The Daily Coyote by Shreve Stockton

Coyotes are generally considered a nuisance.  Not a pet.  So when Stockton adopts an orphaned coyote, she doesn't quite know what she's getting herself into.  But she's willing to try.

Stockton fell in love with Wyoming while driving across the country on her vespa.  After seeing it, she knew that was where she had to end up and so found a small rental and a way to make a living and moved.  She quickly met the acquaintance of a local land manager/rancher and ends up renting property off of him in addition to dating him.  And then he decides to give her a coyote puppy.  Something made him save it out of all the other ones he was putting down for his job and Stockton decides to raise it.  The book covers the first year of the the pup Charlie's life and the different challenges Stockton faces in raising him.

Stockton is pretty open about her life and the people around her.  Even her boyfriend she gets pretty candid about.  Telling when she's upset with him or the personal aspects of his life.  But she does the same for herself as well.  Charlie gets the most description of course, and since he's the star of the show that just makes sense.  I enjoyed reading about his personality and his antics, and even his bad quirks.  Stockton took a long look at herself to see why she might be having troubles with him and wasn't afraid to admit her mistakes and failing and try to do something about them; which is admirable.

This book moves kind of slow for only covering a year.  A lot of time is spent on Charlie as a puppy and during the times where he and Stockton were having personality conflicts.  I find it interesting, but honestly would have preferred to hear a little more than that year as the last third of the book just seemed to be about her struggles with him and it barely got to being better before the book was ended.  I suppose this is due to the timeline she had to write it in, but I wish they would have let her have a little more time to expand on the story.  Otherwise the description is good, the pictures are lovely and adorable and I really did enjoy reading Charlie's (and Stockton's) story.  The only warning I would give is that there is quite a bit of description about coyote killings.  It's reality unfortunately, but if you can't handle that kind of stuff, don't read the book.

If you like animal stories this is a good one.  Stockton does a great job with Charlie and it's a pleasure to see the pictures and read the book.

The Daily Coyote
Copyright 2008
287 pages

Bad Elephant Far Stream by Samuel Hawley

When you think of realistic fiction you probably don't think of the protagonist as being an elephant. But it was an elephant in this book. Based off of the real life circus elephant Topsy, Far Stream has a long sad story that shows much about how the circus industry was a hundred years ago.

Topsy was born Far Stream and at a very early age was captured and shipped across the seas to America where she was separated from what remaining family she had left and sold into the circus industry. Throughout her life she is passed around to different shows, either by selling or because the circus itself was sold and she encounters other elephants. Nothing remains constant in her life except the cruelty used to keep elephants in line when they don't behave and like most other elephants, Topsy grew tired of the constant abuse and started to turn "bad" and to what humans considered dangerous.

Topsy is a likable protagonist. You actually feel bad for her plight and the things she was forced to do. I'm sure more than a few people will be put off from the circus when they read this book even though it is hoped that more humane practices of animal care are followed today. Her connections to the other elephants were interesting, especially her sister Red Stream. And it shows that animals are capable of affection too, not just humans, and that they experience a range of emotions as well. The humans in this story I didn't really care for. Sure there were a few good ones, but that was just relative in terms of the bad ones. I found it hard to believe that there wasn't one person who didn't subscribe to treating the animals well no matter how they were behaving.

I've read other books about circus elephants and other books with the elephant as a protagonist, but never a book that combined the two. I think it was an interesting way to present the story. The pace flowed nicely and I found myself having a hard time putting down the book as I wanted to find out what would happen next. Topsy's story was just that engrossing. Since it is based on the real life Topsy there are a lot of true facts in this book as well, although the author admits that he borrowed from other elephant's stories to give Topsy a complete history. Which is why this is a fiction book, and not a history book. But it's still very informative on the subject.

This is a good book for animal lovers (although parts will make you sad) and very nicely written. I would definitely recommend this to people interesting in either the circus or elephants.

**This book was received as a Free Advanced Review Copy**

Bad Elephant Far Stream
Copyright 2013
263 pages

Every Living Thing by James Herriot

If you're an animal lover you have probably heard of James Herriot.  But on the off chance you haven't, he's a veterinarian that practiced in England in the mid nineteen-hundreds.  And he was an animal lover himself, in addition to being a writer.

Every Living Thing is part of a series that chronicles Herriot's experiences as a vet.  But it is not the type of series that you have to read in order.  This book is a collection of short stories from Herriot's practice and can range from stories about horses, to cows, to dogs and cats, and even some of his house hunting stories too.  And it's also a book about the owner of these animals, because ultimately, they are the ones that Herriot interacts with the most.

