Dog Crazy
Page 23
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Meg Donohue’s Favorite Dog Books for All Ages
SOMETIMES WE READ to be transported into foreign emotional landscapes; other times we read for the pleasure and comfort of having the familiar illuminated. Dog books fall into the latter category for me. My favorite ones feel as though they were written by kindred spirits—dear friends with an enviable ability to articulate just how I feel. Each of the following books holds a special place in my heart, and has in one way or another inspired my own contribution to the genre.
Where the Red Fern Grows
by Wilson Rawls
This action-packed story of a boy and his faithful raccoon-hunting dogs, Dan and Ann, captured my imagination as a dog-crazy kid and has stayed with me ever since. In fact, thanks to this book I spent a chunk of my childhood pretending that our neighborhood park was the Ozarks and my dog was a coonhound. My fondness for the breed was later cemented at summer camp in Vermont, when I fell head over heels for the camp cook’s dog, a coonhound named Gypsy. If YouTube had existed back then, Gypsy would have been famous; when you told her that you loved her, she responded with two short barks and one long howl—a crystal clear bark version of “I love youuuuuuuuu.”
The Accidental Tourist
by Anne Tyler
Macon Leary, grieving the tragic death of his young son and his subsequently dissolving marriage, is already at his wit’s end when his dog, Edward, shows new signs of aggression. Enter one of my all-time favorite fictional characters: quirky, optimistic dog trainer Muriel Pritchett, the bright light of this poignant, funny, and steadily uplifting novel. I continually marvel at Tyler’s ability to make the characters in this book wonderfully eccentric, painfully real, and entirely sympathetic.
Fancy Nancy and the Posh Puppy
by Jane O’Connor,
Illustrated by Robin Preiss Glasser
When you have three daughters under the age of six, you not only read a lot of Fancy Nancy books, you read them again and again . . . and again. Luckily, I’m always happy to dive into this sweet story of Nancy’s quest for the perfect puppy. No matter how many times I read this book, I can’t help but smile when Nancy, deciding that “unique” is even better than “fancy,” welcomes her new mixed-breed shelter pup with open arms. This one will always hold a place of honor in our family’s library.
You Had Me at Woof
by Julie Klam
Do I adore this memoir or Julie Klam herself? It’s a testament to Klam’s irresistibly warm and funny voice that I honestly don’t know the answer to that question. You’ll laugh, you’ll cry, and you’ll hug your dogs a little tighter when you finish reading the exquisitely entertaining lessons the author has learned from rescuing Boston terriers. Julie Klam is a tremendous gift to dogs, dog lovers, and readers alike.
Dog Songs
by Mary Oliver
Whether or not you typically read poetry, I can assure you that if you love dogs, you will love this remarkable book of autobiographical poems that—like all great dog books—is as much about living as it is about the dog-human bond. Oliver distills her wonderful observations into beautifully succinct turns of phrase that sink right into you, making this collection easy to read and yet impossible to forget. My copy is dog-eared, underlined, read and reread with great enjoyment, more than a few tears, and huge admiration for Oliver’s heart and talent.
Have You Read?
More from Meg Donohue
ALL THE SUMMER GIRLS
* * *
In Philadelphia, good girl Kate is dumped by her fiancé the day she learns she is pregnant with his child. In New York City, beautiful stay-at-home mom Vanessa finds herself obsessively searching the Internet for news of an old flame. And in San Francisco, Dani, an aspiring writer who can’t seem to put down a book—or a cocktail—long enough to open her laptop, has just been fired . . . again.
In an effort to regroup, Kate, Vanessa, and Dani retreat to the New Jersey beach town where they once spent their summers. Emboldened by the seductive cadences of the shore, the women begin to realize just how much their lives, and friendships, have been shaped by the choices they made one fateful night on the beach eight years earlier—and by the secrets that now threaten to surface.
“All the Summer Girls is an honest and engaging look at the complicated and powerful bonds of female friendship. Donohue takes us on a weekend reunion full of secrets, resentment, and regret—in other words, once you start this book, you won’t be able to put it down!”
—Jennifer Close, bestselling author of
Girls in White Dresses
HOW TO EAT A CUPCAKE
* * *
Free-spirited Annie Quintana and sophisticated Julia St. Clair come from two different worlds. Yet, as the daughter of the St. Clairs’ housekeeper, Annie grew up in Julia’s San Francisco mansion and they forged a bond that only two little girls oblivious to class differences could—until a life-altering betrayal destroyed their friendship.
A decade later, Annie bakes to fill the void left in her heart by her mother’s death, and a painful secret jeopardizes Julia’s engagement to the man she loves. A chance reunion prompts the unlikely duo to open a cupcakery, but when a mysterious saboteur opens up old wounds, they must finally face the truth about their past or risk losing everything.
“A sparkling, witty story about an unlikely, yet redemptive, friendship. . . . Grab one of these for your best friend and read it together—preferably with a plate of Meyer lemon cupcakes nearby.”
—Katie Crouch, bestselling author of
Girls in Trucks and Men and Dogs
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Also by Meg Donohue
All the Summer Girls
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Copyright
This book is a work of fiction. The characters, incidents, and dialogue are drawn from the author’s imagination and are not to be construed as real. Any resemblance to actual events or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.
P.S.™ is a trademark of HarperCollins Publishers.
DOG CRAZY. Copyright © 2015 by Meg Donohue Preuss, trustee of Preuss Family Trust. All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the nonexclusive, nontransferable right to access and read the text of this e-book on screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, decompiled, reverse-engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereafter invented, without the express written permission of HarperCollins e-books.
FIRST EDITION
EPub Edition March 2015 ISBN 9780062331045
ISBN 978-0-06-233103-8
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