I'm Not Single, I Have a Dog by Susan Hartzler

 It is not easy being single in a married environment. And the choices we make in our dating life sometimes are not the best. If you are  willing to settle for anything in pants because you have a poor self image then you deserve  what you get.

Susan Hartzler thought herself a good judge of character. But she didn't seem to be too good when it came to men. Put friends or dogs in front of her and she does fine. Yet when it came to mates, here she lacked.

Her first attempt was an abuser. Her second lasted a bit longer, but he didn't like dogs. He lasted longer because he met a need in her life to care for someone else. But he was not a provider.

This is the story of a woman seeking love. It has the subtitle Dating Tales from the Bark Side.. 

She had a childhood of abuse so she carried that in to her choice of men. But the story ends happily. It seems the dogs she had in the journey to discover herself and find acceptance as a single woman paid off.

Hartzler is open about herself and her story. It wasn't an easy life, but she made it.

This is a delightful book. The point is that we may disappoint one another, but dogs never do that to us.

This book is published by McFarland & Company. I am sure you can find it in your local bookstore, Amazon carries everything, so I would think you can find it there. Or you can easily find it by searching for it online. Or maybe your local library will have a copy. 

Happy reading..

The Midnight Library by Matt Haig

 This book is on the best read list of the New York Books list. That sentence is redundant I know. But as I see it, it has a reason to be. It is a good tale.

What is there were a library that contained all the books concerning life choices you could have made during your life time. Call this library The Midnight Library and it is located between life and death  Each book there concerns a life you would have experienced had you chosen a certain way. 

For example, had you stayed in that band you were in at some point in your life, or you had chosen that profession over another? Would it be a satisfying decision?

in this book we are presented with Nora Seed. She wants to die. Her life has been one full of regret and misery. She feels has has let everyone down, including herself. 

She finds herself between life and death in The  Midnight Library. Time has stopped. She finds a librarian there and books. And a book of regrets. The librarian tells her she has a choice now. Each book in the library contains a different life if she had done things differently. She is allowed to sample books and experience a new choice. But time is running out. She can go a number of infinite ways. But time is short. She can undo her regrets. But by doing so she puts the library in extreme danger.

The book reminds me a bit, not entirely , of the books of Charles Williams who wrote in his novels of the two  universes, spiritual and mundane, going on at the same time. But not completely. Or of C.S. Lewis The Great Divorce. But not quite that either. It is  familiar to those two.

Nora grows through her choices. She finds the peace she was looking for..

I recommend this book. It presents a story about the choices that go into a life well lived. It is worth your time to read with a cup of coffee. it is published by Viking and runs about $26.00. Try to find it in your library (not the Midnight Library) and enjoy. Or locate it, if you want to pay for it, at your local bookstore.