Review: A Dog's Journey

“You can usually tell that a man is good if he has a dog who loves him.” 

Dog lovers rejoice! We have another very special novel on our hands. And by special, I am of course referring to the wonderful sentimentality and humour with which Cameron tells the story -- from the dog's perspective.

Cameron and his dog, Tucker

The novel starts soon after we last met Buddy in Cameron's A Dog's Purpose: with Buddy missing his recently deceased person, Ethan. He is certain that he has finally, after many reincarnations in the previous novel, fulfilled his purpose as a dog; he loved, comforted, and protected his boy until the very end. Surely, this time, when it's his time to go, he will finally be able to leave the world and pass on to the next.

*Spoiler* Obviously, this isn't the case. And the novel takes us on a journey (a dog's journey?) to learn what this, and every dog's, real purpose is.

I find it amazing how Cameron tells a story so richly from the dog's perspective. His dogs have so much personality and character that you definitely fall in love page after page.

I recommend this book strongly for any dog lover. But first, you have to read A Dog's Purpose. It really helps to know the whole history of this wonderful dog's many lives. Both will make you laugh, bring you tears, and leave you reaching for your own furry friend to snuggle afterwards. I believe the first words out of my mouth when I closed the book were: "When can we get a dog?"

While you're browsing the internet, check out the website for the novels: A Dog's Purpose. You can kill hours looking at all of the photos.

Up Next:
In 7 days I'll be back in my hometown for 3 weeks, at which time I will be picking up City of Fallen Angels by Cassandra Clare and continuing the Moral Instruments series. I can't wait!

May 1st

A long time ago (and by that I mean a year ago), I tried to start a blog-tradition of kicking off each month with a great quote about reading. ...I think it lasted one or two months. But today is my attempt to bring it back!

I hope this happens to you sometime this May. I know it'll happen to me.

Twosday Timeout

Well, now that I'm back in the swing of working full-time and will soon be getting into the swing of planning a wedding, my reading time has suffered.

Today, on my drive home from work in Toronto traffic, I even considered the possibility of audio books to get me through the drive... But the drive isn't THAT long, and something about audio books feels like cheating when I blog about the joys of actually reading...

So for now, I'll stick with barely getting through a few pages a night as I fight to keep my eyelids from closing shut. Which means today's two come from only 13 pages beyond last week's two.

At seven p.m. that evening, when the rest of his colleagues had been spat out of the office building and then sucked in by the spreading Christmas mania outside, Lou Suffern remained inside at his desk, feeling less like the dapper businessman and more like Aloysius, the schoolboy on detention whom he'd fought so hard over the years to leave behind. [Whoa! Long sentence!] Aloysius stared at the files on the desk before him with all the same excitement as being faced with a plate of veg, their very green existence presiding over his freedom.

The Gift by Cecelia Ahern, page 113

Why am I still reading a Christmas-themed novel? Might need a reading binge this weekend...

 

Twosday Timeout

If for you, the holidays means a few days off work, with quiet nights spent cuddled up on the couch reading a book and sipping some hot chocolate, consider yourself living my fantasy.  For me, the holidays are a whirlwind of get-togethers with family and friends, filled with food, drinks, booming voices, board games, laughter, movies, and just constant moving.

Trust me, I'm not complaining.

And I wouldn't have it any other way.

But I'm really looking forward to my last few days of vacation before I start my new job, because that fantasy of the hot chocolate, couch, book, and a roaring fire are very appealing after about 2 weeks of non-stop activity.

The last time I picked up my book was on the flight home 2 weeks ago. 

But there he was, swaying and happy, and there she was, static and deeply dissatisfied, wondering why on earth she had chosen to be the glue holding it all together. 'Dad!' Lou announced.

The Gift by Cecelia Ahern, pg. 100

Can't wait to get this book finished! How has your holiday reading gone?

Twosday Timeout

So this week I did manage to squeeze in a bit of reading between all of the holiday hustle and bustle and then prepping to start teaching in only 3 weeks! (Where has the time gone!?)

I didn't make a great dent in the novel, but the story is moving along. I hate not being able to really pour myself into this book, but you do what you can! ...Though at this pace, I'm likely to be reading this holiday themed novel well into March Break.

Alfred narrowed his eyes, studying Gabe, and he looked back at Lou with a slightly nervous smile. 'Help me out here, pal.'

The Gift by Cecelia Ahern, page 80

A little mystery for your Tuesday. Could someone else, not just Sarah, post their two this week? (Thanks for always playing, Sarah! Check out her book blog after you comment on mine!)



