Idgie Says:
Two interesting books out this summer that star our best friend and companion - dogs. The first one, Lawyer for the Dog, is a fictional novel sharing the story of a lawyer who learns more about life and what she wants while deciding the fate of Sherman the Schnauzer. Let the hijinks ensue! (P.S. not a nonsensical premise, I have seen people go to court over who gets the family dogs when divorce occurs!)
The second book, Lessons from Tara, is filled with true life stories created from the forming and working with a rescue association for dogs, from the perspective of a man who had never owned a dog before meeting his wife, and her dog....and having his eyes opened to the love an animal can give you. They claim to average a home with 20 dogs at a time now - apparently the rescue is their living room!
I love dogs and always enjoy a good dog story, be it a fictional novel or a true life memoir. Both books are available now.
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LAWYER FOR THE DOG (Thomas Dunne Books; July 7, 2015) is
a moving, poignant, and often funny story about people’s battles for
love, whether the love of another person or the love of a family pet.
Filled with warm and engaging characters and several real-life
themes—the canine-human bond, family, divorce, caring
for an aging parent, and mid-life dating, it is a fresh and timely
novel that will keep readers engaged until the very last page.
About the LAWYER FOR THE DOG:
One
of the sharpest attorneys in Charleston, S.C., Sally Baynard isn’t your
typical Southern belle. She’s certainly not what her mother hoped
she’d grow up to be, especially since she divorced
her husband, a family court judge with an historic family as well as
historic wealth. Maybe Sally was never going to be a proper society
lady, but her success as a public defender and family lawyer have been
enough for her. She’s represented murderers, burglars,
and drug dealers and has taken on some of the thorniest divorces,
closing all her cases with her special blend of wit, charm and brains.
One case she’s never successfully closed, though, is her marriage. And when Judge Joe Baynard assigns her
to one of his divorce cases by appointing her as the lawyer for the couple’s dog
– Sherman, a miniature schnauzer—she’s forced into close quarters with
him again. As Sally investigates Sherman’s relationship with both the
husband and wife, she knows she must
ultimately determine who would be the better guardian for the dog—a task she soon finds is far more complicated than one would think. Juggling the needs of the dog,
the angry, divorcing couple, her amorous but uncommunicative
ex-husband, her aging mother,
and the expectations of the court is more than Sally could have
imagined. But as rascally Sherman digs his way into Sally’s heart, he
also helps her make some important decisions about her own life.
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Mystery writer David Rosenfelt is the Edgar and Shamus Award-nominated author of eighteen novels, twelve
of which feature sleuth Andy Carpenter and his dog, Tara. Carpenter and Tara are extremely popular with readers, and in Rosenfelt’s non-fiction book,
Dogtripping, fans learned that the fictional Tara was actually inspired by Rosenfelt’s first real-life dog
of the same name. Now, they’ll be delighted to learn that Rosenfelt
shares his sage and funny recollections of what Tara taught him about
life,
love, and being a man in his newest book, LESSONS FROM TARA: Life Advice from The World’s Most Brilliant Dog. (July 21, 2015 St. Martin's Press)
About the LESSONS FROM TARA:
Rosenfelt first met Tara when he began dating Debbie Myers, who would later become his wife. As David
and Debbie’s relationship grew, they also bonded over their love of Tara. Tara was David’s first experience with having a pet dog, and he learned about the amazing love and comfort dogs
have to offer. It was because of Tara that the couple began
volunteering
at animal shelters and eventually founded their own rescue group, which
they named The Tara Foundation. Over the years they found homes for
over four thousand dogs, and have adopted hundreds themselves. At any given time, they have at least twenty dogs of
their own; however, there was that one time when they had forty! In LESSONS FROM TARA, Rosenfelt shares what he learned from Tara and all their rescue dogs
about life, love, and happiness, including the importance of overcoming
your fears, appreciating
the little things in life, that there’s nothing wrong with growing old,
and that the world has gotten smaller and we are all connected. He
also includes the small things he’s learned like who gets the pillow
when four dogs sleep in your bed with you…it’s
not the human!