Heartwarming Animal Stories Reading Challenge

I enjoyed the Read 52 Books in 52 Weeks challenge that I did last year, and wanted to do another reading challenge for 2012. Knowing that this year will be a difficult one (my father is under hospice care right now and has been since the end of November), I know that trying to read over 5,200 pages would be too much.

So, I found another challenge for this year that seems more realistic for me to do:  Heartwarming Animal Stories 2012 Reading Challenge.

Like the person hosting the challenge, I, too, enjoy animals. Reading inspiring stories about them would be a good way to spend some of my spare time during the upcoming year.

The two key rules of the challenge are to: (1) read six non-fiction books; and (2) read the books from January 1, 2012, through December 31, 2012. There are some other guidelines, but those are the main ones that shape the reading challenge.

I found some books that sound intriguing based on the lists by the Multnomah Library. The descriptions provided are from the library.

Non-Fiction Books about Dogs

Bradley, Carol
Saving Gracie: How One Dog Escaped the Shadowy World of American Puppy Mills
This touching narrative chronicles how one little dog, Gracie, is transformed from a bedraggled animal worn out from bearing puppies at a puppy mill into a loving, healthy member of her new family.

Elder, Janet
Huck: the remarkable true story of how one lost puppy taught a family--and a whole town--about hope and happy endings
Huck is a delight and the book itself is lovely and inspiring.

Levin, Larry
Oogy: the dog only a family could love
What would begin as a terrible day for Levin and his sons suddenly got brighter as the ugliest dog they had ever seen, one who was missing an ear and had half his face covered in scar tissue, ran up to them in a vet's office and captured their hearts.

McPherson, Rachel
Every dog has a gift: true stories of dogs who bring hope and healing into our lives
McPherson draws on her experience as the founder and executive director of The Good Dog Foundation, the largest animal-assisted therapy organization on the East Coast, to share the amazing stories of dogs that bring hope and healing into people's lives.

Plaskin, Glenn
Katie up and down the hall: the true story of how one dog turned five neighbors into a family
Celebrity journalist Plaskin shares a moving story about a man who discovers the true meaning of family after adopting a cocker spaniel puppy. Through the magnetic personality of his mischievous dog, the author makes powerful connections with neighbors in a high-rise in Lower Manhattan.

Non-Fiction Books about Cats

Cooper, Gwen
Homer's Odyssey: A Fearless Feline Tale, or How I learned about Love and Life with a Blind Wonder Cat
Gwen Cooper already had enough going on in her life and then her veterinarian called her and asked her if she would like an abandoned kitten who could not see. Well she had two cats already and didn't need another one, but when she saw the kitten she knew that she and Homer were meant for each other and her heart filled with joy. Homer was amazing and did wonderful things no one would expect a blind cat to even try.

Dosa, David
Making Rounds with Oscar: The Extraordinary Gift of an Ordinary Cat
An otherwise ordinary cat, Oscar, has the uncanny ability to predict when people in the Steere House Nursing Home are about to die. Dr. Dosa tells the stories of several patients and examines end-of-life care as it exists today.

Myron, Vicki
Dewey's Nine Lives: The Legacy of the Small-town Library Cat Who Inspired Millions
Continuing the bestselling formula that made Dewey so successful, this volume contains inspiring, funny, and heartwarming stories about cats told from the perspective of Dewey's mom, librarian Myron. Includes never-before-told stories about Dewey along with other touching cat tales.

These are some books that I found on Amazon.com that sounded interesting:

Chester, Chris
Providence of a Sparrow: Lessons from a Life Gone to the Birds
In this heartfelt, warm, and entertaining memoir, Chester describes in minute detail the changes that a tiny English sparrow has imposed on his living quarters, his daily routine, and, most significantly, his emotional life.

Heidcamp, Annette
A Hummingbird in My House: The Story of Squeak
This is the story of Squeak, a young, male hummingbird whom the author rescues from the frost and keeps in her sun room all winter long.

O'Brien, Stacey
Wesley the Owl
Biologist and barn owl expert, Stacey O'Brien, chronicles her rescue of an adorable, abandoned baby barn owl - and their astonishing and unprecedented nineteen-year life together.

Stanger, Margaret
That Quail, Robert
Back on Cape Cod in 1962, the author finds an abandoned quail's egg. From the hatched egg, a quail with a lot of personality and affection emerges. What happens when the human world becomes a substitute for Nature? Is the orphaned quail better off with its own kind, or with an adoptive family of a different species?

*~*~*~*~*

That's 12 books - one per month - for 2012. Now the difficult choice: which book should I begin reading?