June 2010

I'm so thrilled to welcome Claire Cook to On the Bookcase. Claire is the author of seven novels, including The Wildwater Walking Club and Must Love Dogs. Her seventh novel, Seven Year Switch, has been released today!! Claire chats about reading groups, crafts, and a trip to Costa Rica?

MUST LOVE READING GROUPS

Marriage and the new British political alliance?

I received a galley from a publisher that is not a reading group choice. But a great little book! I have to tell you about it. What a Difference a Dog Makes: Big Lessons on Life, Love, and Healing from a Small Pooch, is a charming and bitter sweet memoir by Dana Jennings. This is small book is an uplifting tale perfect for gift-giving -- dogs-lovers, everyone dealing with illness, care-givers, feel-good people.

Publisher summary. A must-read for every dog lover—a short, tender, and uplifting tale of a cancer survivor and the life lessons shared with him by his beloved family dog.

Our dogs come into our lives as “just the family pet,” but before we know it they become drinking buddies and fuzzy shrinks, playmates and Cheerios-munching vacuum cleaners, alarm clocks and sleeping partners. And, in their mys­terious and muttish ways, our dogs become our teachers.

When Dana Jennings and his son were both seriously ill—Dana with prostate cancer and his son with liver failure—their twelve-year-old miniature poodle Bijou became even more than a pet and teacher. She became a healing presence in their lives.

Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by MizB of Should Be Reading.

Anyone can play along! Just do the following:

1. Grab your current read
2. Open to a random page
3. Share two (2) “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page
   BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (make sure that what you share doesn’t give too much away! You don’t want to ruin the book for others!)
4. Share the title & author, too, so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR Lists if they like your teasers!

Here is mine, today.

"My employer, she says when a baby comes home from the hospital, a Filipina should arrive with him. That, for her, would make a perfect world."
-- p.32 Uncorrected Proof of My Hollywood by Mona Simpson (August 2010)

See previous post about My Hollywood.

What's your teaser of the week?