Play Book Tag discussion

This is a collection of short stories, intelligently written. My two favorite stories are:

The Guide - This one features a blind teen and her father. They travel to the countryside to meet with an unorthodox dog breeder who has trained a seeing eye dog for the girl. The girl is sassy and bright and is not all together sure that she wants the dog. Next year she will be going to college. The father is worried about her living away from home while at the same time, is looking forward to some hoped for freedom for himself.

Immortalizing John Parker - The story looks at how a portrait artist paints her subject. A couple who has been married for 51 years approach the artist (Clara). The wife asks Clara to paint her husband (John). Clara judges John as being/looking dull and is not pleased with the assignment. In the story, Clara comes off as cold at first. However, in working with John, she senses that John has become "dulled" - he did not start out that way. Clara ends up doing something very kind for both John and his wife.

As in many story collections, I liked some stories better than others. They were hit and miss for me. Oddly enough, common themes in the stories are disability, illness and adultery.