Seattle Kennel Club and the Seattle Dog Show

By Dave Nasser with Lynne Barrett-Lee. Grand Central Life & Style. $24.99. Initially, he isn’t a keeper for owner-author Nasser. But the affable George, a Great Dane, literally grows on him many times over in this endearing narrative. Be prepared, however, “Giant George” is in a plodding mode in the early going before assuming momentum [...]

By William S. Schneider. University of Alaska Press. $24.95. This forgotten, yet iconic piece of interior Alaskan history from the late 1890s until the 1940s is resurrected to some degree each March with the Iditarod Trail Race from Anchorage to Nome. No comparisons should be made, however, Schneider emphasizes, between today’s race mushers, whose priorities [...]

By Clarice Rutherford. Alpine Publications, Inc. $14.95. Lavishly illustrated and photographed throughout, this kids’ volume also comes with peppy packaging and an upbeat, yet challenging tone. Rutherford’s invigorating work is one of the most complete dog portraits fashioned in years, not simply because of its layout, but the complementary text designed to inform and engage [...]

(revised edition) By Gary Kowalski. New World Library. $14. They’re never with us long enough, and for some, the death of a pet may represent the greatest loss they ever encounter. Kowalski, a Unitarian Universalist minister and author of seven books on nature, spirituality, science and the environment, treads on tender turf here in dissecting [...]

By Jim Kraus. Abingdon Press. $14.99. At age 43, Mary Fassler experiences a hole in her soul that you wouldn’t wish on your worst enemy. After losing her husband and young son in an auto accident caused by a drunk driver several years earlier, she loses her connection with God, too. The lonely writer/editor adopts [...]