Murder Short and Sweet - Paul D. Staudohar (Editor)

Mystery is my favorite genre and this book is filled to the brim with short stories of murder and mayhem. It is a compilation of short stories by authors like Agatha Cristie, Edgar Allan Poe, John Updike, Ruth Rendell, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, and Roald Dahl to name a few. Each story is had a title page giving a slight history of the literary career of the author. I'm ashamed to admit that though I love mystery I'd never before read any Sherlock Holmes. This was my first taste and I found it to be quite good. Written close to eighty years or more ago, Doyle's works are still fresh. I was also curious to read an adult story by Roald Dahl. As a child I read all of his children's books. His adult writing is not quite as brilliant but still interesting. My favorite story was Dark Snow by Brenden DuBois. Lets just say it was quiet dark.

*****Five Stars out of Five

Dogged Pursuit: My Year of Competing Dusty, the World's Least Likely Agility Dog - Robert Rodi

288 pages of light reading chronicling one year of trying to turn Dusty-- a rescued, abused dog--into an agility champion. Rodi is heavy handed with humor but definitely lacking in realistic expectations. Dusty was never going to be a champion so what follows is basically a journal of failure, albeit a laugh out funny one.

****Four Stars out of Five