100 books like Piglet

I’ve been a fan of Crais’s Elvis & Joe series for years, so I was delighted to see that he brought a dog into a new series as a main character. Another book with traumatized characters, this one demonstrates the redemptive power of canine love.

LAPD officer Scott James is recovering from an assault in which his partner was killed, and he almost lost his life. He’s barely fit to return to duty until he’s paired with his new partner Maggie, a bomb-sniffing German shepherd that lost her handler in Afghanistan. Their partnership offers healing for both, and I love this book and A Borrowing of Bones because they reflect redemption.

In this romantic suspense novel, it’s veterans who are disabled rather than the dogs. The book stars a woman who trains canines to be service dogs for former military members. I enjoyed learning about the training process and everything the dogs can do for the people they serve, including the attractive romantic hero featured in the story. D.D. Ayres’s books are very well researched, and the reader comes away with quite a bit of knowledge. I like books with that kind of take-away value. The story was also very engaging, with the characters facing difficult challenges but finding hope and love through the process. 

I was initially drawn to this book because it features a deaf Dalmatian. My dog Reggie is also deaf and likely part Dalmatian, given her white fur and black spots. She was found as a stray puppy and taken to the city animal shelter where we adopted her. We think Reggie is also part American bull terrier. She has a very similar build to that breed, with a barrel chest, pointy ears, and distinctive eye shape. Like the author of the book, I communicate with my deaf dog using hand signals. A deaf dog learns to pay close attention, and Reggie can communicate with amazing nuance. I loved how the book portrays the relationship between a dog and its guardian as a spiritual bond. I found that aspect extremely relatable. 

This book is written from the dog’s point of view, is intended for children, and is clearly a labor of love by the author as a tribute to her Jack Russell terrier, Penny. The poor dog had a difficult start in life. She was the runt of the litter and born with dental problems. She initially lived in the country, became ensnared in a claw trap, and had to chew her leg off to escape. When her owner married someone with a larger dog who did not take kindly to Penny, finding a new home became necessary. Luckily, the author took her in and clearly adores her. The photos were cute and amusing, and it was uplifting that Penny found a good friend in Tansy, the author’s other dog. 

This is my most recent “can’t look away” read. The titular Piglet hits rock bottom and keeps digging after her idea of a perfect life with her fiancé Kit goes up in flames. Lottie Hazell really knows how to do a set piece with constant escalating tension. Every food-related meltdown in Piglet proved more anxiety-inducing than the last, particularly a scene of Piglet frantically trying to bake a croquembouche on the day of her disastrous wedding.

I always appreciate a book that refuses to give the reader breathing room and puts you in the scene with its characters. Piglet’s pages and pages of bad decisions–and the empathy Hazell’s narrative still manages to weave in for her characters–make this a gripping, satisfying read.

My father bought me this book when I was eight years old because he saw my interest in life’s deeper meaning and my tendency to overthink things, so he thought I would benefit from the positive-thinking mindset of the Tao.

The book is an ideal primer on Taoism for all ages because it cleverly introduces profound Eastern philosophical concepts through the whimsical world of Winnie the Pooh. Benjamin Hoff uses the beloved characters created by A.A. Milne to illustrate key Taoist principles simply.

To this day I embody the childlike curiosity of Pooh and live intentionally by being in the present moment, lessons I learned from this book.

Shepard’s roughly-hatched illustrations are a symbiotic match for the scruffy charm and humour of Milne’s stories.

Only a couple of chapters feature snow, but they loom so large in my imagination—Pooh and Piglet following their own footsteps in search of the legendary Heffalump; and building Eeyore’s new house at Pooh Corner to shelter him from the snowstorm (unwittingly using Eeyore’s existing house as their source of wood).

As Eeyore gets buried in the snow, I can feel the cold wind with each economical scratch of Shepherd’s pen nib.

Olivia has style and flair, just like all the great pigs. (Porky, Peppa, Piglet, Wilbur, and Babe, to name a few.) Whether inspired by the music of Maria Callas, the paintings of Degas or Pollack, or even just the sand at the beach, Olivia’s mischievous creativity manifests itself in art of her own, singular making. Her parents love her anyway. Fortunately, she loves her parents anyway too. 

Are things getting better or worse for farmed animals? I greatly appreciate the honesty of Peter Singer’s update to his 1975 classic. His dream was to inspire a movement that would end cruel “factory farming” by boycotting its products. And he did inspire a movement—but the industry has only got bigger, more intensive, more brutal, more ruthless.

It’s wrecking our environment, our health, and other animals’ lives all at once. The enemy was tougher to beat than he thought. Where do we go from here if we care about other animals? I think this book is a really powerful place to start.

Hurricane Katrina was one of the most transformative events in our relationship with cats and dogs. This book charts some of the incredible rescues that took place in the aftermath of this epic disaster. Heartwarming and heartbreaking in equal measure, it will inspire those who care about animals to care even more—and perhaps even volunteer themselves.