest of the stories in Pastoralia didn't thrill me. In fact, I had to flip through the book to remind myself what the others are about and found that I was reading much farther than I should do in order to nudge my memory. 

At any rate, I love George Saunders casual, humorous, satirical writing. But, apart from "Pastoralia", this one just didn't do it for me and it's now my least favorite Saunders book, much as I love him. Second to Pastoralia would be Lincoln in the Bardo [unpopular opinion], which was too scattered for my taste, although someone at Square Books in Oxford, MS told me that Saunders had the audience do voices from Lincoln in the Bardo when he came for a reading and signing. They say his visit was a total hoot. And, my "least favorite" is still worth keeping for the novella. I am getting close to having read all of his books, now.

I like the pulp-fictiony cave woman cover shown above, although the woman who lives in the cave with the narrator is described as fifty-something and not particularly attractive, at least to the man who plays her Partner in Cave. My copy has a deer on the cover. I'm not sure of the point of that and I'm not reviewing for anyone since this is from my home library, so I've opted to put up the cover I like. 

The Long and Living Shadow by Daoma Winston almost doesn't deserve a review. It was seriously awful. But, I finished the book for a couple reasons. 

1. The Return by Daoma Winston, a book that once belonged to my mother, is one of my all-time most reread books. I've read it periodically since . . . maybe my early teens? It's a romantic suspense that takes place in a mansion on a cliff, very gothic and moody and truly suspenseful. I've been considering another reread. I recognized similar elements in The Long and Living Shadow and felt like I needed to keep reading to figure out why a book that was similar in so many ways was such a dud by comparison with another title by the same author. More on that in a minute. 

2. It was short. Mercifully short at something like 157 pages, thank goodness. It truly was a terrible work of writing.

Not recommended - Pass this one up if you see it at a library or garage sale. Dreadful, repetitive, and predictable. The spooky house really wasn't and the greedy relatives were transparent. Possibly the worst thing (the element that most likely made it pale by comparison with my old favorite) was ineffective repetition. Everyone was pudgy but the heroine, who was delicate. The title was repeated a gazillion times, and so was mention of whether or not the widowed heroine was "grown up" at 23. On the plus side, she developed confidence as the book progressed and the book has a bang-up ending. But, that wasn't enough to redeem it. 

This is another one for which I've switched out the cover image. I think my copy must be a reprint as it was published in 1971 and my copy looks very 80s, with the heroine dressed in a feathered gown. In reality, she was a hat-and-gloves-with-suit type of gal, very conservative. The cover above doesn't entirely fit, either, but it does hint of the gothic feel, while the cover image on mine looks like it came straight out of a music video. 

©2021 Nancy Horner. All rights reserved. If you are reading this post at a site other than Bookfoolery or its RSS feed, you are reading a stolen feed. Email bookfoolery@gmail.com for written permission to reproduce text or photos.

Mini reviews: Summer by Edith Wharton, Remo: The Adventure Begins by Murphy and Sapir, and The Days of Abandonment by Elena Ferrante

I don't have a lot to say about any of these, so they get the mini treatment. 

I read Summer by Edith Wharton after Brittanie mentioned it in our online book group and I just happened to spot my copy as I was walking from one room to the next. Thanks, Brittanie!

Summer is kind of difficult to describe but it's about a girl named Charity who works in the library of her small town, lives with a man who took her away from the mountain people out of kindness, and yearns for a more exciting life. 

Brittanie mentioned that the book was considered scandalous at the time it was published but, of course, the mentions of women of ill repute and a neighbor who was forced to go to the Big City for an abortion are only referred to in a vague way. They're obvious and yet obscured by the writing style of the time period. 

Charity, herself, ends up getting into trouble and throughout the book you feel like shaking her. She's aware of the scandal of her friend's sister's pregnancy but naive enough to put her trust in the wrong man. 

I enjoyed Summer but felt like the ending was completely implausible. Still, I'd recommend it. Wharton's writing is stunning. I need to dig through my shelves and see if I can find the other book I know I have by her, The Glimpses of the Moon. I'm not sure if I have any other Whartons but I'll be keeping an eye out. 

Remo: The Adventure Begins by Murphy and Sapir is a companion novel to the 80s movie and I chose to read it after reading Hamnet. Because Hamnet was both melancholy and character-centric, I was in the mood for something plot-driven, pulp-fictiony, even a little stupid. 

Well, I got the stupid part. It actually takes a lot longer to get to the action scenes than I expected. The movie is better, although it's actually pretty bad, too, all "government out to get us so a shadowy organization must be created to kill dangerous people." The authors were imaginative but what they conjured up is ridiculous. 

As to Remo, he's a decent character and I particularly liked the strength of Major Fleming, who was played by Kate Mulgrew in the movie. I just wish the authors had managed to fit in more action. The movie does a good job of portraying the training of Remo Williams and his relationship to his Korean teacher. But, the book portrayal is actually a bit offensive. In hindsight, I doubt I'd have liked the movie as much if I knew early on that the role of the Korean teacher was played by a white guy. 

At any rate, unless you really are in the mood for something terrible, I do not recommend Remo: The Adventure Begins. Save yourself. Read something else. Anything. 

The Days of Abandonment by Elena Ferrante is a stand-alone novel by the author of the Neapolitan series (which I have not yet read). 

When the main character's husband abruptly announces that he's leaving her and walks out the door, she descends into madness and experiences the stages of grief before a tremendous climax leads to acceptance of her new life as a single parent. 

What a crazy novel. I gave it 3.5 stars for excellent craftsmanship and was particularly impressed with the way she built to the climax. I especially liked the scene in which her son is ill and so is the dog and it falls to her young daughter to try to bring down the fever of her big brother because Mom can't cope. I'm going to write a sentence about that favorite scene and the climax for posterity but make the text white so it won't be visible and ruin it for anyone (but you can highlight it if you'd like).

When the dog is poisoned, her son becomes violently ill, and the main character can neither get out of the apartment because of a difficult lock or call out for help because both her cellphone and home phone are non-functional, she finds her daughter putting wet pennies on her son's forehead to cool his fever. 

The biggest problem I had with The Days of Abandonment was that it was just too vulgar for my taste and I had trouble liking the heroine, even when she began to finally started to cope with life as a single mother, so I'm iffy on recommendation. And, yet, you can't help but notice the author's skill and it certainly made me look forward to the Neapolitan series even more. So I don't regret reading it (but it's going into the donation box). 

