THE ART OF RACING IN THE RAIN (Garth Stein) - August 6/16

I spent a lot of time actually disliking this book because Stein was just so manipulative in terms of his plot machinations. I like the idea of the story being entirely from the perspective of a dog, however, and I have to admit that I was basically sobbing when the dog finally died. (Stein ruins even this aspect of the novel by not ending the story right there and instead flashing forward a few years as the dog has been reincarnated as a little Italian boy. Oh brother.) **1/2 out of ****