Book #44 of 2015: Dog Diaries #2: Buddy | 2015 book: The White Mare's Daughter

[thistlechaser]

Dog Diaries #2: Buddy by Kate Klimo
Rating: Disliked (Hated-Disliked-Okay-Liked-Loved)



This book could have been a perfect match for me: Told in first person POV, from a dog's perspective. Unfortunately this series was written for very young children, younger than YA even, so the whole thing was too juvenile for adult reader me.

Each book in the Dog Diaries series tells the story of one real dog, from that dog's POV. Knowing that, I didn't try to find the first book in my mess of a To Read list, I just started the first one I found. #2, Buddy, was about the first dog trained as a seeing eye dog.

I found neither the dog nor the people to be very realistic, and everything was way too simplistic. I reached the 50% point of the book, so I can count it towards my 50 book goal for the year, but I didn't finish it. I'm going to delete the whole series from my Kindle, I don't think any of the other books will be a better match for me (all have the same author and the same audience). ...or not. I opened my Kindle to delete them and kept saying "Well maybe I'll keep just this one, it might be better..." I guess at some future time I'll give another of the books a chance, maybe it will work for me better then.

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The White Mare's Daughter by Judith Tarr
Rating: Disliked (Hated-Disliked-Okay-Liked-Loved)



I feel bad that I didn't give this book more of a chance, but it just didn't interest me at all. I googled to see if it would improve, and found review after review saying nothing happened for the first 200 or so pages, so I gave up on it.

From what little I read, this was some kind of a Clan of the Cave Bear clone. Lots of sex (non-graphic), the dialogue was unrealistic to the point of being jarring to my ear, and what little I read of the plot held no interest for me.

Currently reading: The Catswold Portal , which I have the delightful experience of going into totally blind -- I didn't even know if it was YA or not when I started it! (I suspect it's not, the main character is an adult, but I still don't know for sure.)

Sadly, it looks like I won't be reaching 50 books this year, booo. Oh well, I set my goal higher on purpose -- I think I've only met the goal two years so far. I'll probably be high 40s by the time the end of the year comes, so I'll be close! If I wanted to cheat, I could read the rest of the Dog Diaries series, but I try not to pad my numbers like that -- there's no use cheating at solitaire.

Comments

[hamsterwoman]

I think I remember my kids reading the Dog Diaires books, or maybe a similar series, but the same idea -- first person POV of a real-world animal, when they were younger. They enjoyed them, but were definitely part of the target audience then, age-wise, so that makes sense. It's a pity it's not one of those books that works for older readers, too, while being appealing to the younger set, the way the best kids books do.

[thistle-chaser.livejournal.com]

Agreed. I've read and enjoyed kids' books before, but this one just didn't work for me. I'm hoping whenever I try the next one, maybe my mindset will be different and I'll enjoy it more.

[jeane nevarez (from livejournal.com)]

That's too bad. I think I've seen a similar series about horses, but I never even gave it a try, it was aimed at a much younger audience. I've gotten wary of reading YA or middle-grade level books anymore, too often they just don't interest me or disappoint.

re: the Clan of the Cave bear reference- it wasn't the first book full of bad dialog and sex, just the sequels (as well as I remember). Sounds like Mare's Daughter is one to avoid, though.

[thistle-chaser.livejournal.com]

I'd love to read a book from a horse's POV! Long ago, decades ago, I read a good book like that (Heavenly Horse of the Outermost West, I think it was called), but none that I can recall since then.

Ha! I could be misremembering Clan of the Cave Bear, yeah. It's been a long time since I last read it.

[orangerful.livejournal.com]

I didn't make my reading goal this year either, not even close. :( Need to be a bit more realistic (or start adding all the picture books I read to pad the numbers LOL)

[thistle-chaser.livejournal.com]

I'd be doomed if I did page count instead of book number -- the YA books I read tend to be short! :P

Maybe I should lower my bar for next year, but I hate to do that...