©2021 Nancy Horner. All rights reserved. If you are reading this post at a site other than Bookfoolery or its RSS feed, you are reading a stolen feed. Email bookfoolery@gmail.com for written permission to reproduce text or photos.

Mini reviews - Under the Jaguar Sun by Italo Calvino, Virus on Orbis 1: The Softwire by P. J. Haarsma, and If Cats Disappeared from the World by Genki Kawamura

I'm going to keep writing mini reviews where appropriate, although I'm closing in on catching up on reviews, finally! It's only taken me nearly a month. That's what you get for taking time off, I guess.

Under the Jaguar Sun by Italo Calvino was my first finished book in 2020. A slim read, it contains three short stories, each based on one of the senses. It was meant to contain stories about all of the senses, plus a frame, but not completed before the author died. Under the Jaguar Sun is my first completed Calvino. Oddly, I was loving If on a Winter's Night a Traveler when I was in the midst of it, a couple years back (and I get what he means by a "frame" from that). I'm guessing I had some ARC commitments that got in the way, at the time.

The first of the stories is about the sense of taste and it's a story in which a couple travels around Mexico, trying new dishes, seeing new sights. At some point, the wife begins to wonder aloud what happened to the hearts of those who were sacrificed. The implication is that she knows and is both appalled and intrigued.

Calvino strikes me as a real writer's writer. Such deft use of language! Because there are only three stories about the senses, the book is far from complete. It's still well worth the read, though.

Recommended - Sometimes lovely, occasionally revolting, often humorous, always skillful. Under the Jaguar Sun made me want to read more Calvino.

I downloaded Virus on Orbis 1: The Softwire for free and then heard Nathan Fillion recommended the series and downloaded a couple more. That was ages ago and what finally got me to read an actual e-book (an e-book!!! — if you read my blog regularly, you know I have a problem with them) was a middle-of-the-night wake-up and not wanting to disturb the spouse or get out of bed to go to the reading chair. It was a cold morning.

JT has a special talent. He can talk to the computer on the ship that's taking children to Orbis 1, a settlement on rings near a black hole. The adults are gone, killed by a problem with the pods that were intended to keep them from aging while the ship traveled to its destination, and the computer has raised and trained the children. Only JT can speak to Mother (the computer) without using a keypad.

When the children arrive at Orbis 1, they're distributed amongst the creatures (much like in the Star Wars café, there's quite a variety of aliens) to be used as labor. JT and his sister end up together, but JT is quickly identified as a "softwire" who can talk to and even enter a computer using only his mind. With problems frequently plaguing the Orbis 1 computer system, JT is blamed. But, JT knows there's something inside the computer. And, he must solve the problem quickly because his life is in danger as long as he's being blamed.

Neither recommended or not recommended - I might have abandoned this book (a middle reader, I presume) if not for Fillion's recommendation and the fact that I really wanted to know how JT would solve the problem with the computer. There's just a bit too much world building, if that makes sense. It's so far out there that I felt a little exhausted by it. But, the final third to half of the book is full of pulse-pounding action and that was enough to make me think, "Hmm, I will definitely read on." I probably won't get around to the second in the series until another dark, cold night in which I don't want to turn the light on, but I will definitely read on.

If Cats Disappeared from the World was my choice for #JanuaryinJapan (or is it #JapaninJanuary?) and, of course, the word "cat" in the title gave it first priority. The Japanese do love their cats, as do I.

The plot of If Cats Disappeared from the World felt a little familiar to me. A Japanese man with a cat finds out he's dying. What will happen? But, in this case, when the protagonist finds out that he's dying, he makes a deal with the devil. Each day, he can choose to have something removed from the world. Once the item is taken away, he gets a single day more of life. But, is there a line in the sand? If so, what is the hero unwilling to let the world do without?

Recommended but not a favorite - I thought the storyline was a little simplistic and predictable, a little schmaltzy, but I enjoyed it anyway. I think I might have liked it a little bit better if the hero had been rounded out a little better and if he'd had to consider a variety of items to possibly remove and choose from them. Instead, as I recall, he chooses the first thing that disappears from the world but then the devil makes the choice, after that. And, each of those choices becomes more difficult as they have some meaning to the hero.

Of these three books, none were favorites but I'd have to choose Under the Jaguar Sun as the best written and the one book whose author I most want to read again.


©2020 Nancy Horner. All rights reserved. If you are reading this post at a site other than Bookfoolery or its RSS feed, you are reading a stolen feed. Email bookfoolery@gmail.com for written permission to reproduce text or photos.

Mini reviews - They Were Sisters by Dorothy Whipple, Christmas Camp by Karen Schaler, and Her Other Secret by Helenkay Dimon

They Were Sisters is my first read by Dorothy Whipple, although I have several of her books because they come so highly recommended.

Just as it sounds, They Were Sisters is the story of three sisters, how their lives are shaped by the choices they make (particularly the choice of a spouse), and how the eldest is always the stabilizing force.

I don't know what I expected from a book by Dorothy Whipple but I confess I was a little surprised to find that the book was a bit of a soap opera and yet, in spite of the ups and downs of the characters, there was also something immensely soothing about the fact that Lucy's steadiness, her husband's sense of humor and the fact that they're so perfect for each other, and their idyllic cottage on a larger estate serves as a wonderful anchor for not only the characters but the story itself.

I also found it quite interesting that the males in the family are barely even mentioned. It's a story about women and the men in their immediate circle but Whipple isn't diverted by the larger family unit so much as they are satellites that orbit the women; the women are always at the forefront. In fact, you get the impression that travel was such a hardship at the time it was written that you could say goodbye to a brother who went off to seek his fortune and never see him again, at all, so why mention them once they're out of the picture?

Highly recommended - A fascinating story of the lives of three sisters, how their choices in marriage and childbearing affect their lives in both the short and long term, and the sister who is always there for the other two women and their offspring, whenever they need her. Loved it!

Christmas Camp by Karen Schaler is the story of a woman who has zipped up the proverbial ladder at an advertising agency and now, still young, has got a shot at becoming a partner in the Boston firm. But, she has competition and the one thing her boss has noted that she lacks is Christmas spirit. In order to secure the important account that will clinch her partnership, Haley needs that Christmas spirit. Otherwise, her boss says, it's very unlikely that whatever ad campaign she comes up with will succeed with the company she's targeting.

