Atria Books: A Booklovers Sampler, by Jamie McGuire

Atria Books: A Booklovers Sampler by Jamie McGuire
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Disclaimer: I won this book from the Goodreads Giveaways program; sign up with Goodreads, find their Giveaways program (at the down arrow next to the Explore link) for your chance to win cool books!

Have you ever browsed through a bookstore, found an interesting looking book, read a page or two, bought the book, then found that either: a) you happened to pick what apparently were the most brilliant two pages of the book and that the rest left you cold, or b) the rest of the book was as good as, if not better than, the two pages you read and that you now have to buy every book by this author? C'mon, if you're anything like me, you know that both scenarios have happened to you at least once. And while certain edited compilations have been interesting, while leaving out long blocks of texts, they're not quite what you're looking for.

Atria Books: A Booklovers Sampler, by Jamie McGuire is a wonderful way to read more than that page or two of several books without overwhelming the reader. The premise is that the reader gets a decent section of the book, ranging from four pages of one chapter (Colleen Hoover's Slammed) to a fourteen page segment of two chapters (The Sea of Tranquility, by Katja Millay). (The other book segments in this sampler were fro Jamie McGuire's Beautiful Disaster, Love Unscripted, by Tina Reber, Naked, by Raine Miller, and One Tiny Lie, by K.A. Tucker.)

Each segment was enough to really get a feel for the book that it came from without overwhelming, leaving the reader either wanting more, while knowing that yes, it would be worth the price, or thankful that it wasn't a longer segment. However, the samples were chosen in such a way that each segment prompted me to want to buy the entire book that the segment came from.

Both Atria Books and Jamie McGuire have a hit with Atria Books: A Booklovers Sampler. I look forward to reading other samplers from Atria Books, as well as the entire books that subsequent segments are from.

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When Katie Wakes, by Connie May Fowler

When Katie Wakes by Connie May Fowler
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I have been a fan of Connie May Fowler since reading Before Women Had Wings maybe ten years ago. Blame it on Oprah Winfrey: this was one of the books Oprah mentioned that I decided to read. After reading Ms. Fowler's heart-wrenching book, I was instantly hooked on her writing.

In When Katie Wakes, Ms. Fowler tells her amazing story of breaking free from years of abuse with the unconditional love of her dog, Katie. While Before Women Had Wings was fiction dealing with domestic violence, When Katie Wakes is Fowler's memoir. In it, she chronicles the emotional and physical abuse she endured growing up. However, the majority of the book deals with the abusive relationship with a man thirty years her senior and how she managed to escape.

Early on in the book, she adopts Katie, a wonderful dog who, as dogs are known to do, gives unconditional love. It is this love that eventually gives Connie the strength to leave.

Many who read this memoir might be tempted to ask "What did she (Ms. Fowler) do to warrant this abuse? Why didn't she just leave?" Both are the wrong questions, no matter who is being abused, the age of the abused and abuser, the gender(s) of those involved, etc. The first question needs to be replaced with "Why did he/she abuse him/her?" The second question has many answers: financial, emotional, family situation, lack of services (including shelters), as well as a number of reasons. Rather than blaming the victim, we should marvel at the courage it takes for the victim to leave.

Courage is what Connie May Fowler eventually shows in this stunning memoir. While Katie's unconditional love helps her gather her courage, Ms. Fowler was also fortunate to have someone who, near the end, gave her hope. Between the two, Ms. Fowler was able to fully gather the strength and courage to escape.

This memoir is a must-read for anyone who wants a reason to cheer someone discovering her bravery.

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Finally Home: Lessons On Life From a Free Spirited Dog, by Elizabeth Parker

Finally Home: Lessons On Life From A Free Spirited Dog by Elizabeth Parker
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

The past decade or so have seen numerous books come out in groups: Jane Austen books (those with Jane Austen in the title and/or as an updated version of an Austen book), animal books (following the success of Marley & Me, The Art of Running In the Rain, and Dewey: The Small-Town Library Cat Who Touched the World, and, more recently, vampire books.

Having read several books from the animal genre, including the much-loved Marley & Me, I decided to read Finally Home: Lessons on Life From A Free Spirited Dog, by Elizabeth Parker. (Disclaimer: It helped that it was temporarily on the "free Kindle book" list.)

Parker and her fiance found themselves the owners of a rambunctious Golden Retriever name Buddy. Buddy had gone through several owners before winding up with the couple. It didn't take the two long to figure out why he had worn out his welcome with previous owners; he was a handful. Almost half-way through the book, the couple adds a second dog, Brandi, in the hopes that a buddy for Buddy would calm him down. Eventually, the two dogs bonded.