There are a wide range of characters in Herriot's books.  He works with a lot of strange creatures, and I'm not talking about just the animals!  The people are just as varied and seemingly dependent on their animals well-being for their own well-being, so much so that at times it doesn't seem authentic, but they're still nice stories.  There always seems to be a story where a human is downtrodden because their animal is not acting quite right, but there are just as many that are quirky on their own with their animal being ok.  And the animals are amusing as well; while the cows and sheep don't have too much of a personality, all of the dogs and cats he worked with seemed to.  I did enjoy the story of his two feral cats quite a bit.  He showed a lot of patience with them. 

These are all short stories but they had some kind of tie-in for all of them.  A lot of times this was just an arching story of Herriot wanting a better house, but it still eased the transition and made the book almost seamless.  Some of them were more interesting than others (I didn't particularly care for the story about the Tailor), but overall it was a very nice, pleasant read.  That is, pleasant if one ignores all the descriptions of Herriot reaching his hands insides all sorts of places on animals all the time.  I'm not saying that it ruined the story, for me it didn't, but to those who are a little more squeamish it might put them off the book.  Because Herriot doesn't hold any description back.  But even in doing so his love of animals is evident and he's out there no matter what trying to help them, and I think that's what makes this book charming.

Definitely a cozy read and one that most people can appreciate the warmth and approachability that Herriot gives veterinary work.

Every Living Thing
Copyright 1992
374 pages

Chicken Soup for the Dog Lover's Soul by Jack Canfield, Mark Victor Hansen, Marty Becker, Carol Kline and Amy Shojai

I don't have a dog, but I like dogs.  They just require a lot of time, effort, which I don't really have an abundance of.  So I enjoy dogs through reading about them and this book was chock full of dog stories.

Like the other Chicken Soup books, this one was filled with little stories that were meant to inspire and create warm fuzzy feelings for you.  The stories ranged from dogs as rescuers, letting go of a dog, adopting dogs, and a whole lot more.  The dogs as rescuers was the most interesting because a lot were dogs that taught themselves how to help sick owners or alert them to danger.  It just shows how intelligent they can really be sometimes.  About the only story I didn't enjoy was the one where it described a dog going after a bunch of bicyclists.  The only thing that stopped the dog was quick thinking by one of the bicycle riders, but for some reason the story was presented as trying to be cute, instead of as a dog not properly supervised that almost hurt some people.

Dogs can be characters, but I didn't really get the goofiness I associate with dogs from this book.  In fact, none of them had a huge personality, despite their owners describing them and having lived with them.  The sense of the animals themselves just wasn't there, despite their stories being told.  I think the humans in the book came across more strongly.  Their love for the dogs and how they related to the dogs.  That seemed to be the bigger focus here.

The short stories were easy to read and you could read this over several nights or in one sitting because of the format.  I enjoyed most of the stories about the dogs and there were a few truly remarkable ones in there.  While some were just so-so and had more to do about the person than the dog, there weren't too many of that type.  And although this is a Christian publication, there wasn't much about religion in it, just a lot about dogs.

Not a bad read for people who like dogs.  There's a little bit of something in here for every type of dog lover.

Chicken Soup for the Dog Lover's Soul
Copyright 2005
398 pages

Chicken Soup for the Cat Lover's Soul by Jack Canfield, Mark Victor Hansen, Marty Becker, Carol Kline and Amy Shojai

I'm a cat person.  I currently have two of my own and could only wish for more.  So, on this streak of Chicken Soup books that I've been reading lately, it only seemed appropriate to read the Cat Lover's Soul book.

Chicken Soup for the Cat Lover's Soul is filled with the normal short stories of the Chicken Soup series.  They are broken down into different chapters titled, "On Love", "Celebrating the Bond", "A Furry RX", "Cat-Egorically Wonderful", "Cats as Teachers", "Farewell, My Love", "Rescue Me!", and "One of the Family."  Each of these chapters has several short stories relating to the themes and of course, they are all about cats.  There are stories of adopting special cats, cats alerting their owners to danger or illness, and many other things.  I especially liked the story "The Call of the Lobster" about a cat who talks to a special toy, because one of my mom's cats does the same thing with a fuzzy ball she carries around.  I knew she was strange, but at least she's not alone in her strangeness.  There were other stories I didn't like though, like the one about a lady who rescued a cat with FIV and then after treating it at the vet let it roam with her other cats (yes FIV can be contained and treated, but it can be infectious and it seemed an unnecessary risk to her other cats).

