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37th out of 210 books
—
287 voters
Roam: A Novel with Music
by
Alan Lazar (Goodreads Author)
They say you never forget your first love . . . Born under a sparkling crescent moon, Nelson is a bright-eyed, inquisitive half beagle, half poodle. He lives with Katey and Don, newlyweds whose marriage is straining under the pressures of domesticity, but Katey’s devotion to Nelson buoys the pup even as he worries his home may be falling apart.
But there are few things Nels...more
But there are few things Nels...more
Hardcover, 336 pages
Published
November 1st 2011
by Atria Books
(first published 2007)
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Interesting combination of a book and a chance to hear the author's music. The book is a story from a mutt's point of view. It includes his first mistress, who was his great love, then other owners that adopted him up while he was a stray and/or homeless. The end is obvious as one reads, he started life in Boston & grows to old age after finding his original owner in California. What I liked was that the story unfolds trough the revelation of scents that consist of the dog "Nelson"s learning...more
I would give the a 3.5. I love books about dogs. there really is not anything new about this story. a cute beagle- poodle mixed dog gets out of the yard when the gate it left open. Nelson who did adore his owner Katey. leaves the yard to "roam" he gets lost and wanders farther away. over the next eight or nine years Nelson roams from Albany New York all the way to California. along the way he makes friends, Thatcher a trucker takes him on long routes in his semi and for awhile takes care of Nels...more
I enjoyed this story of a poodle/beagle mix who begins his life with a happy young couple, gets lost, and who wanders across America. He has a strong curiosity, matched only by his keen sense of smell. He spends years trying to find the young woman he loved and who loved him. He rides with a trucker, winds up in animal shelters twice and is almost put down. He survives with wolves. He meets humans who are good and not so good. He finally arrives in southern California and to the home of a young...more
If you are a lover of dogs, this is an intriguing read. Lazar creates the narrator's voice in the character of Nelson the beagle/poodle mix. However, this is not a typical dog with human lense, but you can see that the author researched and studied how a dog uses their canine abilities to view the world, largely in the sense of smell. There were times my heart ached, and as I already feel guilty when dogsitting when I leave, I feel doubly guilty now.
To me, this is a 3-star book because it was a...more
To me, this is a 3-star book because it was a...more
Sigh. What can I say about this book? “Roam” is a story by Alan Lazar about a dog who wanders away from his home. This book is exactly what you think it would be and nothing more. It’s not winning any awards for literary merit, but if you’re a dog lover you’re going to read it and enjoy it and if you’ve rescued a dog from a pound then it’s going to make you immensely happy that you did so. Nelson, the beagle poodle mix is the main character that follows his nose into trouble and while an adult r...more
BEWARE OF SPOILERS. I DON'T HIDE OR PROMOTE MY REVIEWS.
(Amar, I just accepted your request to follow my reviews. The sensation is weird. Beware, I don't know that my reading is your sort. You and I are both omnivorous, but you may be up a couple of notches in intellectuality! I guess you saw me on your mom's FB site? I've tried to disconnect my Goodreads account fr. my FB, as I journal what I read for myself, rather than for others. Don't know if my attempt to disconnect worked.)
Back to "ROAM"...more
(Amar, I just accepted your request to follow my reviews. The sensation is weird. Beware, I don't know that my reading is your sort. You and I are both omnivorous, but you may be up a couple of notches in intellectuality! I guess you saw me on your mom's FB site? I've tried to disconnect my Goodreads account fr. my FB, as I journal what I read for myself, rather than for others. Don't know if my attempt to disconnect worked.)
Back to "ROAM"...more
I love dogs and parts of the book made me sad. As a dog rescuer, I know that dogs get lost and do amazing things to find their families. The story was good, although not totally believable, but it is fiction so it was expected.
Nelson is a poodle-beagle cross who is purchased by Katey and Don. Katey is a concert pianist who trusts her husband. Her husband cheats on her and also one day accidently lets Nelson's gate unlocked and he escapes to the outside world. He lives at a landfill, finds a tr...more
Nelson is a poodle-beagle cross who is purchased by Katey and Don. Katey is a concert pianist who trusts her husband. Her husband cheats on her and also one day accidently lets Nelson's gate unlocked and he escapes to the outside world. He lives at a landfill, finds a tr...more
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This was a total impulse buy for me. I read the summary and I thought, aww it is a journey about a dog and the hardships he endures. When I started reading this book, I had no idea the emotional rollercoaster I would be on. From the moment I met Nelson until the end of the book, my heart strings were attached to Nelson.
