5 comments about Marley & Me: Life and Love with the World's Worst Dog.

1. I loved this book. It made me laugh and cry (sometimes within pages of each other). The twists and turns of the story are John Grogan and his family's everyday twists and turns. That is the beauty of the story.
   
   As we live our "ordinary" everyday lives we are creating powerful memories that shape who we are as people. When we tell of our memories they can, as in Grogan's case, shape other peoples lives as well. Marley & Me is a touching story full of beautiful memories that are worth sharing.
   
   Hurley Dog Chew Toy: Aqua Blue (Large)Eco Slumber Pet Bed (XLarge)Tux Dog Treat Chew Toy: TangerineZisc Flying Disc Dog Toy: Granny SmithEco Nap Earth Friendly Pet Bed: Burnt Orange (Large)Orbee-Tuff Ball with Rope: Blue/Green (Medium)Orbee-Tuff Ball with Rope: Glow/Orange (Medium)Hemp Eco Friendly Dog Bone Toy: Chocolate (Large)



2. This was the first book I purchased for my new Amazon Kindle - and I could hardly put it down - from the begining John Grogan draws you into Marley's world of mischief. As I finished the book, i could barely see the words for the tears in my eyes - this is a wonderful heartwaming, laugh outloud story told by a master storyteller. I highly recommend it.



3. Whenever I speak to someone about my dog, the person invariably responds with some variation of one of the three following questions:
   (1) Have you tried hiring a professional trainer?
   (2) Have you tried using a _______ (insert canine control device here; i.e., Halti Head Harness, choke collar, anti-pull harness, zapper collar, citronella collar, dog whistle, clicker, etc...)?
   (3) Is he neutered?
   
   The answer to all three of these questions is yes, in whatever form they are asked. We have tried it all, and we still can't have houseguests without warning the people ahead of time NOT to wear open-toed shoes and, despite the fact that we live in Florida and it's 90-plus degrees, long pants would be advisable. Not suprisingly, we have very few visitors.
   
   My dog, Cyrus, has done all of the terrible things a dog can do. He flipped over a table he was tethered to at Starbucks, and then dragged it across the patio until it became jammed between two other tables he took out along the way. He has, much to the chagrin of her mother, humped a five year old in front of a large gathering of people (interestingly, that was the only person he ever tried it on). He has been rejected (yes, flat-out rejected) from a canine "boot camp," which we drove three hours to just for an interview. He has nearly jumped out of the car window while we were traveling at a high rate of speed. He has broken his leash and charged off in random directions to see random people, usually scaring the bejesus out of whoever he decided to go visit. And he has eaten every imaginable object a dog can possibly eat. And when I say every, I mean EVERY. Area rugs, shampoo, sleeves off of shirts, shoelaces (but never shoes themselves for some odd reason), underwear, tea towels, coasters, books, drywall (he chewed a hole through a wall in our apartment one afternoon while I was grocery shopping), window blinds, two broiler pans, Chef Boyardee cans, an entire set of steak knives (only the handles, though, THANK GOD), dirty Kleenex by the pound, toothbrushes, spools of thread, and all of the embarassing stuff that ends up in the bathroom garbage. And the best part of that is that whatever embarassing object it is will ALWAYS get stuck on its way out, thereby requiring me to assist in its removal. In public. There are few things more humbling that removing a feminine hygiene product from your dog's butt five feet away from your apartment complex's pool while several horrified people look on.
   
   My friend Barb still describes him as "the dog who ate a car stereo." And it's true. He did. Box and all. In his medical records, there is a note in the margin, handwritten by my vet. It says, "PICA?!?!" I would say, although he has outgrown it for the most part (except for the bathroom garbage), that the answer to that was, at one time, a definite yes.
   
   In spite of all that, or maybe because of that, I love him. I love everything about him. The way he smells when he needs a bath. The way he sneezes in my face when smoke from my cigarette drifts to close to his face. The way he snores so loudly that I have to have a fan on my nighstand running all night to block out the noise. The way he smacks me awake while I'm sleeping so I will lift up the covers for him to climb under them.
   
   And I also love the way he snuggles up to me at night, that he loves to sleep in late, the fact that he is always severely distressed by me crying, that he will give hugs and kisses upon request, that he will do anything to protect me, and that, no matter how much of a piece of crap I feel like, he is so excited to see me when I get home that dancing and doing laps around the house are the only adequate ways to express his joy.
   
   The reson why I love this book so much is that it finally proves my theory that there are other people out there like me--people who love a dog that someone else--okay, maybe the rest of the US population--would describe as "terrible" or "horrible" or, GASP, even "incorrigable"--a favorite of his last trainer. And despite the fact that he is not Cesar Milan-approved, he is still, to me, the best dog in the entire world. I would never trade him in for Lassie or Rin-Tin-Tin. I mean, how many times did Timmy have to rush Lassie to the vet at 3AM because she decided that the Windex she stole from under the sink looked delicious? Perfection is boring. It is our flaws that make us unique, and it is adoration of those flaws that make us loved. The same is true with dogs.



