Book Review: A Dog's Purpose by W. Bruce Cameron

One of the things I missed the most when we moved a couple of years ago, was my book club. There is something about knowing that other people are reading the same book as me, that increases the experience. I love to talk about books I've read. So after I had been here for about a year and had met enough women to make it a go, I started my own book club.

Our pick over the holidays was A Dog's Purpose by W. Bruce Cameron. We picked it because we wanted something light-hearted to read over the holidays.

While this book was light-hearted, it was deeper and more poignant than I had expected it to be. There is a lot of emotion in this book. You will likely cry when you read it. Unless your soul is dead.

Cameron's descriptions of dog behavior are bang on. I could really picture the mannerisms he described, which made Bailey all the more endearing. It also illuminates what many dog owners already suspect, and that is that our dog's really do experience what we go through emotionally.

Whenever I read a book about dogs, it's always with a certain level of anxiety. I'm always waiting for when the dog you grew to love, dies. So that was doubly true with this book since you know the dog dies several times. Cameron is very good at building a sense of doom several times throughout the story, and when that happened I found myself having to put the book down in order to be able to sleep. Not wanting to give too much away, I appreciated that there indeed was a purpose that tied the whole story together.

I wasn't sure about the reincarnation angle when I started the book. But God uses people and he uses circumstances to influence our lives, and I like the idea that he is possibly using our pets too. Now whenever I watch my dog while she is dreaming, I wonder if she isn't possibly remembering a past family.

All of us agreed it was one to recommend to others.

If nothing else, this book will remind you to repeatedly tell your own dog, that s/he is "a good dog".

Our next pick, to be read by mid-March, is Cutting for Stone by Abraham Verghese.