A Dog Year: Twelve Months, Four Dogs, and Me

JON KATZ

Goodreads synopsis: In his popular and widely praised Running to the Mountain, Jon Katz wrote of the strength and support he found in the massive forms of his two yellow Labrador retrievers, Julius and Stanley. When the Labs were six and seven, a breeder who’d read his book contacted Katz to say she had a dog that was meant for him—a two-year-old border collie named Devon, well bred but high-strung and homeless. Katz already had a full canine complement—but, as he writes, “Change loves me. . . . It comes in all forms. . . . Sometimes, change comes on four legs.” Shortly thereafter he brought Devon home. A Dog Year shows how a man discovered much about himself through one dog (and then another), whose temperament seemed as different from his own as day from night. It is a story of trust and understanding, of life and death, of continuity and change. It is by turns insightful, hilarious, and deeply moving.

Stats for my copy: Trade paperback, Random House Trade Paperbacks, 2003.

How acquired: Bought.

My thoughts: I've never had a Border Collie, but I've heard stories and heard that they are very energetic and high maintenance. I really enjoyed this book for the most part.

But. I love dogs. I am a dog lover. I want all the dogs. I would love to foster dogs, but my resident dog lived in a backyard for six years and was completely unsocialized when I adopted him, and since I do have to work outside the home full time, I don't feel I'm in a position to be a good foster home. While the author loves his dogs, I didn't get the sense that he is a dog lover. For one, his labs came from a breeder. I will never buy a dog from a breeder. I wish breeders no longer existed. There are so many millions of dogs in shelters, living on the streets, or being euthanized because nobody wants them, that it seems unethical to me for dogs to purposely be bred. And yes, I realize that there are so many children in foster care that need to adopted that maybe I shouldn't have bred my own. But dogs are my passion so I don't care how unreasonable it is, that's how I feel.

Then there was this passage:

For the noblest of reasons, it had also become popular – and immensely rewarding – to go to the local pound and bring home stray and abandoned animals. Many were lovely, companionable dogs, but some were mixed breeds unsuitable for suburban families, tense and unpredictable around other animals, kids, even their owners. This can also be true of purebred dogs, some of whom suffer from overbreeding and don't live up to their TV commercial images.

I don't know why that paragraph rubs me the wrong way. It's an innocuous three sentences. There's truth in them. Maybe it's the phrase “become popular”, as if he's dismissing adopting shelter dogs as being beneath him, or being a fad. And of course, as I got further into the book, his descriptions of Devon certainly prove “This can also be true of purebred dogs”.

I did love this quote though:

Dogs live on a scale that I can comprehend; their lives are an outcome I can affect. They make me happy, satisfy me deeply, anchor me in an elemental way. Sometimes it's hard for me to trust people, or to find people I can come to trust. I trust my dogs, though. They would do anything for me, and I for them.”

When one of the author's labs begins ailing and is euthanized, I cried. It's a hard decision, and it's one I've had to make myself, more than once. It's been two years since I lost my dog Max to cancer, but sometimes the grief is still fresh, as if it just happened last month.

But other than the occasional wince or incredulous “did this guy know nothing about dogs” reaction to some of the things he did (throwing a choke chain on the ground next to the dog to get his attention or correct his behavior? Seriously?), I loved the stories about Devon himself, about his personality. I could read about that kind of stuff all day long. 

The Stepmother

CLAIRE SEEBER

Back cover copy: Jeanie and Matthew are a happily married couple who both have teenage children from previous relationships. No one said it would be easy to raise a blended family under one roof but Jeanie and Matthew are strong. They will make it work. And whilst Jeannie's stepdaughter Scarlett rejects her, Jeanie will just have to try harder to win her over. But Jeanie has a past. A terrible secret she thought she'd buried a long time ago. And now, it's coming to the surface, threatening to destroy her new marriage. Someone is playing a terrifying game on Jeanie and she must put a stop to it once and for all. After all, a fairytale needs a happy ending...Doesn't it?

Stats for my copy: Trade paperback, Bookouture, 2016.

How acquired: Bought.

My thoughts: I went into this book with high hopes because I loved LULLABY, the only other book I've read by Ms. Seeber. Too high. The book never really gripped me until about the last eighth. I never connected with Jeanie, who narrates for us. Jeanie's sister, Marlena, also provides occasional narration, and I actually liked her better, even though we see less of her. The back cover copy says “Jeanie and Matthew are strong”, but I definitely did not get that impression of Matthew and I didn't like him at all. If his mother had been around he would've been a mama's boy, but instead he was still letting his ex call the shots.

I have several more of Ms. Seeber's books, and I will keep reading her, in hopes that LULLABY wasn't a one off. But if I'd read this one first, I wouldn't have rushed out and bought everything else of hers I could find.

Forever a Hero (The Carsons of Mustang Creek, Book 3)

LINDA LAEL MILLER

Goodreads synopsis: Mace Carson is no hero. Back in college, he came upon a woman in trouble and intervened—but he was just one irate Wyoming cowboy with his boots planted firmly on the side of right. Now a successful vintner, Mace is shocked to be reunited with the woman he saved. But it turns out she's in Wyoming on business…a corporate executive representing the company that wants to buy his winery. Only, he's not selling.

Kelly Wright has never forgotten that horrible night ten years ago when Mace came to her rescue, has never forgotten him. The surprising success of a winery in the middle of ranch country has brought her to Mustang Creek, and she's secretly thrilled to discover Mace at the helm. Reluctant to mix business with pleasure, Kelly vows to keep things professional, until her attacker is released from prison and comes for vengeance…against both of them.

