These beautiful stories are going to have me ugly crying.. I just know it.
Welcome!
Today’s post is for my fellow animal lovers.
Be it cat or dog, these stories sound packed full of the love, life, and loss our furry companions see us through.
All of the books below are from my TBR.. and they’re likely to be on there for some time because, yeesh, the synopsis alone are heartbreaking.
Seriously—just putting this post together has me all sniffly.
On the hunt for a beautiful story to get lost in this Summer?
Don’t mind crying into the pages at the innocence and strength of these incredible animals?
One (or more) of these might be just what you’re looking for.
Happy Reading!
(Disclaimer: This post contains affiliate links. Any purchases made through my links may earn me a small commission at no additional cost to you.)
A Dog’s Way Home by W. Bruce Cameron
With four hundred miles of dangerous Colorado wilderness separating one brave dog from her beloved person, Bella sets off on a seemingly impossible and completely unforgettable adventure home.
A Dog’s Way Home is a beautifully told, charming tale that explores the unbreakable bond between us and those we love. This is a fantastic and exhilarating journey of the heart that brilliantly speaks to the incredible power of love and resilience of spirit that tie us together–making it a perfect gift for everyone who’s ever loved a dog.
A Million Things by Emily Spurr
For as long as Rae can remember, it’s been her and Mum, and their dog, Splinter; a small, deliberately unremarkable, family. They have their walks, their cooking routines, their home. Sometimes Mum disappears for a while to clear her head but Rae is okay with this because Mum always comes back.
So, when Rae wakes to Splinter’s nose in her face, the back door open, and no Mum, she does as she’s always done and carries on. She tends to the house, goes to school, walks Splinter, and minds her own business—all the while pushing down the truth she isn’t ready to face.
That is, until her grumpy, lonely neighbor Lettie—with her own secrets and sadness—falls one night and needs Rae’s help. As the two begin to rely on each other, Rae’s anxiety intensifies as she wonders what will happen to her when her mother’s absence is finally noticed and her fragile world bursts open.
A Street Cat Named Bob by James Bowen
James is a street musician struggling to make ends meet.
Bob is a stray cat looking for somewhere warm to sleep.
When James and Bob meet, they forge a never-to-be-forgotten friendship that has been charming readers from Thailand to Turkey.
A Street Cat Named Bob is an international sensation, landing on the bestseller list in England for 52 consecutive weeks and selling in 26 countries around the world.
When street musician James Bowen found an injured cat curled up in the hallway of his apartment building, he had no idea how much his life was about to change. James was living hand to mouth on the streets of London, barely making enough money to feed himself, and the last thing he needed was a pet. Yet James couldn’t resist helping the strikingly intelligent but very sick animal, whom he named Bob. He slowly nursed Bob back to health and then sent the cat on his way, imagining that he would never see him again. But Bob had other ideas.
The Last Dog on Earth by Adrian J. Walker
Every dog has its day…
And for Lineker, a happy go lucky mongrel from London, the day his city falls is finally a chance for adventure. Too bad his master Reg plans to hide himself away from the riots outside…
But when an abandoned child shows up looking for help, Reg and his trusty hound must brave the chaos in a journey that will prove not just the importance of bravery, but of loyalty, trust, and finding family in the unlikeliest of places.
When the world has gone to the dogs, who will you choose to stand with?
Where We Belong by Catherine Ryan Hyde
Fourteen-year-old Angie and her mom are poised at the edge of homelessness… again. The problem is her little sister, Sophie. Sophie has an autism-like disorder, and a tendency to shriek. No matter where they live, home never seems to last long.
Until they move in with Aunt Vi, across the fence from a huge black Great Dane who changes everything. Sophie falls in love immediately, and begins to imitate the “inside of the dog,” which, fortunately, is a calm place. The shrieking stops. Everybody begins to breathe again. Until Paul Inverness, the dog’s grumpy, socially isolated owner, moves to the mountains, and it all begins again.
