Buster's Diaries

I have developed a huge repertoire of endearing noises. Each one of them has a precise meaning --- time to go out, I'm dying of hunger, I can't get the rubber bone from behind the desk and there ought to be room on the sofa for me. I do not expect him to hear high-pitched whistles. For he is no more a sheepdog than I am and I can't even hear his cell phone ring if it's in his inside pocket. He ought to take the trouble to understand what I say to him. But whatever question I ask or suggestion I make he has two stock responses. He either accuses me of whining or denounces me for attention-seeking. To make things worse, I am having increasing difficulty in understanding some words he says. When I barked at a man in the street this afternoon, he said, "Buster, I sometimes find your idiosyncrasies incomprehensible." (p. 123)

Buster's Diaries: The True Story of a Dog and His Man as told by Roy Hattersley is the short diary of Buster's adventures as dictated to his master Hattersley. Silly at times but cute overall, this easy to read book kept my attention fairly well. It also made me laugh occasionally as I thought of the dogs that have passed through my own life and how they might say some of the same things about humans that Buster related through his stories. Not the best dog book I've ever read, Buster's Diaries was entertaining and I would recommend it to readers who enjoy dog stories.

Lift

No matter when and why this comes to your hands, I want to put down on paper how things started with us.

Written as a letter to her children, Kelly Corrigan's Lift is a tender, intimate, and robust portrait of risk and love; a touchstone for anyone who wants to live more fully. In Lift, Corrigan weaves together three true and unforgettable stories of adults willing to experience emotional hazards in exchange for the gratifications of raising children.

Lift takes its name from hang gliding, a pursuit that requires flying directly into rough air, because turbulence saves a glider from "sinking out." For Corrigan, this wisdom --- that to fly requires chaotic, sometimes even violent passages --- becomes a metaphor for all of life's most meaningful endeavors, particularly the great flight that is parenting. (book cover)

A very brief book that will touch a parent's heart, Lift by Kelly Corrigan is a delightful read that I recommend to others who like to read inspirational books.