4. Marley is a Labrador retriever, a wonderful " bad boy" typical Labrador style dog.
   I cried and felt every minute of his life unfolding in this book. Marley was 100% soul in motion like every other of his race.
   Unfortunately, his owner (like probably 99% of owners) had no idea what he got. Probably for Mr. Grogan a Yorkie would have been better...
   Marley, rest in peace.
   The 5 stars are all for you!



5. I really enjoyed this book. It reminded me of the antics of my own puppy. The book centers around a dog but it's really about a family. This book is filled with love and has really helped me get through the last very stressful week. I was laughing out loud at some parts.

5 comments about Be the Pack Leader: Use Cesar's Way to Transform Your Dog . . . and Your Life.

1. Wether you own a dog or just want to brush up on your skills as a leader in society, this book offers inspiration and great tools.



2. After reading "Cesar's Way" it looks like I'm in for more of the same thing. I haven't quite finished the book, but I'm afraid I'm going to get tired of reading the same thing over and over. I learn more from the videos and the show so I've decided to just order those. However, I firmly believe Cesar is right and you have to 'train' the people, not the dog. If the owner is a true pack leader, the dog will naturally follow along!



3. Millan's methods are both outdated and dangerous, the alpha roll being one of the better known and more dangerous of them. The term was first coined by the Monks of New Skete, who (as well as Millan) base the technique on wolf research. However that research has since been disproved, and even the Monks of New Skete have retracted this method and discourage people from doing it. Yet Millan continues, in spite of current research on behavior and learning processes in animals. An alpha roll is a very good method for getting your face bit off by a dog. That and scaring a dog.
   
   His dominance centered methods sound great, but fall far short of reality. Dogs do not live in rigid structures, but rather dominance is fluid and highly situational. Again, current wolf research from the last several years supports this and debunks previous beliefs of how wolf society works. In addition, its problematic when you attempt to take wolf society and apply it to a human-dog pack - its not a cookie cutter mold that can be applied everywhere.
   
   Millan does get some things right, because he is accurate that you do need to be a leader to your dog. Its his methods that are dangerous and harmful. You need not dominate your dog in order to lead. For more information on methods that work better and without the pitfalls of dominance and punishment based training, refer to trainers and actual PhD behaviorists such as Patricia McConnell, Pat Miller, Ian Dunbar, Karen Pryor, Victoria Stilwell (who has a show on Animal Planet,) Nicholas Dodman, and so many more who advance both science based training, and methods that foster cooperation and respect as well as joy between your dog and you.



4. again cesar proves that it is not the dogs that have the problems it is the humans that cause them through our lack of information and experience and also our actions of assuming we can treat a dog like a human and it still behave like a dog and picking the wrong breed of dog for our own lifestyle. excellent read a must buy



5. There is nothing new in Milan's training methods. He has just rehashed the outdated stuff of the '80s and earlier. Truly modern dog training seeks to form a relationship between dog and human, one based on mutual respect.
   
   Yes, one can get results with his methods, but response based on fear is shallow and fleeting at best. That is, unless one keeps the poor dog terrorized. He appeals to people because of his emphasis on human dominance over dogs. There are dozens--make that hundreds--of trainers with more worthwhile advice to offer. I suggest that the person who wants a friend and companion instead of a cringing syncophant listen to them.

5 comments about The Hollow (Sign of Seven Trilogy, Book 2).

1. This formulaic book reruns Roberts' usual 6 trilogy characters. This time around these people are supposedly educated and sophisticated, but they are ALL rendered, instead, as mentally defective suffering from ecolalia (repeating the same words over and over and over) in EVERY sentence or paragraph. In one short paragraph she used the same wording 4 times as if the character was talking to a moron, and was him/herself also a moron. Roberts essays enough banal Psychology 101 purportedly as profound "insights" within each of her one dimensional characters that she renders the story implausible and ridiculous. Only the character Cybil has the ability to encompass self awareness at any level of intellectual integration. The other 5 characters are pretenders.
   
   The metaphysical elements border upon REALLY BAD Sci-Fi. Fox and Layla, having known each other for 3 weeks, somehow "psychically" find diaries in a stone wall of an old farm outbuilding that no one else, including the "blood brothers", had discovered in over 300 years. We are told to believe that the diaries were penned by Ann, an uneducated peasant woman, who was recounting her tribulations with Dent and the demon in 1652. This "magickal" event strained ALL credibility. To add to this silliness, there was no difference between the truncated, quasi-contemporary speech that Nora uses in her characters' slang filled dialogs, to suggest how "hip" they are, from the overall style contained in the ancient diaries when read by Quinn, et al. Say what?
   
   Layla is the most despicable female character that Roberts has ever created out of her female character reruns. Instead of being merely the usual annoying, clingy, hyperfeminine character, Layla is asinine. The author has always focused upon sexual innuendo and lurid sex scenes with a heavy handed approach in her novels. This time she used a sledgehammer to pound the topic into the ground with her characters Fox and Layla. He hounds her until she surrenders to the unrelenting pressure of his creepy sexual demands. This repellant harassment also transpires while Layla is on the job working for Fox as his office manager. What a contemptible message to women who are subjected to this in the workplace every day.
   
