Weekend picks for book lovers
- It took a while for Brian McGrory and Buddy the rooster to become, well, buddies
- Greg Kincaid's latest heartwarming Christmas tale is set in an animal shelter
- 'Downton Abbey' fans will get a kick out of 'The Twelve Clues of Christmas'
What should you read this weekend? Buddy, the true story of a jealous rooster, will give readers something to crow about. And check out three Christmas-friendly titles.
Buddy: How a Rooster Made Me a Family Man by Brian McGrory, Crown, 324 pp., non-fiction
It's an old story. Man has dog. Man falls in love with dog's veterinarian. Man loses dog, marries veterinarian and inherits a snow white, red-crowned, wattled-step rooster in the process.
Yes, a rooster. Named Buddy.
Longtime Boston Globe columnist Brian McGrory has written a memoir about how a rooster actually made him a family man.
An arrogant rooster is a lot like the male figure in the house — the protector of all — something McGrory also wants to be.
Is there room for two?
USA TODAY says *** out of four. A "touching tale" told "with a healthy dose of humor."
A Christmas Home by Greg Kincaid, Crown, 225 pp., fiction
In a small down-on-its-luck town in the Midwest, Todd McCray must find homes for dozens of dogs at Christmastime as the local animal shelter is about to close.
The Twelve Clues of Christmas by Rhys Bowen, Berkley Prime Crime, 311 pp., fiction
A clever and macabre mystery (based on the classic Christmas carol) set in a small English village in a downtrodden Downton Abbey-esque manor, where the hostess is sidetracked by a series of murders.
USA TODAY says ***. "Murderously funny …will inspire mystery lovers to create a classic English Christmas."
The Christmas Kid and Other Brooklyn Stories by Pete Hamill, Little, Brown, 271 pp., fiction
Thirty-six street-smart stories set in working-class Brooklyn, N.Y., most previously published in New York's Daily News.
USA TODAY says ***. "If you like O. Henry (The Gift of the Magi), you'll appreciate Hamill."
Friendkeeping: A Field Guide to the People You Love, Hate, and Can't Live Without by Julie Klam; Riverhead, 240 pp.; non-fiction
The author of the dog-loving best seller You Had Me at Woof turns her incisive humor to the art of having friends.
USA TODAY says *** out of four. "Klam's warmth and wit" …(keeps) " this book light and engaging."
Contributing reviewers: Craig Wilson, Mary Cadden, Bob Minzesheimer and Korina Lopez