Stats for my copy: Mass market paperback, Harlequin Books, 2017.

How acquired: Bought.

First line: It all happened in a matter of seconds.

My thoughts:

This is the third book in The Carsons of Mustang Creek series, and while the first book (Once a Rancher) is still my favorite, I very much enjoyed the youngest brother's story. The banter between Mace and Kelly had me smiling constantly, and laughing out loud several times.

Kelly and Mace first met in college ten years ago, when Kelly was attacked while walking across campus one night, and Mace came to her rescue. They were both in relationships at the time, and other than the trial, didn't see each other again. Now the company Kelly works for wants to form a partnership with Mace's winery, and she's in town to present the proposal to him.

While Kelly is in Mustang Creek, trying not to fall for Mace, the man who attacked her is released from prison and begins stalking her. I expected that plot to be resolved in the usual cliched way, and was happily surprised when it took a completely different and unexpected turn.

Mace is the last of the Carson brothers to find the love of his life, but there is still one more book! Raine, Slater's ex-girlfriend and the mother of his daughter, has appeared in the first three books and is still close with the Carson family, and I've already bought her book and am looking forward to it. 

The Barefoot Summer

CAROLYN BROWN

Goodreads synopsis: Leaving one widow behind is unfortunate. Leaving three widows behind is just plain despicable. Oil heiress Kate Steele knew her not-so-dearly departed husband was a con man, but she’s shocked that Conrad racked up two more wives without divorcing her first. The only remnant of their miserable marriage she plans to keep is their lakeside cabin in Bootleg, Texas. Unfortunately, she’s not the only woman with that idea.

Fiery, strong-willed Jamie wishes Conrad were still alive—so she could kill the scoundrel herself. But for their daughter’s sake, she needs that property. As does Amanda—twenty-eight, pregnant, and still weeping over the loss of her true love. On a broiling July day, all three arrive in Bootleg…with a dogged detective right behind who’s convinced that at least one of them conspired to commit murder. One momentous summer filled with revelations, quirky neighbors, and barefoot evenings on the porch offers three women the chance to make the journey from enemies to friends, and claim a bright, new beginning.

Stats for my copy: Trade paperback, Montlake Romance, 2017.

How acquired: Bought.

First line: Black showed respect for the dead, so Kate Steele wore red to her husband's funeral that Saturday.

My thoughts: I enjoy Carolyn Brown's cowboy romances (esp. LOVE DRUNK COWBOY!), but had not read any of her non-cowboy stories, so when this came up as an Amazon suggestion I preordered it. Turns out the police detective is also a rancher, so there was still a hint of cowboy in the book.

Kate, Jamie and Amanda meet at their husband's funeral. Kate, the first wife, who refused to give Conrad a divorce. Jamie, the second wife, who has a young daughter and is just angry. And Amanda, the third wife, pregnant, still in the honeymoon phase and devastated to lose Conrad. After the funeral, they each, separately decide to retreat to Conrad's lake house, and once there, they each refuse to leave. So they settle into life as roommates while waiting for Conrad's property division to be worked out. Jamie thinks her daughter should inherit the lake house, as Conrad's daughter, and Amanda wants it for herself.

Ms. Brown is always good at creating realistic and individual characters. At first the women is just civil to each other, for the most part. But as they get to know each other, reluctant friendships start to form. And then there's Waylon, the detective, who keeps popping up to ask questions and remind the three women that they're all suspects in Conrad's death.

The mystery of Conrad's murder and the investigation into it were more of a background plot, as other than asking the women questions we didn't really see Waylon doing much detecting. But I didn't really mind. The three women coming to grips with and developing relationships with each other, including Jamie's little girl, Gracie, was the heart of the story. I loved seeing them reexamine their lives, especially Kate.

As with a previous Brown book, my only complaint is that the characters all talk without using contractions, which feels stiff and unnatural to me. But once my brain adjusted and began automatically inserting the contractions for me, it didn't bother me as much.

Fun, as Ms. Brown's books always are, and heartwarming story that kept me up late a couple of nights. 

Wild: From Lost to Found on the Pacific Coast Trail

CHERYL STRAYED

Goodreads synopsis: At twenty-two, Cheryl Strayed thought she had lost everything. In the wake of her mother’s death, her family scattered and her own marriage was soon destroyed. Four years later, with nothing more to lose, she made the most impulsive decision of her life. With no experience or training, driven only by blind will, she would hike more than a thousand miles of the Pacific Crest Trail from the Mojave Desert through California and Oregon to Washington State — and she would do it alone. Told with suspense and style, sparkling with warmth and humor, Wild powerfully captures the terrors and pleasures of one young woman forging ahead against all odds on a journey that maddened, strengthened, and ultimately healed her.

Stats for my copy: Trade paperback, Vintage Books, 2013.

How acquired: Via BookCrossing.

First line: The trees were tall, but I was taller, standing above them on a steep mountain slope in northern California.

My thoughts: I've been sitting at my computer for five minutes and can't seem to come up with anything more eloquent than wow, what a fantastic book. I can't even begin to imagine doing what Cheryl did. I doubt I would last a full day on the trail before giving up and packing it in. But it's not just her first time hiking adventure that was fascinating. The peeks at her childhood and how she grew up were just as fascinating. Raw, honest, emotional, with no sugarcoating her faults and the bad choices she made. Completely riveting and engrossing.

I thought I had seen the movie, and was a little confused and taken aback at the beginning, with all the stuff about her mother's cancer. Then when I saw the title of chapter 5, “Tracks”, I realized that the movie I watched was called Tracks, which was also from a book, by Robyn Davidson, and which I very much want to read now.