Catdog

Our animals like to imitate old Nickelodeon cartoons.

Read Full Post »

North & South

Michael:  Abraham Lincoln once said that “If you are a racist, I will attack you with the North,” and those are the principles I carry with me in the workplace.

Okay, so that is a quote from The Office, but I just had to include it in my book review. Ha.

I haven’t posted any book reviews in a while because I’ve been engrossed in the John Jakes Civil War Trilogy:  North & South, Love & War, and Heaven & Hell.

This series has everything an epic literary series should have: romance, war, intrigue, tragedy, love, betrayal, etc. The story revolves around two families, the Mains and the Hazards, before, during and after the Civil War. The genre is Historical Fiction, and I definitely find it accurate. John Jakes puts each of his characters directly into actual historical events and it reads wonderfully. It’s like a historical fiction soap opera, which I happen to love.

If the idea of historical fiction sounds incredibly boring to you, please don’t let that stop you. These books may take place during the Civil War, but to me they are truly just storytelling at its best. This is the kind of series that I will read over and over again, so I’m glad I purchased the first two. I will definitely be buying the third.

By the end of the third book, I found myself wildly in love with the characters (particularly Charles Main), and I was so sad to put it down. John Jakes played a little trick on me toward the end and *spoiler alert* had me thinking one of the characters died. I was so angry.

Luckily a few chapters later he was *sob* alive! I literally cried tears of joy. On the bus. Don’t you judge me.

I know there is a TV Series based on these books, but surprisingly I am reluctant to watch it. I normally do well with separating books and movies and am able to enjoy both. I just have a feeling (after reading some summaries) that they completely botched the TV version so I’m afraid to watch. I think maybe I’ll wait a year or so to get over my initial impressions and then watch the TV version.

So, have any of you read this series? Or have you seen the TV version? Is Charles Main one of your all-time favorite leading characters now or what?

Read Full Post »

Shameless Plug

The rescue where we adopted Indy is overflowing with dogs right now (they can only keep 25 at a time due to budget constraints; right now they have 50).  Most of the Fluffy Dogs are rescued from high kill shelters in the south. It’s so hard to turn them away when for most dogs that means the end.

If you know anyone interested in fostering or adopting a dog, check out the Fluffy Dogs available for adoption here.

Thanks everyone!

A dog is the only thing on earth that loves you more than you love yourself.

~Josh Billings

Read Full Post »