But there won’t be any more journeys after this one, no more oceans explored. And maybe that’s why I am filled with calm. My life has been a migrat But there won’t be any more journeys after this one, no more oceans explored. And maybe that’s why I am filled with calm. My life has been a migration without a destination, and that in itself is senseless. I leave for no reason, just to be moving, and it breaks my heart a thousand times, a million.
You don’t read this novel as much as you “feel it”. The words tend to lift off the page, and embrace you. It is unassuming; a book to be read in a cerebral way. If you rush through it, you may find you miss the twists and turns - the hidden meanings - and the treasures dropped along the way.
In her “Wolf” book, I was immediately entrigued. This book takes a minute to become engrossed, but it is well worth the effort.
Forever Dog ( fə -ˈre - vər - dȯɡ): A domesticated carnivorous mammal, descended from the gray wolf lineage, that lives a long and robust life free Forever Dog ( fə -ˈre - vər - dȯɡ): A domesticated carnivorous mammal, descended from the gray wolf lineage, that lives a long and robust life free from degenerative disease, in part due to their humans making intentional choices and wise decisions that confer health and longevity.
Once you begin reading this book, you will quickly find out that it is not going to be a light read. Trust me, it gets heavy, and dives deep into the science as to the how, what, when, where & why. As of the writing of the book, the authors give you most up to date science behind the questions of disease and shortened life, in our dogs (they refer the reader to their website, which is updated with any new info). I’m sure most of us do what we can to give our dogs the best and longest life possible. We have the routine check ups, vaccines and buy the best food we can afford. Only, isn’t it just as important, if not absolutely necessary, that we educate ourselves beyond what our local veterinarian or slick (targeted) food advertising? We usually end up chasing our tails (yes, pun intended) and after the basic care, we only take our pets in AFTER they get sick.
Nowadays more and more of us are questioning our own medical care, are advocates for our own and families health, and get second and third opinions. We seek out alternatives to modern day therapies. Only, why not do that for our dogs, the four legged members of our family? We assume that they will live short lives. Only, is that correct thinking? This book tells us that there are dogs who live up into their twenties, and yes, even thirty! Yep, 3-0!! And, they change the formula on human to dog aging. No more the old formula of 7 dog years to every year of human life! Current science debunks that old formula. Dogs still age much faster than humans, but the math changes. (Roughly: On your scientific calculator: enter the dogs age, then press LN, times 16, then add 31. Or! There is a chart)
Bottom line, we are in complete control of what are dogs eat and how they live. Of course, we can not control all external factors, or the sequence of their DNA, yet the new science gives us more control than we have ever had in history. When we know better, can’t we do better for these creatures and family members that give us their unconditional love? Life and death are facts of life. Yet, all the time in between has never been more in our control.
To get a glimpse of just some of the information you will find in this book, please follow “The Forever Dog” on Instagram. It will give you some snapshot, capsule insights on the new science being revealed. If nothing else it can give you a few actions you can implement now, in order to help your own dogs. If you, like me, are motivated to know more, and the science behind the recommendations - please do pick up this book and do the work.
Narrated excellently by Jean Ann Douglass and Joe Knezevitch - though I now have the hardback, and will be reading it in that edition, as well.
A seemingly well researched tell all on the current British Royals. It’s a long extended novel, full of substan Grief is the price we pay for love.
A seemingly well researched tell all on the current British Royals. It’s a long extended novel, full of substance and little filler. I started the book in the year of The Queen's Platinum Jubilee, which began on 6 February 2022, marking 70 years since she acceded to the throne on her father's death. The book is written for those who have read just the headlines, and to those who follow most every word written, on the royals. It is a big book, full of anecdotes, background and, a surprisingly entertaining, fun read.
As with all things written about the royals, there will be those who dislike the book. Noteable are those Sussex fans who pick apart anything that doesn’t worship at the alter of Harry and Meghan. The overall tone is a loyalty to the Crown, and thus, the Queen. H & M are no longer royals, so though their roles in the story are aptly covered, it sadly (or not) comes to an end.
Whatever side of the pond you hail from, the book holds relevancy, to all.
Read the audio version, narrated most excellently by the author herself, Tina Brown.