The fellow she's competing with has buckets of Christmas spirit and Haley tries, but she's just too bent on business. Christmas doesn't even interest her. The boss is firm. She needs to develop some Christmas spirit and he's going to make sure of it by sending her to Christmas Camp, where she'll do normal, Christmasy things and learn about the real joy of the season. Haley is horrified but she wants that partnership, so off she goes. What she finds is a lovely house run by a widower and his handsome son Jeff, who also happens to live in Boston and who is trying to convince his father to sell the house and move near him.

Haley and Jeff get off to a rocky start but there's clearly a spark between Haley and Jeff and they have a good bit in common. Will Haley be able to stick out the entire week of camp or will she get ants in her pants and hustle back to Boston? Will she discover the joy of Christmas? And, if she does, will she come up with the perfect advertising campaign and win the job she desires?

Recommended when you're looking for a fun, romantic, seasonal read - Christmas Camp reads like a Hallmark movie and-- what do you know? --it actually is one. In fact, the movie apparently came first and then Schaler, a screenwriter, was hired to write the book. I was disappointed that I couldn't find the movie for streaming. I liked the book and I'm pretty sure I remember getting a little teary at one point. I'll keep my eye out for the movie and hope I get lucky, next Christmas season.

Her Other Secret by Helenkay Dimon was an unsolicited gift from Avon Books and it sounded intriguing, so I gave it a shot when nothing else was appealing to me. Tessa and Hansen live on Whitaker Island, an island off the coast of Washington (the state) where people go to get a fresh start or just hide out for a time. Tessa has fled a scandal; Hansen won't talk about why he's there.

Tessa and Hansen are on the beach when a mysterious stranger emerges from the water and walks into the woods . . . fully clothed. Tessa suspects something fishy is going on. And, when the man turns up dead and Hansen admits he knows him, Hansen becomes a suspect. What happened to drive Hansen to the island? Why was someone Hansen knows nearby? Who murdered the stranger? And, why can't Hansen and Tessa stay away from each other?

Well, huh, not sure what to say about his one. It didn't work for me but I don't even remember why, so I'm hesitant to give it even a verbal rating. I do remember that I found it overly wordy and confusing. In fact, I was very surprised to find that the author has so many books under her belt. Beyond that, I'm not sure what I disliked about it. I've got the follow-up book (again, sent unsolicited) and I'll give it a shot but I'm not going to stick it out if it doesn't work. However, I think the author deserves a second chance.


©2020 Nancy Horner. All rights reserved. If you are reading this post at a site other than Bookfoolery or its RSS feed, you are reading a stolen feed. Email bookfoolery@gmail.com for written permission to reproduce text or photos.

Mini reviews - If I Die in a Combat Zone by Tim O'Brien, Extreme Ownership by Willink and Babin, and Cat Poems by a variety of poets

Hard to believe, but I'm caught up on reviewing books I've read that were sent by publishers, so I have a couple days to write about the books I've read from my own shelves or borrowed. Then, hopefully I will have finished another ARC by the time I'm done catching up on personal reads.

After I read The Things They Carried by Tim O'Brien, I put a number of his books on my wish list at Paperback Swap and managed to acquire 2 or 3 of them before relinquishing my membership. If I Die In a Combat Zone, Box Me Up and Ship Me Home was one of them. I acquired every title I could get my mitts on without bothering to even read what they were about; that's how impressed I was with The Things They Carried.

If I Die in a Combat Zone is O'Brien's memoir. I didn't realize that till I opened the book and started reading. I read it specifically for Memorial Day. It was my little way to keep those who died for our country in my head and heart over the holiday weekend.

O'Brien tells about his life and his plans prior to being drafted, how he waffled about whether to show up for duty or run to another country and made actual plans to escape but then decided to report, his experiences with training and throughout his year in Vietnam, how he managed to go from dangerous jungle duty to a clerical job toward the end of his deployment, and his return home.

I had mixed feelings about If I Die in a Combat Zone. It's every bit as beautifully written as The Things They Carried, but the feeling I got from it was deeply sad and painfully honest. He was witness to some horrible atrocities, watched people die because of stupid decisions by his superiors with inflated egos, and lived with the knowledge that at any minute he could be amongst the maimed or dead. The only real light in the proverbial tunnel of O'Brien's war seemed to be the friendship he had with another man who was well-educated in literature. But, even then, the two of them occasionally got in trouble for having the nerve to sit around talking about poetry. It was a dark experience, overall, and it's hard to read. When he got that clerical job and then climbed on the plane and returned to Minnesota, I felt utterly relieved to have his combat days in the past. I love O'Brien's writing, though, and I still gave it 4 stars. Recommended but will rip out a piece of your heart.
Contains graphic violence.

Extreme Ownership: How U.S. Navy Seals Lead and Win by Jocko Willink and Leif Babin is a business book but because it's written by two Navy SEALs, it can be surprisingly gripping as they relate tales of their experiences in training and on deployment in Iraq. My husband has read Extreme Ownership at least twice and wanted me to read it but I'm not exactly sure why. I opened it up when he handed it to me and was surprised at the intensity. It begins with a story of a SEAL mission in which a potential terrorist ran from the building they'd surrounded. Willink pursued him and then realized, when he captured the man, that he had chased the man down without informing anyone where he was going. He had to make a critical decision about how to handle the prisoner and return without getting them both killed. He then applied that decision-making process to a particular business problem. It was fascinating and I was hooked.

The theme of the book, "extreme ownership" is about taking responsibility when things go wrong, the idea being that solid leadership and well-coordinated teamwork are the best ways to solve problems in business, but it's important for leaders to take responsibility when something goes wrong in order to lead well. "There are no bad teams, just bad leaders," is one of the quotes I highlighted after reading what I considered one of the most fascinating illustrations of leadership in the book. I don't recall which author told this story, but one of the men described a particular part of SEAL training in which the soldiers were divided into teams. Each team carried a heavy boat and raced it. He described how one team was consistently winning and another repeatedly came in last or next to last. The leader of the losing team thought he'd just ended up with a bad bunch of teammates. But, then the leaders were told to switch boats and the team that had been coming in last won. The team that had previously won still did well. I would have loved to see an actual film of the leaders of those teams in action.

