Martha Sherrill

I found this book on the sale rack in the library with the word "discard" written across the title page in black sharpie.

The Ruins are an unconventional family in California in the 1970's. This would seem to be a rich and rewarding source of material, but it wasn't really very interesting. The many characters in the story - including the main one, teenaged Inez - are sketchily drawn, and there is really no plot to speak of. I think a book should have a plot, call me old fashioned. It had some interesting elements here and there, enough to finish it, but it would have been no great loss if I had heeded the handwritten message on the title page.… (more)

Recommended to me by the man in the next seat on the airplane while we were talking about the current research into the structure and reality of the dog-man interaction. The subject of this nonfiction book, a man who lived in the snow country of northeast Japan for most of his life, was largely responsible for the revival of the Akita breed of dogs after World War II. It's a tale of stubborn obsession to the exclusion of his family or virtually any other interest. Unfortunately, while the man's true interest in the dogs is obvious, the writer's style somehow detached this reader from understanding the relationship between the dogs and their owner. The book has little warmth even in its core -- and it's not all because of the snow. Having read the classic "Snow Country" some time ago, I had higher hopes.… (more)