As Oprah Winfrey states in her forward to this book/poem, “They don’t come very often, these moments of incandescence where the weltering of pain and As Oprah Winfrey states in her forward to this book/poem, “They don’t come very often, these moments of incandescence where the weltering of pain and suffering, gives way to hope, maybe even joy.” ~ How true.
What a National Treasure, Amanda Gorman, is to us, every one, no matter where you are on the race spectrum, political affiliation or any other yardstick - she speaks to hope, to healing to being better than we are. The only thing better than listening to her read this work, is to watch and listen to her recite this wonderful poem.
Read by Amanda Gorman, author, with forward written and read by Oprah Winfrey.
Think of this small book as a passport, a document that details the dogs and people who have traveled far and wide, and somehow, miraculously, founThink of this small book as a passport, a document that details the dogs and people who have traveled far and wide, and somehow, miraculously, found their way back to where they belong - to dog heaven, book heaven, reader heaven. Home.
I read and I laughed & I cried. To be honest, I’ve never watched a movie about a dog, read a book about a dog or a Hallmark blurb about a movie with a dog that doesn’t make my eyes sweat. Dogs are hardwired straight to my heart via my tear ducts. Doesn’t matter, happy, sad, cute - put a dog in it and I’m crying. So, it should come as No suprise that this book was read with a box of tissues nearby!
My two very favorite indulgences on this mortal coil: dogs and reading (& bookstores), go hand in hand in this story about “Shop Dogs”. I read it slow, in order to savor each chapter and soak up the lessons hidden there. Lessons of love, compassion, patience and understanding. Dogs teach us just by living amongst us. I’ve often wondered what my dogs would say if they could speak, but they do not. For they have no need for words to convey their message, they Live it. Each dog has a lessons to teach. I often think that They are the voice of God. When I feel alone or at the end of my rope, my dogs comfort me - just by being. We never need feel abandoned by God, for dogs are proof positive, that we are not.
This little book is a treasure. It’s coupling of books with dogs, is what makes this a favorite book of mine. It’s a tribute to the tenacity of independent book stores and the uniqueness that cannot be found on Amazon, or the like. I adore this book, dogs, Parnassus Bookstore, and the genius of Ann Patchett to bring them all together.
Hope does not deny the evil, but is a response to it.
“We are living in unprecedented times” “Never has there been such times as these” “We are a h Hope does not deny the evil, but is a response to it.
“We are living in unprecedented times” “Never has there been such times as these” “We are a hopeless generation” - words echoed by most every generation known to mankind. In my experience, the last few years have been challenging, but never without hope. In the shadow of a global pandemic and daily news reports of gunmen taking it upon themselves, decisions of life and death, seemingly random examples of the hopelessness of the human spirit - we must seek out ways to have hope and, too, ways to spread love and kindness, rooted in hope. For, though there may be days when hope is not just given to us, we must seek it out for ourselves. This book is an ideal example of that hope we must seek.
Through a series of interview type questions back and forth, we get a glimpse into the life of the amazing and wonderful Jane Goodall. She has been given an unique perspective and has many bookfulls of material, of lessons, to share. Through her stories, even the ones of incredibly painful events, she finds the hope, in the hopeless. May we all have the benefit of her wisdom and insight into a world many of us will never know. Do yourself a favor, read this book, then when you feel hopeless, pull it off the shelf and read it, again.
There are languages without words and violence is one of them.
A hauntingly beautiful tale of the inner, and outer, battle between man and his enviThere are languages without words and violence is one of them.
A hauntingly beautiful tale of the inner, and outer, battle between man and his environment. A tale of the efforts of rewilding and the importance of the wolf, to those efforts.
My father used to say the world turned wrong when we started separating ourselves from the wild, when we stopped being one with the rest of nature, and sat apart.
I was raised by a father who innately understood this battle, the relationship between man and nature. He was held by convention, but knew the importance of this symbiotic relationship, and worked to impart what he knew, to his children. At the time I could not fully understand the wisdom of those lessons, but in time, have come to realize fully his efforts. It is in this appreciation that I felt so deeply for the lessons found in this story. My dad, too, was well versed in how man hurts man. He was a coroner more than half his long life, and ever a deep thinker. Nothing rattled him, except he felt strongly that we learn what we need by listening to the earth speak, to nature and to animals.
If you truly think wolves are the blood spillers, then you're blind...We do that. We are the people killers, the children killers. We're the monsters.
