Book Review: A Dog of Many Names (a short sweet book about a dog)

A Dog of Many Names, by Douglas Green* (Circuit Breaker Books, 2020, 179 pp, $13.95) Reviewed by Skye Anderson.

If a cat has nine lives, how many lives does a dog have?

After reading A Dog Of Many Names, you may just know the answer.**

"If the Dog Dies, I Don't Want to Read the book or See the Movie"

My friends will not read any book in which the dog dies.

But what if the dog lives many lives and has many names (even Goofhead and Catnip) - some good,  some bad - and many experiences: some good, some bad - so that you are on a constant roller coaster of smiles before the suspense and then warm cuddles followed by dread anticipation?

The Plot(s)

Each iteration of the dog (possibly a German Shepherd Dog mix) has a name, except for those lives in which our dog doesn't live with a human family but on her own. She loved being born into little Angela's family even as she was the sensitive runt of the litter, until something changed but, just like a dog, we are not sure what that was.

And our rascal becomes a desert dog living on her own until she becomes Reina and lives with a Mexican family until. . . and you get the picture of an odyssey which finally culminates in an older version of our dog ready for the Rainbow Bridge.

But, wait! There's more!

Writing Style

Author Douglas Green sneaks in little snippets of gems that you have to be on the look-out for: "Angela, . . . the girl, wondering which, between the dog and her, loved the other more." (p. 21)

A few years and adventures pass in which our little dog manages to survive, sometimes on her own, and the reader gradually comes to the realization that the dog, formerly the runt of the litter, gradually learns to take care of herself yet still maintains a sense of submission and sensitivity toward humans, recognizing a change in their mood and wanting to comfort them, while at other times, somehow knowing who are the bad guys.

Green seemed so utterly fascinating that I just had to look him up. A Los Angeles movie person for 20 years, he then became a psychotherapist which may explain his warm insights into how a dog may think. Growing up, he had and lost several dogs that he loved deeply - this occurrence also following him into his adult life, giving him rich fodder for this little book of inspiring fiction. 

I also had to look up the artist who is a high-school student - Kaiden Krepela whose art work reminds you of an artist you love but who also has an interest and aptitude in engineering and science. 

*Also author of The Teachings of Shirelle

**I didn't count dog lives but the book has 12 chapters. I wonder if that means the score is Cats - 9, Dogs - 12, in which case the dogs win. Go, Dogs!

Book Review: The Wedding Plot (murder mystery, dogs, Vermont, female veteran)

The Wedding Plot: A Mercy Carr Mystery, by Paula Munier (Minotaur Books, 2022, 342 pp, $27.99) Book 4 in a series of 5 (so far), reviewed by Skye Anderson

Good, Fast, Too Long?

Ah, the fourth in a series of five* canine murder mysteries (don't worry, the dog doesn't die) of which we have already read and reviewed two. Like the others, a long book that reads quickly due to abundant action over just a few days. Like Russian novels, there are a lot of characters that take time figuring out who is who if this is the first book in the series that you read. But, starting with The Wedding Plot still gives you the background and you will want to quickly read the others, too.

Characters and Plot

An ex-MP (military policewoman) with a military working dog she inherited from her fiance who was killed in Afghanistan, living in Vermont with an interesting and challenging family. Grandmother Patience is a veterinarian, a country woman with a wise, caring head on her shoulders, while Mother Grace is an attorney in Boston and quite the punctilious, detailed controlling woman. Enter, in this fourth book, the doctor-brother of our protagonist, Mercy, and a few relatives of Grandmother's fiance whom we meet at the country inn where the multi-day wedding extravaganza is starting to take place.

And we also have a love-interest for our heroine in the appearance in every book of Vermont Ranger Troy and his sidekick dog, Susie Bear.

The plot is quite convoluted which is why, dear reader, you should set aside at least a couple of devoted evenings so you don't forget who is who. We have a disappearance, a 20-year-old set of bones, a thunderstorm, some shots fired and the best hospital scene I have read in a long time (great for a movie)! 

