This is the fourth book in the Sweet Pepper Fire Brigade series by JJ Cook. The story centers around fire chief Stella Griffin, some ghosts and a hooch war. By the way, that’s hooch as in moonshine, not any of the other terms you might be thinking of (money, female private parts, a loose woman, a scuzzy man or half of a K-9/cop duo). There’s also some stereotypical small town stuff (romance or the lack thereof, family issues, politics, misogyny and food) to round out […]
This is not your father’s Lassie…
I embarked on reading Edgar, knowing only that it was a story about “a boy and his dog”. In fact, in the author’s own words: The Story of Edgar Sawtelle is a boy and his dog story for grownups. If I were looking for this book, the way I once did, that’s all I would want to know. Hide the dust jacket away. Don’t look at it again until you close the book for the last time. Read the blurbs afterward, like I do, when […]
A Tail-Wagging Tale
I’m a sucker for stories that involve dogs saving their human owners and this tale is a true one. Dan Dye tells the story of how adopting a deaf and partially blind, albino Great Dane puppy named Gracie changes his life and the life of his roommate, Mark Beckloff. Dan has spent months mourning the loss of his dog, Blue, but a friend, Anne, who recently adopted a Great Dane puppy, calls on Dan to rescue her dog’s sister-who desperately needs a loving home. Gracie […]
Forget the past when it’s too terrible to face
Knocking out another VF book club review with Deerskin. Instead of aliens and greek-like gods, we read a dark fairytale about a princess named Lissar whose mother was the most beautiful queen of all the kingdoms. Her beauty so captivating that all the land including the King hardly remember the princess exists. But alas the queen cannot live forever, so she captures her beauty in a striking painting before her death. It’s almost as if she curses her daughter to live behind her shadow even after death. [MILD […]