The Dogs of Venice

Author: Steven Rowley
Genre: Fiction
Publisher: Penguin Publishing Group, 2025
Pages: 80
Rating: Recommend

Synopsis:  After months of planning a romantic holiday getaway in Venice, Paul is blindsided when his five-year marriage suddenly unravels. Fueled by heartbreak, Paul endeavors to take the trip alone. Soon after arriving in Italy, he notices a small, scruffy, self-assured dog trotting alongside a canal with the confidence he so desperately wants for himself. When their paths cross again, Paul feels compelled to learn how his new four-legged friend thrives on his own. Amid the food, sights, and welcoming people of Venice, Paul's journey culminates in a magical encounter that leads him to feel real connection - to a dog, to a foreign city, and most importantly, to himself.

Review: Steven Rowley is also the author of The Guncle, which I loved. This book was just okay. I wanted a bigger take-away from the novella.

Steven Rowley Novels
The Guncle

A Long Winter

Author: Colm Toibin
Genre: Fiction
Publisher: Simon & Schuster, 2007
Pages: 135
Rating: Recommend

Synopsis: A young man named Miguel returns to his family in the Catalan Pyrenees upon completing his military service. His younger brother, Jordi, will be departing for his service a week after Miguel's arrival. he will be gone for two years. Miguel notices their mother's increasingly erratic behavior and understands that she is drinking.

As she becomes increasingly unstable, her husband resorts to drastic measures. Unable to abide his betrayal and her own grief, she walks of into the mountains. A blizzard sets in and the search for her is future. No one will find her until the spring thaw arrives.

Review: I am really struggling getting into novels. I'm back in the office four days a week and my daughter is graduating. I feel very busy and unfocused outside of working hours. I chose this book randomly while searching the stacks for skinny books.

Surprisingly, I fell into this book on the first page and read all 135 pages in one sitting. There were some loose ends left untied, but all-in-all, a very good story.

Route 66 100 Years

Editor: Jim Hinckley
Genre: Non-Fiction
Publisher: Motorbooks, 2025
Pages: 224
Rating: Recommend

Synopsis: The most iconic road in American history is turning 100. Over the past century, Route 66 has far surpassed its original prosaic purpose as an automotive thoroughfare from Chicago to Los Angeles, becoming a pop culture icon embedded in literature, song, film, and (most significantly) our imagination. It remains so even decades after the Interstate system mostly bypassed it.

Review: I first learned of Route 66 on a trip to Albuquerque and Gallup, New Mexico when I was a freshman in college. Signs and references to The Mother Road were everywhere in that area. These were the pre-internet days and I remember asking about it. It captured my imagination, and in the years since I have learned more about it.

This month, my parents took a bus trip along Route 66 to celebrate their 50th anniversary. Knowing they were taking this trip, I bought this book for my dad for Christmas. Many of the sites and stops they made, including restaurants, are listed in this book. I followed along in this book as they made their way along the route. 

While my family and I haven't made a concerted effort to drive Route 66, we have been to various stops along it, including driving on a section of the original Route 66 in eastern Oklahoma.