Some suggested pup reading:

– A –

“The Art of Racing in the Rain,” by Garth Stein.  321 pages (Harper). Told from the family dog’s point of view, this book details the drama surrounding a professional race driver and his wife’s family. From the back cover: “A heart-wrenching but deeply funny and ultimately uplifting story of family, love, loyalty and hope — a captivating look at the wonders and absurdities of human life … as only a dog could tell it.”

– D –

“The Dogs of Babel: A Novel,” by Carolyn Parkhurst. 288 pages (Little Brown and Co.). From the author’s website: “When his wife dies in a fall from a tree in their backyard, linguist Paul Iverson is wild with despair. So begins Paul’s fantastic and perilous search for the truth, as he abandons his everyday life to embark on a series of experiments designed to teach his dog Lorelei to communicate. Is this the project of a madman? Or does Lorelei really have something to tell him about the last afternoon of a woman he only thought he knew?”

– M –

“Marley & Me,” by John Grogan. 304 pages (William Morrow/HarperCollins). From the author’s website: “The heartwarming and unforgettable story of a family in the making and the wondrously neurotic dog who taught them what really matters in life.”

– T –

“Tracks,” by Robyn Davidson. 256 pages (Vintage). From the back cover: “When Robyn Davidson first set out to make her journey across the deserts of Australia, alone but for her dog and four camels, she was called a lunatic, a would-be suicide and a shameless publicity seeker. But this high-spirited, engrossing book reveals that she is something more: a genuine traveler driven by a love of Australia’s landscape, an empathy for its indigenous people and a willingness to cast away the trappings of her former identity.”