The Next Best Book Club discussion

sometimes i think better than some humans :)

better than a LOT of humans!!
(I'd rather hang out with Spencer than most folks)

Amen to that sentiment, Carrie! (Re: preferring the company of dogs to humanoids, that is.) :)
Mandy, don't dwell too much on that fact, and just enjoy every slobbery day with that lab.
Scott: You are hysterical! I think you may have hit upon a new target audience with that Lola has 2 Daddies idea!

Stacy, that's exactly what I intend to do. People think we spoil her but come on, they're not here for that long and I intend to make her life one she loves and enjoys and feels absolutely spoilt!!

that is right, Mandy! Their little lives are way too short!

Mandy, dogs do understand everything you say. My grandparent's collie - Bess - is very intelligent. My grandad has her trained very well, and he talks to her like a child, and 9 times out of 10 she will do/get what he asks her. The cutest thing is, if he says 'speak' she barks! lol

Aw, that's cute, Kirsty!

Of course they do i have 4 dogs i know im crazy!lol i just got a new puppy couldnt say no shes adorable but they even act sheepish when theyve been bad and i dont eve have to say a word they just act guilty!And dogs are also very jealous

Bess doesn't like it if you point out when she's broken wind. If you hold your nose and say 'peuw' she'll walk off and look sheepish lol. So we tease her sometimes, and she still walks off even if she hasn't done anything, lmao. Bess doesn't like to think she's displeased you. Her aim in life is to please. I love her to bits, she's such a loving dog.

Ah, my dog is another pleaser, this endears her to us so much.

Interesting set of posts for a book site- but I found the connections comforting. I have a 16-year-old American Eskimo. He is almost deaf and his back haunches are arthritis ridden. But the vet says he is perfect health and "has a lot of fight left in him." But, each morning when I wake, I check to see if he is still breathing. So, I needed to hear all of your stories to show me that I will survive the inevitable.

I'm so sorry, Sherry. I've been there myself so I truly feel your pain.

Lori, I noticed that a lot of people have dog avitars, too. I love my dog ,Samantha Josephine Jelly Beans Jones (and my cats Hannah and Schmutz). I wish I could get a picture of all them together to use as my avitar but that will never happen because they don't tolerate each other very well.

Heck, I'm considering getting a dog avitar just so I can fit in!

When I was a kid we always had dogs. I have pictures of myself as a newborn with our huge German Shepherd standing guard over me.

Now we have cats. Three cats (according to my oldest, Zoe, the magic number is three to be considered "cat people"). All this talk about our pets getting old or dying just breaks my heart. Just after Thanksgiving we had to have our oldest cat, Babaghanouj, put down and I still mourn him. We had him longer than we've had our kids!

Yeah, im a dog lover, but not a current dog owner. Tho I dont think my love reaches the extent of everyone elses. We always had dogs growing up, but since Ive been married, we havent had one. I would love to adopt a greyhound from a shelter, It kills me to know how they are treated and what happens when no one adopts them, when they are put up for adoption. I know that not many of them even get that far. Its heartbreaking.

As for us, we just have a huge goldfish that my son won at a carnival 7 years ago, (its immortal, it wont die!) and a 4ft long evil iguana.....

We own a miniature pinscher mix named Leela. She's good at killing doves, so I think her mix is hound..haha. I've always had dogs as pets. It's amazing how fast you fall in love with them. There are times I'm sitting on the back porch, petting Leela where I turn into a 5 year old kid and wish to God she could talk...haha.

Jesse, have you read Dogs of Babel? Your post reminded me of that book.

Jesse: Can I borrow Leela? A dove built its nest on the corner of my house right outside my bedroom window. Now, EVERY morning at 5 AM I wake up to COOING THAT JUST WON'T STOP!!!

April, I feel your pain. I had that same problem directly outside my bedroom window when we were living in California. It would drive me insane every morning. Luckily now the worst that I have to deal with are the doves making nests in our hanging ferns.

Lorena, I've never read it. I read a blurb about it on Amazon and it sounds intriguing.

April, you can borrow her but she has to be in the mood...haha. Some days we can have a whole group of doves on our back porch patio and Leela just lays there watching them. Go figure.

lol And when I joined - I settled on my terrier for an avitar and figured I'd be unique. Lol Just like every else I guess!!

Oh, sorry - I'm new to the group (but not to good reads!!) Glad to see some familiar names (and avitars here) heehee

Hi Gracee,welcome to the group.If you can't be unique then it's good to be with a crowd of like-minded individuals. :)

Hi Gracee, thanks for joining!

Hi, Gracee! Welcome to you (and your terrier). :) Look forward to chatting with you here on GR!

Welcome Gracee.

Hello Stacy,
I lived in Snellville, Ga about 4 years ago, I loved GA, hubby hated it. Its where his family lives. Growing up in NYC, Ga was nice and peaceful. I am now in VA. Just been here a couple of months. I am still getting used to it here. Welcome to an awesome bookaholic site! Cute pic of your dog.