   Worst of all was the hike to the Pagan Stone where Nora falls into the name and label dropping pattern that she has used in her last dozen or more books. "They launched with Nirvana...Smells like Teen Spirit...Hello!...he tossed in Smashing Pumpkins, a little Springsteen...swung into Pearl Jam, sweetened it up with Sheryl Crow". If NOTHING else that went before could shred plausibility into confetti, this DREK did the job. The ending was rushed and senseless. On a positive note: I loved the dog Lump. He has more brains than the characters in this farce. Watch and see, book 3 will have Gage and Cybil hooking up and settling down; Gage reconciling with his loser father; the demon being "destroyed" even though spirit beings are immortal; and enough vulgar sex scenes to satisfy even the most jaded reader.
   
   I was once a fan of her Irish trilogies, but had stopped reading her stuff after seeing the ensuing ones churned out using the same 6 characters ad nauseum and the trashy elements escalate. I had hoped that Nora had created something fresh and new in this trilogy. Alas, it was not to be. Nora Roberts has jumped the shark of credibility, plausability and decency.



2. This is the second book in a triology. The first book sets up the background and sets the stage for the first set of characters. Unlike other reviews I found that the background was more important because the characters continue into the next book. I think people who are giving so so reviews are loosing sight of the fact that it's a ficitional book. If you read all the same type of book all the time(especially by the same author)and you start to analyze and look for similarities you will find them. Read the book with spirit in which it was written. A ficitional story. I have this book as well as the first one and I love both of them,and I can't wait to read the last book. I will read it more than once.



3. Nora Roberts is the BEST. She never fails to hold my attention! Always a good read.



4. I borrowed this book from someone so I didn't read the first book prior. I think I would have liked it better if I had. It was a passably good book but the hero was sweet and nice and that's not my favorite personality trait for my heroes. It made him kind of boring. I didn't really care about their relationship and it didn't suck me in emotionally. I'm tempted to read the other books just because I hate to leave a series hanging, but I think if the next one is boring like this one, I might just pass.



5. "The Hollow" is the second in the 7 trilogy by Nora Roberts. A continuation from "Blood Brothers", this book finds Layla, Quinn and Cybil even closer friends with Fox, Cal and Gage, and more determined than ever to destroy the evil in their small town of Hawkins Hollow. While Book 1 focused on the growing relationship between Quinn (paranormal writer) and Cal (bowling alley owner), who have a psychic ability and connection, this latest book focused on Layla (the fashion queen) and Fox (the lawyer), both of whose abilities grow stronger as their relationship does. The only two not coupled up yet, but to me seem to be attracted to each other are Cybil (paranormal expert)and Gage (card shark with an attitude). I think that will be the beginning of book 3 which will all culminate in an ending that I am sure we won't soon forget..a showdown between good and evil. As the friends struggle to save the world as we know it, we find out more about their connection to the town and the evil that makes an appearance every 7 years for 7 days. Having now figured out how to reassemble the stone, we know that the end of this war (between good and evil) is near. I will however make a few predictions, the first being obvious: good always wins. The second being that while Gage and Cybil's relationship is going to be important in the last novel, so too will Gage's relationship with his father (hint, everyone else gets along and loves their father, with the exception of Gage...because his father abused him as a kid). And is there possibly a "7th" person in this adventure, maybe even Gage's father? Just guessing. Anyway, I still believe that the problem with this trilogy is that it should have been one great novel. On the other hand, because I am determined to see how this story ends I will read the final book, Pagan Stone, when it is released.

5 comments about Cesar's Way: The Natural, Everyday Guide to Understanding and Correcting Common Dog Problems.

1. I have to admit, I was skeptical about Ceasars methods. No that he could do it, but that we would be able to read a book and get results like on his TV series. I just did not believe, we could make his magic work for us as well. We have 3 Shih Tzus, and they get on very well, but my wife read this book, and they are now a pack :)
   
   I never could walk them together on leashes, as a matter a fact I never used leashes. We just went out into the yard and they did thier Business. Well my wife has adpoted Ceasars methods, which include walking the dogs, and exercise as well as affection. It works, even for a simple guy like me who just wants a lap dog :)
   
   Page 57 sums up the relationship, I had with my favorite pet. All love and affection. I lost her in a tragic accident, at my own hand. After time, we added two more for a total of 3 Shh Tzu's. I still wanted that "all love and affection" dog Trixie was, but realized I had to take Ceasar's words to heart. From page 57...."please open your mind to the possiblilty that your dog may be missing some of the things she needs to be happy in and fufilled as a dog". Well I opened my mind (with my wifes help :)) and I really beilieve the dogs are happier.
   
   That line would be my best advice for anyone to read this book. Open your mind, to what Ceasar is teaching and you will find that with some time and patience this book, his work, will give you a better relationship with your dog or dogs.
   
