About this time every year, with less than 30 days until the end of Book Bingo season, I carefully plot my last few squares, sometimes reframing how I interpret a category. Take, for instance, the “Animal” square. Earlier this summer I made a list of books about animals I’d long been eyeing, but I couldn’t settle on just one. My late August strategy: If it has a dog on the cover, it counts.
To get the best of both worlds, you’ll want to look at this fantastic librarian-created list where each careful selection features an animal (by image or name) on the cover, with the added allure of being about an animal.
Below are a few additional books to consider, selected purely for their covers – but delivering a lot more within the pages:
The Hitch by Sara Levine (fiction): This book brings you a corgi on the cover and a high dose of humor and humanity. Ruth, our main character, tries to lessen her micromanaging ways and to be a good aunt to her six-year-old nephew who insists that a dead corgi named Hazel is talking to him. From the author of Treasure Island!!! (often called a cult classic). This one wins the prized “Animal” square on my card.
Social Animals by Camille Perri (fiction): A private investigator acquires a dog for the sole purpose of fitting in when a case takes her to a dog park to spy on a client’s partner. Dogs make friends; humans make connections. From the publisher: “Social Animals is a funny and sharp social commentary on community, privilege, dog ownership, and the ultimate power of finding your people (and your pets).” This is a contender for my Happy for Now (“HEA/HFN”) category.
Dog Show by Billy Collins (poetry): “Former U.S. Poet Laureate Billy Collins captures the essence and mystery of dogs in this special collection of poems inspired by our beloved companions, with striking watercolor canine portraits by Pamela Sztybel.” (Publisher description) This one is a candidate for my “Unplugged, “Soothing,” or “Under 150 Pages” squares.
Ultra Blue by Graeme Bezanson (poetry): I saw this on display at the Central Library, and had it been just a spine visible on the shelf I may have missed it. “This debut collection is a book-length sequence of poems about the emotional lives of boys and the challenges of growing up within contemporary constructions of masculinity.” (Publisher description) Also works for “Under 150 Pages.”
~ posted by Linda J.