Highly recommended - I've tried to apply the leadership principles to marriage by explaining to my husband how it benefits him to listen to my housekeeping leadership. Unfortunately, it's not working. I hope the principles do better for him at work than they have for me at home. I'd like to know what Jocko and Leif have to say about stubborn men who just don't get why socks need to be placed in the laundry right-side-out.


Cat Poems does not list an editor but it's an anthology of poems about cats, obviously. I got a copy of Cat Poems for Mother's Day from Kiddo and his fiancée.

The problem with an anthology about a particular chosen subject is that editors don't always go into the selection with the people who appreciate that subject in mind. I read a book of poems for and about children, a few years ago, in which some of them were actually quite dark — about the loss of a child or the horror of abuse, for example. They covered all the bases but it wasn't always pleasant. The same is true of Cat Poems. Some of them are funny or sweet, about the things a cat lover adores. Others are frankly awful, either because they're negative about cats, cruel, or sad.

My favorite was a poem by Muriel Spark, "Bluebell Among the Sables." The poem is about a visit from a friend wearing expensive sables. Muriel was bored by her social obligation to entertain the friend. Then, Bluebell began to attack the tails of the sables on the woman's coat and it diverted her. It's a cute story but short enough to relate through poetry. It was those poems in which the cat is recognized and appreciated that I obviously liked best, being a cat lover.  No surprise there. I'm iffy about recommending Cat Poems because I found some of the poetry downright upsetting, but I will definitely reread my favorites.

©2019 Nancy Horner. All rights reserved. If you are reading this post at a site other than Bookfoolery or its RSS feed, you are reading a stolen feed. Email bookfoolery@gmail.com for written permission to reproduce text or photos.

A Nest for Celeste and Another Quest for Celeste by Henry Cole

A Nest for Celeste and Another Quest for Celeste were both sent to me by HarperCollins for review and are both written and illustrated by Henry Cole. I thought it would be best to review them together. A Nest for Celeste was copyrighted in 2010 and Another Quest for Celeste is a February, 2018 release. Since I read these toward the beginning of January, I apologize if there are any inaccuracies in my memories of the two books.

A Nest for Celeste begins Celeste's story. Celeste is a mouse who has lost her family in a tragic accident. Alone, she's found her way to a plantation home and made herself a nice little room behind the floorboards, where she makes baskets from salvaged bits of dried grasses, wildflowers, and strands of colored thread. Now and then, she goes on a journey to the dining room to collect food dropped by the human inhabitants of the house. There are two vicious rats and a house cat, among other dangers.

Joseph is learning his master's art, drawing bird illustrations, while Mr. Audubon is instructing young Eliza Pirrie in dancing, drawing and painting. While Mr. Audubon teaches, hunts, and mounts the birds for his illustrations, Joseph practices drawing. After Celeste has a close call with the cat, Joseph discovers she's made a home for herself in his boot. He's always wanted a pet mouse, so he carries Celeste around in his pocket, talking to her throughout the day (although the author does not go so far as to let the human and mouse communicate with each other). But, even with Joseph to protect her, Celeste keeps getting into all sorts of binds. Will Celeste ever find a home?

I had such mixed feelings about A Nest for Celeste that I'm not sure whether or not I'd recommend it, although I think children can handle a lot more than we often give them credit for. Still, some of the things Celeste sees and experiences in this story (which is tangentially a view into John Audubon's world) are harsh. She sees one of the rats being killed by the house cat, just after being taunted by them, views a massive pigeon hunt in which thousands of birds are killed, and witnesses the slow death of an ivory-billed woodpecker after he's shot by Audubon to pin up, as if in flight, for illustration purposes. Adults will probably be aware that both the pigeons and the woodpeckers mentioned in the story have become extinct and that there's a message in each of these plot points.

There are also plenty of adventurous moments in A Nest for Celeste. I particularly enjoyed her friendship with an osprey who takes her for a ride in one of her baskets when she's in need of help, and a thrush who keeps her company in Joseph's room. Eventually, Celeste finds a safe and comfortable home in the attic, living in a dollhouse.

Iffy on recommendation - I'd recommend finding a copy through your library and reading it, before buying for your children. If you think it's not to scary and that the adventure offsets the violent bits, great. The illustrations are beautiful and look very much like Brian Selznick's illustrations. By the end of the book, I was glad I followed Celeste on her adventures but the first half of the book shocked me so much that I was surprised how pleasantly the book ended.

Another Quest for Celeste takes Celeste on an unexpected journey. After spending some time living in her dollhouse home in the attic of a plantation house, Celeste makes the mistake of falling asleep in a bale of cotton when she goes to fetch some food outdoors. The cotton is in a cart and the cart goes to the Mississippi River, where it's put on a steamship. Thus begins another adventure that leads Celeste from the steamship, where she is befriended by a kind old dog, to a forest, where she meets a delightful squirrel couple and settles down temporarily, to the log cabin home of young Abraham Lincoln.

There are a few really frightening moments that are in the same vein as those in A Nest for Celeste (the steamship sinks, a tree with a nest is felled) but the dangerous moments were, I thought, much milder in Another Quest for Celeste and her experience with young Abe Lincoln gives you a better feel for the historical aspect than the first book. You learn about Abe's passion for books and reading, what his home life was like, and his integrity when a borrowed book becomes soaked after a roof leaks during a storm. An author's note at the end of the book adds to the historical perspective.

Abe is kind to Celeste and she enlists her friends to help him out when he must work to replace the damaged book. And, then Celeste eventually returns to life in the forest. Although at the beginning of the book she yearns to return to her attic dollhouse, by the end she realizes she has found a happy new home, surrounded by friendship, in the forest.

Recommended - A much sweeter story, shorter, more focused on the history and friendship, I thought, than its predecessor, I really enjoyed Another Quest for Celeste. Both books are for elementary level, I'd say 3rd to 5th grade, depending on the child.


©2018 Nancy Horner. All rights reserved. If you are reading this post at a site other than Bookfoolery or its RSS feed, you are reading a stolen feed. Email bookfoolery@gmail.com for written permission to reproduce text or photos.

Mini Rvws: If This Isn't Nice, What Is? by K. Vonnegut, Braving the Wilderness by B. Brown, Milk and Honey by Rupi Kaur, and a note about a buddy read

All three of these books were purchases and none of them were particularly special, so they get the quick mini review treatment.

