Read: "Barks and Purrs," by Sidonie-Gabrielle Colette, no year (manybooks.net)
Why: Assembling a reading list of the best dog books on manybooks.net, also the only thing by Colette in English so far
Takeaway: I'm not sure I can tell too many people to read this book, but it's wonderful and I loved it. Even describing it makes me sad, because it is about the thoughts of a dog and a cat. It is about the mystery of the human relationship with nature, domesticated nature. The relationships in this book between human and pet are filled with sweet devotion but also infinite sadness and misunderstanding. The dog is a bulldog, which makes it even sadder. His pains of love and confusion are exquisitely awful for him, as he explains them to the cat. Meanwhile, the cat, at one point, says the most catlike thing: "A fear that my sensibilities might be destroyed took possession of me."