I'm of the opinion that all cats are pretty wonderful.  It's the owners that I sometimes don't care for.  There are a lot of people out there that are just cruel to animals (including a story in this book where four teenage boys are practicing target shooting on a cat) and it hurts to read about people like that.  Granted, there are just as many if not more wonderful people in this book who adopt cats and take care of them, so it does have that redeeming quality to it.  But really, it's the cats that make this book worthwhile and it showcases them.

I will admit that there were quite a few stories in here that made me laugh or cry.  The cat getting its head stuck in the garbage disposer (it was rescued successfully) made me giggle.  But, despite there being a specific chapter for cat death "Farewell, My Love", kitty death was rampant through this book.  I'm fairly convinced that the people at Chicken Soup aren't happy unless there's a death of a person, animal, plant, whatever, every ten pages or so in their books.  Not sure what's so inspiring about that, but they've sold a lot of books so it much be working.  I just wish there was more life than death in these books, especially this one since I appreciate my kitties being alive and don't want to think about their eventual deaths right now.  Still, they had a lot of good stories in this book.

Overall this is one of the better Chicken Soup books.  As a cat lover, I did enjoy it and read it in one sitting.

Chicken Soup for the Cat Lover's Soul
Copyright 2005
378 pages

Marley and Me by Josh Grogan

There are so many things to enjoy about this book and so many things not to enjoy.  While I can like the diligence put forth into writing an entertaining book, there were some things in this book that disturbed me.  And it's actually more of a memoir than a story about a dog, the owner's life is first and foremost here.

As a practice run for a baby, John and Jenny decide to get a dog.  They decide on a Labrador because they're fun and goofy, and purchase a puppy.  Right away they realize they've gotten in over their heads.  Marley is a whirlwind on four paws and constantly into trouble.  He also grows into a behemoth who is hard to control and somewhat untrainable for them.  But they love him and as the years pass he becomes a part of their family (joined later by 3 kids).

This is a book about John's life.  Not Marley's.  I like memoirs, but I was expecting more about Marley.  Having to hear about his wife's pregnancies and contractions and all that kind of stuff was something I wasn't really interested in.  And there's not much mention of his kids, so if it was going to be that type of memoir, you'd think there would be more in there.  There is a lot of Marley though, and it usually is the author describing the antics Marley gets into.  So since there is a lot of Marley in it, I'm not going to fault the author too much on that point.

But there were a lot of things that bothered me.  First and foremost, the buying from a backyard breeder.  I like to volunteer at shelter's and it always pains me when people go out and buy puppies.  I understand the allure of a pure bred, but there's so many dogs out there that need homes (some purebreds).  And now I'll get off my soapbox.  I also couldn't believe the way they trained the dog, and the most disturbing scene is when the wife, suffering from post partum depression is found by the husband hitting Marley.  Now he goes on to say that the dog wasn't hurt physically, just emotionally because his person was upset, but it still doesn't bode well.  Especially since the author does nothing about it when it sounds like the wife could have probably used some help even before that incident so she didn't get into that state.  Everyone makes mistakes, but you have to rectify them too.

The book overall was well written.  It flowed easily and was edited ok.  Obviously there is childbirth, dog poop, and other messy things in the book, but it wasn't overly descriptive.  And towards the end, since dog's lives are short, I felt tears coming to my eyes at Marley's plight.  Animal lovers should be well aware this book details the entire life of the dog and the inevitable.  And have tissues on hand as a result.  It's true that this family loved the dog, even if they were a bit misguided.  And that's why so many people think Marley is a funny read, because of the screw ups committed by the author and the people, not the dog.  But again, this book is more about the people than the dog, which was kind of disappointing.

A book full of mixed emotions, it does have some sensitive topics.  Because people have so many opinions on animal care, training, specialized collars, etc. it can be kind of a volatile subject.  But this is a book about a family who loved a dog.

Marley & Me
Copyright 2005
289 pages

Chicken Soup for the Cat & Dog Lover's Soul by Jack Canfield, Mark Victor Hansen, Marty Becker and Carol Kline

Ok, admittedly after awhile these all start to run together. I mean the collection of Chicken Soup books is just humongous. But I'm a sucker for anything involving animals, so I decided to delve into this particular collection of short stories.