I bought If This Isn't Nice, What Is? by Kurt Vonnegut at our local bookstore's Going Out of Business Sale. It's a book of speeches given by Vonnegut and I'm aware that gesture and tone can make a difference when it comes to listening to a speech versus reading it, so I tried to bear that in mind. But, I still found Vonnegut's speeches a little on the hodge-podge and inconsistent side. He talked about life, shared bits of advice from his own years and advice that had been given to him, along with warnings about what's out there in the real world (particularly in the graduation speeches -- there are a couple speeches that are not to grads, but only 2 of the 7, as I recall).

I'm a Kurt Vonnegut fan so I enjoyed the reading but it's not a book I'd highly recommend because it's so repetitive. He tended to reuse his material. Still, it was occasionally entertaining. He passed on the only advice he ever got from his father: Don't ever put anything in your ear. There, I've shared some great advice. This book was responsible for the thoughtful (not impulsive, no way) purchase of two of Vonnegut's books, so there will hopefully be more Vonnegut reading in my near future.

Braving the Wilderness: The Quest for True Belonging and the Courage to Stand Alone by Brené Brown is a book I purchased after a new friend told me how much the book meant to her. She said it wasn't the best writing but it was encouraging. I was not familiar with Brown's blog.

This new friend (whom I've only talked to a couple times, since, but hope to get to know better) thinks a lot like I do, so I bought the book out of curiosity and I really enjoyed it. However, I had a great deal of difficulty figuring out what Brown meant by the metaphorical "wilderness" - a thematic metaphor that she hammered home pretty heavily. Eventually, I figured it out. And, now I've forgotten.

Although the general concept may not have stuck with me and I had a little difficulty with it, at first, there were other things about the book that I loved, particularly when she talked about collective joy and collective pain. She mentioned, for example, her experience driving along the highway as the news of the Space Shuttle Challenger explosion broke. Since the author was living in Houston and Houstonians are very connected to the space program, they took this tragedy hard and people suddenly began pulling over. Not knowing why so many cars were stopping, she drove slowly past one and saw someone crying at the wheel, I presume she turned on the radio because she figured out what was going on pretty quickly, after that. Brown used this story as an illustration of collective pain. This entire section kept me in tears. I liked what she had to say about it and I also appreciated her comment about constant negativity being detrimental to friendship; meaning, if you only ever talk about things that are bad in your life, you're less likely to build a real bond. You need positivity in your friendship, as well.

An interesting book. I didn't fully understand her purpose but I enjoyed it.

I discovered Milk and Honey by Rupi Kaur was available for free download in Amazon's Prime Reading (e-book - shock!) shortly after seeing an interview with her on TV. The book is extremely popular with girls of high school age and she draws a huge crowd for her readings. I found the author very poised and enjoyed hearing her talk about how surprised and pleased she was at the success of her book and her thoughts about its success.

Unfortunately, I pretty much thought the book was crap. It's a book of "poetry" but it sounded more like the kind of thing you'd read on a poster than poetry to me. It also had entire sections that were about abuse/rape and even her line-drawing illustrations could be pretty graphic. Still, it had its moments. I photographed a few pages I liked off my iPad and then I discovered that you can look up images from the book online, so here's a favorite, snatched from the Interwebs:

Milk and Honey has so few words per page that it can be read in a half hour or less. I'm not sure whether I'd recommend it or not. I guess it depends on the individual. A teacher friend, Melissa, told me her students absolutely love it and I wondered what the appeal is. She told me they think it's about love and they find it romantic. I did not find it even vaguely romantic, so perspective is apparently everything when it comes to this book. 

And, about that buddy read . . . 

I mentioned that friend Ryan and I are going to be buddy reading Don Quixote, when the book arrived, and a couple other people have decided they may join in. Anyone else who is interested is welcome. We've chosen to read this particular version, translated by Edith Grossman, for the convenience of being able to refer to specific pages. But, any version will probably do. I'm hoping to get a Facebook page set up, so let me know if you want to join in and once that's up I'll be glad to add you.


©2018 Nancy Horner. All rights reserved. If you are reading this post at a site other than Bookfoolery or its RSS feed, you are reading a stolen feed. Email bookfoolery@gmail.com for written permission to reproduce text or photos.

A few minis - Another Brooklyn by Jacqueline Woodson, Searching for Sunday by Rachel Held Evans, Defining Moments in Black History by Dick Gregory

There are a few books I've been thinking about not reviewing (and one I loved but don't want to give full review treatment) so I've decided to do a few mini reviews. Most of these were read some time ago, at least long enough that plenty of the details will probably escape me.

Another Brooklyn by Jacqueline Woodson is a beautifully written story about a young girl and her family after their move to New York. Told in reflection after she meets an old friend on the train and refuses to speak to her, the story describes the fiction she told herself about her mother and how eventually the missing mother would show up, the friendships that she formed after she was finally allowed to roam outside her apartment, and the horror when one of her friends was raped. I read Another Brooklyn in July and that's about all I can remember, apart from how it made me feel.

And, here is where the surprise comes. Most everyone seems to love this book but it simply did not resonate for me. Jacqueline Woodson's writing is impressive, evocative, a little dreamy and very honest. It wasn't so much that I couldn't relate because that doesn't necessarily matter to me. It was that I couldn't always follow; in other words, sometimes the book was a little too lyrical or metaphorical and I wasn't entirely certain what she was trying to say or what had just happened. And, in the end, I was left with questions. I no longer recall what those questions were, but I definitely would have loved to talk to someone about it when I closed the book. Maybe that would have made it a better read for me, having someone to discuss with. But, I found it just an above-average read because of the confusion. Apparently, it was just me. The book gets rave reviews. All of my friends have given it either 4 or 5 stars at Goodreads and I love Woodson's writing so I still recommend it. I may even reread Another Brooklyn, someday; it's very likely I missed something.

Searching for Sunday by Rachel Held Evans is a book that's been on my radar since Andi of Estella's Revenge talked about it. Till then, I was unfamiliar with the author or her blog (where she appears to now seldom write an entry) and her heartfelt posts about her struggle between the Christian beliefs that have taken a sharp direction away from those of the evangelical church in which she was raised and her yearning to be a part of a church community. Subtitled, "Loving, Leaving, and Finding the Church," the book tells about Evans' childhood in a Southern Baptist church, her devotion to learning about the Bible and saving people, her Bible-scholar father's calm explanations, and then . . . the questions, the creation of a new church with friends, and the gradual changes in her beliefs that led her to search for a new church home.

