"Weekends with Daisy" by Sharron Kahn Luttrell (UPDATED)

Weekends with Daisy by Sharron Kahn Luttrell is a wonderful book that gives a first-hand account of a dog trainer who participates with an inmate in training a service dog for the National Education for Assistance Dog Services (NEADS).  After Sharron’s dog died, she thought that having a dog just on the weekends would satisfy her loneliness for a dog so volunteered.  The prisoner trained the dog, teaching it new things and her part was to socialize the dog by exposing it do different places and people.  This book details her experience with the program and how the dog helped her family along the way.

I liked this book because it was informative, funny and heartwarming.  I especially liked the parts about the dog classes she attended and specific methods used for training Daisy.  

(Karen's review, 11-6-14, 5 stars)

 
Weekends with Daisy by Sharron Kahn Luttrell tells the true story of Sharron, who after the death of her dog, decides to take a puppy named Daisy for weekends only to train her to become a service dog.  During the week, Keith trains the dog while in prison.  Daisy teaches Sharron and Keith important life lessons.

I LOVED this book because Sharron tells the story so well.  My dog, Abby, and I would be proud to walk with you, Sharron and your dogs.  Keep up the good work!   Check out NEADS.org which this book is based on--they are doing awesome work!   
(Gerard's review 10-29-14, 5++ stars)

Have you read this one? What did you think of it? If you reviewed this too, feel free to share your link to your review in the comments. Happy Reading!

Teaser Tuesdays: Four This Week!

Gerard's:
  
If you're not sure you want to tell me, then go away and have a think till you are.  If you're sure now, then spit it out. 

From page 20 of The Secret Place by Tana French. (Just finished this Sunday, click link to see my review)

I'd tell you how much happiness and laughter you have brought to me with all your silly quirks, and describe the comfort I feel when walking into my house knowing you are there to greet me with your happy tail!
     I am blessed to have such a special DU-MAN (half dog/half human) in my life and couldn't dream up a better dog!

From page 46 of A Letter to My Dog--Notes to Our Best Friends by Kimi Culp, Lisa Erspamer, and Robin Layton.

Karen's:

Marty's humor lost some of its power when Aviva hit adolescence and became the human equivalent of a porcupine--cute to look at, but prickly.  And dangerous, if you got too close.

From page 51 of Weekends with Daisy by Sharron Kahn Luttrell.  (Gerard read & liked this so convinced me to read it too!  It's not all just about the dog.)

As she stood with her father and looked through a picture window at a stand of trees, she began trembling and yelling, "The trees are coming into the house!  They're all coming in here!"

From page 101 of BRAIN--The Complete Mind, How it Develops, How it Works, and How to Keep it Sharp by Michael S. Sweeney.

Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by MizB of Should  Be Reading. Anyone can play along, so I thought  I  would play for fun! Just pick two sentences from the book you are reading.


Happy Reading!

"The Secret Place" by Tana French

This novel is about a young teen boy found dead on the grounds of an exclusive all-girls school.  One day someone puts up a card on the school bulletin board that they know who killed him.  Do they really or is it just a plot to get some excitement going?

This book is told in two parts:  (1) the action that led up to him being killed, and (2) the two lady detectives trying to figure out if any of the girls know who did it.  Both parts kept my interest and were told very well.  I would have rated it higher if it didn't have so much foul language in it.  The plot is very good though and worth reading.
(Gerard's review, 5 stars--no pluses due to bad language)

Have you read this one? What did you think of it? If you reviewed this too, feel free to share your link to your review in the comments. Happy Reading!

"Above" by Isla Morley is a Page Turner! (UPDATED)

Above by Isla Morley is a book that is about a scary time and a girl, Blythe, who hangs on to hope to help her survive a terrible situation she is in.  She is kidnapped at age 16 by a man she trusted, held prisoner in a silo underground for 15 years!   Just when I thought things couldn’t get any worse, they do!  This book really had me feeling sorry for Blythe and brought up emotions of sadness, anger, disgust and finally relief.  It has a twist I did not expect at all and really caught me by surprise.  It is written from the girl’s perspective so the reader only gets to see what the girl sees, feels and thinks.   If you like novels about survival in tough situations with surprises along the way, I recommend this one.  This is a page turner that kept me reading because I had no clue what would happen next and wanted to see how it was going to end.  It reminded me a little of In the After.
(Karen's review 11/1/14, 4 stars)

Above by Isla Morley is about a young teen girl named Blythe.  She is taken captive and held by a man in a silo for 15 years.  What happens in that silo makes for very interesting reading.  When she finally escapes, she finds that lots of things have changed.  This is a real page turner.  The first part of the book was my favorite but the second part, although not as good, kept me reading to find out how it will all turn out.  Worth reading for sure!  

(Gerard's review, 5+ stars)

Similar reads:  Room 

                        Life in the After

Have you read this one? What did you think of it? If you reviewed this too, feel free to share your link to your review in the comments. Happy Reading!