Giveaway: Sasha, Extraordinary Dachshund by CJ Adams

Posted by Teddyrose@1 on January 27, 2012
Posted in My Past Giveaways | 79 Comments

Thanks to Michelle Carpenter of MediaGuests, I am giving away one copy of Sasha, Extraordinary Dachshund.

Book Description:

CJ Adams pens a warm and entertaining tale of life with an exceptional dachshund. A friendship that endured paralysis and a cure through acupuncture and holistic medicine. You will enjoy every page of this heart warming journey through the lives of the very precocious Sasha; the devoted, but not too smart Miniature Pinscher/Chihuahua mix, Squirt; the enduring pack-leader and CJ’s husband, Mel; and CJ, the woman who loves them all with every fiber of her being.

All animal lovers understand that each pet that comes into our lives is special but that sometimes you are blessed with an extraordinary animal. For CJ that was Sasha. This memoir is about a cycle of life involving family, friends, paralysis, other pets, aging and loss. When faced with the possibility of euthanizing a 4-year-old Sasha, a desperate CJ turns to holistic veterinary medicine and acupuncture to save her Extraordinary Dachshund and learns how to use this “alternative medicine” to complement traditional veterinary medicine. Be prepared to laugh out loud, wonder and learn something new.

About CJ Adams:

CJ Adams wrote this memoir to let all animal guardians know there are many healing options available for your treasured pets. In the process she began to heal from the loss of Sasha and now will begin a search for her next little friend.

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Jan 12

26

There is a Season by Patrick Lane

Posted by Teddyrose@1 on January 26, 2012
Posted in Books Read in 2012 | 6 Comments

I have been meaning to read this books for years now. I really have no excuse. The Vancouver Public Library gave away several copies, after their One Book, One Vancouver was over and I snagged a copy.

Then, at the beginning of this month, John over at The Book Mine Set, who hosts The Canadian Book Challenge, gave us an extra challenge. He presented us with a list of Canadian authors who no one has read for the challenge so far this year. Patrick Lane is one of the authors on the list. Thanks John, for the extra push I needed to finally read There is a Season.

There is a season is the memoir of Victoria, British Columbia author, Patrick Lane. It is not only a tell all memoir of his life but a garden meditation as well. Mr. Lane has been writing since 1961 and has published 20 books of poetry. He has been an alcoholic pretty much all of his adult life but finally became clean and sober and decided to write this book.

He is famous for his garden at his home in Victoria, in fact it was on a television show about the greatest gardens. Lane wrote of his garden in such a way that I thought of Henry David Thoreau and Ralph Waldo Emerson. He went through the seasons of his garden while include stories of his childhood, adulthood and his addiction. Sometimes he found bottles of alcohol hidden in various hiding places in his garden after he became sober. They were so well hidden that he didn’t remember where they were.

He grew up in more rural areas in British Columbia. His father left the family to go off and fight in WWII.

The family didn’t have much money and at times Patrick would beg for some money from soldiers passing through but he also let them fondle his privates for more. Like the man who gave him a couple of quarters and bought him an ice cream sundae. Patrick also saw much that a boy shouldn’t have to witness such as murders and rapes. He lived in a town where such things weren’t talked about and he never told he parents for fear of getting whipped for sneaking off at night.

His mother had been sexually abused several times as a child and Lane wrote that she carried on the tradition but did not elaborate on how or to whom, except for one scene in the book where she saw him pleasuring himself.

As a teenager he had gotten a girl pregnant and he went to his father for help. The reply was the standard reply back in those days, “you made your own bed.” There was a shot gun wedding. Him and his young wife and child lived in cramped conditions in a mining village, where he worked but at night he wrote poetry. He wasn’t educated beyond high school but he read all of the greats, including Dante.

His two brother both had the same shot gun weddings before him and they didn’t fare much better. Lane got divorced after a few years and went to another remote mining town where he worked and wrote. He remarried but later, divorced again.

Patrick Lane currently lives with his wife Lorna. He had lived with her a number of years but they eventually married when he was writing There is a Season. He has travelled all over the world. He won the Governor General’s Award for this moving and beautifully written memoir.

4.5/5

Did you review this book? Please leave your link in the comments.