Kimber the Magnificent.
Your favorite furry face here. I’m jumping for joy today! Well, okay. I jump for joy pretty much every day. Cuz I’m what Her Momness calls a “Professional Joy Spreader.” No idea what that means. But Mom likes it. So I like it, too.
Note: We received a complimentary copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.
You know Dasher and Dancer and Prancer and Vixen… But do you recall the greatest reindeer of all, Kris’s closest friend and protector, Cedric? He didn’t have a shiny nose, but Cedric shines bright in the pages of this expertly crafted blend of magic, myth, legend, and a betrayal that changed everything.
Kimber the Magnificent here. Telling you about how I nudged Her Momness in the direction of a book that looked really good the other day. “Oh, and this one , too!” I mean, hey. Who can resist these covers? We’re talking Serious Sweet Stuff here, right? Like, Canines R Us.
So I talked Mom into grabbing two woof-worthy titles. (It wasn’t hard, if ya know what I mean.) Here’s the 4-1-1:
Go Find is about being lost. The memoir tells the true story of how Sue and her avalanche dog, a black Lab named Tasha, search for missing people in the high country of Colorado and elsewhere from about 1995 to 2007.
We had high hopes for this book. But it gets lost in Soap Opera Land, with too many side trips into Tedium, Tiresome and Blurrysville. Ditto the countless detours into life with the author’s allegedly petulant, controlling husband, Sir Pouts-a-Lot.
We eventually learn that the vast majority of Tasha’s deployments are “decomp” missions to locate human remains. A live find is rare. Sue and Tasha are often deployed as “last resorts” – long after any decent chance of locating a live missing person has flown the coop. Too often egos, petty politics and jealousies within the SAR community as well as weather, terrain, logistical details and a lot of other stuff mitigate against a live find. It’s depressing and frustrating.
Death by Pitbull:Note: We received a complimentary copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.
Back in February 2022 we received a review request for a “dog book.” It sang the praises of a pit bull, Stella. Here’s how we wrapped up that review:
So there’s no doubt Stella is a wonderful dog. (Not as wonderful as a certain Border Collie mix. But nobody’s perfect.) After awhile, however, I just wanted this book to end. Additionally, Kimber has a story of her own on the subject. Sort of.
Kimber: When I was about a year old, Mom and I were out for a walk. On a public street. Chugging along. Minding our own business. All of a sudden two dogs tore out of a house, racing straight toward us. They had us surrounded faster than you can say “Rin Tin Tin.”
One dog grabbed my shoulder. Mom pushed him off. He came back again. Mom jumped between us. She morphed into Mama Grizzly Mode, yelling and screaming at those dogs to Go away! Go home! Leave us alone! Get. Your. Dogs! (Note: You so don’t want to mess with Mama Grizzly Mom the Raving Lunatic. Ever.)
The owner finally came out of the house. The dogs didn’t pay any attention to her. Another human finally came out and got ahold of those two dogs. It took some doing.
We got away. I wasn’t hurt. But I was scared! Those were the most aggressive dogs I’ve ever seen.
Both were pit bulls.
You can read our review in full here.
So Richard Morris’s book struck a chord. Here’s our review:
What’s on YOUR Summer TBR?
Mom’s at it again. She’s skipping merrily around the house, opening every window in sight. Humming that Temptations song. You know the one. About sunshine on a cloudy day.
Here in the omni-soggy Pacific Northwest, we take whatever we can get in the “sunshine” department. Maybe that explains Mom lately. Why she keeps crowing, “Summer’s comin’! Woo-hoo!”
Has anyone found my frisbee? Cuz frankly, what’s summer without a nice, chewy, frisbee?
Anyway, with the weather warming up and some blue skies finally putting in an appearance, we whipped up a quick list of books for your summer reading. Categories include:
Titles appear in no particular order. So without further ado, here ya are. You’re welcome:
Who’s PAWsome?!
“Mom! Mom! Wake up!”
“Umm…. Er… Arghhhhh!”
“Fine. But really, Mom. You gotta wake up!!”
“Right now, Kimber? It’s two o’clock in the morning!”
“No time like the present. Especially when announcing a Stroke of Genius from Yours Truly!”
And that’s how Mom and I came up with this post about famous animal conservationists. (Well, it was mostly me. Mom helped. A little.)
We just finished reading a book on a coupla animal conservationists from the mid-1900s. It was… a slog. Like, pass the No Doze.
So one of us thought we’d come up with our own list. Kinda like Who’s Who of Animals Conservationists List. For hoomans who’ve dedicated their lives to saving and protecting animals. Cuz what’s cooler than saving and protecting animals? (Well, there was that nice, thick slab of filet mignon… But I think Mom’s forgotten about that.)
Wait. Where was I? Oh yeah. PAWsome animal conservationists. Several have written some excellent books. So here goes our totally subjective and 100% unscientific list of 14 PAWsome Animal Conservationists. In no particular order. Holler if you recognize any of these peeps. Or want to add someone:
Citizen K-9An unsolved double murder. A cold case. A crackerjack team of private investigators specializing in cold cases. Playing cards. Like, the king of clubs. A high school reunion where two friends vanish without a trace. Not a single clue that makes sense. At all. A retired cop, Corey Douglas, and his brilliant German shepherd, Simon Garfunkel. A scene stealer extraordinaire and the smartest member of the team by far, Simon is also recently retired from law enforcement. And Really Bad Dudes.
First off, this is NOT a bookish post. This is a KIMBER-ish post. So if you’re okay with that, keep reading. If not, you know what to do. As long as it doesn’t involve chocolate. Lemme explain. Like this:
The Great Almond Bark Disaster occurred one month to the day after a family member’s trip to the E.R. with anaphylaxic shock. (Hi, Lisinopril. Incidentally, 15 hours in the E.R. is a really lousy way to spend the night/next day. In case you’re wondering.)
The little stinker (the furry one) is back to her usual “I love everyone, ain’t life grand?” effervescent self today. Bein’ All Magnificent and everythin’.
Her Crankiness is still recovering.
‘Meanwhile, back at the ranch,’ one of us is So Not Interested in racking up any more emergency frequent flyer miles. Mom’s just funny that way. 🤦♀️
Reminder: NEVER give your dog chocolate. It can be deadly. Kimber was lucky. The jury’s still out on Her Crankiness.
Now if we can just get Kimber the Intrepid to the U.N. She’d have world peace figured out in no time. As long as it doesn’t involve almond bark.
What?
We will return to our regularly scheduled broadcast next time.
“I Chose You” author Carmen Leal.
By Carmen Real
Author of I Chose You, Imperfectly Perfect Rescue Dogs and Their Humans.
Winner of our first-ever Pawsome Book Award.
Take it away, Carmen:
***
On June 18, 2015, an inattentive driver in a large SUV slammed into our small Subaru leaving me with a concussion and moderate frontal and temporal traumatic brain injury. As cliched as it is, everything changed in an instant. I went from loving my job as a concierge in Hawaii creating dream vacations for guests to dreading having to deal with people because of the never-ending level ten migraines.
Pages & Paws 