Pet owners are a special breed – passionate, dedicated, proud.

Here are three titles that reflect those characteristics:

In 1990, motivational speakers Jack Canfield and Mark Victor Hansen set out to compile the inspirational stories they were using in their verbal presentations and turn them into a book. A few years later, the wildly popular feel-good "Chicken Soup for the Soul" series debuted. These are two recent entries, collected and edited by Canfield, Hansen and Jennifer Quasha ($14.95, 400 pages):

"My Cat's Life" is a compilation of anecdotes by 101 contributors from around the country, sharing stories about their cats "from kittenhood through the twilight years … including special attention to senior cats and grieving."

"My Dog's Life" has the same format as "Cat's," with contributors recounting experiences as their pets move from "puppyhood to the twilight years." Again, life with and after senior dogs is emphasized.

"Until Tuesday" by Luis Carlos Montalvan (Hyperion, $22.99, 272 pages): The author is a former Army captain whose physical and emotional problems followed him home from combat missions in Iraq.

Meanwhile, a highly trained but abused service dog named Tuesday had trust issues. This moving story tells how the two met and bonded.

Keep 'em movin'

The books never stop arriving here at Reading Central. Let's move some of them into the "Out" box:

First, in the "Are You Kidding?" category: The late Russian-born novelist Ayn Rand was nothing if not ponderous … uh, serious (there's even an institute named for her). So it's a shocker to see that one of her characteristically heavy-duty novels, "Anthem" (1938), has been made into a comic book … uh, graphic novel (NAL, $15, 144 pages). The cover is color, but the rest of the drawings are black and white.

Fiction

"Crazy" by William Peter Blatty (Forge, $22.99, 192 pages): What does a novelist do 40 years after writing the mega-selling horrorfest "The Exorcist"? In this case, he returns to his humor roots (think "John Goldfarb, Please Come Home!") with some laughs and nostalgia in a "fond look back at 1940s-era New York."

"The Medusa Amulet" by Robert Masello (Bantam, $26, 464 pages): The quest to rediscover an ancient artifact with strange powers sets an international adventure in motion.

"On Black Sisters Street" by Chika Unigwe (Random House, $25, 272 pages): A provocative story of African women who are lured from Lagos, Nigeria, to Belgium by promises of jobs, only to be forced into prostitution.

"Blue Collar, White Collar, No Collar," edited by Richard Ford (Harper Perennial, $16.99, 624 pages): Short stories about work – which defines us – from 32 masters of fiction including Thomas McGuane and Alice Munro.

Nonfiction

"The Tao of Travel" by Paul Theroux (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, $25, 304 pages): Travel guru Theroux reflects philosophically on the nature of getting from Point A to Point B. Many travel writers from throughout history are heavily quoted.

"None Wounded, None Missing, All Dead" by Howard Kazanjian and Chris Enss (Twodot, $21.95, 232 pages): Grass Valley-based Western specialist Enss and her writing partner delve into the life of Elizabeth Bacon Custer, "the woman behind the legacy of Gen. George Custer." Enss calls her "an amazing master of propaganda."

"He Said What?," edited by Victoria Zackheim (Seal, $16.95, 296 pages): If the man in your life has ever said something that changed your destiny forever, this one's for you. Twenty-six women writers recall the consequences of the good ("Will you marry me?") and the bad ("I want a divorce"). Among them are novelists Joyce Maynard, Pam Houston and Ellen Sussman.

Keep 'em cookin'

Home cook or restaurant chef, food lovers can't seem to get enough cookbooks. Want more? Try these winners of the James Beard Foundation Book Awards, in various categories:

• Cookbook Hall of Fame: "On Food and Cooking: The Science & Lore of the Kitchen" by Harold McGee

• Cookbook of the Year: "Oaxaca al Gusto: An Infinite Gastronomy" by Diana Kennedy

• American Cooking: "Pig: King of the Southern Table" by James Villas

• Baking and Dessert: "Good to the Grain: Baking With Whole-Grain Flours" by Kim Boyce

• Beverage: "Secrets of the Sommeliers: How To Think and Drink Like the World's Top Wine Professionals" by Jordan Mackay and Rajat Parr

• Cooking from a Professional Point of View: "Noma: Time and Place in Nordic Cuisine" by René Redzepi

• General Cooking: "The Essential New York Times Cook Book: Classic Recipes for a New Century" by Amanda Hesser

• Healthy Focus: "The Simple Art of Eating Well Cookbook" by Jessie Price

• International: "Stir-Frying to the Sky's Edge: The Ultimate Guide to Mastery" by Grace Young

• Reference and Scholarship: "Salted: A Manifesto on the World's Most Essential Mineral" by Mark Bitterman

• Single Subject: "Meat: A Kitchen Education" by James Peterson

• Writing and Literature: "Four Fish: The Future of the Last Wild Food" by Paul Greenberg.

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The Bee's Allen Pierleoni can be reached at (916) 321-1128 or apierleoni@sacbee.com. Contact him with news of coming literary events that are open to the public.

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