Much to Angie’s humiliation, when they’re thrown out of Aunt Vi’s house, Angie’s mom moves the family to the mountains after Paul and his dog. There, despite a fifty-year difference in their ages, Angie and Paul form a deep friendship, the only close friendship either has known. Angie is able to talk to him about growing up gay, and Paul trusts Angie with his greatest secret, his one dream. When the opportunity arrives, Angie decides to risk everything to help Paul’s dream come true, even their friendship and her one chance at a real home—the only thing she’s dreamed of since her father was killed. A place she can never be thrown out. A place she can feel she belongs.
The Art of Dancing in the Rain by Garth Stein
NOW A MAJOR MOTION PICTURE FROM FOX 2000 STARRING MILO VENTIMIGLIA, AMANDA SEYFRIED, AND KEVIN COSTNER
MEET THE DOG
WHO WILL SHOW THE WORLD
HOW TO BE HUMAN
Enzo knows he is different from other dogs: a philosopher with a nearly human soul (and an obsession with opposable thumbs), he has educated himself by watching television extensively, and by listening very closely to the words of his master, Denny Swift, an up-and-coming race car driver. Through Denny, Enzo has gained tremendous insight into the human condition, and he sees that life, like racing, isn’t simply about going fast. Using the techniques needed on the race track, one can successfully navigate all of life’s ordeals.
On the eve of his death, Enzo takes stock of his life, recalling all that he and his family have been through: the sacrifices Denny has made to succeed professionally; the unexpected loss of Eve, Denny’s wife; the three-year battle over their daughter, Zoë, whose maternal grandparents pulled every string to gain custody. In the end, despite what he sees as his own limitations, Enzo comes through heroically to preserve the Swift family, holding in his heart the dream that Denny will become a racing champion with Zoë at his side.
Homer’s Odyssey by Gwen Cooper
ONCE IN NINE LIVES, SOMETHING EXTRAORDINARY HAPPENS.
The last thing Gwen Cooper wanted was another cat. She already had two, not to mention a phenomenally underpaying job and a recently broken heart. Then Gwen’s veterinarian called with a story about a three-week-old eyeless kitten who’d been abandoned. It was love at first sight.
Everyone warned that Homer would always be an “underachiever.” But the kitten nobody believed in quickly grew into a three-pound dynamo with a giant heart who eagerly made friends with every human who crossed his path. Homer scaled seven-foot bookcases with ease, survived being trapped alone for days after 9/11 in an apartment near the World Trade Center, and even saved Gwen’s life when he chased off an intruder who broke into their home in the middle of the night. But it was Homer’s unswerving loyalty, his infinite capacity for love, and his joy in the face of all obstacles that transformed Gwen’s life. And by the time she met the man she would marry, she realized that Homer had taught her the most valuable lesson of all: Love isn’t something you see with your eyes.
Wish Me Home by Kay Bratt
A hungry, stray dog is the last thing Cara Butter needs. Stranded in Georgia with only her backpack and a few dwindling dollars, she already has too much baggage. Like her twin sister, Hana, who has broken Cara’s heart one too many times. After a lifetime of family troubles, and bouncing from one foster home to another, Cara decides to leave it all behind and strike out alone—on foot.
Cara sets off to Florida to see the home of her literary hero, Ernest Hemingway, accompanied only by Hemi, the stray dog who proves to be the perfect travel companion. But the harrowing trip takes unexpected turns as strangers become friends who make her question everything, and Cara finds that as the journey unfolds, so does her life—in ways she could never imagine.
A Boy and His Dog at the End of the World by C. A. Fletcher
My name’s Griz. I’ve never been to school, I’ve never had friends, and in my whole life I’ve not met enough people to play a game of football. My parents told me how crowded the world used to be, before all the people went away. But we were never lonely on our remote island. We had each other, and our dogs.
Then the thief came.
Charlie the Kitten Who Saved A Life by Sheila Norton
But what could I do? I was just a little cat and nobody ever listened to me. I made a promise to myself that I’d do everything I possibly could to save her, whatever the danger to me, and no matter how many lives I lost in the process…
Charlie the kitten would do anything for his human. Having just recovered from a debilitating illness, eleven-year-old Caroline isn’t feeling her best, and the arrival of a new baby only makes her feel even more left out.
So when Caroline decides to run away, Charlie follows, vowing to protect her at all costs. But for such a little kitten, it’s a big and scary world outside the comfort of the cottage – how far will he go to save his greatest friend?
