The Art of Racing in the Rain by Garth Stein

Luckily during some free time, I have been able to read my pile of books that I received during Christmas. I was most eager to read this book first, due to the large adorable golden retriever on the cover. I have a golden retriever myself, Hopper, who is my whole world. The book took a slow start, so it took me a moment to get into it. I would pick it up, read a few pages, and then go about my business. This went on for a few weeks until I had a long flight where I could spend some time digging deeper into this book. Stein wrote in a way that was so easy to read. His words made me feel as if I built relationships with each and every character. This book was truly a journey for me with all of the emotional ups and downs. While reading, I realized that everyone goes through things. When you think things will get better, they do not. However, over time with a positive view of life and a yearning hope, things do get better. Stein's writing from a dog's perspective taught me things that I would not have learned if written from the perspective of a human. One, life is so much better with a dog because they make the difficult times a little bit easier. Two, life from a dog's point of view is a better way to look at the world, and we should all try it sometime. Read this book if you want to learn more about not only a dog's take on the world, but about yourself too. After reading this book, I truly believe that God put dogs on this earth to be a man's best friend. Plus, there is a movie to watch after!