Plus, surprises all the way through in the guise of the author playing with her readers. "Bodhi stood before a cheap mirror in a cheap bathroom in a cheap room in a cheap motel." (p. 75) "A quick catnap and he'd be ready to go on the prowl." (p. 77)

Plus, when I came across a triplet of words that rang a bell, I went back to my two previous reviews** to find the same fun triplets. I may have missed some: it would be challenging to read this book in a book club and have a contest of noticing the most triplets! Triplets like 'snorting and sniffling and snuffling' with a bonus of 42 chapters (how I love short chapters - you can put a book down without losing much) that are not titled but 'titled' with a quote about love. 

Of course, this book is about love and weddings and though it takes place in June (duh!), it would make a nice read in February, perhaps around the 14th.

And the Dogs!

For dog lovers, the Mercy Carr books have Elvis (Malinois/German Shepherd mix**) and Susie Bear (Newfie/retriever mix) constantly appearing. Thank goodness. And author Paula Munier does the dogs right. Elvis is ex-military and true to his breed(s) is always 'on point,' while Susie Bear lives up to her name and appearance as a big goofy personality dog - both well-trained and part of the plot.

We would have preferred, not a Mal mix but a Golden or Lab, along with different names than Elvis but those are minor points for a book that reminds one of the fun Spencer Quinn books with Chet and Bernie, like Scents and Sensibility.

*Book 5 is available for pre-order, Home at Night

The Hiding Place (book 3)

A Borrowing of Bones (book 1)

** helpful hint: the author refers to her dog Elvis as the shepherd at times. She means her Malinois x German Shepherd Dog mix.

Book Review: Nose Work Handler: Foundation to Finesse (again!)

Nose Work Handler: Foundation to Finesse, by Fred Helfers (Fred Helfers?, 2017, 142 pp, $29.95) Reviewed by Skye Anderson.

Not a DIY Manual or Personal Workbook

This reviewer was excited to see Nose Work Handler come out, one of the first books about the new dog sport of nose work, a smelling activity (odor detection). As a matter of fact, this reviewer even started the instructor certification program in nose work until it became too expensive, requiring travel to out of state workshops.

Remember Who Has the Nose: Trust the Dog

Nose Work Handler has a lot going for it, from an excellent (too detailed?) explanation (anatomy and physiology) of a dog's nose and how it works to leash handling to search strategies to training programs and handler errors. Self-published, author Fred Helfers has started with an outline and merely filled it in, along with a few anecdotes. He finishes with plenty of references and even a glossary as well as an index in this little book.

I was hoping this book would be the one I could use to help my private clients get started having fun with their dog or even purchase it and use it with their dog. Instead, it is useful for knowledge about the canine nose and perhaps for review if one and one's dog already do some nose work - or if the team wants to advance.

Helfers also gives workshops around the world and has previously worked with his dogs in police narcotics detection. His website, FredHelfers.com, has plenty of material, including some free webinars on leash handling during detection activities (with a long leash)(though whether the webinar itself is free or just the preview is hard to tell at first glance).

And, would you believe, DogEvals reviewed Nose Work Handler just a month ago! How did that happen? It certainly is embarrassing and would be more believable (but still not professional) had we reviewed it when it first came out and then forgotten, but, last month. . . . ?

So, to read another review and compare, go here. Or, check out other books and materials about nose work at www.Dogwise.com! Author Fred Helfers also has perfected a record-keeping system with a log and instructions to help make it easier to improve performance and develop training goals - useful in just about any field of endeavor.

And remember: it's all just a game. Have fun!

Book Review: Perish (OT)(a Texas family saga)

Perish, by Latoya Watkins (Penguin Random House, 2022, $27, 322 pp) Reviewed by Skye Anderson

At least the title of this book is understandable early on!

Perhaps the most creative, unique way of writing a book that I have ever seen but you have to read with pencil and paper handy. A family tree is diagrammed in the front and each chapter in a section is named for the major character who writes that chapter. Even the year it takes place is part of many chapter titles.

Even though this helps, I still needed pen and paper to keep just the major characters straight, let alone the minor ones. This would make a murder mystery story unforgettable! And as some are, clues are given early on but the real story is told more towards the end and not chronologically.

Whew!

An easy read, however, with lots of dialogue. Each chapter author (title, too) can almost be identified by the writing style, especially the educated tone of the police office.