If you're not familiar with the Chicken Soup series, they are a bunch of books, usually themed that contain lots of short stories that are meant to be uplifting and inspirational. This particular book, for the Cat & Dog Lover's soul, is about animals. But not just cats and dogs, in a little side note in mentions other critters too, although with the extensive amount of books I'm not sure why they just didn't make this one about cats and dogs; but I digress. Some of those stories will rip your heart out, because let's face it, a lot of these stories are about losing a special animal, while others are meant to be inspiring, like those animals that rescue humans from their burning houses. The Cat Who Needed A Night Light was one of these such stories, involving a guy and his heroic cat who saved his life.

There are a wide variety of animals in here, and some really aren't even that remarkable. The majority of the stories actually seemed to deal more with people's feelings about their pets than about the animals themselves. It was about emotions running high when pets were in danger or dying or when the person themself was losing a battle, be it physical or mental. I'm more of an animal lover than a people lover, so I would have to say that I wished the stories were a little more about the pets themselves.

And so many sad tales. I sometimes wonder if the Chicken Soup authors aren't in league with the sellers of tissues, as they seem to make you want to cry in every book. There's always someone or something dying and it gets a little depressing after awhile. A book full of happy stories would be just terrific. And yes I know I can skip the sad ones, but I find it hard not to read a book straight through so I always end up with a tissue in hand reading the rest of the books. And a lot of the stories are faith based, this is a Christian publication after all, but they are not in your face about it, so just about anyone can enjoy these tales. Since it's broken up into short stories you can read this in one sitting, or split it up into as many different reading times as there are stories.

An ok collection. All unique stories when compared with the other books in the series so you won't be rereading too much. And great for animal lovers, regardless of what kind of animal they're fond of.

Chicken Soup for the Cat & Dog Lover's Soul
Copyright 1999
408 pages

Chicken Soup for the Pet Lover's Soul

Well, I'm home sick and have been dosing myself with "Chicken Soup" all day.  And I have to say, it's probably the Powerade making me feel better, not the books.  Especially this one, which was downright depressing.

If you couldn't guess, this particular Chicken Soup book is about pets.  The feathered and the furred kind and even a little bit of the scaly.  While most of the stories seem to be about dogs, there's quite a bit of cats, a few horses, a couple stories about birds, and even one about a snake.  The stories are somewhat memorable, mainly because they seem to try to make you shed a tear.  There is so much sickness, death, and abuse in this book that I can't really call it heartwarming.  For every positive story there are three more where the animal dies or develops cancer or its owner has cancer.  The story of "Frisk" was one of those sad ones, in which a poor old man has a cat who keeps coming down with a mysterious illness.  "Soul to Soul" has a woman who has been abused most her life lose more than one to death in a short period of time.  And I could go on.

The stories are mainly about the animals, but also about how they effected their owners as well.  And it really is the owner's pain that you feel in this book rather than the animals.  They're almost a side note as to how the people dealt with the pain they were feeling.  But there was some joy too, as animals really do make people feel happier.  And I especially enjoyed the stories of the service animals who made visits to hospitals and nursing homes. 

All of these are short stories so the book can be a quick read.  It's especially good if you only like reading a few pages a day, but it can also be read in one sitting.  I do have one major complaint though, and that is that one of the stories in this book (about a horse) is also in one of the other chicken soup books.  As many stories that they get submitted for these things there is no excuse for a story to be recycled.  Ever.  But alas, this is not the only book that will do that.  I just think it's a shame that they don't try to make every work wholly original from the others. 

An ok book if you don't mind sad tales, but perhaps not what someone who enjoys uplifting tales would appreciate.  While all of the stories do show the compassion of animals, ultimately, this book is too heart-wrenching.

Chicken Soup for the Pet Lover's Soul
Copyright 1998
403 pages

Buffalo for the Broken Heart by Dan O'Brien

So I actually expected this book to be more of a memoir of sorts.  And in a way it was, but largely, it was what the cover said, "restoring life to a black hills ranch."  More specifically, restoring buffalo to the land.

Dan O'Brien has owned a ranch in the Black Hills for some time.  And he started out with cattle.  But like most ranchers in the area, making ends meet with this type of ranching is near impossible.  So much so that he has to take jobs elsewhere just to make the mortgage payment.  But in addition to being a rancher, O'Brien is also a teacher, ecologist, and so many more roles and he's interested in bringing the wildlife back to the Black Hills after years of overgrazing.  One step further has him start raising Buffalo instead of cattle and while he's a novice to begin with, he learns as he goes.  This book greatly details how running a sustainable Buffalo farm works for O'Brien and his hardships and triumphs within the first few years.

