Tag Archives: books

02/13/14

Two Fictional Dog Books NOT to Read

It’s a bit strange, but my favourite genre for books is ‘animals that talk’. I read a lot of books which involve talking animals. A lot. And I have since I was a little kid.

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I scour the shelves in book and opportunity stores. A few years ago, I chanced upon a book called The Plague Dogs in an opportunity shop.

It was by Richard Adams, the author of Watership Down. You know, the wildly successful book and movie with talking rabbits? But, instead, it was a book with talking dogs! I purchased the book without hesitation. Dogs that talk! My favourite!

This book took me a while to get through. It’s a heavy and slow-going read. I was on the bus to work when I got to the last 50 pages or so. Ecstatic, I knew I’d finish it on the bus ride home.

As I hopped on the bus on the way home, I encountered a problem. My book was not in my bag. Coincidentally, my work had just moved office buildings, and that was my last day at the ‘old building’. I rang the bus company and my book was nowhere to be found.

How could I finish the last pages of a book published well over 30 years ago?

Luckily, one of my dog friends had a copy and I borrowed the book to read the last 50 pages. And I finally finished the book!

Why did I tell you this story?

Because it’s about a million times more interesting than the book.

Okay, so that’s a little harsh… But it’s also a lot true. This book took me about 18 months to read because it was so terribly boring. I am not a slow reader (I read Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows in about 5 hours). It was just so slow that I didn’t want to read it.

In it’s time, The Plague Dogs was probably quite revealing. It queries the ethics of experimentation on animals. However, in 2013, it is less of a mystery when it comes to what happens to animals in research centres, and the ethicalness of such a practice is publicly questioned.

 

Timbuktu book by Paul AusterTimbuktu

I’m not one for writing negative reviews, so I thought I’d condense this one and give you two books not to read at once. All the negativity in one hit. It’s all the efficiency in writing that The Plague Dogs lacks!

I can absolutely say that this book was an engaging and interesting read, and a book I enjoyed reading.

When I was in primary school, during creative writing, we were not allowed to finish our stories with, “I woke up and it was all a dream”. I think this is an important memo that the author missed. No, it doesn’t end quite that way, but it still an incredibly unsatisfactory finish.

While this book was an enjoyable read, I felt like the book was taking me to a far better place. As I got to the last pages, I was thinking to myself, “Wow, this has only this much to go? How is it going to end?”

The answer? Really dumbly.

So it’s cool for you to read this book and it won’t take you long, but it’s probably not going to be a particularly gratifying experience once you get to the end and feel like the author gypped you of a satisfying conclusion.

 

But in the interests of impartiality…

Maybe I’m a grump, because Goodreads and Amazon reviews are much more complimentary for these two books. The Plague Dogs has 4 stars on Amazon and  4 stars on Goodreads (out of 5).Timbuktu has 3.5 stars on Amazon and 4 stars on Goodreads (out of 5).

 

Have you read these books? Did either book tickle your fancy?

 

Further reading: For a book I actually liked, see my reviews on A Dog’s Purpose and A Puppy Called Aero.

03/20/13

A Dog’s Purpose

My mum gave me a book: A Dog’s Purpose by W. Bruce Cameron.. This is not unusual – she often purchases books from op shops and, if she thinks they’re to my tastes, she hands them to me and says “I don’t want it back”.

But this book was different: My mum handed it to me with the instructions, “If you read it and you like it, you can keep it. If you don’t want it anymore, give it back!”

Book, A Dog's Purpose, W. Bruce Cameron

I can understand why. This book was very enjoyable to read, and I would recommend it to any dog lover (or even a mild dog liker).

I think this book would be easy to spoil if too much was said.  All I will say is that it’s about the soul of a dog who is reincarnated into many different dog bodies, each adding to his understanding of his purpose.

It’s simply written and could be enjoyed at all levels – but the older you are, the more this book will make you reconsider the relationship you have with your dogs. Are you allowing your dogs to fulfill their purpose?

And then, for yourself, you may begin to consider your own purpose, and how it compares to a dog.

A thought provoking book, with sprinklings of funny, and really charming (fictional) insights into ‘how a dog thinks’. If you have the chance to read this book, take it! You won’t regret it.

Further reading: A review by PupLove and another by Dog Spelled Forward.

12/12/11

Book Review: A Dog Year

I won this book in a low-key raffle.  It’s not normally the type of book that I would pick up, but it was an enjoyable story about the author, Jon Katz‘s, year with 4 dogs.

This is an engaging and, in general, light-hearted book.  Jon Katz is a talented writer, making the book pleasant and easy to read.

The story starts with Jon Katz’s two-labrador household, and explains the journey he takes to a two-border-collie household.  It is a very sweet tale on pet ownership.

However, I’d say this book is best suited to more ‘pet people’ than those that spend a lot of time thinking about dogs and dog welfare.  Katz does some very uninformed things with his dogs, and it really frustrated me when reading.  For example, his dog jumps out of the car window when driving.

The book is only short, and is pleasant enough to read. For those that have pet dogs, they would probably enjoy reading this book.  For those who are extensively involved in dogs, I am not sure that the anthropomorphism will contribute much to your current understanding.

03/5/11

My Dog Book Collection

So this is a post of a slightly more personal nature, I thought I’d share a couple of photos of my book collection. I have only just organised the books in a meaningful way, so I am a little proud of my day’s efforts.

Why the reorganisation? Firstly, I felt the need to get organised because I almost bought a book that I already had a copy of. Not casually seen and bought it in a book shop, but as in almost placed an order on BookDepository. After this near-costly mistake, I felt the need to organise a little better. Secondly, the catalyst to my organisation was that the house is being rearranged at the moment and, as I have to move the books anyway, I may as well put a conscious effort into organising them.

And this is the result!:

My Book Collection

Okay, so it’s not that impressive to look at, but perhaps the more interesting and time consuming effort of the day is that I have used a library database to categorise my books. Continue reading →