John Steinback once said "I've seen a look in dogs' eyes, a quickly vanishing look of amazed contempt, and I am convinced that basically dogs think humans are nuts." I would say this statement is more true than not. In Dog Days by Elsa Watson this topic is explored when Jessica Sheldon switches bodies with a stray dog, Zoe. Jessica isn't known for her love of the canine species. She works hard at trying to run her failing restaurant. She's really stressed out with life in general. She can't even work up the courage to talk to her long time crush, Max. Zoe is lost. She doesn't remember much about how she got to be lost. She attaches herself to Jessica after she's rescued her from the dog catcher. Unfortunately while walking home they both get struck by lightening and when they both wake up they're in each other's body.
This story is told from two points of view, Jessica and Zoe. I love that Watson made Zoe naive but also intelligent. Zoe doesn't have much of a filter. She says and does whatever she wants. She has to learn what it is to be human. Jessica is in a tougher bind. She's trapped in the body of a dog. She can't speak or communicate. This burden turns out to be a blessing. Jessica gets the opportunity to observe the people around her and it causes her to take a look at herself. She has to learn how to let go of the past and have some fun. Together Jessica and Zoe must learn to trust one another.
Dog Days is like the canine version of Freak Friday. There are lessons to be learned, problems to let go, and an understanding to be made. This is a lighthearted, funny, and entertaining read. Animal lovers will adore this book. If you don't have a dog, you're probably going to go out and adopt one after you read this book. ( )

Every once in a while I need a good “fluff” book to cleanse the palate. I tend to be drawn to dark books, but after a while they all kind of run together. Dog Days was exactly what I needed to get me over a reading hump. There’s not a whole lot of depth to it, but there is a lot of heart and a whole lot of fun.
In Dog Days, things aren’t going well for Jessica Sheldon. A year ago, an incident with dogs at the Glimmerglass (the cafe’ she owns with a friend), left Jessica branded a dog hater and business has gone — well — to the dogs. Madrona, Washington is a dog-loving city and the residents weren’t too happy with the photo in the paper that showed Jessica screaming at a bunch of rowdy canines after they invaded her very busy cafe’.
The pampered pooches just so happened to belong to a very wealthy woman who always sponsored Woofinstock, Madrona’s annual dog festival, and since the incident, she has pulled her funding. To save face, and hopefully save her struggling cafe’, Jessica signs up to chair the next year’s Woofinstock event in hopes of repairing her reputation, rebuilding her clientele, and maybe even catching the eye of Max, the town’s super-hot veterinarian, while she’s at it.
Just when things seem to be falling apart for Jessica, she meets Zoe, a stray German shepherd who she decides to rescue as an act of good faith. It might even help knock off a few points from her dog-hating score as Woofinstock approaches. What she doesn’t expect is the rogue lightning storm that causes her and Zoe to switch bodies.
Sound kinda crazy? Maybe, but it’s a lot of fun. It reminded me a little of Freaky Friday, except it’s an interspecies switch instead of an inter-generational switch, and I think that’s what made it seem fresh. I seriously laughed out loud a few times, mainly when Zoe and Jessica first wake up and realize their bodies have been switched. Jessica (as a dog) watches in horror as Zoe (in her body) drinks from the toilet, and later greets a man by jumping on him and licking his face. If this were to be made into a movie, I can totally see Kristen Wiig playing Jessica. I think she would be hysterical when Zoe takes over her body.
Ms. Watson does a wonderful job driving the plot forward and switches between Jessica and Zoe’s first-person narrative effortlessly, giving each of them a distinct voice. This book is a lot of fun, and underneath the fluff there’s a great message about facing our fears and the bonds of friendship, both human to human and human to four-legged friend. There’s also some romance and as I said earlier, quite a few laughs. If you are looking for a light, fun beach read, I would definitely add this one to your list. ( )

What would your dog say if it could talk? Well, Dog Days by Elsa Watson could give you a little insight on that with her hilarious romantic comedy.
Jessica isn’t a big fan of furry friends, but she does like the hot town vet and she must volunteer to help with the annual dog festival in order to save her restaurant. What she doesn’t see coming is just how closely she would be working with the dogs. A freak accident has Jessica and a white German Shepard named Zoe trading bodies and that’s when everything really does go to the dogs.
This is the perfect summer read, especially if you love romance, comedy or animals. It’s sweet, thoughtful, fun, funny and poignant all at a fast pace. In a word; re-readable!
Check out the video for this book here- http://youtu.be/vWl5a0b4xXc ( )