Book Review: A Dog Named Slugger by Leigh Brill

Title: A Dog Named Slugger
Author: Leigh Brill
Paperback: 248 pages
Publisher: Bell Bridge Books (April 7, 2010)
Source: Galley provided by the publisher
Objective rating: 4.75 out of 5  

"Slugger," I said, and then paused, building the suspense for my audience as well as for my dog, "pills!"  He surveyed the items quickly, then fit his jaws around the bottle and placed it in my hand.

(ch. 14. Quote taken from a galley copy; the final print copy may differ).

In this candid memoir, Leigh Brill talks about living with cystic fibrosis and the physical limitations that require a service dog to help with small but vital chores, to assist her walking or in a wheelchair, and to provide the confidence as well as physical support she needs to live a full and satisfying life in spite of her disease. A yellow labrador retriever named Slugger came into her life and changed it in many ways.

Comments: A deeply moving and informative book that tells about Leigh's life with Slugger, how he changed what she could do and achieve. We learn about service dogs, why they are needed, how they are trained, and how they help people with disabilities by being valuable helpers first of all, and incidentally by also being pets at home. Leigh also tells us about meeting her husband Pranav and his involvement in her world of service dogs. There are several pages of pictures as well as a reader's guide at the end of the book. Dog lovers, those who want to learn more about help for the disabled, and anyone who likes a rewarding memoir will enjoy the book.

About the author: Leigh Brill  is a writer, speaker, and advocate for people with disabilities. Her publications include articles in Chicken Soup to Inspire the Body & Soul, Soul Menders: Listening to the Animals, and the magazines Just Labs; A Celebration of the Labrador Retriever and Pets: Part of  the Family. Leigh lives with her family in rural Virginia. You can visit her at http://www.leighbrill.com/

Hosted by MizB, Teaser Tuesdays asks you to choose two sentences at random from your current read. Identify the author and title for readers.

Books read and just now reviewed

Without a Word: A Rachel Alexander Mystery (Rachel Alexander & Dash Mysteries) by dog trainer and writer Carol Lea Benjamin. I gave this a 5 on Goodreads. Rachel is the P.I. and her pitbull Dashiell is her sidekick. Dash is also a trained therapy dog!

There is a border collie on the cover of the book 'cause it went missing along with the wife of its owner. Rachel finds them of course, and helps a young girl traumatized by the absence and disappearance of the woman, her mother. Great novel, with a very sensitive and astute P.I.


Killer Weekend by Ridley Pearson is the second book I've read in his Sheriff Walt Fleming mystery series, set in the resort town of Sun Valley, Idaho. A very entertaining read, even though it's another suspense novel that delivers on good plot and writing but doesn't stay in your memory after you have finished it and gone on to other books. It's a 4!

I think his more recent Killer Summer is a better mystery; I gave that a 5. I remember the hunt and chase scenes through the remote Sun Valley mountains. Pearson's most recent novel came out on Aug. 3., In Harm's Way (Walt Fleming Novel). Of course, I plan on reading it!

What books have you read but not yet reviewed?

Source: Library

Too Rich & Too Thin by Barbara DeShong

Too Rich and Too Thin, Not an an Autobiography by Barbara DeShong, published Sept. 9, 2009 by Echelon Press.

"You're showing a Texas area code, so unless you are police, we're through talking." Click. (ch. 6)

From the book description: Pack your bags for Texas and prepare to meet the strangest family since that little Chainsaw Massacre incident. Psychologist Jessica LeFave will be your guide, but be forewarned, Dr. LeFave isn t your average shrink, and though her wisecracking lawyer buddy, will try to keep Jessica out of trouble, he might not be able to save you, or himself. (Goodreads)

Plot: Jessica leFave believes her psychology husband was killed to hide secrets revealed by a patient in therapy. Because the police don't believe her theory, she sets out on her own to find out the truth.

Book Review: Delivering Happiness: A Path to Profits, Passion, and Purpose

Delivering Happiness: A Path to Profits, Passion, and Purpose by Tony Hsieh has one clear message for business owners and managers - make and keep your employees happy, and your company will have it made.

