Book picks similar to
An Angel With Fur by Russell Blake
animals
non-fiction
dogs
russell-blake
Broadway Tails: Heartfelt Stories of Rescued Dogs Who Became Showbiz Superstars
Bill Berloni - 2008
As a high schooler in 1976, Berloni had rescued an Airedale mixed breed only hours before it was slated for euthanasia. The terrier was cast as Sandy in the musical Annie and performed there for seven years. The bulldog currently starring in Legally Blonde and her bulldog understudy were rescued from Newark and from North Carolina. Berloni's story is completely engaging as he talks about being the first to train actors to work with animals on stage, his love for mutts over purebreds, as well as the four-acre animal retirement compound where he lives. With photos throughout this delightful book, we learn details about how his dogs are trained, how they react to Broadway life, and his own personal rise to fame. An enchanting writer (whose first book, Doga, has sold more than 350,000 copies for Chronicle) with an inspiring story for animal lovers, theatergoers, and anyone who loved books such as Marley & Me.
Lessons from a Sheep Dog: A True Story of Transforming Love
W. Phillip Keller - 1982
Woven just under the surface of this simple parable, Keller presents profound spiritual truth. It is the story of Lass, a worthless animal thought to be untrainable, who becomes a magnificent and valuable sheepdog - not terribly unlike how God's love can transform our worst characteristics into blessings that serve to further His Kingdom. Allow yourself to see Biblical truth in this classic tale of what can happen when you yield to the Master.
Lost & Found
Jacqueline Sheehan - 2007
. . with the help of one not-so-little dogRocky's husband Bob was just forty-two when she discovered him lying cold and lifeless on the bathroom floor . . . and Rocky's world changed forever. Quitting her job, chopping off all her hair, she leaves Massachusetts—reinventing her past and taking a job as Animal Control Warden on Peak's Island, a tiny speck off the coast of Maine and a million miles away from everything she's lost. She leaves her career as a psychologist behind, only to find friendship with a woman whose brain misfires in the most wonderful way and a young girl who is trying to disappear. Rocky, a quirky and fallible character, discovers the healing process to be agonizingly slow.But then she meets Lloyd.A large black Labrador retriever, Lloyd enters Rocky's world with a primitive arrow sticking out of his shoulder. And so begins a remarkable friendship between a wounded woman and a wounded, lovable beast. As the unraveling mystery of Lloyd's accident and missing owner leads Rocky to an archery instructor who draws her in even as she finds every reason to mistrust him, she discovers the life-altering revelation that grief can be transformed . . . and joy does exist in unexpected places.
Dogs Never Lie About Love: Reflections on the Emotional World of Dogs
Jeffrey Moussaieff Masson - 1991
Like the dogs he loves, Masson's writing--drawn from myth and literature, scientific studies and true accounts--will capture readers with its playful, mysterious, and serious sides.
The Dog Who Rescues Cats: True Story of Ginny
Philip González - 1995
A friend suggested he adopt a dog.Reluctantly he went to the shelter, where Ginny, a badly abused one-year-old pup,quickly won him over. Philip realized immediately that Ginny was no ordinary dog--she had an amazing sixth sense that enabled her to find and rescue stray and ailing cats.There's Madame,who is completely deaf; Revlon, who has only one eye;Betty Boop,who has no hind feet;and Topsy, a paralyzed kitten whom Ginny found abandoned in an empty building. Ginny and Philip have now rescued and found homes for over 200 cats, and they have over 60 "outdoor cats" whom they visit and feed twice daily. Even more than extraordinary, Ginny's angelic mission has given Philip a sense of purpose and a new lease on life. You will never forget the true adventures of Ginny, the dog who rescues cats.
Blind Hope: An Unwanted Dog and the Woman She Rescued
Kim Meeder - 2010
An emotional rescue.Two lives forever changed. Laurie's dreams had been shattered before she came to work at Crystal Peaks Youth Ranch—the ranch of rescued dreams—where broken horses and broken children encounter healing every day. In an attempt to soothe her aching soul, Laurie reached out to save a dog in need. And she soon began to realize that the dog was rescuing her. An inspiring true story told through the engaging voice of Kim Meeder, Blind Hope reveals poignant life lessons Laurie experienced from her ailing, yet courageous canine friend. Despite the blindness of her dog—and her own heart—Laurie uncovered what she really needed most: authentic love, unconditional trust, and true acceptance, faults and all. As Laurie and her dog, Mia, both learned to follow the lead of a master they couldn’t see, Laurie discovered the transforming power of God’s grace even for imperfect and selfish people—and she experienced a greater love than she had ever known. “Love is a bridge that stands firm through difficulties and connects one heart directly to another, not because of how it looks, but because of what it is.” --Kim Meeder, Blind Hope
Memoirs of a Bad Dog
Curtis Moser - 2012
He's been there before, but he never felt like he deserved it until now. Peeing on the carpet is one thing, but now he's killed a man. And it wasn't just any old man--any old man may have been forgiveable. Bogart killed Swifty's father, and Swifty is Bogart's human, so now he deserves his jail sentence. Now he deserves a death sentence. He's truly a bad dog. In an effort to give Swifty back the part of him that he took away, Bogart escapes and embarks on a journey to recover the dead man's Red Sox hat. Joined by his border collie girlfriend, Ginger, and an abandoned kitten named Snowball, the three of them set out to become good again.