I loved how "Nelson" described emtions in scents. I never thought of it that way. I cheered when he found a home with Katey and she was his "Great Love". Then he escaped and the e...more
I loved how "Nelson" described emtions in scents. I never thought of it that way. I cheered when he found a home with Katey and she was his "Great Love". Then he escaped and the e...more
Okay all you dog-lovers, this one is for you. And bring your tissues with you. Told from the point of view of the dog, this is the story of Nelson, a beagle-poodle mix and his life from puppy-hood through a series of adventures that, well, let's just say that's what the tissues are for. That being said, the writing is never maudlin or melodramatic; the author is telling like it is, dog-wise, in a matter-of-fact style that lets the action unfold smoothly and allows the reader to bring the emotion...more
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I really liked this story of Nelson, a beagle who gets out of his fence one day and can't find his way home. Nelson feeds from trash cans and garbage dumps and gets picked up by a trucker. But life takes another turn and once again Nelson is on the move. His encounters with wolves, animal shelters and his friendship with another stray dog were compelling. The clever plot twists in this story kept me up nights. Does Nelson ever find his way home? The music part of this book did not work for me, e...more
Wellll... i just lost my shepherd/lab of 13 years in September..so I was scared to start this book,and although there were things that reminded me of her,I was mostly comparing things in this book to my OTHER dog... my Norwegian elkhound...my baby of 10years.The Lab(although I was the one who rescued it as a pup on the street),was an amazing dog,but completely my hubby's baby.first time in 13 years I seen my husband cry was when we lost her...she KNEW how to melt "dad's"heart.The elkhound was AL...more
Here we have the story of a dog from birth onward, told from third person all knowing, so you are reading the dogs thoughts and feelings. The main story line, of a dogs travels across the country and through shelters is great, but there the greatness ends. Right at the beginning, the idea of the dog being able to smell grass in the womb is so bizarre and nonrealistic, and the book is just full of these completely unresearched insights into the canine biology, like a castrated male mounting a fem...more
What a charming book. It's about a "mutt" who is adopted by an accomplished pianist. He has a wonderful and curious sense of smell that sends him out of his yard in search of more smells. What follows is his journey across country trying to find his home. Though there are some incredibly sad parts, like when he is hit by a car and they have to amputate his leg, there is also incredible joy and beauty as Nelson is followed on his journey. No, I won't say the ending except to say that it's not a g...more
The book is from the POV of Nelson and while it is fiction, it is nice (for me) to believe that my dogs feel for me what Nelson feels for his Great Love. My biggest fear has always been the loss of a dog so mine have tags and micro chips - all that jazz. The adventures of Nelson, while harrowing, show what perseverance a strong spirit can bring.
Another very interesting aspect of this book is that is has MS Tags throughout. The first time author is a composer and has written music specifically f...more
Another very interesting aspect of this book is that is has MS Tags throughout. The first time author is a composer and has written music specifically f...more
Talk about not being able to put a book down; I finished this book in one day (and I work full time). Yes, to me it's that good! ROAM by Alan Lazar is about a dog named Nelson who has a very nice home with a loving owner named Katey (his first owner). One day the gate is left open and Nelson just wants to go exploring. What a great book this is! Nelson goes and finds different places and meets new people. It's a great tale! If you enjoyed the "Art of Racing" I think you will love this book. I cr...more
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Okay, the hero of this book is another dog, Nelson, the accidental mixed breed - half beagle, half poodle. All that he over comes and inspires in his challenging life is truly heroic! I just loved this story, which made me both cry and laugh out loud. I enjoyed following his scent guided decision making, his love of all things (human) food, and his joy of grass! His devotion and love for his first true owner is embedded in his memory banks and drives him forward on his cross country journey. He...more
While I liked the travel plot and the main character of the little scrappy Nelson, I thought the writing style was just god-awful clumsy and obvious. This author has some good ideas,but boy does he need an editor and really more experience as a writer. His style is monotonous because all the sentences are about the same length and contain the same pattern.
(Perhaps this was a stylistic choice to convey the dog's thought pattern?)
What possible difference would the music make?
Perhaps this writer w...more
(Perhaps this was a stylistic choice to convey the dog's thought pattern?)
What possible difference would the music make?
Perhaps this writer w...more
This is a truly heartwarming story that is filled with sadness and joy, triumph and failure. I really enjoyed the story of Nelson. It makes you feel for him and you can't help but be happy when something good happens to him or cry when something terrible happens to him. Alan Lazar is really talented because it is incredibly difficult to write a story for adults from the point of view of an animal but he pulls it off with perfection. I don't want to give anything away but will simply say that Nel...more
Roam is a book about Nelson—half poodle, half beagle—who, as a puppy, is adopted by a newlywed couple from an East Coast pet store. Nelson loves his life with Katey and Don until the marriage hits a rocky spot and Nelson finds the gate unlatched and wanders away. After spending time as a stray, he hitches a ride with a long-haul trucker and travels to Montana. Nelson meets and falls in love with another stray, saves a man’s life, is hit by a truck, spends time in shelters, encounters coyotes and...more
Such a sweet story! I thoroughly enjoyed this heartwarming look inside the life of an adventurous pup. I don't usually read animal stories for fear I will come out of it a sobbing mess, but this one was fascinating and uplifting. Despite the troubles Nelson encountered along his 8-year journey, and despite all of his heartache (and mine) from love and loss, he came out better than anyone could have predicted. As someone who is facing a lot of challenges in her life right now, it was certainly a...more
If you love animal books, particularly those about dogs, you’ll probably love ROAM by Alan Lazar. A curious dog roams too far from his “Great Love” (master) and just keeps roaming, encountering many different types of people along the way, always remembering his Great Love. It’s a darling story, and people who love animals usually are suckers for darling animal stories. I’m one of those people.