Snellville?What a wonderful name!

Hi, Maddie! I had to laugh when I read your message. I've been in GA for 12 years, and am not a big fan. I'm actually trying to move back to VA! I think it is a nice compromise between NYC and GA. :)

( clears throat) And what, may I ask is wrong with Ga, other than the fact you live in a town called Snellville??? Becareful how you answer I am a Bama boy ...and you are attacking my roots girly. ( JK ......Notice please that I am NO LONGER in the south.)

I'm another Southern transplant, born in 'Sippi and related to a huge chunk of northern Alabama. My brother is still in Tennessee, and I wish I could get down there more often. I truly love it down there. But my husband will never leave Washington State (and heck, who can blame him...it's GORGEOUS here!).

I there! I just joined your group as I've been a "lurker" for a while and I'm intrigued by your August pics. Stacy (with a "y") S. is my sister, so I am the mom of two of her "neph-dogs" and all the talk about the fur kids is right up my alley.

Animal and book people are the best! Also, the description of your club is me to a T. Stacy can attest to the overflowing bookshelves!

I'm looking forward to "The Book of Lost Things"

Hi Diana.... Welcome to the group... Nice to have the relatives and immediate family joining us :)

Hi Diana- I'm a newbie too and it is very friendly around here. Although keeping up with all the posts could be a full-time job (and is very distracting to my actual job).

Val- I'm in Mukilteo and have a ton of relatives in Huntsville. Small world. Yes, WA is a great place to live. Do you teach close to home? I do child & family therapy so I'm around the schools often.

Welcome to the group Diana.I would have to agree with Marsha,it's a full time job just keeping up with the posts!

Welcome Diana...from the other Stacie (with an "ie) S.

You know,my last name is Stacey and I get called that all the time.

OMG Val too Funny I left Bama ....lived in Cali for 7 years and then in Portland Oregon. One of the reasons I love the PNW so much is it reminds me of Bama w/o the humidity! :)

Marsha I do not know where Mukaleto is but>>>>> I was raise djust right across the Tennesse River in a little town called Lacey's Spring. Small little town on highway 231 and Highway 36 !!!

One of the reasons I love the PNW so much is it reminds me of Bama w/o the humidity

Good to know...

Places to Visit

Pacific Northwest (described as 'like Alabama with less humidity')

Scott- Mukilteo is in Washington state. We are a cute little ferry town with a giant airplane manufacturer. Val lives a little north of me.

My Alabama relatives are in Huntsville. My grandparents were born there and their families had been there for a long time. My mother was born there actually, but they moved west looking for work in the early 50's.

I was an MP in the Army and trained at Ft. McClellan AL- so I got to meet all of my AL relatives and went to a really cool space camp place when I was there. I loved my time in AL- although basic training in that humidity is not high on my "recommend" list!

Hey Marsha, finally someone who lives close and not clear across the country (or in another country altogether). My family in Alabama is close to Huntsville (just east of there). There's a little museum in Elkmont with lots of pictures of my grandpa and great-uncle (who was sheriff in those parts).

Charity, you have GOT to add the Pacific NW back to your list of places to visit. Alabama doesn't have the snowy peaks of the Cascade mountains or the rolling wheatfields of the Palouse or the rainforests of the Peninsula or the high desert of Central Washington or the laid-back, funky vibe of Seattle.

Val, I definitely will! I just like giving Scott a hard time. *evil grin* >:-]

I can see that you really are bitchy in a fun-loving way . One of the many reasons I look forward to your posts! :)

I try. :-)

And Val you are right there are some major differences between Bama and the PNW for ex there is no Mt. Hood in Bama either. I was thinking more of the whole foresty,green,colors in the fall, actual seasons instead of summer and rainy season like in San Jose.

It's funny, the last time we came back from a trip to Tennessee and Alabama, we were driving through the tree-lined corridor north of Seattle thinking, "Man, it's so BROWN here!" Nothing like that green of Tennessee!

And sorry I sounded like the poster girl for Pacific NW tourism back there....along with being a total book dork, I'm just a dork in general and tend to speak and think in superlatives.

Oy vey.

well if it makes you feel less dorky, I am moving back to the PNW from Maui in about a years time.......... Can't speak for Wa to much ( have only been to the Seattle area 1 time ) but I LOVE PORTLAND. I think it is one of the best cities that I have lived in.

Val, I wouldn't worry about sounding like a PNW dork - I've been to Seattle and it was one of my favorite places ever. I could easily live there if it wasn't so far away from my family as we're all on the East Coast.

Portland rocks. I can go for the weekend just to go to Powell's. That is- without a doubt- the best bookstore I have ever visited. I

I've never been to the PNW, but did live in Japan for away. That's pretty North Pacific right? lol
As for Bama, what other state totally stops everything for a college football game?

I was born in Montgomery and most of my relatives are in that area.