   Thank you Ceasar, you may have saved my marriage as well. LOL :)
   Bill Gonzalez



2. I bought this book for my daughter who just adopted a 5 year old Chihuahua, Lulu from a puppymill. I know Cesar's knowledge will be a great help to them because Lulu is afraid of everything. She's never been socialized and will need a lot of patience. My daughter needs training too.



3. Maureen and Gary Ross wrote the nothing short of incredible TRAIN YOUR DOG, CHANGE YOUR LIFE, using insights from the Delta Society, which uses dog training in human therapy. (Available on Amazon and Kindle).
   
   Cesar's popular training method of exercise, discipline (now called positive reward, gentle training, whispering, etc.), and then love, as well as insights about the energy we radiate, are truly innovative. NOW, he's likely read or seen the Ross's work, or read up on the Delta Society, and is actively writing/ speaking about HUMAN interaction as it relates to dog training. The key human insight in all this is: We TEACH others how we want to be treated.
   
   If our dogs (or our human companions!) treat us badly, it's because we are teaching them, often unconsciously, to do so. The insight, learned a decade ago with birds and dolphins who can simply swim or fly away, is that negative reinforcement doesn't work, but only TEACHES the student to treat US badly. Positive energy, plenteous rewards, and not reinforcing the negative treat the student to treat us well, and behave well.
   
   We train many species in our petcarelicense.com programs and at our clinics, and are learning with the Rosses that HUMAN relationships can benefit from understanding Dog training. A dog is a creature molded out of pure love, but to understand behavior problems, radiating calm energy is reassuring to start, lots of play and exercise is a path to showing our gentle but alpha status, and "discipline" is about giving lots of string cheese for the times we're treated right (the behavior is appropriate).
   
   Prediction: Cesar will be coming out with more and more books that show how learning dog training can help with every aspect of ALL our relationships, including human!



4. this book is an inspiration and insight into the life of cesar and the work he does, if you like watchinig his shows you have to read this book. it is one of those books you just can't put down you have to read it to the end.



5. I purchased this product after viewing a collection of Cesar's dvd's. They don't provide "How to..." for training a dog to do "Things"(sit, down, etc.) but they are very insightful in understanding how to have a good relationship with your pet as dog and master. The book has helped us get off to a good start with our new puppy.

5 comments about The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time.

1. Alas, while fascinating to understand the perspective of a child with special needs, it's just not entertaining. Read this to be edified, and to be grateful to be who you are and capable of all you can do ... but do not read this book for entertainment.



2. "The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time," by author Mark Haddon, is the story of Christopher John Francis Boone, a fifteen-year-old boy who discovers his neighbor's dog dead and sets about to solve the mystery of who killed it, making many other discoveries along the way. In this book, readers are treated to a unique voice, not only in literature, but in life, as Christopher is developmentally disabled. He doesn't like other people and he doesn't like being touched; as a result, when confused or angry, he often screams, groans, or physically attacks others. In giving Christopher a voice, Haddon succeeds in showing us Christopher's humanity but ultimately falls short in fleshing him out as a character.
   
   For many of us, seeing kids like Christopher can be a frightening experience. They can't communicate with us and often engage in behavior that seems unfamiliar, if not frightening. Over the course of the book, Christopher runs into many others who cast him as an outsider, if not an animal. As he goes to school, he is mocked: "[S]ometimes the children from the school down the road see us in the street when we're getting off the bus and they shout, 'Special Needs! Special Needs!'" Usually, Christopher is either at his school or with his family, so he does not engage with the public, but over the course of his journey to London, as he is forced to interact with others to figure out the train system, again Christopher's role as an outcast is clear, as people on the train term him a "train elf" and wonder whether they "should feed him some nuts." After he has an episode, he is left to sit on his bench in the train station alone, with nobody wanting to even be near him.
   
   However, because we are allowed inside Christopher's mind, we can see that he is not an elf or a freak. In describing one of his episodes, Christopher says, "I felt giddy. It was like the room was swinging from side to side, as if it was at the top of a really tall building and the building was swinging backward and forward in a strong wind . . . I rolled onto the bed and curled up in a ball." Hearing about Christopher's outbursts in his own voice, we feel compassion for his experience instead of fear. While obviously he is different from us - he can multiply 251 by 864 in his head, he counts prime numbers when he is upset, and he lacks imagination - he is also similar. Like us, Christopher feels happiness and sadness. He is happy when he can pretend he is the only person in the whole world and sad when he finds the dead dog. Also, Christopher, like the rest of us, has dreams: he is going to pass his A-levels, take more A-levels, go to the university, and become an astronaut. In fact, by the end of the book, after he has passed his A-levels and makes plans to take further A-levels and finishes his book about who has killed his neighbor's dog, he knows he "can do anything."
   
