"The Art of Racing in the Rain" -Garth Stein

I love love loved this novel. I had been wanting to read it for a while, I finished my other book club book pretty quickly so I decided to squeeze this one in before I received my next book to read. To be honest, I had no idea what it was about, I knew that it had something to do with a dog and I heard it was kind of sad. Other than that, I had no idea about the plot. And, I totally love going into books with that kind of knowledge. I love knowing nothing about the book except for that I hear its really good or something. This way every moment with the book is a surprise and each page is something new and exciting. Sometimes books aren't that great at the beginning, or some parts are slow, which can leave you with no drive to finish the book. However, when someone is like, "This is a really good book, you have to read it," I have faith that at the end of the book I will be happy I read it. So, anyway, I read "The Art of Racing in the Rain" and I really think that everyone should read this book. Very VERY good. Very inspiration in ways and as silly as this sounds it just has something good to say. Here are my favorite lines from the book:

"People and their rituals. They cling to things so hard sometimes."

"Because memory is time folding back on itself. To remember is to disengage from the present."

"That which we manifest is before us; we are the creators of our own destiny. Be it through intention or ignorance, our successes and our failures have been brought on by none other than ourselves."

"Any problems that may occur have ultimately been caused by you, because you are responsible for where you are and what you are doing there."

"The true hero is flawed. The true test of a champion is not whether he can triumph, but whether he can overcome obstacles- preferably of his own making- in order to triumph. A hero without a flaw is of no interest to an audience or to the universe, which, after all, is based on conflict and opposition, the irresistible force meeting the unmovable object."

"To live every day as if it had been stolen from death, that is how I would like to live. To feel the joy of life, as Eve felt the joy of life. To separate oneself from the burden, the angst, the anguish that we all encounter every day. To say I am alive, I am wonderful, I am. I am. That is something to aspire to."

"Yes: the race is long- to finish first, first you must finish."

"Separate entrances for cats and dogs. That's what I remember most. And still another entrance for infectious animals, which did not discriminate by genus. Apparently, dogs and cats are equal when they are infectious."

"There is no dishonor in losing the race," Don said. "There is only dishonor in not racing because you are afraid to lose."

"The human language, as precise at it is with its thousands of words, can still be so wonderfully vague."

"The race is long. It is better to drive within oneself and finish the race behind the others than it is to drive too hard and crash."