Book Review: Social Animals (3 women, 3 dogs, a mystery or two at the dog park)

 Social Animals, A Novel, by Camiille Perri (Penguin RandomHouse, 2026, $30, 313pp, HB)

Would you buy this dog? or at least buy this book? Isn't he adorable? But he* looks stuffed (and angry).

Oh, how I wish authors would ask book reviewers to read their book before they publish! But they have editors to do that. And most reviewers are positive. That's why I like to include what I like about a book as well as what I might change.

Social Animals stars three women who meet at the local dog park and form a supportive group quickly. Each has issues: either her job (possibly covert) or her living situation (abuse) or the fact that one was a college athlete and another hides her wealth - and one is not who she purports to be while one has a dog and is so not a dog person. Why not? How are the three 'related'?

Author Camille Perri begins Social Animals with a plethora of characters both human and canine. I suggest keeping paper and pen nearby, though the field does narrow as the pages turn,

I felt the pacing was a bit off so that one woman becoming brave towards the end simply was not terribly believable. However, the antics of the dogs and typical dog park humans was characteristic though many were left out.

Bonus: it is a quick beach read!

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*Can you guess the breed? 

Book Review: The One and Only Bob (Ivan, storm)

The One and Only Bob, by Katherine Applegate (HarperCollins, 2020, 368pp PB, $8.99, ages 8-11, grades 3-7) 

"The one and only" Katherine Applegate gave us The One and Only Ivan,

winner of the 2013 Newbery Medal for children, followed by The One and Only Bob, then The One and Only Ruby (2023)

and The One and Only Family (2024), 

Odder (reviewed here), the otter,

and the oh-so-cute Doggo and Pupper books. And many many more books.

You are probably familiar with Ivan, the shopping mall gorilla who was saved after nearly 30 years and lived out the rest of his days in a wildlife sanctuary. But do you remember Ruby his young elephant buddy or Bob the dog or any of his adventures? 

Bob is a unique book, albeit a long one at nearly 400 pages. 400 pages? For a kid? Yup, but some chapters are only one page or a few sentences and there are plenty of spaces and empty lines, so reading goes quickly.

Applegate takes about 100 pages to introduce daily life at the sanctuary with Bob the free dog who lives with Julia who carries him in her backpack as she sneaks into the sanctuary so Bob can  play with little Ruby the elephant just over the wall from Ivan the gorilla with a heart of gold.

But it's starting to rain and a storm is coming. And then it comes. And blows down roofs and floods the buildings: the animals have to escape, even the pets in the shelter down the street.

But does everyone make it? Who ends up being a hero? What stories develop and who runs into someone they haven't seen for many years? 

Exciting, funny, inspiring tale of patience and love and family and wisdom and patience again. "Everyone wants a piece of us. Humans treat us badly. Cars really have it in for us. We even get eaten by coyotes, which is kinda like having your cousin invite you over for dinner, then inform you you're the main course." (p. 104)

Every reader will love Bob and Ruby and Ivan but have a hard time deciding on their favorite. Maybe they should read The One and Only Ruby and The One and Only Family next to help them decide!

Book Review: Bite by Bite: Nourishments and Jamborees (OT)(about food)

Bite by Bite: Nourishments and Jamborees, by Aimee Nezhukumatathil (HarperCollins, 2024, 210pp HB, $26.99) 

What? No Papaya, No Durian?

Bite by Bite is different from yet similar to author and poet Nezhukumatathil's first book, World of Wonders

and both are informative, delightful and magnificent! 

The author relates her life story in bits and pieces, "bite by bite," using food as the fulcrum on which to reveal a food's  history, etymology, and most of all, the love between family members and their trials and tribulations growing up in different cultures. The author's mother is Filipina and her father is from India. We also learn about the different food and recipes, many of them fruit and many of the fruit, tropical fruit. It was fun for me because one of my faves is the mangosteen (and the mango).

We have lovely illustrations from Fumi Nakamura again but this time they are more realistic in style (compared to World of Wonders).

From nuts and sandwiches to deserts and staples, this book should be read slowly, though that may be hard to do. Slowly because of the details, telling the story of that particular spice, for example. And each of the 40 short chapters conjures up something in the author's background to relish. But not only her background but also of sharing cooking with her children and their grandparents, and reminiscing about TV shows from the 60s.

I miss the chapter on papayas but not one on durians!

Book Review: World of Wonders: In Praise of Fireflies, Whale Sharks and Other Astonishments (OT)(a biography of nature)

World of Wonders: In Praise of Fireflies, Whale Sharks and Other Astonishments, by Aimee Nezhukumatathil* (Milkweed Editions, 248pp HB, 2024, $25, a national bestseller and Barnes and Noble's Book of the Year)

From Dragonfruit to Flamingos, From Monarch Butterflies to Corpse Flowers

A poet writes a book of short short snippets, chronologically, of not only the plants and animals that populated her world  in numerous states** but of how they painted her growing-up years - and it is one fascinating read! Short stories (short chapters, short essays), presented by an illustration by Fumi Nakamura and introduced with the species' scientific name, in italics to boot, which makes it fun to recall their Greek and Latin roots!

I would, however, had titled this book differently: World of Wonders simply does not do it justice. It is so much more than that.

As I usually do, I counted the pages in each of the 28 chapters (usually reaing the shortest ones first) but quickly gave up because nearly all the essays were wonderful! I did start at the beginning, however, then went to the back, then back to the early essays and read through, page by page.