With the exception of having a Bible scholar as a father (mine was an accountant) there were some striking similarities between Evans' church history and mine. I grew up in the Southern Baptist Church (a cheerful, small-town church where I always felt happy and loved). I was an eager student of the Bible, although maybe not a very good one, and I wanted everyone to feel the kind of acceptance and love I felt at church so I was constantly trying to convert people. I can only hope I wasn't too much of a prig, but it all boiled down to the fact that my home church was a joyful place. Like Evans, I also went through a stage when I finally began to seriously question the church's stance on particular modern issues, although I had long since moved to the Methodist church and my move away from the church was decidedly slower. Still, the similarities stunned me and I found Searching for Sunday an incredibly affirming and comforting read.

Highly recommended, especially to those who find themselves questioning the church but not their Christianity.

In the opposite vein, I'd really like to say as little as possible about Defining Moments in Black History: Reading Between the Lies by Dick Gregory because I have such mixed feelings about it. It starts out great. Gregory, who recently passed away, lived quite an interesting life as an actor, comedian, and writer, and appeared to know just about every black person of fame that you can think of. He was around during the Civil Rights Movement and was knowledgeable about the events, the people, the movement itself and the many organizations working for change. At the beginning, he shares a great deal of history in fairly short chunks. They're not necessarily cohesive, but they're interesting and revealing. The audience he addresses is black; he talks as if he's talking to a young person, offering his knowledge as well as advice.

However, as the book progresses, Gregory begins to occasionally contradict himself and dig deeply into conspiracy theories. While I felt like some of them were absolutely plausible, there were many others (particularly involving the deaths of celebrities) that simply didn't make sense to me, even when I sat back and thought about them and twisted them around in my head.  He believed, for example, that Tiger Woods' downfall was not due to his infidelity but due to generic white supremacists who didn't want him to surpass the success of Jack Nicklaus. How he came to that conclusion in spite of Tiger's own confession and decided that Tiger's back surgery was a fiction forced upon Tiger by these unknown white supremacists is beyond me. That's simply one example. I'd like to give Gregory the benefit of the doubt and say that perhaps the contradictions and conspiracy theories were due to the fact that he was aging and died shortly before publication but I haven't read any of his other books so I can't compare to know if there's been any change.

At any rate, I liked parts of Defining Moments in Black History and found some of the history particularly fascinating (music, movies, movements, you name it - he spoke broadly). Iffy on recommendation but I wouldn't tell you not to give it a try. I'd love to hear other folks' thoughts about this book.


©2017 Nancy Horner. All rights reserved. If you are reading this post at a site other than Bookfoolery or its RSS feed, you are reading a stolen feed. Email bookfoolery@gmail.com for written permission to reproduce text or photos.

Two from Algonquin - The Storied Life of A. J. Fikry by G. Zevin and Acts of God by E. Gilchrist

This has been a slow reading week and I haven't felt much like writing so today I'm going to pair the reviews of two books, both sent to me by Algonquin Books.

The Storied Life of A. J. Fikry by Gabrielle Zevin has been one of the most talked-about, highly recommended books amongst my blogging, book-crazy friends, this year, so I asked if it would be possible to get a review copy when I was contacted by an Algonquin rep. She graciously sent me a copy, along with a couple other books I requested.  And, boy, does The Storied Life of A. J. Fikry deserve the buzz.

The Storied Life of A. J. Fikry is about a widower who owns a bookstore on a remote island. He's considering giving up the bookstore when two things happen: a rare book that he hoped to make a great deal of money selling to finance his retirement is stolen and then a baby is dropped off at the store with a note pinned to her jacket. The mother wants her brought up around books, the father is unnamed. Fikry is taken by little Maya but is deeply depressed and accustomed to drinking heavily at night. Can the precocious little girl change a sad middle-aged man? Meanwhile, Fikry slowly develops a friendship with a quirky publicist, other plotty things happen.  I don't want to give away too much. Interspersed between the chapters are Fikry's thoughts about a variety of books and short stories (primarily classics), some with the tone of essays, some in letter form and more personal.

I heard that The Storied Life of A. J. Fikry is a book that is enjoyable for its bookishness.  The bookstore setting, Fikry's thoughts about books, his relationship with a publicist, the book groups that eventually become a part of the store's draw to island residents . . .  all those elements definitely add up to a pleasant yet challenging comfort read for bibliophiles. I also enjoyed the gradual changes in Fikry, the development of various relationships and even the sad, tender ending. I'm dying to reread the book specifically for the purpose of taking notes on the stories Fikry recommends and comparing thoughts with him. A couple other bloggers I've talked to have mentioned that same urge. I think it would be terribly fun to do as a group.

The only thing I disliked about The Storied Life of A. J. Fikry is something that, upon reflection, might be a big of a spoiler, although I personally like to be forewarned about such things.  Still, I'm going to turn the text white and you can highlight it if you dare:

I disliked he fact that the protagonist eventually battles cancer. It was handled with grace, though, and not so detailed that it reminded me of my own horrible experience watching my mother die. At any rate, I loved the book so much that by the time the character became ill, I was already far too much in love with the reading to give up on it.

Highly recommended - I absolutely loved this bookish little gem. Definitely one of my favorites of the year. Although the book is fairly short at around 260 pages, I felt like the characters were well developed, the writing by turns sharp, humorous and touching, the story generally uplifting in spite of various tragedies. I will definitely reread The Storied Life of A. J. Fikry.

Acts of God (stories) by Ellen Gilchrist was sent to me unsolicited. I love short stories and often like to keep one volume of short stories going while I read a novel or two. Usually, I drag the reading out for quite some time but I did the reading of the stories in Acts of God over a couple days after a gap between the first few stories and those remaining.  I'll just tell you about a couple stories I loved:

"Acts of God", the title story, is about an elderly couple who are normally watched by a sitter. But, because of a hurricane, a disastrous chain of events occurs. The sitter is unable to show up for work and the elderly couple, Amelie and Will, become bored. They decide to go for a drive to the grocery store (which they normally would be prevented from doing) then take a detour to see some new homes being built.  I thought "Acts of God" was sad, a little sweetly humorous and beautiful.