Hello Love by Karen McQuestion
A year after the death of his wife, Christine, Dan is barely holding on. But one thing gets him through the long, lonely nights and that is his cherished dog, Anni. When she is stolen from his front yard, Dan and his daughter, Lindsay, are devastated. Meanwhile in another part of town, Andrea Keller is recovering from the heartbreak of a messy divorce. After she rescues a defenseless dog from an abusive tenant, her life changes in ways she never could have anticipated.
Dan and Andrea cross paths again and again, only to keep missing each other and the opportunity of a lifetime. As Anni works to find her way home, can she bring together these two lost souls desperately in need of a second chance at happiness?
Survival Story: A Girl and Her Dog’s Tale by Marita Balto
When Emma’s family life falls apart, she decides to take her dog, Cozzie, and run away.
She has everything planned out, from sneaking onto her father’s large sailboat, to getting a place once they land, to finding a trade that interests her. But life has a way of spiraling out of control, and a series of unfortunate events leaves Emma stranded on a deserted island with a father who shouldn’t be alive and several child traffickers that want to find her.
Will she and Cozzie be able to survive?
Or will the jungle swallow them whole?
The Dog Who Saved Me by Susan Wilson
Boston police officer Cooper Harrison never thought he’d go back to his hometown, Harmony Farms. But when his faithful K-9 partner Argos is killed in the line of duty, Cooper, caught in a spiral of trauma and grief, has nowhere else to turn. Jobless and on the verge of divorce, he accepts a offer for the position of dog officer in Harmony Farms, leaving the life he spent twenty years building behind.
And so he finds himself back where he started. Where his father was once known as the town drunk and his brother outgrew juvenile delinquency to become a drug dealer. Where he grew up as ‘one of those’ Harrisons. Cooper does his job with deliberate detachment, refusing to get emotionally invested in another dog the way he had with Argos—until he finds himself rescuing a wounded and gun-shy yellow lab gone feral.
Cooper never thought he’d find himself going back in order to move forward, and yet Harmony Farms is the one place where Cooper must learn to forgive and, only then, heal. All with the help of a yellow dog.
The Rescue by T. Jefferson Parker
While reporting on a Tijuana animal shelter, journalist Bettina Blazak falls in love with one of her story’s subjects—an adorable Mexican street dog who is being treated for a mysterious gunshot wound. Bettina impulsively adopts the dog, who she names Felix after the veterinarian who saved him.
In investigating Felix’s past, Bettina discovers that his life is nothing like what she assumed. For one thing, he’s not a Mexican street dog at all. A former DEA drug-sniffing dog, Felix has led a very colorful, dangerous, and profitable life. With Bettina’s story going viral, some interesting people are looking for Felix, making him a target—again.
Bettina soon finds herself drawn into a deadly criminal underworld from which she and her beloved dog may not return.
The Nine Lives of Summer by Jem Vanston
One cat, nine lives and a quest to find a way home
Summer is a cat living happily with ten-year-old girl Sami and her family in Syria. Then the war comes.
Sami and her parents are forced to make the heart-wrenching decision to flee as refugees, leaving Summer behind.
On her journey through nine lives in a dozen countries, Summer discovers her purpose – to find Sami again.
The quest leads Summer all over the world, meeting diverse people from a vast array of cultures and backgrounds, through exciting adventures and heart-break, desperate struggle and survival. But she never ever gives up hoping and searching.
Will Summer ever find Sami, and be reunited with her family in her furever home once again?
And that’s all for now, my friends..
Thank you so much for checking out my post, I hope you enjoyed it and found a book or two to sink into.
Take care and have an amazing week ahead!
Do you have a favorite fictional animal character/sidekick?
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Ooh dear! Not sure I can do ‘Breaking-heart’ stuff at the moment.
I absolutely loved A Million Things by Emily Spurr, Sheri! Happy reading. 💕📚
You’ve done a lot of reading. This one struck a chord: A Street Cat Named Bob. 🙂
What a great list, Sheri. I love animal stories and have read several of them, but will keep this list handy as there are several on this list that call to me. One I recommend is, Oogy: The Dog Only a Family Could Love by Larry Levin