Dog Days of Februrary

Week Six
A Dog Named Boo by Lisa J. Edwards

Inspiring. If I had to sum up this book in one word, that would be it: inspiring. As the parent of three rescue dogs, this book made me appreciate each on an even deeper level for their uniqueness and the impact they have had on my life. Even at my darkest moments, my dogs can make me appreciate my life. Even at their worst (like when they spill a gallon of bleach on the carpet) I love them to the core. This book made me appreciate these facts more vividly than I have in the past.

Lisa Edward's memoir is about the journey she is taken on by her dogs - first Atticus, then Dante, and finally Boo. Atticus introduces Lisa to her husband, Dante shows her that her passion is for dog training and animal assisted therapy, and Boo teaches her that, while we're all different, we all have our strengths.

The book, of course, is about a dog named Boo - a puppy she adopts to the dismay of her husband. Bringing this boy into her now three dog household proves complicated; her first two dogs were potty trained very quickly, smart as whips, and trained like a dream. Not Boo. Boo has difficulty with potty training, difficulty learning simple tasks, and seems to have difficulty even with paw-eye coordination. She doesn't realize it at first, but Boo is special in more ways than she would ever have imagined.

These dogs do exactly what us dog owners know they can do - they teach her everyday, they make her a better person, they heal her wounds. In this book, Lisa overcomes many tribulations dating back to her childhood with the help of her dogs and her own personal strength. If you've owned dogs before you know how rewarding and inspiring they can be. Lisa takes the personal rewards of dog ownership to a different level by training and certifying her dogs to be therapy dogs. The difference these animals can make an a life is awe inspiring.

I would recommend this book to everyone. Unless you don't like dogs. Then I probably wouldn't be recommending anything to you...

As I'm a few days late finishing my week six book, I have no idea what I'll be reading for week seven. Hopefully I'll actually finish it before week seven ends... Fingers crossed...

A Day Late and a Dollar Short

Week Five
East of Denver by Gregory Hill

I found this book while browsing through Amazon.com - East of Denver won Amazon's 2011 Breakthrough Novel Award, so I figured it was worth a read.

In this novel, Shakespeare, a man living in Denver, returns to his small farming community located a few hours east of the Denver metro area to care for his aging and mentally declining father. If you've ever been to Denver, you know that there is nothing good anywhere east of the city. To be honest, even the suburbs east of Denver are horrible. Two hours east of the city feels like driving into hell. As you can imagine, Shakespeare is not all too pleased with his new living situation. He soon finds out that not only is he living in the small town he grew up in with the people he wasn't too fond of in high school, but that him and his father are in a dire financial situation.

This book was a very easy read - there's nothing too intricate in the plot, the dialog is basic to say the least, and, it's just straight up short. Even though this wasn't the most complex novel I've read, I still enjoyed it for what it is. My reaction to the ending was something like, "Hm... Ok," while I turned the page to see if there was another chapter. Despite that, it was still enjoyable.

Next week, we're going back to the dogs with A Dog Named Boo by Lisa J. Edwards.