O'Brien talks about the Buffalo in this book mainly, but there are small snippets of his life.  From his sadness over his divorce, his joy in children discovering the buffalo, and just getting along with his neighbors, we can see that overall he's a good person, who's committed to the land.  He doesn't hesitate to point out flaws, like the sloppiness of the guy who helps him work the ranch, but he is kind about it and still makes sure to point out all the good things too.  And he cares about all the animals.  From the falcons he keeps as a hobby, to the bird dogs, to the buffalo themselves, he doesn't mistreat them.  He lets nature take it's course and doesn't add any cruelty to it.  He lets them be animals.

I'm not going to lie, I did find this book dull at times. Most specifically when he is at auction buying more buffalo.  I much prefer his descriptions of them out on the land and the care of them.  Even the roundups are kind of exciting, but still not nearly as good as him just describing the land.  And it is nice he's still making it work, even selling the meat on the internet through his wildideabuffalo site.  He's a believer in not finishing his buffalo in feed lots, and that's admirable.  O'Brien does a good job describing the life of a rancher.  It's not glorious or romantic and you can tell you really have to love what you're doing to stay in the business. 

An inspiring read.  I definitely learned a lot more about buffalo than I ever knew before. 

Buffalo for the Broken Heart
Copyright 2001
254 pages

A Dose of Tia by Dina Mauro

**This book was received as a free advanced reviewers copy**

I've always wanted to do more volunteering. But work, commutes, and other things have led me to believe that I just don't have the time. Which is false, I do, but I need to find a volunteer opportunity that I'm passionate about. Which is what Mauro explains and lives in this book. She shows that if you have passion, it's not an obligation, but rather a way of life.

Through little stories and vignettes, Mauro tells about how she adopted Tia, her dog that goes with her on volunteering jaunts, stories of the patients they visit, and just different lessons she learns about life while volunteering. Sometimes she relates conversations that she has with patients while other times she shares the musings in her head as Tia visits with them and she waits quietly. At the end of the book, she provides resources for those looking for volunteer opportunities.

Although short, the stories offer a look into different patients lives and while we don't know medically what's wrong with them, we get to see a different side. A side that tells about pets at home, family life, or just old stories that they feel a need to share. And even though the stories are short, they are detailed enough that you get an idea of what the volunteering time was like. About herself she shares her feelings and her goal to try to stay positive, and even a small glimpse into her family life. So you know the person who's working with the dog Tia, even if everyone they visit is more interested in Tia (which is fine by the author).

The book is almost like a series of short stories and thoughts. And it jumps around a little bit, but it's still highly readable. I was a tad disappointed that there wasn't more about Tia herself. The volunteering was more of a main focus than the dog, which somewhat belies the huge picture of Tia on the front of the book. But for those looking for an inspirational book about volunteering, this fits. My only other complaint would be that the conversations Mauro had with people seemed more simplistic than they would be in real life. I'm sure this is partly because they are recalled from memory, but I just picture conversations as having more detail than what they are portrayed here as. Still, it's not that distracting and having a warm, happy read is nice when there are so many books out there that focus on the bad instead of the good.

If you're interested in volunteering or enjoy stories about animals and people working good deeds, this is probably a good book for you. Short, sweet and simple, it expresses why someone would volunteer their time for a good cause.

A Dose of Tia
Copyright 2012
142 pages

Buddy: How a Rooster Made Me a Family Man by Brian McGrory

Hmm, maybe I just couldn't get into the book that well, but I had a lot of trouble seeing how this rooster made the author a family man. But I suppose if you're going to write a memoir, throwing a rooster into it makes it interesting at least.

Brian McGrory has lived a pretty good life. He's got a job he loves, that pays well, and while his first marriage didn't work out so well, he got a wonderful dog out of it. Sadly when that dog dies, he's on his own again, except for the fact that he becomes involved with the dog's veterinarian. And she comes with two kids, a dog, two rabbits, and a rooster. Yes, a rooster, who isn't too fond of Brian. But it's through this rooster that Brian sees himself able to leave the exciting life in the city he's used to, to settling down in the suburbs with this pre-made family.

