Sara's reading log

I am a book hoarder and reader. My main genre is SF, but I also love magic realism, fantasy and general fiction. Favorite authors are Iain M. Banks, Ursula K. LeGuin, Haruki Murakami, José Saramago, Isaac Asimov, Ben Aaronovitch and more. My rating system is based on five stars. I rate books based on my expectations and what a books aims to be. This means that the brilliant 'Fahrenheit 451' gets five stars because I thought it would be good, people said it was good, and it was good, but 'A Closed and Common Orbit' also gets five stars because in its series, in its style, I really enjoyed it and was not disappointed.

Marley & Me by John Grogan

  • Started on: 2011-08-24
  • Finished on: 2011-08-25
  • Read in: English
  • Rating: ****-
  • Genre(s): General Fiction, Biography

I know this isn’t a great work of literature, but as a dog lover I just had to read it. This is the story of John and Jenny, a newly married couple that add a lovely Labrador puppy to their family. But the Labrador, Marley, turns out to be a mentally not very normal, huge, slobbering dog. He’s hard to control, he is destructive, he is not very intelligent. But he is extremely loving and loyal. The book covers Marley’s life with the Grogans, including the birth of their three children and their move across the country. In short episodes happenings with Marley are described.
The emphasis is very much on how bad a dog Marley is, and maybe I like dogs too much, but I hardly agree. Yeah he doesn’t listen, but he is not evil. Yeah he is destructive, but mostly out of fear and loneliness, and because he doesn’t know his own strength. I can understand that he tried the Grogans’ patience, but I think he sounds like a very loving dog. Luckily Grogan admits this at the end of the book. The end of the book, and the end of Marley’s life was so sad, I couldn’t help but shed a tear. The book itself is no masterpiece, but a fun and emotional read nonetheless, and a good reflection of what it like to love a dog.

  • Started on: 2011-08-24
  • Finished on: 2011-08-25
  • Read in: English
  • Rating: ****-
  • Genre(s): General Fiction, Biography

I know this isn’t a great work of literature, but as a dog lover I just had to read it. This is the story of John and Jenny, a newly married couple that add a lovely Labrador puppy to their family. But the Labrador, Marley, turns out to be a mentally not very normal, huge, slobbering dog. He’s hard to control, he is destructive, he is not very intelligent. But he is extremely loving and loyal. The book covers Marley’s life with the Grogans, including the birth of their three children and their move across the country. In short episodes happenings with Marley are described.
The emphasis is very much on how bad a dog Marley is, and maybe I like dogs too much, but I hardly agree. Yeah he doesn’t listen, but he is not evil. Yeah he is destructive, but mostly out of fear and loneliness, and because he doesn’t know his own strength. I can understand that he tried the Grogans’ patience, but I think he sounds like a very loving dog. Luckily Grogan admits this at the end of the book. The end of the book, and the end of Marley’s life was so sad, I couldn’t help but shed a tear. The book itself is no masterpiece, but a fun and emotional read nonetheless, and a good reflection of what it like to love a dog.