Buck had lived his entire life in California at Judge Miller’s home until last week. That’s when Manuel took him from his home, stuffed him in a crate, and shipped him north. Now Buck is in Alaska and part of a sled dog team – he’s had to fight for food and for a place on the team. All Buck wanted at first was his life in California back, but he keeps finding himself more comfortable with the life in the pack and with what it takes to survive in this new world. Will the kindness of a stranger bring back the old version of Buck, or will he give in to The Call of the Wild?
First published 120 years ago, The Call of the Wild was Jack London’s third novel and was started as a serialized column in The Saturday Evening Post. While this novel has seen several iterations of movie adaptations, the most widely acclaimed version is 1972 film helmed by Charlton Heston, which is how I was first introduced to this story as a child. This novel falls into the American pastoralism genre common to literature of the early 1900’s when the country was coming to terms with the Industrial Revolution and is really about returning to who we are without the modern conveniences brought through industrial evolution.
I give Same Time, Next Year 3 out of 5 stars. This is the second recent read I had anticipated rating higher before starting. Having loved the movie so much as a child, I was surprised at how mediocre my reaction was to this reading. I adore Buck in the first half of the book, but had a hard time connecting with his character in the second half. I do appreciate how this story is told from Buck’s perspective without turning into a Disney movie with talking animals, though!
I would recommend this book to romance novel lovers – the romance has a slow start the first few chapters, but is hot and heavy by the end. Given the vague discussions of sex, I would recommend this for more mature audiences over 13. If you have loved Macomber’s other works like the Cedar Cove or Heart of Texas series, you will love this one!
I chose The Call of the Wild for the Read With Lindsey Reading Challenge prompt “Winter/Snow”. This book could also pull double duty this week for those of you also doing the US States challenge with me – week 2 is Alaska where the majority of the book is set. I will tell you I have a MUCH better book selected for that prompt – it’s our first 5-Star book of 2024!
Hope you’re staying warm and leaning into the new beginnings you started in the new year!
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What I’m Reading
- Current print book: The Thread Collectors, Shaunna J Edwards & Alyson Richman
- Current audio book: The Joy Luck Club, Amy Tan
- Book I’m most looking forward to: Their Eyes Were Watching God, Zora Neale Hurston
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