Review: Oogy: The Dog Only a Family Could Love by Larry Levin

In the bestselling tradition of Rescuing Sprite comes the story of a puppy brought back from the brink of death, and the family he adopted.

In 2002, Larry Levin and his twin sons, Dan and Noah, took their terminally ill cat to the Ardmore Animal Hospital outside Philadelphia to have the beloved pet put to sleep. What would begin as a terrible day suddenly got brighter as the ugliest dog they had ever seen--one who was missing an ear and had half his face covered in scar tissue--ran up to them and captured their hearts. The dog had been used as bait for fighting dogs when he was just a few months old. He had been thrown in a cage and left to die until the police rescued him and the staff at Ardmore Animal Hospital saved his life. The Levins, whose sons are themselves adopted, were unable to resist Oogy's charms, and decided to take him home.

Heartwarming and redemptive, OOGY is the story of the people who were determined to rescue this dog against all odds, and of the family who took him home, named him "Oogy" (an affectionate derivative of ugly), and made him one of their own.

I am a HUGE dog-lover.  I will never understand how some people can be so cruel to a helpless animal.  This book made me cry so hard but it also made me smile.  It's amazing how a dog can come into your life and change you just because you took the time to look at them.  My dogs are not pets, they are a member of my family.  I take care of them and they take care of me.  They are my Oogy.  If you are an animal lover, you HAVE to read this amazing story.

Oogy: The Dog Only a Family Could Love by Larry Levin

Grand Central Publishing

9780446546317

10/12/2010

224 pages

$19.99/$22.50

Disclosure:  I received a copy of this book for free.  All opinions expressed are 100% mine.  If you purchase a book using my Amazon or Barnes and Noble link, I will receive a small portion of the purchase price.

What's My Address

I have often wondered how some people expect anyone to find their house.  I had a job where I would drive out to a potential customer's home and I would have a terrible time finding it because they didn't have an address plaque on their house.  I'm sure that everyone who lived down there knew the house number but for someone who is from out of town, it can be a real pain.

I really like home address plaques because they take away unnecessary stress.  I will always have an address sign because I especially don't want the mail man or a UPS man to have trouble bring me goodies.

Disclosure:  This post is brought to you by www.justaddressplaques.com.

Review: Bloody Crimes: The Chase for Jefferson Davis and the Death Pageant for Lincoln's Corpse

On the morning of April 2, 1865, Jefferson Davis, president of the Confederacy, received a telegram from General Robert E. Lee. There is no more time—the Yankees are coming, it warned. Shortly before midnight, Davis boarded a train from Richmond and fled the capital, setting off an intense and thrilling chase in which Union cavalry hunted the Confederate president. 

Two weeks later, President Lincoln was assassinated, and the nation was convinced that Davis was involved in the conspiracy that led to the crime. Lincoln's murder, autopsy, and White House funeral transfixed the nation. His final journey began when soldiers placed his corpse aboard a special train that would carry him home on the 1,600-mile trip to Springfield. Along the way, more than a million Americans looked upon their martyr's face, and several million watched the funeral train roll by. It was the largest and most magnificent funeral pageant in American history. 

To the Union, Davis was no longer merely a traitor. He became a murderer, a wanted man with a $100,000 bounty on his head. Davis was hunted down and placed in captivity, the beginning of an intense and dramatic odyssey that would transform him into a martyr of the South's Lost Cause. 

The saga that began with Manhunt continues with the suspenseful and electrifying Bloody Crimes. James Swanson masterfully weaves together the stories of two fallen leaders as they made their last expeditions through the bloody landscape of a wounded nation.

I enjoyed this book.  I wouldn't say it's one of my favorite's but it certainly held my attention.  James has a way of picking a reader out of the real world and showing them a glimpse of the past.  If you like the synopsis, I'm sure you'll enjoy the book.

Bloody Crimes: The Chase for Jefferson Davis and the Death Pageant for Lincoln's Corpse

HarperCollins Publishers

9780061233784

September 28, 2010

480 pages

$27.99 US

Disclosure:  I received a copy of this book for free.  All opinions expressed are 100% mine.  If you purchase a book using my Amazon or Barnes and Noble link, I will receive a small portion of the purchase price.