"Miracle in Adkins, Arkansas" tells the story of a group of teenagers who drive to the site of a tornado to help with the recovery effort. What they discover is both heartbreaking and miraculous, leaving one of the teenagers convinced that she must focus on remembering every important moment: "I don't want all my memories lost in some fog like most people's are.  I am capturing mine every chance I get," she says at the end of the story. "Miracle in Adkins, Arkansas" is lovely, thoughtful and uplifting.

Unfortunately, those first two stories were my favorites and after that it was a mixed bag. Some I liked, some I didn't. In most cases, if I disliked them it was for reasons that are more personal than critical. I've only read one other book by Ellen Gilchrist, In the Land of Dreamy Dreams (also a collection of short stories). It's an older title that I found secondhand and read in 2008. I'd completely forgotten about it till a few days ago when I was unloading boxes (yes, we're still occasionally unpacking, nearly 2 years post-move) and came across my copy, still loaded with Post-its.  I never did manage to review In the Land of Dreamy Dreams, although I loved it and I did at least write a post about the older cover of In the Land of Dreamy Dreams compared to a newer version. Hopefully, that bizarre newer cover has been updated, by now.

Recommended but not a favorite - I loved some of the stories in Acts of God, liked some, hated a few (but not because of the writing style; it was the characters or settings I disliked).  Definitely worth the time, even though it's not a personal favorite.

©2014 Nancy Horner. All rights reserved. If you are reading this post at a site other than Bookfoolery  or its RSS feed, you are reading a stolen feed. Email bookfoolery@gmail.com for written permission to reproduce text or photos.

Quickie reviews - The Martian by Andy Weir, The Riverman by Aaron Starmer, The Big Needle by Ken Follett

A few quickie reviews to help me catch up.  Of the following three books, only one is an ARC: The Riverman by Aaron Starmer. The other two books are from my personal library.

The Martian by Andy Weir is a recent release. I looked it up after I noticed a bit of buzz and saw that Andi was reading and enjoying it. That fabulous cover art was also undoubtedly part of the reason I was seduced into buying. Before Andi finished reading her copy of The Martian, mine had arrived so I was relieved to find out she gave it 4 stars.

When a dust storm cuts an expedition to Mars short after only 6 days and astronaut Mark Watney is presumed dead, he is left alone on Mars with little chance of rescue before he runs out of food. The dust storm has left him without a working communication system to inform NASA that he's alive.

The Martian has been compared to all sorts of things -- McGyver combined with Robinson Crusoe,  Apollo 13 with a touch of The Castaway. It's a little of all those, I suppose. Although the science and engineering that go into the inventions and alterations Watney makes to stay alive can be difficult for a non-technical person to follow (Marg called it "hard-core" sci-fi), the story is never dull. Most of the book is told from Watney's perspective but now and then the book veers to Earth or to the ship carrying his crew mates away from Mars. 

While the book is not without its flaws, they're minor and I so completely enjoyed the ride that I gave The Martian 5 stars. Watney is a delightful, clever and likable character with terrific sense of humor; and, the pacing is excellent. Boy, was I glad I spent some of my Christmas gift card money on The Martian! I'll definitely revisit this story and highly recommend it.

Engineers and scientists will probably get a special kick out of The Martian.  Also of interest: Michele of A Reader's Respite and The Lit Asylum (Tumblr) says the audio is excellent if you're more of an audio person. I am not, but I'm planning to see if my library has a copy, just for fun. 

Side note:  The Martian's opening line is a new favorite: "I'm pretty much f***ed." So much said in so few words.

The Riverman by Aaron Starmer says it's for ages 10-14 but I would be careful not to go too young because it seems like potential nightmare-inducing territory to me. Having said that, The Riverman -- about a girl named Fiona who has found her way to a magical place where she can create her own world by telling stories -- is fanciful and fun.  It's also incredibly realistic, at times.  

When Fiona shares her story with Alistair, it's with the hope that someone will know where she's gone if a dangerous creature known as "The Riverman" steals her soul and she goes missing in the real world. Alistair is convinced that the world Fiona describes doesn't really exist, that it's a story she's created as a defense mechanism to help her forget problems in her real life.  But, what if she's telling the truth and there is a Riverman who steals children's souls?  Is there anything that Alistair can do to save Fiona?

I found The Riverman fascinating, creative and surprisingly gripping, with believable characters, particularly in the Real World portions of the book. Alistair and Fiona are outcasts and dreamers but Alistair is also an 11-year-old with a rebellious streak. I found Alastair very realistic if slightly dense, at times. The ending of The Riverman unfortunately was a little too nebulous for my taste and left me feeling like I'd had the rug swept out from under me. However, I liked the book enough to only take off a point for its disappointing ending. Recommended, but I'd advise caution to those with particularly sensitive children on the lower end of the recommended age spectrum. I gave The Riverman 4 stars.

The Big Needle by Ken Follett was originally published in 1974 and made its way to a U.S. publisher in 1975.  His website says Ken Follett "burst into the book world in 1978 with Eye of the Needle", so The Big Needle predates his first truly successful book. I'm not surprised this early book was not the book that made Follett a household name.

There were hints of what was to come in his future mystery/thrillers but The Big Needle is clearly the work of a writer who had not yet fine-tuned his writing. The hero is a wealthy man whose daughter is near death from an overdose and he wants revenge. He investigates, attempting to work his way up to the top boss, the drug lord guilty of shipping heroin into England. During the investigation, he's pretty casual about killing anybody who gets in his way.

The Big Needle is very much a product of the times with drugs, sex (pretty kinky stuff, including wife-swapping and a threesome), rock 'n roll, and a hero who is fabulously wealthy and not afraid to use his money to get what he wants, for better or worse.  I loved reading about the hero's clothing more than anything.

A big negative: As in many books from the era, there is a rape in which there are no lasting emotional consequences. Grrr.  On the positive side: It was kind of cool to see the old usage of "an" with a word beginning with "h" (as in, "an hotel").  Nice reminder that not long ago students were taught that now-defunct English rule.

Overall, The Big Needle was interesting but not a particularly cohesive story so I gave it 2 stars and it will be going out the door.  Not recommended unless you're simply curious about Ken Follett's early writing. I've been a fan of Follett since I read The Eye of the Needle and The Key to Rebecca and found that I could clearly spot the elements that Follett continued to use, altered or dropped in the breakout novels that followed.  It was fun pondering the differences between The Big Needle and later works.  However, I probably would not have made it all the way through the book, had it not been a mere 175 pages long. His books have just kept growing in length, haven't they?