So I loved the story. But I didn’t like the children’s storybook feel to it. It even has a storybook en...more
So I loved the story. But I didn’t like the children’s storybook feel to it. It even has a storybook en...more
This has to be one of the most incredible books I've read in awhile, and I don't mean that in a good way. Incredible in that it stretched beyond the boundaries of believability, plausability. I read it quickly, not because I couldn't put it down, but because it was so bad and I kept hoping it would improve, and once I had invested enough time in it, I just wanted to get through it.
I realize that this book was written to illuminate the bonds between people and their pets, to try to point out the...more
I realize that this book was written to illuminate the bonds between people and their pets, to try to point out the...more
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As I have enjoyed many books about dogs in the past such as The Art of Racing in the Rain, One Good Dog, and A Dog's Purpose, I picked up this novel because I was ready for an easy listening experience after two marathon listens that I had just finished. At first, I was disappointed to find that this novel had the same narrator as another book that I did not enjoy, Merle's Door. I had blamed the failure of the book in part to the narrator who seemed to be much like a know-it-all or something th...more
Roam is the story of Nelson, from birth to life, and about the humans and other animals' lives he enters. He's a half beagle and half poodle with odd white markings on his face. When Katey picks him at the pet store, he becomes hers. Katey becomes his Great Love and his life would be perfect spent entirely by her side. But Nelson's nose guides him out the gate one day, and there's not much Nelson loves more than to follow a scent. Over the course of eight years, Nelson travels from New Hampshire...more
It didn't take me very long to become so absorbed in this story that I could almost forget where I was. Mr. Lazar did a great job writing the book from the viewpoint of Nelson, a beagle-poodle mix who smells emotions and is a better judge of character than most humans. He lives with Katey, his Grande Amore and her not-good-enough for her husband. Unfortunately, one day the gate is left open and his curious nose gets the better of him and he wanders off. Even though Katey was very devoted to him,...more
This is a very quick read (I usually read several books concurrently). Alan Lazar is a musician/composer, and as such he includes some of his original music in Roam in a unique way. "[A] seven-part piano soundtrack writen by the author especially for Roam!" (preface) that you can listen to with the right phone and a free Microsoft Tag download. The score is also included in the appendix. How cool is that?
With the popularity of "lost dog/perfect dog/rescue dog" books the last couple years, this o...more
With the popularity of "lost dog/perfect dog/rescue dog" books the last couple years, this o...more
This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it,
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Roam, a six star read, was an engaging adventure related through half- beagle and half-poodle Nelson's olfactory sensations.
Here are a few quotations that made the novel a memorable read. (The Kindle didn't reveal any page numbers.)
"This was the first time in his short life he had encountered the smell of anger, and he did not like it at all. He never would like it. It was not something he ever smelled on dogs, and he learned it was one of the things that distinguished dogs from human beings. Ne...more
Here are a few quotations that made the novel a memorable read. (The Kindle didn't reveal any page numbers.)
"This was the first time in his short life he had encountered the smell of anger, and he did not like it at all. He never would like it. It was not something he ever smelled on dogs, and he learned it was one of the things that distinguished dogs from human beings. Ne...more
**Book provided from Goodreads First Reads**
This sweet tale about a dog who is deeply loved but then gets lost and has many adventures is accompanied by a music track that as I do not have an iPhone I was not able to enjoy, but it does not take away from the story. It's more of a morality tale of what happens to many stray dogs when they get lost or are born to a stray. The number of adventures that happen to Nelson are a bit far-fetched, but probably not out of the question, as I have heard of...more
This sweet tale about a dog who is deeply loved but then gets lost and has many adventures is accompanied by a music track that as I do not have an iPhone I was not able to enjoy, but it does not take away from the story. It's more of a morality tale of what happens to many stray dogs when they get lost or are born to a stray. The number of adventures that happen to Nelson are a bit far-fetched, but probably not out of the question, as I have heard of...more
This is the only book I have ever won !! Thank you Good Reads Giveaways !!!
I loved the final part. My favorite part was probably the last 4 paragraphs. Its the perfect happy ending and every wish of dog lovers like me. The rest of the book was kind of tough for me. I think maybe because the book hit to close to home. We have 2 beagle mixes that lived hard lives before we found them. One in particular I imagine was similiar to Nelsons life. Also for some reason I couldnt connect with any of the c...more
I loved the final part. My favorite part was probably the last 4 paragraphs. Its the perfect happy ending and every wish of dog lovers like me. The rest of the book was kind of tough for me. I think maybe because the book hit to close to home. We have 2 beagle mixes that lived hard lives before we found them. One in particular I imagine was similiar to Nelsons life. Also for some reason I couldnt connect with any of the c...more
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Alan Lazar is a platinum-selling musician/composer whose career began in his native South Africa. He lives in Los Angeles, where he has composed music for more than 30 films and TV shows. This is his first novel.
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