My Favorite? Ah, that is pretty difficult to say because I love how author Nezhukumatathil (Filipina) connects the natural world with the human condition - on every page - many of the species being tropical ones with which the reader may not be aware. Perhaps my favorite essay is just the animal (or plant) I love the best, the one that brings back memories of my own growing up or when I taught English (like the author) in a university in South East Asia.

The author lives nature and almost miraculously could also teach college zoology or botany and make it fascinating. And don't forget to scrutinize the front cover for colorful pictures of many of the plants and animals inside.

And now I am off to get Bite by Bite!

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*Some editions have both a reader's guide and a teaching guide (of course, the author being a professor)

**Kansas, Mississippi, Arizona, Wisconsin, New York, Ohio. . . . and overseas assignments teaching poetry. With a degree in environmental writing, this is the perfect book for her and she is the perfect author for this book.

Book Review: Mommy, Baby and Me (Is your child expecting a sibling?)

Mommy, Baby and Me, by Linda Marshall (Peter Pauper Press, $16.99, 2017, 32pp HB, 2-5 years, grades 1-2) 

A New Classic!

We love this book! Written by Linda Marshall from the baby's point of view, Mommy, Baby and Me is not only delightful but just may solve a myriad of problems, aided and abetted by British illustrator Ged Adamson. 

Family Grows from Two to Four

The pupster (a Corgi) and her person live a lovely, busy life and do everything together.

 

Then, along comes Boyfriend and pupster gets pushed aside a little bit. Then in comes Baby and the poor little pupster is pushed aside even more.

 

That is, until she learns why the baby came into their lives.

Do you have a little one and are expecting another? Is the first one a bit jealous even before the blessed arrival? And more so, afterwards? Do you have a pupster who feels pushed aside all of a sudden when the family grows? 

Then this is the book for you. We are keeping ours forever just because we love the drawings and the story plus there are several drawings on each page! And we aren't even Corgi people!

Book Review: Bark (stories)

Bark, by Lorrie Moore (Random House, 2014, 192pp PB, $15.00)

Seven Short Stories

Although I don't usually review books of short stories, I was willing to try my hand at Bark for two reasons: the title (and front cover illustration) and the fact that the author comes highly recommended (and is an English professor). (The reason for my reluctance, generally, is due to the fact that the writing is too varied in style and accomplishment.)

One of the first things I do is locate the front cover online and append it to my review (see above) and also put in a folder for later reference. The book I physically have right now features a dachshund on the cover but the only cover I could find online has trees on the cover (see above)! Go figure. So, which is it? Or both? (And I apologize for the fuzziness. . . .)

The book on my desk currently has a couple of references to dogs but too few to actually merit the title in my opinion. But sometimes I simply can't ever correlate the title with the content so the slight disconnect here didn't bother me.

Author Lorrie Moore includes short and longer stories in Bark so of course I began with the short ones even though a longer one, the first, seemed to be more about dogs (Debarking). 

Most of the stories are what I call, plotless, which is not necessarily a bad thing: they show the reader what the characters are like more than what they do, so we get to know them, really know them. And if we like them, we tend to like the book. Unfortunately, I could only identify with the characters in one of these short stories making this book a chore to finish. However, your mileage may vary!

Book Review: Drinking with My Dog: The Canine Lover's Cocktail Book

Drinking with My Dog: The Canine Lover's Cocktail Book, by Natalie Bovis (Running Press, 2023, 206pp HB, $22.00) 

I was so excited to hear of this book and it came in the mail quite quickly, along with Cocktails with My Cat* which I reviewed first (here), for some reason (maybe saving the best for last since I am a dog person?)

Author Natalie Bovis is an animal advocate primarily but also a mixology instructor extraordinaire, as evidenced by her classes and books such as Drinking with My Dog. With dog-themed chapters like "Rescue Me" and "A Walk on the Wild Side" (lions and tigers and [bears], oh my!) and "Friends in High Places" (famous owners), she includes more than 60 original easy-to-make fun drink recipes. 

Chapter Three

A Dog Book or a Drink Book?

But is this a dog book or a drink book? "That is the question." Because so much information about man's best friend is jam-packed into this little hard cover book with whimsical illustrations galore that we just couldn't decide. 

My Favorite, Blue Velvet

We did decide to start not only making some of these delicious-looking concoctions but also to create some of our own: Bovis concludes with a chapter on how to invent them, name them and the steps to follow in making the drinks. 

And, never fear, the first chapter has all you need to know about beginning, with eight different shapes of glassware, and seven different bar tools, followed by ingredients to start with on your home bar. And garnishes. "People love dressing up their dogs with a cute bandana. . . . Similarly you can also dress up your drink with a decorative garnish. . . . " (p. 14)

Comparing Drinking with the later book (but earlier reviewed) Cocktails with My Cat, both are similarly organized but just enough different that families with both cats (perish the thought!) and dogs, will want to stock both books in their family bar.

We Learn About Dogs, Too

Did you know that poodles are the second smartest breed, after Border Collies?  After reading that, we wondered about golden retrievers, one of our two breeds, only to find them featured on the very next page, along with five other retriever dogs. Snoopy, the Obama's Bo and Prince's dogs are also included.

Legally Blonde

Honoring Betty White, A Golden Girl

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* Cocktails with My Cat, reviewed here, is hot on the heels of Drinking with My Dog.