If any title on Substack has charmed and enticed me more, I cannot think of it! I am still smiling just from reading that title (but also enjoyed this light-hearted and informative story. And I love your book list; I've read 7 of your 11). Thank you, Sarah!
Sarah, I’m looking forward to meeting you. I live in Connecticut but my eldest daughter and her family live in Austin so I come there frequently I have written a piece about the books that formed my identity so I’m fascinated by your list as well. I start with The Sailor Dog, which I read when I was probably five. Scuppers, who is the sailor dog, lived on a boat with neat little hooks for all his belongings. The metaphor was, of course, lost to me when I was five, but today I see my longing for order and control when I was living in a somewhat chaotic household. My substack is called Beck and Call, not quite as clever as your name, but I am having fun writing about books, reading, and real life. Christinebeck.substack.com.
Thank you, Christine! I'd love to meet you too. "The Sailor Dog" is an excellent title. Reminds me of M.F.K. Fisher's "The Boss Dog," which is a great book to read out loud if you have a young person around or anyone with a sense of humor about dogs and France.
If any title on Substack has charmed and enticed me more, I cannot think of it! I am still smiling just from reading that title (but also enjoyed this light-hearted and informative story. And I love your book list; I've read 7 of your 11). Thank you, Sarah!
Thanks, Don! I should give credit to They Might Be Giants. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vn_or9gEB6g
It’s been stuck in my head all afternoon!
I did recognize the allusion. It’s partly why I was smiling :-)
This is such a lovely title 🩷
Thanks, Kate! "Build a Little Birdhouse in Your Soul" by They Might Be Giants is never far from my mind.
Thank you for introducing me to McMurtry! I look forward to reading his work. I love when folks wrestle with and write about where they’re from
I just started Flush, a biography of Elizabeth Barrett Browning’s dog, written by Virginia Woolf!
Sarah, I’m looking forward to meeting you. I live in Connecticut but my eldest daughter and her family live in Austin so I come there frequently I have written a piece about the books that formed my identity so I’m fascinated by your list as well. I start with The Sailor Dog, which I read when I was probably five. Scuppers, who is the sailor dog, lived on a boat with neat little hooks for all his belongings. The metaphor was, of course, lost to me when I was five, but today I see my longing for order and control when I was living in a somewhat chaotic household. My substack is called Beck and Call, not quite as clever as your name, but I am having fun writing about books, reading, and real life. Christinebeck.substack.com.
Thank you, Christine! I'd love to meet you too. "The Sailor Dog" is an excellent title. Reminds me of M.F.K. Fisher's "The Boss Dog," which is a great book to read out loud if you have a young person around or anyone with a sense of humor about dogs and France.