Twosday Timeout

Try not to compare this week's page number to last week's... How embarrassing. I think I'll blame the holidays and the corresponding "hustle and bustle" of the season. Yeah... That's why I only read one page this week.

'We find ourselves in a familiar situation,' Sergeant O'Reilly said with a grimace. 'Unfortunately for you, we both head home at the same hour.'

The Gift by Cecelia Ahern, page 58

Hope you had a more successful week of reading than I did. Show me your two!

Twosday Timeout

Get ready for some description!

Those were the days either made up of a sun so hot he could still taste the ice-cream as soon as he set foot on the pier, or were so stormy that the wind whipped with such strength they would hang on to one another to avoid being whisked off land and lost to the sea.  On those family days, Lou would disappear into his own world.

The Gift  by Cecelia Ahern, page 57                     

Remember to share your 2 sentences! I want to see what you're reading!



A Good Book

As we usher in December, arguably one of the loveliest months of the year, I share with you a thought that seems fitting considering my feelings on finishing The Next Always:

I hope we all find this kind of good book this December.

Review: The Night Circus

"This is not magic.

This is the way the world is, only very few people take the time to stop and note it."

It took me a longer time to finish this novel than it usually takes me to finish a novel I really enjoy.  I think this is mostly due to the fact that this is a novel to be savoured, not devoured.

I first picked it up despite many "warnings" of its intensive imagery, lengthy descriptions, and slow-moving story. I'm still not sure why I ignored such warnings, but I am glad I did.

The imagery is, indeed, intense. The description every bit as long as I had been warned. The story did, in fact, crawl along. However, it didn't read like trudging through quick sand-- struggling to put one foot in front of another to tell some kind of disjointed story. Instead, it slowly drifted through time, from past to present and back again, in a kind of mist. So, slow-moving as it was, it remained graceful and quite mystical in a way that is very captivating.

You become part of the fantastical circus that is so enchanted it is unbelievable, and yet, I found myself longing to believe in it.  What some might call unnecessarily long descriptions of mere trivial circus nonsense, I came to understand as crucial battle scenes and eventually love letters between the two seemingly star-crossed magicians.

The novel is romantic and exciting in an understated way. It left me wanting to believe in magic, and possibly hopeful of seeing magic in some things I've never examined closely enough before to see it.

Recommendation: Avid readers and lovers of the magical, fantastical, and romantical should enjoy this book. Though I should stress the importance of being a patient reader, one who is okay with the absence of jarring action, and capable of keeping track of small fluctuations in time. If you can do and be all of that, you'll read a book that is quite actually a little spellbinding.

Up Next: The Art of Racing in the Rain by Garth Stein

I ran into Chapters looking to pick up a resource for school, and ran out looking to finish The Night Circus so I could move onto the next gem I stumbled across on my shopping adventure. In January I read a novel called A Dog's Purpose, possibly the first novel I've read written from a dog's perspective since I was 10 and read The Incredible Journey. And you know what? I loved it. I hadn't realized I was looking for something else like it until I found The Art of Racing in the Rain. It's the story of Enzo, a dog owned by an up-and-coming race car driver. "On the eve of his death, Enzo takes stock of his life, recalling all that he and his family have been through." Further described as "A heart-wrenching but deeply funny and ultimately uplifting story of family, love, loyalty, and hope, The Art of Racing in the Rain is a beautifully crafted and captivating look at the wonders and absurdities of human life...as only a dog could tell it." I can't see why a reader and dog-lover like myself wouldn't love this novel. Can't wait to dig in. Happy Reading!

Truer Words

Stumbled across this today on Pinterest.com, my latest obessession. I thought it was very appropriate for what I'm aiming to do here:

Hope you're having a great week!

And you should check out my boards over at Pinterest!

Review: One Day

"Cherish your friends, stay true to your principles, live passionately and fully and well.

Experience new things. Love and be loved, if you ever get the chance."

So explains the general theory of heroine Emma Morley. The words that guide her through her life and relationships, especially her experiences with the complex Dexter Mayhew. The much longed for best friend.

Few novels surprise me. When you read as much of the same genre and style as I do, you tend to catch on to the formula. I'm still not sure how it happened, but One Day by David Nicholls managed to both take my breath away and surprise me with events I should have seen coming. Each chapter is a brief photograph into the lives of the two characters at a new year in their lives over 20 years; two characters whose lives take very different paths after college graduation, but who form a complicated relationship full of the rises and falls true to any real-life friendship, romantic entanglement, or plain-old bond between two people.

