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!

Tuesday Teaser

Today's teaser is the first few sentences of my new book, A Dog's Journey.

As I sat in the sun on the wooden dock that jutted out into the pond, I knew this to be true: my name was Buddy, and I was a good dog. The fur on my legs was as black as the rest of me, but down at my paws it had, over time, become tinged with white.

(A Dog's Journey by W. Bruce Cameron, pg. 5)

I'm definitely in trouble. When a book starts with an old dog laying on a dock reflecting on his life, it can only mean one thing...

Review: City of Glass

There's nothing a sunny day with a breeze is better for than finishing a good book.

If I didn't know better, I'd have guessed that City of Glass was the final book in the Moral Instruments series. It had all of the action and intensity of a final book, plus, it would seem, the conclusiveness.

And who might this be?

As with the first two, City of Bones and City of Ashes, the battles were of epic proportions, the twists were plentiful (albeit a bit predictable), and the story genuinely juicy. 

Glass definitely surpasses Ashes in intrigue, as it became increasingly clear with each turned page that the second instalment may have suffered a bit more than I realized initially from the sophomore slump. This story clearly had bigger and better places to go -- and it got there with this third book.

Clary and Jace embark on further and deeper self-discovery, that deepens their relationship to each other and many other characters in the book. We learn much more about Simon and Jocelyn which are welcome and important subplots in the story.

Where will we go next with the fourth book, City of Fallen Angels? I haven't the slightest idea. I can only predict that we may see more of the faeries, more of Raphael and the vampires, and quite possibly we haven't seen the last of Valentine.

I won't get to find out for another two weeks as Fallen Angels is waiting patiently for me on a shelf 7 hours away.

Up Next: In the meantime, I'm likely to dive into a huge departure from the fantastical world of the Mortal Instruments -- A Dog's Journey by W. Bruce Cameron. A sequel to A Dog's Purpose which I read early in 2011 before I started this blog, Journey continues to tell the story of Buddy, as he is reborn to look after another human sorely in need of a dog's love. It's bound to be as gushy and emotional as the first and I'm looking forward to it immensely!