The Art of Racing in the Rain by Garth Stein

Note: first part of blog entry also appeared on my Goodreads profile.

The Art of Racing in the Rain by Garth Stein



rating: 5 of 5 stars
Meet Enzo.



Lover of crap TV, loyal friend of Denny, Eve, and Zoe; and a keen observer of human nature, one whom no one hides their true selves from because no one thinks he actually understands what it is going on.



While tales of anthropomorphism are nothing new—stretching from Aesop’s Fables to The Heart of a Dog to Animal Farm and beyond—Enzo really is something special—thanks to his laid back style and sense of humor.



A heartfelt family story for people who usually hate heartfelt family stories and stories about pets—I heartily recommend that you take a couple of hours to meet Enzo.


Now for the iPreferreading portion of the entry.

Genre: Fiction
Subgenre: pet story, family fiction
Location: Seattle, Washington, and one of my fave childhood vacation spots--Winthrop, Washington (oh, bubble gum ice cream--so exotic)
Cliches: Story narrated by dog (although Stein pulls it off), evil in-laws/grandparents
Good Plane or Waiting Around in Line Reading: Yes
Good Enough Reading to Keep You Distracted From Plane Movie: Yes
Good Enough Plane Reading to Distract You From Kids or Jerks on Plane: Yes
Can read when depressed and/or when winter: No. This is a great book, but as anyone who has read any pet fiction knows, there usually is some kind of Charlotte's Web/Where the Red Fern Grows action by the end.

Your Inner Fish by Neil Shubin, 240 pages

Shubin was one of the scientists who discovered Tiktaalik, a 375-million-year-old fish in the Arctic that became famous for being the missing link between fish and humans. Throughout Your Inner Fish, Shubin explains the evolutionary process that led from Tiktaalik to you and me.

Your Inner Fish is a book for people who are normally intimidated by science writing. His clear prose, sense of humor, and excellent use of illustrations throughout the text make this book not only an informative and accessible book for the readers who do not normally read about science, but an entertaining one as well.

Genre: Nonfiction
Subgenre: Science
Location: University of Chicago, the Arctic
Good Plane or Waiting Around in Line Reading: Yes, Shubin keeps his prose concise, so interruptions won't get you confused.
Good Enough Reading to Keep You Distracted From Plane Movie: Yes, unless it is a plane movie with both Chris Cooper and Pierce Brosnan, it would be tough to find a book that could compete with that.
Good Enough Plane Reading to Distract You From Kids or Jerks on Plane: Yes!
Can read when depressed and/or when winter: Yes