The characters, Emma and Dex, Dex and Em, are complex, vibrant, and real. You fall in love with them and root for them despite their obvious flaws and struggles. Nicholls writes with an ability to make you feel with the characters, not just for them.  I laughed and cried with them. Felt disappointment, anger, confusion, and pride with them. As they moved on in their lives I could reflect on my own experiences of life just after college, and then imagine where I'm headed 10, 15, 20 years into the future.

Everybody has a love story to tell. It may not be as complicated as that of Emma and Dexter, or maybe it is. Maybe it's a lot of work. Maybe it's effortless and no work at all. Maybe you spend every day side by side. Maybe you're separated by space and time. Love stories come in all shapes and sizes, and One Day is one of a kind.

Recommendation: Read it right away... Then go see the movie!

Up Next: Bossypants by Tina Fey

Fey's sense of humour is impeccable. I'm already about 40 pages in and I've laughed out loud several times. Many of those times being on an airplane... Not exactly the kind of place you want to be looking like a crazy person.  

Moving On...

"The chapter was closed. And a new one had begun."

Appropriate closing lines from a novel with a nice story, fairly interesting characters, and a little bit of action.

Just like the characters took the opportunity to move on with life in the novel 44 Charles Street, I will take this opportunity to move on as well.

Although Danielle Steel has sold millions upon millions of books, her storytelling always seems a little amateur to me. (Example: the leading male says the word "stink" as in "that stinks" more than once, and several mundane facts are repeated several times in the same or similar phrasing). So, I'm happy to be moving on to a new novel by an author I've never read but have heard great things about.

The Jefferson Key by Steve Berry is book 7 in a series about Cotton Malone, a one-time top operative with the US Justice Department.  Although I haven't read any of the other books in the series, I'm told that won't affect my enjoyment of the action packed adventures Berry writes for his Malone character.

A synopsis for the novel explains:

"Former Justice Department operative Cotton Malone has hunted priceless treasures and confronted ruthless adversaries around the world. Now, a grave threat to the very foundation of our country has summoned him home to America.

When a bold assasination attempt is made against U.S. president Danny Daniels in the heart of Manhattan, Malone risks his life to foil the killing —only to find himself at dangerous odds with the Commonwealth, a secret society of pirates first assembled during the American Revolution.

In their most perilous exploit yet, Malone and Cassiopeia Vitt race across the nation and take to the high seas. Along the way they break a secret cipher originally possessed by Thomas Jefferson, unravel a mystery concocted by Andrew Jackson, and unearth a centuries-old document forged by the Founding Fathers themselves —one squarely rooted within the United States Constitution and powerful enough to make the Commonwealth unstoppable."

Sounds a little DaVinci Code-esque, and I like it!

I love this super-dramatic book teaser.

Happy Reading!

Lost and Found

"The only leaps of faith you"ll ever regret are the ones you don't take."

I know, I know. This post is a long time coming. It's been well over a month since I started reading The Lost Girls by Jennifer Baggett, Amanda Pressner, and Holly Corbett. I'd be willing to attribute the lengthy reading time to a few different things:

1. The incredible amount of quotable quotes, like the one above, would pull me away from the book long enough to write them down and then get distracted by something else.

2. The 538 page total makes it no short read... Although that's not a good excuse since I have been known to devour certain other 500+ page books in mere days (re: anything from the Harry Potter, Twilight, or Vampire Academy series)

3. The abundance of other things going on in my life in the past month have left little down time for reading. There have been several out of town guests, my own travels, several busy teaching days, and quite the unfair amount of what I consider great television (American Idol, Glee, The Voice, musical Grey's Anatomy, a Royal Wedding... you can see the trend in my TV taste, I'm sure) to keep me from tuning out the world to read.

and 4. Possibly one of the biggest factors would be simply the content of the book itself. When the "Lost Girls" were travelling the globe and telling about the sights and situations and people, I was devouring the book page by page taking it all in. I find it very exciting to read about the extraordinary things travellers can do when they're not afraid to stray from the beaten path. However, the novel was about much more than just travelling. It's not called the LOST Girls for nothing... All three of the girls had their own personal journeys to undertake. They had to grow and figure life out; they had to find out what they wanted, and inevitably what they didn't want. It was during these moments that I devoured the book word by word. The simple truth being that I can relate to the whole 20-something struggle to "figure it all out." To be found instead of lost. It was because of this connection I felt to the girls and their lives that it took me a little longer to read. I would read in very small doses, really contemplating their insights and seeing if they related at all to how I felt/feel.