I think Brian is pretty funny. He doesn't paint himself as perfect but he's reasonably funny, has a few flaws, but cares for people too. I actually enjoyed reading about him, especially when the story was focused on him and his dog Harry. His fiance and her kids I wasn't as attached too. He tries to describe them as nice and special, but they all seemed kind of spoiled and not very caring of Brian's feelings to me. Now granted this is from his point of view, but a lot of things that he described just didn't seem fair. The animals he describes particularly well, and his scenes with his dog Harry about moved me to tears. The chicken, well, I can tell you right now that Buddy and I wouldn't have gotten along. I like my roosters to respect the humans that come into their yards.

The memoir flowed easy enough. The first third described Brian's life with his dog Harry and I think that was my favorite part. He had a really good connection with the dog and it was easy to see what a good pet owner he was. But then we got to the madness of the kids, more dogs, rabbits, and rooster and I think I was a little overwhelmed, just like Brian was. As much as he described wanting to be a part of that family, I somehow wonder if he's as happy as he says he is. It just didn't seem like the right fit for him when he describes his life with them. In fact, those parts of the book I didn't find as interesting or enjoyable, it really was that first third that I enjoyed most in this book. But at least the book had a humorous voice to it and it made for easy reading. I can't say I took any important lessons out of the book, but it was a nice way to relax.

A different sort of animal memoir. It's not often you run across one involving a rooster. I can't say I thought it was stupendous, but it was a decent read.

Buddy: How a Rooster Made Me A Family Man
Copyright 2012
311 pages

Wesley the Owl by Stacey O'Brien

I have a great love of owls. It all started when my uncle nicknamed me "owl". But rather than praising my virtues of wisdom, he used it in a more derogatory way to imply I was a snobbish know-it-all. As much as it hurt, I finally told myself to turn it around and use the animal as a totem of sorts instead, and felt a lot better when I focused on that positive aspect. So there's that connection, and then there's just the fact that they're beautiful creatures.

Wesley the owl was adopted by the author Stacey O'Brien when he was just a few days old. A research at Caltech, she worked with the owl department and was found to be the perfect fit for this owl as he could never be released to the wild because of an injury. So she took him on with only a little idea of what that would mean over time. For nineteen years she cared for Wesley and developed a connection with him that would last the entire time he was alive. Mixed into the book are anecdotes about Wesley and general facts about owls and a little smattering of Stacy's personal life; as it was deeply intertwined with Wesley's life.

Stacy is a pretty fair narrator of herself. She doesn't hold back some of her flaws or embarrassing moments (like Wesley trying to mate with her) but she also doesn't seem self conscious either. It's clear that she was pretty happy with Wesley in her life, even if it did keep her from developing a human relationship. Wesley is just adorable and I enjoyed all the descriptions of his antics and emotions. I always thought of owls as pretty stoic and was surprised to learn at just how much goofiness they possess. And the bond the two had together was pretty incredible.

This book progressed slowly at times, and I think that's because O'Brien just tried to fit a sheer amount of information, stories, and other things into a somewhat small book. I could have easily seen this book be expanded into two different ones; one about owls and the other the personal story of Wesley. But even if it's a little rushed it was still a very enjoyable read. You got to learn about O'Brien as a person and her love for the little owl she raised. It almost made me want an owl myself, but to be honest, just hearing the detail of everything she had to do to care for Wesley and how it impacted her social life, it's not a task to be taken lightly and really, only a professional should ever attempt it. Wild animals are wild animals, and it's very rare that they should be included in someone's home. And like all animals, even Wesley, there does come a time when they grow old and leave us, and like most animal memoirs, that is not left out of this book.

This was definitely a book for owl lovers or even just regular animal lovers. With the photos that showed Wesley you could really get a sense of this unique owl and it added to the book as well. Because "Whoooo" could resist an owl (sorry had to do it)?

Wesley the Owl
Copyright 2008
224 pages

The Lucky Dog Matchmaking Service by Beth Kendrick

This was a cute book, I read it cover to cover in one sitting. I knew from the cover it would probably be interesting, and I was right. I had a real problem with some of the characters though, and that's what kind of ruined the book for me in some regards, making it a 3.5 star kind of book.

Lara is very good with dogs. So good in fact that she is known as a matchmaker of sorts for people and their dogs. She can find a stray the perfect home. Too bad she's not as good at matchmaking in other regards though, especially with her own love life. When she and her boyfriend have a fight over her rescued dogs, Lara finds herself homeless, and back living with her mom, who's not the most maternal of people. But she also gets new opportunities in the form of dog training clients from this move too, so thinks are starting to look up.