Multi-Generational Saga, from 1955 to the 20-teens

Perish begins with an attempted abortion and ends with a self-inflicted gunshot wound in a hospital no less! With a dying matriarch all the way through.

But that's not the real story! The real story of this multigenerational saga covers just about every incident known to man from banishing a 14-year-old boy to sleep in the shed to an attempted abortion in an outhouse to disciplining children with the stroke of a hand to a dog that is . . . well, I won't get into that. Another dog is chained up outside. But this is Texas with a moderate climate. Add close girl cousins, one of whom idolizes the other and several adult couples who speak of love. 

What more could you ask for in a book, a novel about family with the bad, the good and the ugly all rolled into one!

Love the cover illustration!

Book Review: A Shiloh Christmas

A Shiloh Christmas: The Conclusion to the Shiloh Quartet, by  Phyllis Reynolds Naylor (Atheneum, 2016, 272 pp, $8.99, 8-12 years, grades 3-7) 

Contemporary Classics

Don't worry: you can still read A Shiloh Christmas after Christmas, for the holiday isn't even mentioned until more than halfway through the book. And though the Christmas book is complete as a stand-alone, Shiloh appears in three earlier books as well: Shiloh (a 1992 Newbery medal winner),

Shiloh Season,

and Saving Shiloh. 

Who is Shiloh?

Marty and his two little sisters live with their parents in West Virginia country and are as poor as a door mouse but don't know it. Shiloh is Marty's beagle dog whom he loves dearly (and the feeling is mutual). But Shiloh is actually EveryDog - you will forget that he is a beagle as he becomes your dog. 

The reader who has not read the earlier books will want to after this, to fill in the missing blanks that Marty refers to - how Judd, who now lives with the family, used to kick Shiloh but then ended up saving him and being saved by him - how can that happen? Do people really change?

Wisdom of the Child

Our boy Marty, now in junior high school, is wise beyond his years, yet still a boy with two younger sisters: Becky, 4, and Dara Lynn, about 9. The new preacher in town also has daughters who play a major role in this Christmas story by running away and being befriended by Dara Lynn and Marty. But why would a preacher's kids run away?

And when will the addition to the house be finished so Marty gets his own room and doesn't have to sleep on the living room couch? It seems like forever, because work has to stop to help neighbors whose own homes burned down in the forest fire.

And then Shiloh runs off. . . . 

The Wisdom of the Author

Author Phyllis Reynolds Naylor has created more than 130 books (221 includes translations) and the Shiloh stories may be her best and most well-known. She simply has a way of placing the reader right into the book. She doesn't write about Marty and his dog Shiloh, you become Marty somehow. It's magic and you will want to read the Alice books next, one of the most frequently challenged books of the last decade (banned books).    

If your school library doesn't have the Shiloh books, I'll eat my hat!

Book Review: When We Were Sisters (OT)(Muslim girls raising themselves)

When We Were Sisters, by Fatimah Asghar (Random House, 2022, 352 pp, $27)

A good book is like a vacation, especially a cross-country drive. The journey, as well as the destination, must be enjoyable. 

When We Were Sisters is unique, one of a kind, and perhaps a trend-setter. Written as it happens to one of three little Muslim-American girls (from 4 to 9), probably the youngest one, the reader wants to reach in and take care of them. 

As the story opens, their beloved father has just died, their mother having died a while back. It is hard for children to grasp death and the changes brought, and the reader learns from each sister how they try to make sense of their new living situation and other changes without the life experiences or the words to question.

Unique Style

Written, as it happens, from a little girl's viewpoint, author Fatimah Asghar separates paragraphs with generous white space and humorously prints some pages in landscape rather than portrait with parts of each sentence on the facing page. Figuring that out was challenging and fun - and satisfying.

Lyrical

The one word for Asghar's creation, besides creative, is lyrical and this reviewer is not the only one to use lyrical.

Chaos and cruelty are also part of this story, and an uncle whose name is blacked out and whose irregular role takes time to figure out, according to NPR. Wailing and aunties of the orphans and plenty of rules, not all of which make sense. 

Do the sisters have to raise each other in such a not-normal sibling relationship?