While I kept hoping for another Marley & Me or Glenn Plaskin's Katie Up and Down the Hall, Finally Home never quite jelled. While Buddy seemed like an energetically amusing dog, the book lacked a decent path to follow. It seemed not much more than one amusing anecdote after another. Parker's obvious love for Buddy, and later, Brandi, come through. However, while John Grogan (Marley & Me) wove how Marley came into his family's life and became part of his family, and Plaskin was able to show how Katie was the thread that wove several unrelated families into a larger family, Parker's book has little flow beyond the "we bought Buddy, anecdote, anecdote, ... , we bought Brandi, anecdote..." I wanted to love the book, and while I found parts of Finally Home funny, Parker would have served her readers - and Buddy - better by showing how Buddy became part of her life and her family.

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Katie Up And Down the Hall, by Glenn Plaskin

Katie Up and Down the Hall: The True Story of How One Dog Turned Five Neighbors into a Family by Glenn Plaskin
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Over the past decade or two, it seems that similar groups of books have been published in a relatively short span of time, usually following the popularity of one particular book in each genre. People rediscovered Jane Austen, and suddenly, Jane Austen knock-offs appear: Jane Austen in Boca, Jane Austen in Scarsdale, Bridget Jones' Diary, and Jane Austen Ruined My Life, among others.

Another example is the run of books dealing with families' pets, following the popularity of John Grogan's Marley & Me. Katie Up and Down the Hall: The True Story of How One Dog Turned Five Neighbors into a Family, by Glenn Plaskin is one of those pet books.

Glenn Plaskin had moved into an apartment in New York City and wanted a dog. As luck would have it, he was introduced to Katie, a beautiful Cocker Spaniel who would soon become his dog. (Okay, I should add a disclaimer here: The photo on the book's cover caught my attention, since my beloved Cocker Spaniel, Osha, had died several years earlier.) Katie soon found that if she wandered "up and down the hall," she would have friends to play with, feed her treats, and hang out with, thus helping neighbors on the same floor to meet each other and become an extended "family."

While this sweetly written book may not be everyone's cup of tea, if you enjoyed reading Marley & Me, there's a good chance you'll enjoy this. While Grogan set the bar for pet stories at 5 stars, Katie... ranks a good, solid 4.

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Caught, by Jane Schwartz

Caught by Jane Schwartz
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Interesting book that, on the surface, deals with the world of pigeon chasers in Brooklyn during the 1950s. Louie is a young girl who is introduced to pigeons on roof-tops through her brother and brother's friend. When the group is found stealing birds from a man who stole from them, Louie is the only one officially caught, then dragged to the local pigeon store. After this trip, Louie meets up with Casey, who owns a large flock in the neighborhood. The late-30s Casey needs a chaser, and hires Louie on.

The surface story deals strictly with the birds, Louie and Casey's relationship on the roof, and Louie's family's concern about Louie's time on the roof. As with any decent story, though, there are various layers to sift through.

While the ending may be inevitable, the events leading up to the last page will stick with the reader, making this a book to read, set aside, and read again at a later time.

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A Woman's Eye, by Sara Paretsky

A Woman's Eye by Sara Paretsky
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

What is better than reading a short mystery? How about a book-ful of mystery shorts?

Sara Paretsky, of V.I. Warshawski fame, edited A Woman's Eye, a book of short mysteries; she also wrote the introduction. It is not the only book Paretsky has edited; she followed it with Women On The Case (1996) and Sisters On The Case (2007).

In A Woman's Eye, the reader finds stories by Faye Kellerman, Sue Grafton,Sara Paretsky, Dorothy B. Hughes, and others. While many readers may find one or two stories not to their liking, most of these are well written and satisfying.

Definitely worth reading!


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Scout, Atticus, and Boo: A Celebration of Fifty Years of "To Kill A Mockingbird"

Scout, Atticus, and Boo: A Celebration of Fifty Years of "To Kill a Mockingbird" by Mary McDonagh Murphy
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

When one considers how popular Harper Lee's To Kill A Mockingbird is, it makes sense that someone would write a book celebrating the fiftieth anniversary of its publication. Scout, Atticus, and Boo: A Celebration of Fifty Years of "To Kill A Mockingbird," by Mary McDonagh Murphy is that book.

Murphy explored To Kill A Mockingbird and asked others how Harper Lee's book affected them. While it might be tempting to compare the two books, this would be an injustice to Scout, Atticus, and Boo; it would be analogous to comparing an art appreciation book with DaVinci's work. But Murphy's book does help the reader understand how loved Lee's work is.

Definitely a must read for anyone who has loved To Kill A Mockingbird.

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