Lara is an ok character. She's strong willed in some ways and flaky in others, but for some reason it just doesn't mesh together and make her seem like a real person. I think she gets walked on too much, and that it is excused too easily during the book. Her boyfriend I didn't like at all either, and I'm not sure what she saw in him really. The same with her parents, I can understand a child being attached to someone because they are a parent, but she would have been better to just walk away from the both of them. The only really redeeming character in this would be her friend Kerry, and even she had problems of her own.

The plot was cute though. And that's what saved this book. I liked the concept of a dog matchmaker and all the hard work that was put into finding good homes for dogs. That kind of thing just gives me the warm fuzzies. And when it was talking about the dogs the descriptions were better and the ideas were better too. Kendrick took the time to make you want the best for these dogs, more so than for the human characters. I did think the ending moved a little fast and things were resolved a little too quickly as well, but for the most part the book maintained a decent pace.

Cute, and while it could have used better characters it was still worth the read. I would probably read more by this author.

The Lucky Dog Matchmaking Service
Copyright 2012
320 pages

The Call of the Wild by Jack London

Now this is what I consider a classic.  Can there be a more exciting tale than that of Buck?  Well, I don't think so anyway.

Buck is a family pet in California when he is kidnapped and sold into the gold rush up North because he is a strong large dog.  He quickly learns that this is a harsh new world, and that it must be treated differently from the tame life he is used to.  He becomes part of a sled dog team and struggles to learn the ins and outs of sledding life, including dealing with the other pack dogs.  Each new master brings additional lessons and Buck can feel himself growing wilder and wilder, getting closer to his roots as an animal that was not bred in captivity.

Buck is a very inspiring dog, and very real-seeming as well.  Since his plight is that of what hundreds of dogs had in real life during the gold rush, it's easy to see how his story has an element of truth in it.  I also like how we almost get to see his emotions directly through the telling of this story because you can see the way his thoughts and actions changed and how he adapted.  And you really can empathize with him, even though he's a dog.  The different people in the book were interesting too, although it's Buck's beloved owner John Thornton that truly steals my heart with his treatment of Buck.  The chapters with him in it are some of my favorites.  That's not saying the other characters didn't have their place, but he was one that stood out.

Since this is based on a real time in history, I think it does a remarkable job of showing the lesser known aspects of that history.  We all know about the Gold Rush, for instance, but few of us knew that regular dogs were being shipped up there to be sled dogs.  It never even occurred to me that there were dogs other than huskies doing the work.  I also thought that the book was perfectly paced.  Since it's technically a kid's book it's shorter than most books, but it's done in such a great way that you become so involved in the book and lose track of time.  However, one thing to note considering that this is a kid's book is that there is a great deal of violence and graphic description of fights, killings, etc.  For those sensitive hearts that love animals and can't handle one in pain, this isn't a book that should probably be read.

I absolutely love the book and think it should be one of those books that everyone reads at least once in their lifetime.  A true classic and one I'm proud to have on the bookshelf at home.

The Call of the Wild
Copyright 1963 (the edition I read anyway)
172 pages

Being Caribou by Karsten Heuer

I wish I liked the cold. I would love to do something like Karsten and his wife did in this book. But alas, the Alaskan and Yukon wilderness is not for me.

Karsten and his wife decide to follow a caribou migration.....on foot and skis. The total trip lasts about five months and they go hundreds of miles. They sleep in a tent and just try to keep up with the herd, I'll while carrying only what they can on their backs and avoiding predators like grizzly bears and wolves. Supplies are dropped along the way for them, but its still a very tough journey, but one that is ultimately rewarding as they learn quite a bit about the caribou. With the calving grounds at risk for being exploited for oil, they feel that the trip is necessary to help preserve the land for the caribou.

Karsten as a narrator was pretty good. There are times where I think he's a bit unfair at describing his wife, but ultimately he admires her, and I'm sure she'd probably be snarky too when writing the book because of the sheer amount of time they spent with only each other. The main focus is the caribou and traveling though, so there really isn't a lot of description of people they encounter with the exception of a few airplane pilots who pick them up or drop off their food for them.