Carolina Sunshower
Kat Spencer - 2012
A girl from a small, rural North Carolina mountain community faces the challenges of growing up in a severely dysfunctional family.
Detour from Normal
Ken Dickson - 2013
What happens next is downright frightening.Surgery saves Ken’s life but improper care sends him spiraling into madness. Unable to fend for himself, his wife Beth takes charge. She does her best to save him but the unyielding stigma of mental illness hampers his recovery at every turn until he is beyond hope.Desperate to get Ken the help that he needs, Beth makes a heartbreaking decision: she brands the man she loves a “danger to himself and others” and commits him to psychiatric treatment. A police SUV then delivers him to a high-security facility where the real nightmare begins. Plagued by the pitfalls of contemporary psych wards, Ken struggles through living hell. Nevertheless, as the days stretch to weeks, he finds solace by befriending the lost and forgotten and helping patients with worse problems than his.Featured in Amazon Prime Reading and spotlighted as Great on Kindle, Detour from Normal will touch your heart in ways that you never imagined and make you question your faith in our medical and mental health systems.What readers are saying:“A massive amount of emotion rolled into a page-turner.”“An enlightening and dare I say frightening glimpse into the world of mental health care.”“This is a story you will want to share with the people you know and love.”“Scary, life-changing and inspiring!”“Powerful and gripping.”“A psychological thriller, medical mystery, and compelling drama—made all the more vivid because it actually happened.”
Dog Shaming
Pascale Lemire - 2013
Our dogs are our best friends. They are always happy to see us. They comfort us in our times of need. They also eat our shoes, stain our carpets, and embarrass us in front of our guests. Dog owners everywhere have found their outlet in Dog Shaming, where they can confess their dogs' biggest (and often grossest!) sins, which turn out to be recognizably universal—complete with snapshots of ridiculously cute but shamed pups who don't seem capable of humping humans, pooping on pillows, or snagging steak straight from a grill.So share in the shaming and laugh through your frustration as Dog Shaming reminds us that unconditional love goes both ways.
Arthur: The dog who crossed the jungle to find a home
Mikael Lindnord - 2016
But that's exactly what happened to Mikael Lindnord, captain of a Swedish adventure racing team, when he threw a scruffy but dignified mongrel a meatball one afternoon. When they left the next day, the dog followed. Try as they might, they couldn't lose him - and soon Mikael realised that he didn't want to. Crossing rivers, battling illness and injury, and struggling through some of the toughest terrain on the planet, the team and the dog walked together towards the finish line, where Mikael decided he would save Arthur and bring him back to his family in Sweden, whatever it took.
The Dog Who Could Fly: The Incredible True Story of a WWII Airman and the Four-Legged Hero Who Flew At His Side
Damien Lewis - 2013
One was an orphaned puppy, abandoned by his owners as they fled Nazi forces. The other was a different kind of lost soul; a Czech airman bound for the Royal Air Force and the country that he would come to call home.Airman Robert Bozdech stumbled across the tiny German shepherd - whom he named Ant - after being shot down on a daring mission over enemy lines. Unable to desert his charge, Robert hid Ant inside his jacket as he escaped. In the months that followed the pair would save each other's lives countless times as they flew together with Bomber Command. And though Ant was eventually grounded due to injury, he refused to abandon his duty, waiting patiently beside the runway for his master's return from every sortie, and refusing food and sleep until they were reunited. By the end of the war Robert and Ant had become British war heroes, and Ant was justly awarded the Dickin Medal, the Animal VC.With beautiful vintage black-and-white photos of Robert and Ant, The Dog Who Could Fly is a deeply moving story of loyalty in the face of adversity and the unshakable bond between a man and his best friend.
Good Boy: My Life in Seven Dogs
Jennifer Finney Boylan - 2020
It’s in the love of dogs, and my love for them, that I can best now take the measure of the child I once was, and the bottomless, unfathomable desires that once haunted me.There are times when it is hard for me to fully remember that love, which was once so fragile, and so fierce. Sometimes it seems to fade before me, like breath on a mirror.But I remember the dogs. In her New York Times opinion column, Jennifer Finney Boylan wrote about her relationship with her beloved dog Indigo, and her wise, funny, heartbreaking column went viral. In Good Boy, Boylan explores what should be the simplest topic in the world, but never is: finding and giving love.Good Boy is a universal account of a remarkable story: showing how a young boy became a middle-aged woman—accompanied at seven crucial moments of growth and transformation by seven memorable dogs. “Everything I know about love,” she writes, “I learned from dogs.” Their love enables us pull off what seem like impossible feats: to find our way home when we are lost, to live our lives with humor and courage, and above all, to best become our true selves.
Maddie on Things: A Super Serious Project About Dogs and Physics
Theron Humphrey - 2013
In his spare time, Theron took photos of Maddie doing what she does best: standing on things. From bicycles to giant watermelons to horses to people, there really isn't anything that Maddie won't stand on with grace and patience. The poignant Instagram photos of this beautiful dog and her offbeat poses have captured the imagination of all those who long for a road trip with a good dog for company. Maddie on Things celebrates the strange talent of one special dog and will resonate with any dog lover who appreciates the quirky hearts (and extraordinary balance) of canines.