"The Friend," by Sigrid Nunez

A very elegant, moving work on loss and grief, writing, mentors, suicide, healing, and of course, the Friend — Apollo, literature's addition to the canon of books we love with dogs we love.

Lorrie Strauss, Next Chapter Bookstore, St. Paul

Shelftalkers are recommendations from booksellers, usually in the form of notecards pinned up in the store. Send us a jpg at books@startribune.com.