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roosjepoos's review against another edition
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
lighthearted
relaxing
sad
fast-paced
4.0
kairosdreaming's review against another edition
3.0
Well, I'm home sick and have been dosing myself with "Chicken Soup" all day. And I have to say, it's probably the Powerade making me feel better, not the books. Especially this one, which was downright depressing.
If you couldn't guess, this particular Chicken Soup book is about pets. The feathered and the furred kind and even a little bit of the scaly. While most of the stories seem to be about dogs, there's quite a bit of cats, a few horses, a couple stories about birds, and even one about a snake. The stories are somewhat memorable, mainly because they seem to try to make you shed a tear. There is so much sickness, death, and abuse in this book that I can't really call it heartwarming. For every positive story there are three more where the animal dies or develops cancer or its owner has cancer. The story of "Frisk" was one of those sad ones, in which a poor old man has a cat who keeps coming down with a mysterious illness. "Soul to Soul" has a woman who has been abused most her life lose more than one to death in a short period of time. And I could go on.
The stories are mainly about the animals, but also about how they effected their owners as well. And it really is the owner's pain that you feel in this book rather than the animals. They're almost a side note as to how the people dealt with the pain they were feeling. But there was some joy too, as animals really do make people feel happier. And I especially enjoyed the stories of the service animals who made visits to hospitals and nursing homes.
All of these are short stories so the book can be a quick read. It's especially good if you only like reading a few pages a day, but it can also be read in one sitting. I do have one major complaint though, and that is that one of the stories in this book (about a horse) is also in one of the other chicken soup books. As many stories that they get submitted for these things there is no excuse for a story to be recycled. Ever. But alas, this is not the only book that will do that. I just think it's a shame that they don't try to make every work wholly original from the others.
An ok book if you don't mind sad tales, but perhaps not what someone who enjoys uplifting tales would appreciate. While all of the stories do show the compassion of animals, ultimately, this book is too heart-wrenching.
Chicken Soup for the Pet Lover's Soul
Copyright 1998
403 pages
Review by M. Reynard 2013
More of my reviews can be found at www.ifithaswords.blogspot.com
If you couldn't guess, this particular Chicken Soup book is about pets. The feathered and the furred kind and even a little bit of the scaly. While most of the stories seem to be about dogs, there's quite a bit of cats, a few horses, a couple stories about birds, and even one about a snake. The stories are somewhat memorable, mainly because they seem to try to make you shed a tear. There is so much sickness, death, and abuse in this book that I can't really call it heartwarming. For every positive story there are three more where the animal dies or develops cancer or its owner has cancer. The story of "Frisk" was one of those sad ones, in which a poor old man has a cat who keeps coming down with a mysterious illness. "Soul to Soul" has a woman who has been abused most her life lose more than one to death in a short period of time. And I could go on.
The stories are mainly about the animals, but also about how they effected their owners as well. And it really is the owner's pain that you feel in this book rather than the animals. They're almost a side note as to how the people dealt with the pain they were feeling. But there was some joy too, as animals really do make people feel happier. And I especially enjoyed the stories of the service animals who made visits to hospitals and nursing homes.
All of these are short stories so the book can be a quick read. It's especially good if you only like reading a few pages a day, but it can also be read in one sitting. I do have one major complaint though, and that is that one of the stories in this book (about a horse) is also in one of the other chicken soup books. As many stories that they get submitted for these things there is no excuse for a story to be recycled. Ever. But alas, this is not the only book that will do that. I just think it's a shame that they don't try to make every work wholly original from the others.
An ok book if you don't mind sad tales, but perhaps not what someone who enjoys uplifting tales would appreciate. While all of the stories do show the compassion of animals, ultimately, this book is too heart-wrenching.
Chicken Soup for the Pet Lover's Soul
Copyright 1998
403 pages
Review by M. Reynard 2013
More of my reviews can be found at www.ifithaswords.blogspot.com
dance64's review against another edition
4.0
*Rounded to 4.5*
I relate so much to this, in so many ways.
I relate so much to this, in so many ways.
mythyagain's review against another edition
5.0
Many celebrity contributions in this edition. Pet stories from Gilda Radner (her dog attempted suicide to get Gene Wilder to marry her!) to James Herriot and Betty White. My only complaint is that the individual stories should have a pre-rating system of 1 tissue, 2 tissues, 3 tissues, on up to you're going to bawl your eyes out! LOL
kamiellen's review against another edition
2.0
Reading this collection while having pets was absolutely heartwarming and made me love my cat and dog even more. But WARNING: the "Saying Goodbye" chapter is (as expected) all about beloved animals dying, so either space out your reading or prepare for a cry fest (I sobbed at least thrice).
I highly recommend any of the Chicken Soup books for quarantine reading, as they're predictable, uplifting, and feel safe. Yet on the other hand, these pieces feel dated - they follow the same pattern and all have a similar tone, and it made me realize and feel thankful for the ways short stories and anecdotes have (generally) improved. All that to say, I'm always down for chicken soup!
I highly recommend any of the Chicken Soup books for quarantine reading, as they're predictable, uplifting, and feel safe. Yet on the other hand, these pieces feel dated - they follow the same pattern and all have a similar tone, and it made me realize and feel thankful for the ways short stories and anecdotes have (generally) improved. All that to say, I'm always down for chicken soup!
mackenzierm's review against another edition
5.0
I love Chicken Soup books. Mostly because the stories contained within are so touching. A few of the stories in this one made me tear up, just because they were so sad. I haven't read and Chicken Soup books for the longest time and I hope to find some more soon (:
duchess_04's review against another edition
5.0
I read this and i went to work with puffy eyes. i laughed but i mostly cried and i loved it so much!
pussreboots's review
4.0
There are many heartwarming stories in this book, some schmaltz, and some stories that I've heard or read before. The book suffers though from the authors trying too hard to put pat endings on each story so that many of the "punchlines" get repeated and therefore lessen the effect of an otherwise interesting story.