   Learning about Christopher's point of view, readers see that he is a person like the rest of us, but unfortunately Christopher is never fully fleshed out as a character because none of the other characters in the book are allowed to share our perspective and see him as a person. While Christopher may not be able to show his love or attachment to others, we should still see evidence that others love and are attached to Christopher. Instead, we learn from Christopher about his troubles with his mom: "Mother had hit me sometimes because she was a very hot-tempered person." His mother explains to him, "I'm not like your father. Your father is a much more pacient [sic] person." Although his mother does not seem to be able to understand or cope with Christopher, his father is the one who cooks Christopher's meals, cleans his clothes, looks after him when he is sick, and worries about him when he wanders off. Ultimately, though, his father turns out to be the book's biggest disappointment. Even before his character is sacrificed for a plot point, Christopher's father doesn't seem to be the advocate that Christopher needs or deserves. When a friend of his father's, Rhodri, treats Christopher like a trained seal and asks him to multiply 251 times 864, Christopher says, "I don't like it when Rhodri laughs at me. Rhodri laughs at me a lot. Father says it is being friendly." Instead of defending his son, Christopher's father defends the man who mocks him. Moreover, at another point, in the middle of an argument which Christopher does not understand, his father asks him, "How stupid are you?" While it is clear that Christopher's father cares about him and loves him, it is also clear that he doesn't recognize what makes Christopher special - he loves him in spite of his differences, not because of them. Christopher's father, the one who cares for him and loves him more than anyone else, does not recognize his own son's humanity.
   
   This problem - that we, as readers, can see Christopher as a person, but the other characters in the book don't - seems to be the author's way of saying that, even though we should recognize the mentally disabled as people with their own "voice," there is still in fact a barrier that makes communicating with them difficult. Because we are able to get inside Christopher's head, he does not seem so different from us; he is someone who can, to some extent, communicate with us, and someone we can learn from. But what about other mentally disabled people whose voices we don't have access to? In the classic book, "Flowers for Algernon," we come to like the disabled protagonist, Charley Gordon, not because he is similar to us, but because he is different. His differences are what make him special, and when he loses these differences, his character becomes almost unlikeable. In the "Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time," however, we come to identify with Christopher because we can see that he shares some of our qualities - he is good at math, or he likes dogs, or his parents are having problems - and we choose to ignore his differences. He is not like the other people at his school - "All the other children at my school are stupid" - because he is going to pass his A-levels. In fact, the other "stupid" kids at his school are difficult to identify with - for example, Joseph Fleming, one of Christopher's classmates, who "eats everything," including "one of the little blocks of blue disinfectant which hang inside the toilets," "a 50 pound note from his mother's wallet," "string and rubber bands and tissues and writing paper and paints and plastic forks," and also "bangs his chin and screams a lot." Is this someone we can grow to like like Christopher or is this kid more like an "elf" or freak or someone we wouldn't want to sit near in the train station? In setting himself as different from this boy, Christopher in fact becomes "one of us" - someone who is not stupid and who can feel free to disregard the other people at his school. In truth, though, we probably shouldn't like Christopher for how he is one of us, but for his differences. In the end, a book like "Flowers for Algernon" makes a stronger point: we should not, as "Curious Incident" suggests, find the developmentally disabled tolerable because somewhere, somehow, they are like us, but instead we should recognize them for their differences, because that is what makes them special.



3. The curious incident of the dog in the night-time is a much-needed window into the world of autism. While I find this book informative and intriguing, I would not recommend it to someone who is not familiar with autism without additional information. That said, I think it does an excellent job of demonstrating the potential thought processes and emotional interaction (or lack thereof) of an autistic individual.
   
   Many things that bother Christopher would not bother an average teenager, but Christopher shrugs off or fails to notice things that many teenagers would find crippling. Christopher's depiction of events is striking, as he chooses to include details like "approximately 60 holes in her shoes," but leaves out all emotion past happy, sad, good day, black day and feeling sick. He responds physically, vomiting and with pain in his head when something should greatly upset him emotionally. Although author Mark Haddon is not autistic, his writing demonstrates his careful observation of common characteristics of individuals with autism.
   
   The real strength of this book is that is shows Christopher facing challenges and growing as an individual despite his very real struggles that he has to confront as a result of his condition. When Christopher decides to leave his father's house and go to London to locate his mother, he finds creative ways to cope, from hiding in the bathroom on the tube, to putting his hands over his ears "to block out the noise and think" (Haddon, p. 145). Christopher demonstrates he has learned how to be successful working with what he has when he finally finds his mother.
   
   One thing that concerns me about this book if using it as a source about autism is, that it portrays an atypical autistic individual. Christopher has Asperger's Syndrome, and is not severely impaired as many children. Plus, most autistic children are not exceptionally gifted in math. However, this book does raise the intriguing situation of a student who is twice exceptional: possessing gifts and talents as well as a learning disability.
   
   As a new teacher, I anticipate having a student like Christopher in my classroom at some point. While this book is an incomplete source on autism, it provides insight into how an autistic individual may interact and react to the world, and is definitely worth reading.
   
