The blurb says:
At the age of 36, Caroline Knapp felt lost and alone. Despite her success as an author, she was struggling to come to terms with the loss of both her parents and the severing of a 20 year affair with alcohol. Her life changed forever when she found a scrappy 8-week old puppy at the local animal shelter and took her home.
Fascinated by this powerful new bond, Knapp explores the unique role dogs play in our lives...Anyone who loves dogs will love this funny, moving, and very personal love letter to man's and woman's best friend."

I found this book thought-provoking, but I'm not really sure how I felt about it. I think I might offer it up for a bookring to hear what others think.

BOOKRING:
So, thankyou for your interest in this book. Here is the list of participants. I've tried to allow for shipping preferences, and regions (but I don't really know my USA geography well, so good luck with that!!)
Please PM the next person on the list to get their address, and complete a journal entry (not just edit the last one), to let us all know that you've sent it on.
Cheers, and enjoy
leeess

Person
Catsalive (New South Wales (Aus)
RockDg9 (Queensland (Aus)
Soft-landing (California (USA)(here it is)
LaurieS (New Hampshire (USA)
BooksnBeer (Virginia (USA)
well-chilled (Alaska (USA)
Mary-T (Germany)
Anyone else that comes along
leeess (Victoria (Australia)

I was bookring free for a whole day but that's all fixed now. This book is next on MtTBR. Thanks leeess.

I could see myself in a lot of places throughout this book. I too had dogs growing up that my parents had most of the looking after, and only got a dog for myself when I was 35. I went through jealousies and frustrations, trying to keep my hands clean & the house dog free. After 4 years I'm much more relaxed. My dog is a sweetheart, if not perfectly trained - we gave up on obedience training because when I stopped enjoying it so did she. Mud, fur, poo patrol - no probs now.

Caroline may have had different expectations to mine but some of the results have been very similar. I enjoyed the book, and did find it very moving. I feel sorry for dogs with extremely up-tight owners, and I hate seeing them dressed as humans, but I can see how it happens.

Thanks, leeess. I'll get this off to RockDg9 next week.

Posted to RockDg9 today.

Arrived today.

I was disappointed in this. I got bored with it about one third of the way in. It's too repetitive and lacks any real kind of narrative to drive it along. I also found the narrator a little odd, I'm not sure how to explain it, not self-absorbed really, but that's as close a term as I can come up with.

Posting onto Soft-landing on Thursday.

Posted to Soft-landing in CA today (lucky book)

The book was mailed from Queensland, Australia, and received by Soft-Landing in Sanger, Ca. Comments will follow soon.

Sorry, I just couldn't get into this book so am sending it on to LaurieS without finishing it.

Pack of Two arrived today. What an adorable cover! I'll start it soon & report back.

A little later:
I have so little free time to read these days that it may take me a few weeks to finish this up. I hope those behind me don't mind too much. So far, I'm finding it to be an absorbing read, one I look forward to picking up each morning. I must be a real oddball though because the author has interviewed several people on why they own dogs and it almost always boils down to "well, we had dogs growing up" and goes on to say that most people will go with a cat or dog to recapture the innocence remembered from childhood. My childhood is something I'd rather not revisit and we always lived in rented apartments that didn't allow dogs. So we had cats. Outdoor cats that would run off only to be replaced with another. As far as I can remember I always longed for a dog, though I can't ever remember even seeing one up close until I was in my late teens and met my would-be-husband whose parents had a peeing, yapping Schnauzer. That dog and I did not get along. Still, I wanted a dog of my own. Now three have managed to find me and I couldn't be happier even though my too-small-for-all-of-us-house is covered with fur, drool and mud on most days. Though I disagree that people "get what they know", I do agree that dogs find their way to people for a reason, a life lesson, usually in patience!

Even later:
I've read more of this and am finding it all too easy to put down, I'm afraid. I'm not sure why, I guess the reason is the fact that I'm not particulary enjoying the writing style or the author's extremely neurotic personality. The book, for all of its love of everything dog related, is rather a dreary read and somewhere around the midway mark becomes more of a collection of vignettes about dogs who become neurotic because their owners make them so. It almost makes one feel that to love a dog much makes one incapable of having a healthy relationship with a human. Many of these people are using dogs as an excuse to distance themselves from human relationships. I'm sure it's true but it's not always the norm, as presented in this book, and reading about it was a sad and exhausting experience. I'm not finished yet so maybe things will change?

Final Comments:
I finished this up but things didn't change that much. For me, there were a few heart-tugging moments but for the most part I pitied the author who seemed depressed and isolated and, dare I say, a wee bit too attached to her dog and too dependent on her dog for love. I'm sending it off to BooksNBeer. Thank you for sharing!

RELEASE NOTES:

This book is on its way to BooksNBeer. I hope you enjoy it!

I received this in today's mail. I have a few bookrings in front of this one but, I will read them as fast as possible.

I am definitely a DOG PERSON and I think my dog is a PERSON DOG. This was a very cute, very quick read. I agree with and have witnessed a lot of the scenarios talked about in this book. My little girl – and yes, she is my kid, has a personality and has me wrapped around her little dewclaw. Bigtime cute is what she brings to my life. I am crazy about my Cerveza (her picture is on my bookshelf) and I can not now think about not having her. Thanks for sharing this book.

I have PMed next on the list and waiting for address.

Came in the mail today with a few others. Not sure what order I'll read them in.

Kept trying to get into this one. Couldn't do it. I really enjoyed the little tales of other dog owners, but when it came to her own relationship with her dog yikes. Preach much? On and on is how it felt. Not sure if I have the next address, will try to mail out on Thursday.

Got next address, sent it on.

RELEASE NOTES:

In the mail. Brought it to the PO by 4pm, so it's a travelin' Enjoy.

The Pack of Two arrived in Germany. Thanks.
I'm very interested, but it might take me a while since here are more book rings right now...

15-Oct-07
I liked this book - but sometimes it was a bit too much of research kind and too little of her own story.

It's on its way home

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