It's hard to believe that summer is already half-way gone, definitely going by way too quickly. I always take summers off every year to spend time with my family and it gives me a good reason to catch up on the reading that I miss so much of during the year. When you have a child like mine, this is the time that he makes up every excuse in the "book" not to read, because after all, it is summer. All of our bookstores contain a section that is just for the children. Encourage your child to continue reading during the summer months, allow them to make their own decision on which books will interest them. Here are just a few that are popular in our house:

What's New in the Bookstores?

Every month our bookstore editors are busy putting in the books that will be coming out soon or that have been recently released. Seeing what will be coming out in the upcoming months, will give you time to pre-order the books that interest you. Here are some top pticks:

Those are only a few of the many books that are coming out or soon will be released. Below you will find the links to each of the New Releases Bookstores.

PetHobbyist.com Top Ten Books

What's selling best in our bookstores? In July of 2005, our top selling book in each bookstore was:

Kingsnake.com
Venomous Snakes of the World by WP Mara

DogHobbyist.com
What Your Dog is Trying to Tell You by John M. Simon DVM with Stephanie Pedersen

CatHobbyist.com
The Nine Emotional Lives of Cats by Jeffrey Moussaieff Masson

AquariumHobbyist.com
Hawaiian Reef Fish by Astrid Witte and Casey Mahaney

BirdHobbyist.com
The Encyclopedia of Macaws by Werner Lantermann

PondHobbyist.com
Tadpoles: The Biology of Anuran Larvae

You'll find the complete list of top ten books for every month on the main page of each bookstore!

Book Reviews
By Christie Keith

The Lost Pet Chronicles: Adventures of A K-9 Cop Turned Pet Detective
by Kat Albrecht
Bloomsbury USA; 2005; Paperback; 256 pages

Animal lovers of all kinds will enjoy this true story of Kat Albrecht, a police officer in California who launched a new career for herself and her dogs by searching for lost pets.

Albrecht became a police officer in California's Central Valley after becoming disillusioned with her police dispatcher job and wanting to become a canine police officer. She ended up relocating to Santa Cruz, where she did some work with her search dogs for local authorities. However, after an injury on the job left her disabled and out of law enforcement, she began to train her dogs in a new career: Searching for lost animals instead of criminals and lost humans.

This is far from a smooth ride, as Albrecht’s gift with dogs doesn’t immediately translate into happy endings or a solid business plan. But eventually she gets things sorted out, and spreads her system of using dogs to search for lost pets, especially cats, nationwide. Lots of interesting searches, with a mix of happy, sad, and indeterminate endings, and much excellent background on training the dogs that even non-dog owners should enjoy. Lots of fun, and really invaluable for cat owners, as it contains critical and useful information, based on hundreds of searches, on how to find a missing cat.

Gazehounds & Coursing: The History, Art and Sport of Hunting With Sighthounds
by MH Dutch Salmon
High Lonesome Books; 1999; Hardcover; 288 pages

It’s going to be a stretch to get people who don’t have sighthounds (the dogs in the greyhound family) to read this book. But if you have any interest in the shared history of humans and dogs, if you are fascinated with dogs in general, if you are a hunter or are interested in hunting, or if you like “salt of the earth” commentary on obscure topics by crusty old-timers with encyclopedic knowledge of their subject, you will absolutely love this book. And if you do, in fact, have sighthounds, even if you are adamantly against hunting, this book will get you inside the head of your dogs in a way that will forever change how you see them.

And for those looking for a more practical guide to performance with sighthounds, you couldn't do better than to read Sighthounds Afield: The Complete Guide To Sighthound Breeds & Amateur Performance Events (With A Comprehensive Chapter On Adopted Ex-Racing Greyhounds) by Denise Como. The word "comprehensive" in the title is an understatement. There is quite simply nothing about sighthounds that Como doesn't cover, from history to health issues, from familiar breeds to the rarest of the rare. If you would like to be notified of an upcoming guest chat with the author, be sure to sign up for the Hound Chat reminder here!

The Wild Parrots of Telegraph Hill
by Mark Bittner
Three Rivers Press; 2004; Paperback; 304 pages

This best-selling book, which was made into a critically acclaimed documentary of the same name, is another one with lots of local color. Set in San Francisco, it’s the true story of a down-and-out musician who moves into an apartment on Telegraph Hill and begins to observe the flock of wild parrots in the trees outside his new home. Bittner knew nothing about parrots before he started observing them, and as he learns, we learn, too. Totally unsentimental but powerful and engaging nonetheless.

That Yankee Cat: The Maine Coon
by Marilis Hornidge
Tilbury House Publishers; 1992; Paperback; 102 pages

It took me a long time to read this book, even though it came highly recommended by a number of friends. In fact, it took me so long it’s out of print, although I had no trouble getting a copy through the CatHobbyist.com bookstore. I’m sorry I waited so long, because it truly is the best cat breed book I’ve ever read. I won’t say “you’ll love it even if you don’t like Maine Coon cats,” because you won’t. This book is the story of the Maine Coon cat and it doesn’t try to be all things to all people about all cats. Still, this uniquely American kitty has a fascinating story, and Hornidge’s book does it full justice. Highly recommended.

If Only You Knew How Much I Smell You: True Portraits of Dogs
by Roy Blount, Jr., and Valerie Shaff
Bulfinch; 1998; Hardcover; 112 pages

I buy at least one copy of this book, usually more, to give as gifts every Christmas. Featuring the short, warmly humorous poems of Roy Blount, Jr., and the sepia-toned photographs of Valerie Shaff, this little book has made me smile, laugh out loud, and cry. My favorite poem:

What does that mean, “expensive shoe”?
I ate it because it smelled like you.

It’s not all humor, though – there is poignancy to some of the photos and poems that will evoke tears rather than laughter. But if you’ve ever had your heart ripped out of you by the loss of a beloved dog, or felt you could hardly bear to belong to the human race when reading about how a dog was mistreated, this book is for you, tears and all.

Pet Tales is copyright 2005 by OnlineHobbyist.com unless otherwise specified. All rights reserved. --

The following information is a reminder of your current mailing list subscription:

You are subscribed to the following list:

PetTales

Using the following email:

example@example.com

You may automatically unsubscribe from this list at any time by visiting the following URL:

http://news.pethobbyist.com/index.cgi?f=u&l=pettales&e=example@example.com&p=1234

If the above URL is inoperable, make sure that you have copied the entire address. Some mail readers will wrap a long URL and thus break this automatic unsubscribe mechanism.

You may also change your subscription by visiting this list's main screen:

http://news.pethobbyist.com/index.cgi?f=list&l=pettales

If you're still having trouble, please contact the list owner at:

bookstore@pethobbyist.com

The following, physical address is associated with this mailing list:

 http://www.pethobbyist.com/bookstore/