"The Art of Racing in the Rain"

I bought "The Art of Racing in the Rain" by Garth Stein as a Christmas gift for someone and ended up reading it myself because I decided giving any family member a book narrated by an old dog about to die just seemed cruel.

And if you think that's a depressing beginning, it just gets worse from there. After the dog, Enzo, reveals in the first two pages that he is reflecting on his life with his owner Denny and his family as he dying -- he then informs you Denny's wife ends up dying, too. And then he proceeds to go back in time to allow you to become emotionally involved with Denny and Eve and their daughter Zoe before Eve dies.

And then it gets worse again, but I won't tell you about that part and ruin the meat of the plot for you.

I'm making the book sound terrible: it's not; it's just terribly depressing. It's actually beautifully written with wonderful characters and an interesting, if slightly melodramatic, plot. If you can get past how utterly heart-wrenching the book is (and let me tell you, the downward spiral in Denny's life kept going far longer than I expected), the book of course ends up being an ultimately uplifting story.

But, wow, I went through a full box of tissues before reaching the uplifting bit.