What the Dog Saw by Malcolm Gladwell

I took my dear, sweet time reading What the Dog Saw and Other Adventures by Malcolm Gladwell, but this book lends itself to picking it up when you have a few minutes or half an hour. It's nonfiction, of course, like the rest of his books.

You might know Malcolm Gladwell's name from his other books:  The Tipping Point, Blink, and Outliers. 

This book was similar in writing style, but this is a compilation of his stories previously published in The New Yorker. 

I enjoyed each story as I read it, but one stands out to me now after having finished this book last week and having read some of these stories a month or so ago. One story in particular is memorable.  Million-Dollar Murray:  Why Problems Like Homelessness May Be Easier to Solve Than to Manage deals with why some homeless people revert back to living on the streets after being given a job and having responsibility for a time. (One man, for instance, needed the discipline of checking in with someone to stay on track. Simple as that.)

In each story, Gladwell walks you through the logic of where he ends up in an entertaining way. I really enjoyed this book and think it would make a thoughtful Christmas present for someone on your list who loves to read thought-provoking nonfiction.

Book Read:  What the Dog Saw
Author:  Malcolm Gladwell

July, July by Tim O'Brien

What a great gossipy book! July, July is the first book I'd read of Tim O'Brien's. 

If you didn't know better you would think this was written by a woman! It's full of feelings and thoughts and gossip about a group of college friends who graduated together in 1969.

I liked how this book alternated between a July when one of them was severely injured in VietNam and the July thirty years later when they met for a reunion. The characters are all likable and annoying and real.

Book Read:  July, July
Author:  Tim O'Brien

The Signature of All Things by Elizabeth Gilbert

Have you read Elizabeth Gilbert's new novel The Signature of All Things? No? Well, lucky you. You have it to look forward to!


This epic tale of Alma Whittaker, moss curator, is mostly set in the 1800s and follows Alma and her parents before her through their extraordinary lives.

Though this novel is nearly 500 pages long, I didn't want it to end. 

Book Read:  The Signature of All Things
Author:  Elizabeth Gilbert

Started Early, Took My Dog by Kate Atkinson

This seals the deal:  I love Kate Atkinson's books. 

This book meandered between 1975 and the present, unveiling layers of the story with each installment. I just loved the novel. 

If you like a good mystery that reveals itself bit by bit letting you in on just enough to make some good guesses on your own, you'll love Started Early, Took My Dog. This is the fourth of her books featuring Jackson Brodie but the first I read (maybe I read one other but don't remember the character). Anyway, I loved this book!

Book Read:  Started Early, Took My Dog
Author:  Kate Atkinson

A Field Guide to Burying Your Parents and Gone

I have been slacking off posting about the books I've read. I am beginning to wonder if anyone reads this blog. Anyway, I read two books recently. Here they are:

A Field Guilde to Burying Your Parents by Liza Palmer is a funny, smart-alecky, touching book that really was like reading about a friend and the troubles they've seen. Well written with wit and compassion and absolutely no sap. Loved it! 

Gone by James Patterson and Michael Ledwidge was equally as good. I'm not sure if I've read any of Ledwidge's other books (let's face it, he wrote it, right?) but I think I will. I liked this NYC detective who was in witness protection hiding out with his large brood in Northern California. 

Book Read:  A Field Guide to Burying Your Parents and Gone
Author:  Liza Palmer

and

Book Read:  Gone
Author:  James Patterson and Michael Ledwidge

The Last Kind Words by Tom Piccirilli

I read this book by chance. It's by an author I'd never read or heard of, but I'm glad I gave it a chance.  

The Last Kind Words by Tom Piccirilli was excellent! The Rand family are theives and con artists and they're all named after breeds of dogs. There's Terry (Terrier) and Collie, brothers. Collie's in prison for a murder spree he committed and is due to be executed within days. Terry finally comes home after running away from his notorious family five years earlier. 

Their father, Pinsch, mother (not named for a dog), sister Dale, and uncles Mal and Grey (Malamute and Greyhound) live together in the family home. Terry's sudden arrival back home brings things to a head.


I liked the in-depth character development and the surprise ending was satisfying. It's not an action-packed book, but that's okay with me. And I see that the sequel to The Last Kind Words is out:  The Last Whisper in the Dark.


Book Read:  The Last Kind Words
Author:  Tom Piccirilli

Life After Life by Kate Atkinson

I read Life After Life by Kate Atkinson recently and found it puzzling and wonderful! This novel deals with the life (lives) of Ursula Todd. I was puzzled throughout by the many chances the author gives Ursula to live. In the beginning, Ursula dies in childbirth. Her next life allows her to live a bit longer, and then longer still. Each previous life is in the back of poor Ursula's mind, bits here and there, as if she has been there before because of course, she has. 

This review on Amazon sums up the Atkinson's writing in Life After Life so well:

"Yes, many themes do permeate the story of Ursula Todd - everything from Plato's "Everything changes and nothing remains still," Buddhist principles of fate and reincarnation, Nietzsche's "amor fati" (Love of Fate), to Jungian explanations of "déjà vu," "synchronicity" and "collective unconsciousness," and that's just to name a few - but what really makes this novel stand out, what really makes it so amazing is how lightly, even unassumingly, and yet so impeccably Kate Atkinson treats such sophisticated and intellectual subject matter."

If you've read any of Kate Atkinson's novels you know what a stellar writer she is. If not, you're in for a treat!

Book Read:  Life After Life

Author:  Kate Atkinson