Canadian writer Helen Humphreys doesn't just love dogs; she loves a particular breed, rather rare, called a vizsla. They were originally bred in Hungary for hunting. In this autobiography, Humphreys gives the reader her life story, as well as stories about her dogs. Interspersed among her life stories are excerpts from her journal describing how training Fig is going. (Cue the puppy teeth!) As a bonus, Humphreys interweaves stories about other writers and their dogs: Sylvia Plath, Virginia Woolf, Emily Dickinson, E.B. White, James Thurber, and more. These are accompanied by black-and-white photos. The second bonus is her use of training a puppy (she got Fig after the death of another beloved vizsla) as a metaphor for writing. Chapter titles include Character, Structure, Setting, and Pacing. Regardless of readers' interest in dogs, there is something here for cat lovers as well!
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What I’m ReadingI began working in libraries as a seventh grader, courtesy of scoliosis. My orthopedic surgeon wrote me a pass to miss gym class, so I began working in the school library to feed my love of reading. Even after my surgery to correct the curvature, I kept getting out of gym to work in my high school library and then in my college library (for pay, at last!).
So began my eventual career as a college reference librarian—after a detour into teaching high school English. Later I worked for an educational publisher before going back to libraries.
I have a reading and writing life now. I devour both fiction and nonfiction, and will tell you about some of my favorite reads, both old friends and new discoveries.
Here's some library-themed music to get you in the mood.
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