   For further information about autism and twice exceptional students, visit the following links:
   http://www.brainconnection.com/topics/?main=fa/autism-class2
   http://www.uniquelygifted.org/
   http://www.autism-society.org/site/PageServer



4. Who killed the neighbor's dog? Although the answer comes even faster than the fairly short book's end, this dialogue of a 15 year old autistic savant quickly reveals itself not to be much of a mystery at all, but an astute portrait of daily living within the autism spectrum. While I can vouch for the high degree of verisimilitude Haddon employs in translating common elements of the diagnosis into Christopher's character, having myself worked with autistic/Asperser's students, I feel this book's greatest success lies in it's ability to stimulate empathy through contrast between his highly functioning cognitive mind, and the distant, disconnected world of human behavior it portrays.
   
   Although such accuracy of character within the spectrum makes for a unique and often charming narrative, the story itself seems to suffer as Christopher is never able to fully consider and render some of the larger issues at hand- his parents divorce, the significance and outcome of his parents mistakes, a deeper understanding of his own diagnosis, etc. I feel the story's perspective is perhaps the novel's focus, rather than actual storyline, and found this at times to detract from the quality of reading, especially toward the novel's somewhat arbitrary conclusion. While I would recommend this book given it's value within very few pages, I feel it only goes so far within the genre of mystery.



5. This book is a book that all teachers should read! Really lets you look into the mind of an autistic child. I could see some of my previous students and now understand better why they were the way they were.

5 comments about The Art of Racing in the Rain.

1. Okay, this may sound strange to those who have never had a close bond with a dog, but my dog, Bowie, who died in December 2007, led me to this book. I was searching for some kind of 'sign' from him to let me know he was 'okay' and that it really had been time to let him go (he was old and suffering from severe arthritis and hip dysplasia so he was put to sleep). I received a review about this book written by a book club I am part of. I was hesitant to read because I wasn't sure if I could 'handle' reading about a dog while grieving for one. First chapter is Enzo the dog trying to figure out how to let his owner know he's old, arthritic, and ready to die. Wow, what a healing I received from this book. The story goes through Enzo's life and that it was a happy one, but also of Enzo looking forward to death as the chance to 'race in the rain'. I firmly believe Bowie gave me the sign I was looking for but it doesn't mean I don't still miss him.



2. This is a wonderful book. Has the reader laughing and crying all within the same cover. I'd recommend it.



3. This book was the best I've read in a while. It was heart-wrenching at times and self-exposing at others. It made me cry, laugh and fall in love with my dogs all over again. Now, I often find myself wondering what they are really thinking. I found this book on a Starbucks shelf and couldn't resist being a dog and racing lover, it was definitely a great buy!



4. I got this book on a fluke... I saw it displayed in my local Starbucks, read the jacket, seemed interesting, and I thought the dog's perspective would be a nice change of pace. Pondered it a few days, finally just got it after staring at it everyday--and the dog on the cover is just too cute.
   
   Yes, I had the same worries as others: the dog is going to die and I'm going to fall apart reading about it. But maybe, just maybe, it won't be so bad in this one...maybe I'll understand it this time...maybe I won't be so annoyed thinking "you knew it was going to happen and there you go reading anyway!" All I know is I want to go out like Enzo, and in a way, I was cheering him on.
   
   I don't know how fast I read this book, but it's one of those books I FLEW through--could not put it down. I laughed out loud, got angry, laughed some more, weepy, more angry, and ecstatic as I ventured thru the book...the dog's narration is fantastic! Garth Stein has Enzo, human interactions (good and bad), and Formula 1 racing so perfectly braided...it all seems so current and relevant, almost looking into the lives of people you know. It's a beautiful, wonderful, amazing story--I can't wait to read it again. If you asked my 'inner dog' what it thought of the book, I'd bark twice!



5. is my best description for Garth Stein's newest novel. Enzo is a beautiful, insightful, cunning and caring creature/man. Being a dog lover, and having just lost mine of 14 years, this canine-narrated story of hope and love and triumph and was written with nothing short of integrity. The humorous writing provided a light hearted thread throughout the book. It's an easy and delightful read....get it!!!

5 comments about The Road (Oprah's Book Club).

1. I'm going to keep this brief.
   
   I just did not enjoy it. The premise was interesting, granted, but it was dark, dreary, and it felt like I was reading the same thing over and over. I understand that the core of the story is not necessarily the setting, but the relationship between the man and the boy, but I just didn't get a whole lot out of it. I've enjoyed a few of McCarthy's other works, "No Country for Old Men", to name one, but this just didn't do it for me.
   
   I personally do not think it lives up to the constant praise it gets, but that's just me. A lot of people enjoyed this book, and there's nothing wrong with that. I was just not one of those people.



2. Interesting story of a not unknown concept. post apolyptic wanderers However the story is dull and repetative. The theme changes little and , and any dialog between characters is fairly close to stupid and repeatative. A obvious and silly attempt has been made to stretch a very short book into something resembling a full size paperback by using larger text and big spaces between lines. With out this trick the book could have been less than 100 pages. NOT WORTH THE MONEY OR TIME.