It sounds a little heavy, I suppose. But in the end, I'm pretty happy with the book. It was an exciting, thought-provoking, and at times humourous travel memoir with a very realistic ending. Though it never really did end as the Lost Girls are still figuring life out a day at a time, just like me.

National Poetry Month

It's National Poetry Month in Canada! To celebrate, I wanted to share one of my most favourite poems.

In university, I majored in English. I don't share this point to sound pretentious.  In fact, because I focussed mostly on the 18th century, I ended up missing out on many of the classics you'd expect an English major to have read. (Think, Austen, Twain, and Bronte). This poem I'm sharing is from the 18th century, but the message is one that still means a lot today.  I think that's why it's my favourite.  It's about holding out for someone special and not settling for anyone less than the best. (Though there's also a sneaky warning about being too picky...) It's lovely and fun!

The Lover: A Ballad

by Lady Mary Wortley Montagu

At length, by so much importunity pressed,
Take, C– –, the inside of my breast;
This stupid indifference so often you blame
Is not owing to nature, to fear, or to shame;
I am not as cold as a Virgin in lead,
Nor is Sunday's sermon so strong in my head;
I know but too well how time flies along,
That we live but few years and yet fewer are young.

But I hate to be cheated, and never will buy
Long years of repentance for moments of joy.
Oh was there a man (but where shall I find
Good sense and good nature so equally joined?)
Would value his pleasure, contribute to mine,
Not meanly would boast, nor would lewdly design,
Not over severe, yet not stupidly vain,
For I would have the power though not give the pain;

No pedant yet learned, not rakehelly gay
Or laughing because he has nothing to say,
To all my whole sex obliging and free,
Yet never be fond of any but me;
In public preserve the decorum that's just,
And show in his eyes he is true to his trust,
Then rarely approach, and respectfully bow,
Yet not fulsomely pert, nor yet foppishly low.

But when the long hours of public are past
And we meet with champagne and a chicken at last,
May every fond pleasure that hour endear,
Be banished afar both discretion and fear,
Forgetting or scorning the airs of the crowd
He may cease to be formal, and I to be proud,
Till lost in the joy we confess that we live,
And he may be rude, and yet I may forgive.

And that my delight may be solidly fixed,
Let the friend and the lover be handsomely mixed,
In whose tender bosom my soul might confide,
Whose kindness can sooth me, whose counsel could guide.
From such a dear lover as here I describe
No danger should fright me, no millions should bribe;
But till this astonishing creature I know,
As I long have lived chaste, I will keep myself so.

I never will share with the wanton coquette,
Or be caught by a vain affectation of wit.
The toasters and songsters may try all their art
But never shall enter the pass of my heart.
I loathe the lewd rake, the dressed fopling despise;
Before such pursuers the nice virgin flies;
And as Ovid has sweetly in parables told
We harden like trees, and like rivers are cold.

Before you log off, check out The League of Canadian Poets website for more information on National Poetry Month. Teachers, there's a link there that'll give you some ideas for activities for young poets!



What the Fortune Cookie Says...

One of my favourite quotes comes from a fortune cookie.




I've kept this slip of paper for about a year now, though I can't be sure of the exact date I found it hiding in my cookie. This might seem surprising -- I am the girl who keeps fortune cookie fortunes, afterall.  But, I do know it was around the time I started having to make big decisions... about work, about love, and just generally about life.  So I kept it as a reminder to be proactive.

Despite this, I often find myself "going through the motions." My best example of this will of course come from my recent experiences with this latest addition to my bookshelf: Songs of the Humpback Whale.  In the words of another favourite author [sort of]: I'm just not that into it. And yet, I push myself through another few pages a day. I'm only about 100 pages in of 400. At this rate, I'll be finished next year sometime. 

The point is, I've made a decision to read books and write about them. I feel as though I can't abandon ship just because I'm not enjoying the choice of reading this book specifically.  Sometimes you have to do things you don't like in order to get where you want to be. In fact, sometimes that makes it a whole lot more interesting.

Therefore, even though I might be "going through the motions" with this book or with where I am right now in life in general, the end result of my decisions in literature and life should be pretty entertaining and enjoyable.

So thanks, fortune cookie, for always reminding me from your place on my corkboard to go ahead and make choices and follow them through! ...Even if that means I'll be reading this novel well into my summer vacation.