Conservation is a word that imparts the protection, preservation, management, or restoration of wildlife and of natural resources such as forests, soil, and water. How what we take from nature we use, and take no more than is required. In using we return the earth back to the way it was, and try and minimize the environmental footprint we leave. We try hard not to upset the balance and use a laissez faire approach.
This book imparts its lessons in a unobtrusive manner, in narrative form and a story of a girl, who felt too much, and the efforts she takes to rewild her part of Scotland. It’s a tale of murder and intrigue. The book delivers its message, weaved between the words on the page.
It is telling of mankind how we take the time and effort to learn, and to impart these environmental lessons of conservation, of rewilding, of being a part of the solution and to leave this earth, as little damaged as possible, because we lived. It is an essential part of an evolved person to, after knowing these lessons, to impart them to the next generation.
This story stirred in myself the voices silenced by a lifetime of living life away from my family, and my roots. I welcomed the stirrings, as well as the memory of the lessons I lived, while still at home. The story unsettles, as it should, those of us who never learned, or have forgotten the lessons we innately should know. We are either part of the problem, or of the solution.
The forest has a beating heart we can’t see....more
As every reader knows, the social contract between you and a book you love is not complete until you can hand that book to someone else and say, HeAs every reader knows, the social contract between you and a book you love is not complete until you can hand that book to someone else and say, Here, you’re going to love this.
I first met Sooki, in Ann Patchetts 2020 article for Harper’s Magazine, These Precious Days by Ann Patchett - Tell me how the story ends.
I immediately shared the article to Facebook, and any friend that could be bothered with my enthusiasm, of the same. I have loved Patchetts writing from the time Bel Canto was assigned to me, by a much loved professor, in a Foreign Language in Translation class, at university. We spent many an hour, unpacking the read, AND the earths axis - shifted - as it wants to do, when I read something that so resonates within me, that I am, literally, changed.
Mrs. Patchetts writing is a subtle weaving of words. You feel, as if, you are listening to a good friend, tell you about something that happened in her day. Something, perhaps, unremarkable. Yet, in the telling, we are drawn in and, hanging on every word, slowly become, not an observer, as much as, IN the story, a part of it. So much in, that we are surprised when the story ends, and we find ourselves, alone.
Significant in this book of essays, is the afore mentioned story, or event, of Sooki Raphael. It’s 2020, and we find ourselves caught in the rising tsunami of the Pandemic, yet enter Mrs. Raphael, unassuming, but anything but. Once again Patchett allows us readers, into her (less than) ordinary life. Because, where else does a chance encounter with a real star of movies, Tom Hanks - which really should have been the BIG thing - leads us to the real hero of this tale, Sooki. Getting to know this little dynamite of a woman, will cause you to re-examine how you live your own special life. Sooki, it cannot be exaggerated, lives her life - out loud. You will find yourself, privileged to spend time with this one bright light. Close your eyes, and thank, whatever higher power you answer to, that there is an Ann Patchett, and that she takes us along, into, her (less than -again) ordinary life.
I am in awe of the mind of Ann Patchett. I feel privileged to live in a world that, a writer of her caliber, owns a local independent bookstore, Parnassus Books, in Nashville Tennessee - and I can walk in and catch, perhaps, a glimpse of this extraordinary woman, along with her “shop dogs”. I pinch myself, and realize, that it is up to us, what we do with our one special life, and our Precious Days.
Do yourself a favor, read this book. Read it in Audio, read by Patchett herself, and also, do as I did and buy a hard copy, that you can sit with, physically hold in your hands, and savor it again, one page at a time. You will not regret it. [image]...more
Writing is good. He’s always wanted to do it, and now he is. That’s good. Only who knew it hurt so much?
I can’t breath . . . I cry . . . I laugh and I Writing is good. He’s always wanted to do it, and now he is. That’s good. Only who knew it hurt so much?
I can’t breath . . . I cry . . . I laugh and I feel. This book has so many feels, it’s difficult to even comprehend. It is a writers novel. Billy Summers is a diversion for King from his oft written horror and is more mystery, crime and the weaving of several stories, into one. It will not always be an easy read and dives deep into trauma and pain, yet it shows humanity, empathy and the goodness of the human spirit. If you read this story, be prepared to go along - on the wings of a tale - told by one of the greatest writers of this generation. Highly recommend. 4.5
Read the audio version read by Paul Sparks . While a fine narrator, he’s not my favorite King narrator. Still, he does a good - non wincing - and worthy job. Recommend....more
Not in some insidious way, but in the way you love a exceptional best friend.
