In “Walkin’ the Dog,” Chris Lynch tells the story of Louis, a boy who loves being home, has no friends, and will be going to the public high school after being home schooled. His father is a retired firefighter who bought a fishing boat and moved them to a seaside town. His mother is an activist whose mental health has been suffering, and she is in a facility working on regaining her equilibrium.
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The first book in the Whimbrel House series was so wonderful and complete, it might have seemed impossible that author Charlie N. Holmberg could create a sequel as compelling and gripping and touching as that first novel. Well, now we have the third novel in this fantasy series, “Boy of Chaotic Making,” and this story is just as lovely, filled with the same characters we have come to admire for their strengths and their failings, and with a plot that definitely keeps us guessing.
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Dr. Ian Dunbar, author of “Barking Up the Right Tree,” isn’t just a veterinarian. In addition to his veterinary degree and a PhD in dog behavior, he was the first to create puppy training classes using positive reinforcement. Dunbar’s future as a dog behaviorist seemed ordained since childhood. He has been training animals since he was five years old on the family farm in England. Now, after decades in dog training and studying dog behavior, and a reputation as one of the foremost dog training experts in the world, he is sharing what he has learned and what research shows about training and understanding our dogs.
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Motherhood is one of the themes In Lyn Liao Butler’s newest thriller, “What is Mine.” She demonstrates that motherhood, the quality of being a loving and caring mother—or not—does not pass from one generation to the next. Hope Chen and her sister Cassidy had parents who were cold and unfeeling. Yet Cassidy is, to the best of her ability, a caring mother to Luca. When Cassidy dies, Hope and her husband Shaun take Luca into their home and are determined to provide him with all the love and protection they can.
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In Claire Cook’s newest novel, “Bonus Time,” three life-long friends head south to the beautiful St. Simon’s Island in Georgia to discover what the rest of their lives might unfold. Like her novel-turned-movie “Must Love Dogs,” this novel includes plenty of humor marching side-by-side with Cook’s perceptive life lessons and a plot that will keep you turning the pages.
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As I’ve mentioned (repeatedly) in writing about dog and cat picture books—kids love them. Adults love them. Whether they are funny, touching, clever, or as is often the case, a combination of all those qualities, reading books about our favorite companions is almost always extremely rewarding. Here are some wonderful choices to share with your picture book readers.
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There’s a new dog book in town and it’s written by two women who really know their dogs. In their nonfiction love story to dogs everywhere, “The Purest Bond: Understanding the Human-Canine Connection,” the authors share all the wonderful benefits and reasons to bring a dog (or two or more) into your family.
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In “Gather,” Kenneth M. Cardow introduces us to a teenager who has had to grow up much more quickly than anyone should have to. Ian is used to being abandoned; his father left Ian and his mother years before, and then his grandmother left them to move south to be with her sister. So now, it’s just Ian and his mother in the small, run-down family home, on land that has been in Ian’s family for many generations. His father’s family, that is.
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Atmosphere can be everything in a murder mystery, and Paula Munier goes to great lengths to ensure that “Home at Night” is filled with not only several dead bodies, but lots and lots of creepy Halloween vibes. The setting for the Mercy Carr mystery series is Vermont, where Mercy is from. She’s a veteran and her beloved dog Elvis was a working military dog for her fiancé who was killed in action. She lives in a beautiful cabin with Troy, the game warden she married, a young friend Amy and Amy’s baby, Amy’s boyfriend, Troy’s working dog Susie Bear, and a rescued cat. It’s a lot for a small house, so they’ve been house shopping.
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What do you get when you mix a woman with a curmudgeonly view of Christmas (as in “Bah, humbug!”), a thousand-mile road trip with a dozen rescue dogs, a town that celebrates the Christmas spirit to the fullest, and a handsome and very kind paramedic who rescues the damsel (and her dogs) in distress? Why, you get “The Twelve Dogs of Chrismas” by Susan Wiggs, and if this sweet holiday-filled read doesn’t get your heart ready for the holiday of giving, then your heart is as filled with ice as the fictional upstate New York town of Avalon is with snow and holiday cheer.
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While the weather outside isn’t even close to snowy, holiday romances are filling the shelves with plenty of good cheer to spare; many featuring furry, four-legged companions to spice up the entanglements of the two-legged types featured in the novels.
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It’s almost Christmas, and Rudolph the reindeer is missing. And while this misplaced caribou is a resident of Colorado instead of the North Pole, the situation is affecting the work of one Dame Ariadne Carlisle, world-renowned cozy mystery author who has published 99 books. But without Rudy, her muse is gone. This is where our two intrepid detectives, Chet and Bernie, enter. “Up On the Woof Top” is Spencer Quinn’s fourteenth book in this popular series, and there’s something rather special about it.
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