Summary (courtesy of GoodReads):
Jenepher had lost count of the number of times she’d heard this mantra
from her energetic and ambitious husband, Louis. But she didn’t imagine
that upon Louis’s retirement from his orthopedic surgery practice, he
would charm her into starting a business they knew nothing about,
building a new house and a pet boarding kennel in the beautiful
countryside of Washington State. Swept along by the current of his drive
and enthusiasm, as she has been many times before, Jenepher starts to
learn about boarding and caring for dogs and cats. Watch Where You Step
is the story of their struggles and success, and of the ways in which
they evolve and grow, finding both new points of friction and new
appreciation for one another as they design and build a house and a
business. They learn to expect the unexpected as they cope with issues
they didn’t plan for, including septic system logistics, flash floods,
unreliable employees, irrational pet owners, and pets who could teach
Harry Houdini a thing or two about the art of escape. Rich threads of
humor and love run through their lives as they come to realize they have
invested in a business that is full of heart as well as full of mayhem.
Join Jenepher and Louis on the wonderful adventure of a lifetime!
And here's what I thought:
I had been approached about giving this book a read and a review, and
thought it might be nice to try something a little different than what I
was reading at the time. As you can see from the above summary, this
is one person's memoir about her life, especially in a time period when
she and her husband retired. What I thought was interesting about the
book was that although there was a focus on the boarding kennel that the
author and her husband opened, the author also wrote about her
upbringing, and relationship with her mother. The book doesn't
necessarily proceed in a straight timeline, but rather, proceeds more or
less, with references backwards occasionally to give detail or
context.
I admit that I wasn't as taken with the writing as I
was with the subject material. My family had a dog when I was growing
up, and we've had other dogs in the family since -- and I admit I do
like a good dog story now and again (and reflect quite fondly on James
Herriot's stories). It was interesting to read about the author's
experiences with not only opening the boarding kennel, but with some of
the customers, as well. What I was surprised by at times was how she
and her husband dove into this idea of having a kennel business, despite
not really having any experience at all --- that takes some courage!
Admittedly, I didn't always understand their decisions, and at times,
it felt they were a bit naive about what they were getting themselves
into. However, that's what makes this a thoughtful memoir.
Overall, a very nice book, especially if you are an animal lover. It didn't resonate with me completely, but I thought it was an okay read.
First sentences:
A shiver of...something...ran through me. Excitement? Anticipation?
Anxiety? I didn't know. There was so much to look forward to; it was
probably a little of each. Here we were, behind the desk: Louis, Mary
and I, waiting for the first customer to arrive.
Thoughts on the cover: Interesting, with the golden yard and trees with the red barn and ominous-looking sky.
On The Nightstand: Wayfarers
1 week ago
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