3. If you are looking for fun or cheap adventure, pass your way. This book is bleak in tone and desperate in perspective, with only a faint touch of hope, like the last remnants of dying embers from a fire.
   
   The story features the struggle for survival of a father and son after the end of the world, on a post-apocalyptic Earth that has become dark due to ashes ever present in the air, blown by the wind. Obviously, these two people have managed to stay alive for a number of years after the events that led to the destruction of almost all life on the planet, save for a few human beings. Animals and plants have become extinct en masse. What remains is the rusted testimonies of a bygone world, groups of survivors that can not be easily distinguished from foe to ally. Worse, with the scarcity of food, a great number of survivors have turned to cannibalism.
   
   The father and son's objective is to reach the ocean in the Southern part of the USA. The story features their voyage to the intended destination.
   
   The book is extremely somber, with bits of hopes here and there. Hope comes primarily from their successful finds of food in deserted houses, and from the affection that, in spite of all odds, still links the two together.
   
   McCormack has produced here a superb work. After a while, one gets IN the book, with a dreadful and real feeling of what the end of our world would be. In terms of description, atmosphere, perspectives, dialogues and feelings, the book is beyond criticism. It feels real. Its genuine power is that it can be taken as a forewarning of what a totally devastated and desperate society would look like. Difficult to feel at ease in it, but should these events ever occur, we won't be able to say that we hadn't been warned before hand, thanks to McCormack's genius...



4. Cormac McCarthy's The Road is one of those rare novels which is capable of showing the great brutality inherent in human beings, alongside and contrasted with, our capacity for love, kindness, and charity, with unflinching equity. Set in a post-apocalyptic world where an unnamed man his unnamed son wander about a countryside of ashes and ruins, this terse, swift novel has a curiously uplifting biblical feel. In one chapter, the father and son meet an old man on the road named Ely, who admits Ely is not his real name, and refuses to reveal his true name. This is an echo of Jacob's wrestle with the man, or God, in Genesis, and the refusal of that mysterious combatant to give strenght to Jacob by revealing the inherent power in his very essence, the name by which he is called. The Road's prose is sparse, but McCarthy intersperses it with prophetic diction and phrases, giving hints at the real meaning of this novel: In a word seemingly abandoned by God, we become God's replacement. By even simple gestures of kindness and mercy, in a world where men and women act like animals to survive, we become godly; for McCarthy, being created in God's image means acting as God's stand in on a barren, dead earth. Powerful, gripping, sad, terror invoking and in the end hopeful, The Road is a fully realized, masterful work.



5. Of course I'd heard plenty about this book before I picked it up, and I was afraid it would be overrated and since my expectations were high I'd be disappointed. I wasn't.
   
   You know the plot is about a man and his young son who spend their days moving from the northern U.S. to the south after the world has turned into a postapocolyptic ash-covered graveyard, and every moment is a struggle to survive.
   
   The beauty in this book is the way McCarthy delivers simple, touching phrases in description and dialogue. The relationship between the man and the boy is so perfectly perfectly strong. Their human love is so clear when the rest of the world is so grey.
   
   It's weird. The plot wasn't action-packed, but I had to find out what happens to these two. I thought I'd ruined it by reading ahead to the last few pages while I was still in the middle of the story. But even though I expected what happens to happen... I still wasn't ready for it. The whole book was a slow burn up until the very end.
   
   I was touched, moved, stirred, heartbroken, inspired. I wanted to wipe the tears from my eyes and call everyone I know to tell them I love them. It's a full day later and I could still crumble just thinking about it.
   
   This book is entirely recommended.

5 comments about Eat, Pray, Love: One Woman's Search for Everything Across Italy, India and Indonesia.

1. I made the mistake of buying this book to take to the hospital where my 10 year old daughter was "living" for two months while they figured out how to eradicate an infection threatening her spinal fluid. So, to be fair, only something very profound could have matched the situation, but, this, decidedly, was a grossly shallow and unfortunate miscalculation on my part.
   
   The woman is a garden variety neurotic. Irritating. Period. And reading her journey is about as appealing as digging into a steaming bowl of entrails. They look good, but, in the end, we know what they are and that makes them hard to swallow.
   
   I wish a publisher would say, screw the money...Elizabeth dear, get thee to a shrink and quit boring us all. (By the way, I never made it to India with this woman...I ran screaming midway through Italy) I would have given it one star, but I found the tiny strings of Italian palatable.



2. This is the best book i've read in a while. I could not let it go. She has great sense if humor as well as honesty.
   I can't recommend it more.



3. I love travel, personal search for meaning books and although, this wasn't a great book, it was entertaining and I think she grew as a person, some of the country observations were nice. A nice book--don't agree that is has great spiritual insight, but we are on a search for meaning. This is one woman's search.. Perfect for plane travel



4. From beginning to end I was fascinated with this book. I think it is a great book for any woman to read. Immediately after I finished it I mailed it to my mom to read and told her when she was finished to give it to another woman. It was insightful,funny, and easy to relate to. I cannot wait to read another one of her books!



