Book Review: Dog Tails

Dog Tails:  Three Humorous Short Stories for Dog Lovers by Tara Chevrestt
ASIN: B004WOYU2O


This books is a collection of three short stories, based on the author's dogs. Since they are short stories, it's hard to quickly summarize them without giving too much away, but here goes. In the first story, Thank Dog It's Friday, Lola's human makes a wish which many pet owners have made before and this story is the result. The second story, Pugnacious, concerns the exploits of a pug named Pudgy and her efforts to protect what is hers. The last story, Tail of Terror, shows what happens to Jazzy, a Japanese Chin, when her royal desires get the better of her judgement.

Before I write more, I should state for full disclosure, I'm a cat person. Okay, technically I have a couple of dogs, but they are really my husband's -- I have cats. I should be reading cat stories!

Anyway, much to my chagrin, this was a delightful read! While none of these stories will change your life, they will make you laugh -- guaranteed. Chevrestt managed to capture what might be going on in a dog's head and made it very convincing. This dog's-point-of-view in spots had me laughing out loud! The writing was crisp and clear, with enough detail to really envision the scenes. Of the three stories, the last one, was my favorite, probably because Jazzy's attitude reminded me of certain cats I know.

The only reason I gave this book 4.5 instead of 5 stars was the second story. While it was well written, I felt it was a bit contrived as if the author was trying too hard to make it funny. However, my husband, who also read and enjoyed these stories, said my complaint was all in my head.

My other 'complaint', or maybe 'wish' would be better to use, is that this book would have been illustrated. I wanted so much to see Lola's human eating dog biscuits!

Even though it's about dogs and I'm a cat person, I'm glad I read this book and probably will reread it now and then for a laugh or two. (  )

Show and Tell

Well, I finished a couple more things, including the one portrait commission from way back when, and I actually got them all scanned in. So, tonight we are having show and tell!

First up, is the portrait commission:

This dog was done in oil on canvas as part of a demonstration for my website. I don't know whether it was that or just the problems of doing a black dog, but I had a hard time getting it done. I know I wanted it to be perfect, so I probably was trying too hard. At last, I just to hell with it and finished it off. As you can see, I don't think it turned out too badly. I still have to send it to owner and hope she's not totally pissed off at me!

Next is a pink waterlily:

This is just a small 5x7 oil on canvas of a pink waterlily. What I was more interested in was the water, the highlights on the water, and the lily leaves, but I didn't figure anyone would be interested in just leaves and water. So, I also included a flower. Why did I have to pick a pink flower??? Here's a little secret -- getting certain pink flowers to look realistic is tough, very tough. Normally, you have to mix white, permanent rose, and a bit of yellow to get the light areas. And then to get the dark, ... well, I've never figured that out for sure. If you add blue, you get a dirty purple. If you add black, it turns brownish. If you add purple, it turns brownish. I usually just keep adding layer upon layer until it's right. One of these days, I will figure out pink shadows!

Then a ruddy duck art card:

This is just a quick watercolor painting of a ruddy duck. Again, I was looking more to learn about the water and it's reflection than the duck. Although, I am rather fond of ruddies. The are just so perky. One of these days, when I have nothing else to do, I will do a larger version of this and I may even carve a ruddy duck decoy. (For those that want to see either of these, come back in about a year!)

That's it for now.