©2014 Nancy Horner. All rights reserved. If you are reading this post at a site other than Bookfoolery  or its RSS feed, you are reading a stolen feed. Email bookfoolery@gmail.com for written permission to reproduce text or photos.

Minis: The Walnut Tree by C. Todd, A Walk in the Park by J. .Mansell, Comet's Tale by S. Wolf & L. Padwa

The Walnut Tree by Charles Todd is subtitled "A Holiday Tale" and I'm not quite sure why.  It may end at Christmas, but otherwise it is most definitely not a Christmas tale.  In fact, it's more of a war tale with a rather lame romantic love triangle and a heroine, Lady Elspeth Douglas, who feels compelled to deceive her best friend, everyone in the service in which she's trained as a nurse and both of the men in her little love triangle.

Get the feeling I didn't like The Walnut Tree?  Well, I did finish the book.  That's saying something. But I think The Walnut Tree is flawed, a bit juvenile and extremely cliche.  Lady Elspeth (again, in a manner that simply does not make sense) ends up on the front line of an important WWI battle and after seeing the casualties, decides to imitate Sybil of Downton Abbey and become a nurse.  By this point, she's helped a friend deal with childbirth and has become engaged.  But, she then encounters an old friend and falls even more in love with the second guy.

In the end, I was able to completely predict the outcome of absolutely every plot point.  It's ridiculously obvious what has to happen at every turn and the tiny hint of a mystery that's tossed in like an afterthought is patently annoying.  Why did I keep reading?  I suppose the war scenes are rather interesting. And, even though the book was terribly predictable, I still wanted to get to the goal and read about the heroine ending up with her guy.  But, honestly, I do wish I hadn't spent money on The Walnut Tree.

Since I've read a number of reviews in which regular readers of Charles Todd have said The Walnut Tree doesn't live up to the mother-son team's normal standards, I'm planning to give one of their mysteries a try, soon, because I'm now doubly curious.  We'll see how that goes.  Not recommended unless you don't mind transparent plotting . . . say you're just a fan of historical fiction and/or romance but you're not picky.  Maybe then.  

I must warn you that the words "have" and "had" are so overused that they even appear in dialogue:

"You must know how much your presence had brightened the lives not only of your cousin but of the other three officers who are working with Sister Macleod."  -- p. 153 

Drop the "had" (or change it to "has") and that bit of dialogue is acceptable, if a bit awkward.  If this particular grammatical atrocity continues in the mystery I intend to read, I will never touch another Charles Todd book.  It truly is unbearable.  But, The Walnut Tree may simply be one of those books that was rushed to press with minimal editing and I figure almost everyone deserves a second chance.  

In A Walk in the Park by Jill Mansell, heroine Lara Carson returns to her childhood home in Bath, England, for the funeral of her father.  At 16, she was kicked out of the house by the father who never loved her and the stepmother from hell -- and they didn't even know she was pregnant.  Now, Lara's daughter Gigi is 18.  Lara's best friend will be marrying soon and it turns out Lara is in her father's will.  So, as much as she'd like to avoid the boyfriend she left behind, Lara will have to stick around Bath a bit more than she intended.

Flynn always wondered what happened to Lara.  One day she was suddenly just gone and he never heard a word from her.  Now that she's back with his biological child in tow, he wants answers.  

Evie is thrilled to finally walk down the aisle but on the day of her wedding, things are going horribly wrong.  After she cancels the wedding, her ex-fiancee won't let go.  Determined to prove he's changed, he pursues her with a vengeance.  But, there's another man wooing Evie.  Will Evie make the right decision, or is there even a decision to be made?  Is Evie destined to make bad choices and remain alone?  

There's always so much going on in a Jill Mansell novel that it's a bit mind-boggling.  I love her books.  They're cheery and plotty and terribly fun. I must admit, I felt dangled a bit more than I like, didn't buy into one of the major plot points and thought A Walk in the Park ended too abruptly.  And, yet, A Walk in the Park is classic Mansell and I enjoyed it.  Recommended, but not her best.

Comet's Tale by Steven D. Wolf, with Lynette Padwa, is a pet story in which -- get this -- the dog doesn't die in the end!!!  Awesome. You have to appreciate that, since most pet memoirs do end with a death.  

Comet is a rescued greyhound.  I had no idea greyhounds came in a variety of colors; you can see from the cover image that she has an interesting calico-like coat of brindle and black and shades between.  When she was rescued, Comet had been left in a cage with a muzzle on.  The author, who goes by the name "Wolf", had two golden retrievers in Nebraska.  But, because his spine was severely degenerating, he was living away from his family and their pets in Sedona, Arizona most of the year.  Colder weather caused even more trouble with his constant pain.

Lonely and depressed after being kicked out of his own law firm, Wolf eventually decided to consider adopting a greyhound and visited the home of some people who fostered quite a few of them.  Comet was off in a corner and appeared to be depressed, herself.  But, just as Wolf was about to make a decision to adopt one of the other dogs, she appeared at his side.  The choice had been made for him.  

Comet's Tale tells about how Comet became not only a devoted pet but also eventually was trained by the author as a service dog when his condition further deteriorated and he needed help with simple tasks like opening doors and picking up dropped items.  Comet's Tale is a deeply touching story.  The only thing I disliked about it was the fact that the author went a little nutso when he had surgery that helped significantly reduce his pain.  However, he eventually "redeemed" himself, just like a fictional character, thank goodness.  An amazing story of love and devotion between pet and human, highly recommended.  

As I was reading Comet's Tale, I found myself desiring to adopt a greyhound -- which is pretty odd because I really don't have the right personality to be a dog owner, although I tend to fall in love with friends' dogs.  The way greyhounds are used and abandoned or killed is truly appalling.  

Here's our little Isabel hanging out on my legs on a day that I stayed in bed feeling yucky, recently.  Rescued pets are the best. 

©2012 Nancy Horner. All rights reserved. If you are reading this post at a site other than Bookfoolery and Babble or its RSS feed, you are reading a stolen feed. Email bookfoolery@gmail.com for written permission to reproduce text or photos.