This is my third read of Quinn’s and she has lI think I love Kate Quinn.
Not in some insidious way, but in the way you love a exceptional best friend.
This is my third read of Quinn’s and she has lost none of her brilliance. Her historical thrillers pick you up seamlessly out of your ordinary life and drop you into her fictional setting.
Told in dual time zones. The first, 1940, England, Bletchley Park. Three women who are very different are brought together by war. All have special skills that make them of benefit to break codes - to decode special messages which go to aid the allies beat the Germans.
The second time zone is 7 years into the future. No longer code breaking, and estranged, the three women are again brought together, begrudgingly, to come to the aid of one of them.
The novel is fun, engaging and full of good themes: The Royals, the Royal wedding, espionage, fashion, war, love of books, code breaking and more. It will exhilarate and then drop you to the depths of sadness. What it will not do is bore you.
“And there in the dark, he asks if it was really worth it. Were the instants of joy worth the stretches of sorrow? Were the moments of beauty worth the “And there in the dark, he asks if it was really worth it. Were the instants of joy worth the stretches of sorrow? Were the moments of beauty worth the year of pain? And she turns her head, and looks at him, and says 'Always.”
Where to begin . . .not sure I can capture all my feeling for this book and form them into a complete review. It was a magical and wonderful journey.
I read this book over a period of time: 8.6 Months or 37.3 Weeks or 261.0 Days or 6264.0 Hours or 375840.0 Minutes or 22550400 Seconds
It sat in a special place in my home, and I would walk by it and stop, read a part, then move on. So, the story sort of lived with me, in a place in my mind, for all that time. Now, every book would not hold up to such reading, but this one did. I’ve enjoyed this book and it became like a friend that I held sporadic, but meaningful and wonderful conversations with, on occasion.
I will miss this book, this friend.
I hesitated a bit, at first, to commit to this story as it is magical and includes the use of Satan, which my mind and heart rebels against reading about casually, in a fiction story. Yet, I did read it and do not feel that I have blasphemed. It’s just a story, created in someone’s mind that did not (often) come up to the edges of my beliefs. My beliefs are strong and I never wavered.
Having that out of the way . . .I fell into this story - literally lost myself in the telling and became a part of this magical world. I traveled all the places Addie went, retraced the steps and memories that I then held, through her, and felt all the feels. The angst, the exorbitant happiness, the hills and valleys of her heart and the great ache of regret she felt over the deal she made. Three hundred years - her story spans - through centuries of world events and Addie lived it all. I became Addie as I read, and know that any one of us, could too.
It’s a story, a fable, a journey and a trial. If you are the same after ingesting this book you didn’t release yourself to the telling. It will make you think and ponder what if . . . What would you do presented with the exact circumstances? Would you take the deal?
Whole heartily recommend.
Plan to listen to the audio version and take the journey again. The odyssey continues. . .
“Books, she has found, are a way to live a thousand lives--or to find strength in a very long one.”
Occasionally a novel will come along that will humble you. A novel that will let you know you cannot write. For this is writing. This is how writing iOccasionally a novel will come along that will humble you. A novel that will let you know you cannot write. For this is writing. This is how writing is supposed to be done. This debut novel by Elizabeth Wetmore is so good I am stunned as I come to the end. It is told in a series of short tales in views by several characters that draw a picture more perfect than its linear tale could have justly told alone. I am in awe and loved the story conjured by the telling and the manipulation and pure choice placement of the words drawn on the page. The audio version is magic and should be savored. If you love a story well told, you are in for a treat. Don’t miss this one!...more
Listen to this novel - if you can - the narration seduces. I now miss the voices like those of friends who are gone. That last call out from Hannie, bListen to this novel - if you can - the narration seduces. I now miss the voices like those of friends who are gone. That last call out from Hannie, by the narrator Bahni Turpin (one of my very fav narrators) nearly did me in. The narration is so good that it helps you overlook a work that could have done with a bit more editing and help with a few plot disconnects. Having said that, it will still stand out as one of my favorites, as I would take it as one of the (million, but whose counting) books I would take to my deserted island to listen to again. Enjoyed the journey of this book, very much....more
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