5. I found this book a wonderful read. Leaving herself open to the world, the author shares her journey to self-awareness. She seeks something that some in this world will probably never understand for she has a desire to heal herself from within. Through her search, she finds that the Divine has been living inside of her all the time, just waiting for her to find the "bliss" of connection. As a pastor, this is a message that I would gladly share with the great majority of people who are hurting deep inside, those who don't know yet that if they reconnect with their Maker (whatever they call their Maker!) those hurts can be healed.

5 comments about Fearless Fourteen (Stephanie Plum, No. 14).

1. Another great book by Evanovich. The saga of Stephanie Plum continues, she finds trouble but always finds a way out. Her crazy family never fails to make you laugh. Cant wait to see what happens next.



2. Another great installment in the Stephanie Plum series. Lots of humor and suspense, I couldn't put it down!! Can't wait to continue the saga!



3. I love Janet Evanovich and the Stephanie Plum series, but like most other reviewers have said, the content is getting old. While there may not be any exploding cars in this one (opposed to the other 13), it's still farily predictable. Although the material was a little stale, it was still a fun read. I'd get it from the library and read it at the pool...not purchase it or activley make time to read it.



4. I don't get why these people are so critical of this book! It's Stephanie Plum for crying out loud! It's a fun, laugh out loud kind of series. And I did just that; lol!!!!! I can't wait till every summer to see what Stephanie's up to. And Grandma Mazur, too. If you want something deep, try reading Jane Austin, etc.



5. I THROUGHLY ENJOY ALL "STEPHANIE PLUM" STORIES! STEPHANIE'S BOYFRIENDS, HER FAMILY, GIRLFRIENDS ARE DELIGHTFUL! THE SITUATIONS SHE FINDS HERSELF IN ARE HILARIOUS, I WOULD NOT WILLINGLY MISS ONE OF THESE NOVELS....THANK YOU JANET EVANOVICH!!
   B. IOSUE

5 comments about The Story of Edgar Sawtelle: A Novel.

1. Well written unique story. Highly recommended but make sure you have time to readsince it was hard to put down



2. There was much to love about this book:
   The writing was exquisite and beautifully rendered. As in awe-inspiring and prize-worthy.
   All the characters were indelibly and carefully wrought.
   The story unfolded and the reader had to experience it rather than have it handed to him on a page-turning platter. To me, this is something new and different for a book released in 2008.
   I am deeply glad I read this. It was SATISFYING. I believe the story and its telling will stick with me for a long, long, time. The sign of a classic as so many say? Probably. Time will tell.
   
   I am, sadly, not much of a Shakespeare buff, so can't comment on that except to say that if I were, it would probably only add to the number of stars, I'm sure.
   
   There were, however, a few things that bothered me:
   I thought the character of Gar could have been more developed.
   I would have liked to know more about the nature of the long-term emotional battle between Claude and Gar. It was interesting to speculate, but sometimes I just wanted to know.
   I thought the very end with all the back and forth out to the field, turn the porch light on, no don't, no back to the field, no wait, here's the plan, look in the mow, dogs in and out of pens, got tedious. It seemed like that went on for 50 pages and should have been 5 pages instead.
   I didn't love the ending, nor did I love having Claude revealed as definitely having killed Gar. I liked the ethereal speculation that Claude had probably been involved, but that no one was really sure. Was it all in Edgar's imagination? I wished that could have been maintained because it was different, interesting, and effective.
   
   I loved Edgar and Trudy's character was great. Almondine was superb.
   Not a lite summer read. More of a winter read over time. This book is to be savored not rushed. It took me quite a while to read it, and definitely I'm glad I did.



3. I just finished reading this book, bought it from a USA rave review and then saw that Stephen King (a favorite of mine) raved on it as well. When I finished the last page, I went back and re-read the last 10 or so, thinking I surely had to miss something. Such a LONG story to have such a horrible 'wrap up' at the end. The book was too long to begin with, but we, as readers, should've been rewarded with something at the end for sticking with it. I can't recommend this book, it was disappointing.



4. Loved the book. The kind that sticks with you afterward. Really got caught up in the Edgar character. Loved the way the story was told. My heart fell in love with Almondine. Great story. I got really hungry when Edgar was scrounging for food in nearby cabins. Had to go raid my refrigerator. Got a little confused on the ending, but ended it satisfactorily in my own mind. GREAT BOOK, GREAT ADVENTURE!



5. This is the first time I have ever been moved to write a review. Books like this one are few and far between. Gorgeous, lyrical prose. An engrossing and true and mysterious story that kept me entranced all the way through. I believe the few negative reviews the book has been given are because it is a modern day tragedy (in fact, I put the book down a couple of times and wept). But the beauty of the story is that it transcends tragedy - deep, abiding love really can overcome anything, even death. I agree whole heartedly with the master himself, Stephen King. This is a book that deserves to be read and reread, and I will be waiting impatiently for Mr. Wroblewski to write another. He's very, very good at it.