If you think the main focus of this book is going to be the caribou, it isn't. This book is more about the total journey itself. Sure they mention spotting the caribou and some of the migration and some other facts, but just as much time is given to their camping supplies and relationship with each other, and the wilderness in general. Its more of a trip book. I'm sure their documentary probably focuses more on the caribou themselves. Which is just fine, but I would have loved to have them go even further in depth about caribou than they did. But hey, they included some great pictures of the animals and some scenery shots as well, so it was nice to put visuals to the book. As a warning, this book does take a stance against drilling for oil in the arctic, so if you're for it, this may not be a read for you.

Very interesting and informative, and just a good read in all. I would definitely look to see if this author or his wife have more books out.

Being Caribou
Copyright 2005
233 pages

Fire Bringer by David Clement-Davies

Ok, so I'm sure I'm not the only one who thought this, but this book was "Watership Down" with deer. It was almost shocking how many elements seemed to be borrowed from that book. And while this one was ok, just the sheer volume of similarities kind of ruined it for me.

The Herla (as deer call themselves) have entered a time of uncertainty. Their ruler, gone mad with power, has started changing the way they naturally live. When one fawn with a special mark is born, the leader fears a prophecy and sets out to kill him. He and a few other deer escape but find danger at every turn. And as the years pass, the dangers get larger and that special fawn Rannoch grows into quite the unusual deer. He doubts he is part of the prophecy though and doesn't realize his full potential. With the deer herd continually escalating downward and becoming more murderous and brutal, he does realize he needs to do something.

Rannoch was a bit weak to me. He runs away from his problems so much and while that's normal for humans, I guess I just don't see deer reacting the same way people would. He also doesn't have a very easy to follow thought pattern and I don't think its the result of being a deer. The other deer are interesting. It was hard for me to picture them as being particularly brutal, even in a fiction novel. I actually liked the few glimpses of humans in this book even though I wasn't supposed to. I just found them interesting compared to the deer. The most standout character would probably be Bracken, an older doe. She was very brave and very loyal and an all around good character.

For the plot, as said before, there were so many similarities to Watership Down that I couldn't take it quite seriously. It is kind of funny that Richard Adams (author of Watership Down) gave this book a good review. I would have thought he would have been angry at the similarities. But to each their own I guess. The pace moves very fast and the years even faster so its sometimes hard to keep track of where and when they are. Especially with Rannoch, he bounces all over the place. I do have to say that the end of the novel was interesting and I liked the resolution. It had a nice finality to it. The book did have some innovative ideas of its own too and because of that I can't rate it too low.

Its an ok book. Not one I'd probably recommend outright but I wouldn't discourage anyone from reading it either.

Fire Bringer
Copyright 1999
498 pages

Merle's Door by Ted Kerasote

This book couldn't decide what it wanted to be; heartfelt story about a man and his dog, or scientific reference book. And while some topics can pull this off, I didn't really feel it in this one.

On a rafting/camping/etc trip in the desert, Ted Kerasote comes across a half grown pup that is wild, but accustomed to humans. As he seems to have no owner, Ted takes him with him and grows to love this dog he names Merle. After the trip, Merle comes home with Ted to Wyoming where he becomes a "free range" dog, doing everything on his own and making his own decisions despite Ted being his master. But this does not present a problem for Ted who believes that this is the way dogs should live. He offers several scientific and behavioral studies in the book to back up his decisions in regards to Merle.

When Ted is talking about Merle its great. You can tell he genuinely loves this dog. Even though Merle sounds a little too good to be true, he does seem like a good dog and quite exceptional. Ted himself takes a backseat to the dog and while he delves into his relationships a bit, he doesn't describe himself as much as he does Merle. Likewise with the people in the town where he lives, their dogs get more explanation and detail than they do. And even those dogs don't get near as much explanation as Merle, which is to be expected.

When Ted's writing about Merle and their exploits together his writing is terrific. You can really feel the connection he has with Merle. But then he starts getting preachy about dog training and how Merle's life is the best compared to most dogs and adds in all the scientific and other stuff. If I had wanted to read about dog training and such I would have chose a book on that and as such, this book just had too much of that in it. I relished the parts where he told the story and dreaded the other parts. Although the last chapter was rather difficult for any animal lover. But it wasn't near as bad as the reviews I had read on it would account for. And that's all I'm saying on that subject as to not spoil it for anyone else. I did enjoy the parts where he and Merle are out and about doing athletic stuff as really enjoys spending time with Merle and doesn't let it keep him from doing what he normally would do if he didn't have a dog.

An ok book. Would have been great if he had chose a topic and stuck with it instead of trying to combine two different types of books. Not sure if I'll read anything else by him or not.

Merle's Door
Copyright 2007
361 pages