Garth Stein (2008)
I usually stay away from books where the protagonist is a talking animal, but I picked this one up over Thanksgiving weekend, just to skim a page or two, and kept right on reading. An elderly dog named Enzo tells his life story, and with it the drama of his human family: Denny, a racecar driver and his young daughter Zoe. In addition to the canine narrator, this book centers on a plot that blatantly tugs at the heart-strings (sigh) and is partially set in the world of Formula One racing (hmmm, okay…) but it all worked for me because of the author’s fine creation of Enzo, a unique and touching voice.
2 Things @ Once 
With no real interest in racing or dogs, I was surprised how much I enjoyed this book. It didn’t require much of me and I now have a stuffed zebra on my work table to blame for everything that goes wrong.
I read this (actually listened to it) a year or two ago and really enjoyed it. However, I am very careful recommending it because people typically react to the narrating dog and the plot negatively. Kathryn, sorry I didn’t suggest this one to you.