Of course there are other things you also have to do, but delivering happiness and keeping it as part of the corporate culture in your company is the key to success, according to Hsieh, who divides his self-help book into three parts: Profits; Profits and Passion; and Profits, Passion, and Purpose. He is CEO of the highly successful online retailer Zappos and therefore we take for granted that he knows of what he speaks.

The book follows Hsieh through the corporate world, where he talks about his beginnings in business, his strategies, successes, and outlines his methods for running a business that ranked as one of the "Best Businesses to Work For" in 2009 by Forbes magazine. 

Business owners and management as well as business students might find this book appealing and an eye-opener. However, with so many new books now discussing happiness in the work place, tthe WOW factor, and so on, the idea is not entirely unique, though Hsieh's specific strategies may be.

Title: Delivering Happiness: A Path to Profits, Passion, and Purpose
Author: Tony Hsieh
Hardcover: 253 pages
Publisher: Business Plus; 1 edition (June 7, 2010)
Source: Hachette Book Group
My objective rating: 4 out of 5

Women's Fiction: The Behavior of Moths, and The Seamstress

Just entered The Elegance of the Hedgehog by Muriel Barbery into Book Seer to see what Amazon would recommend as my next read.

Up came two enticing books, both about two sisters, one in Brazil, and the other a gothic mystery.

Behavior of Moths by Poppy Adams (2008) is about a weekend reunion of two "batty" sisters in an old and huge crumbling house. There is a moth/butterfly theme of something fragile and kept under glass, so to speak. An atmospheric, psychological novel described as a gothic mystery that is "dark but funny."


Then the next recommendation was  The Seamstress: A Novel by Frances De Pontes Peebles (2009), a story set in Brazil in the 1920s and 1930s, about two seamstress sisters whose lives take different and divergent paths. It's described as "lavishly detailed" with excellent characterization, though a bit overlong.

I loved The Elegance of the Hedgehog, so if these two books are anything like it, in writing and content, then I should enjoy reading them. Two more for my TBR list!

Teaser Tuesday: The Secret of Happiness, by Demosthenes Armeniades

Teaser Tuesdays, hosted by MizB, asks you to choose two sentences at random from your current read. Identify the author and title for readers.


"I've decided to give a substantial sum of money to the person who  can cause me to feel the type of happiness you just described."
(ch. 18).

(This quote from an ARC may not be the same in the final copy).

The Secret of Happiness by Demosthenes Armeniades, paperback published July 1, 2010.

About the book: Once upon a time, Max the billionaire invited David to his private island where whiz kid golden boys zip around the globe in private jets making millions and living the dream. But all may not be as golden as it seems. Max wants happiness. David wants his girlfriend back. Marcie just wants to avoid getting fired from her cashier job at Walmart. And the Guru knows the answers—or does he? Follow them on a wild rollercoaster ride through offshore paradises, out into space, over the Himalayas, across the Russian tundra, and through an evolutionary quantum shift to a final showdown in the Texas desert. The Secret of Happiness is a fast-paced, offbeat, fairytale thriller charged with suspense until the final word. (Publisher's description).

Finding New Authors

Thanks to a blogger I follow on Google Reader, (I'm trying to find her again),  I've discovered an easy way to find new authors.

Click on the link, Gnooks and enter into Gnod the names of three of your favorite writers. Based on your choices, Gnod will then suggest a new author for you to read. So far, entering names of different genre writers, I've come up with four names (new to me).  They are Emily Barr (travel fiction), Graham Swift (literary fiction), Carol Lea Benjamin (mystery), and Rebecca Pawel (mystery set in Spain).

And there's more. Enter the name of an author to find others like him/her, on the Literature Map on Gnooks, http://www.gnooks.com/. Have fun with it!


  


What a great resource this has turned out to be!  If you are familiar with Gnod or are the blogger who shared this info, leave a comment for me, please!