Dogged rescue
Sadie, Sugar, Miss Trish, Lobo, Muffin, Gumdrop, Buddy - the stray dogs that photographer Traer Scott encountered in Puerto Rico and Mexico look sweet, wistful, wary. Scott's new book, "Street Dogs," offers close-up portraits and brief biographies of dozens of strays as well as photographs of the places where they run, rest, and search for food.
It is estimated that 200,000 to 300,000 dogs roam the streets, beaches, dumps, and jungles of Puerto Rico. For more than 10 years, rescue organizations have been flying "satos," or strays, off the island. Many of them have landed at Logan Airport and been adopted in the Boston area.
Scott lives in Providence with her husband and two rescued dogs. Her previous book was "Shelter Dogs." She bears a 5-inch scar on her calf from a dog attack in Mexico on her last day of travel for "Street Dogs" as she tried to rescue sick puppies.
Scott will be signing copies of "Street Dogs" from 1 to 3 p.m. today at Kiehl's, 112 Newbury St. Proceeds from book sales benefit the MSPCA.
Reading well with others
Everyone who's been in a book club has a horror story: the member who dominated every discussion, the one who never finished the book, and so on. The Boston chapter of the Women's National Book Association is hoping to foster congenial book groups with a wine-and-cheese reception from 3 to 5:30 p.m. today at the Back Bay Hilton. Jennifer Haigh will read from her novels, and book-group members will share reading recommendations and ideas. The cost is $35. Call Erin Brown at 617-820-0974 for more information.
For the sake of Grub
Tickets for the annual Grub Street fund-raiser at the Parkman House on Friday are pricey and limited, but the silent auction is open to all until 3 p.m. Thursday. You can bid to name a character in Mameve Medwed's next novel or the murder victim in Hank Phillippi Ryan's new mystery. Details at grubstreet.org.
Anatomy of two murders
Sixteen years after the release of his previous true-crime book, Joe McGinniss, a master of the genre, has written about the murders of two millionaire brothers in "Never Enough," being published this week. Two years ago a jury in Hong Kong convicted Nancy Kissel of murdering her husband, Robert Kissel, a
Coming out
"Schott's Miscellany 2008: An Almanac," by Ben Schott (Bloomsbury)
"Chatter," by Perrin Ireland (Algonquin Books of Chapel Hill)
"Journeys of a Lifetime: Five Hundred of the World's Greatest Trips" (National Geographic)
Pick of the week
Karen Corvello of R. J. Julia Booksellers, in Madison, Conn., recommends "Maynard and Jennica," by Rudolph Delson (Houghton Mifflin): "A very funny love story (for people who don't like sappiness) of a very oddball New York couple is told through the voices of 35 characters: their parents, friends, a rap artist, the subway conductor. . . . What could be an annoying gimmick is done perfectly; each voice is distinct. This would make a wonderful Woody Allen movie."
Jan Gardner can be reached at JanLGardner@yahoo.com.
