Just as author and columnist Heather Lende was preparing do set out on a book tour promoting her first book, she was throw a bit off schedule. Literally. As she tried to avoid a collision with a truck with her bicycle, she slid underneath the three-quarter ton pickup and the driver, not realizing she was there, ran over her hips, crushing her pelvis.

During her recovery, Lende continued to write her column for the Anchorage Daily News (she only missed one deadline). Her latest book, TAKE GOOD CARE OF THE GARDEN AND THE DOGS: A True Story of Bad Breaks and Small Miracles," Lende gathers many of those columns together to create a fascinating look at small-town life in Alaska, and how her family and neighbors were so instrumental in her recovery.

Lende drew upon her volunteer work with a hospice group to garner strength that was necessary to help her recovery along, but also found herself using her experiences to help her own mother and father at the time of her mother's death. The title of the book was actually the last words that Lende's mother communicated to her father, and Lende found comfort and inspiration in the simple message. Her essay regarding her mother's passing is one of the most poignant of the book.

She also draws upon her work as the obituary writer for her local newspaper in the small town of Haines, Alaska (population 2,400). Some of her stories of the local characters will have you reading and smiling, and some will tug at heartstrings, but all are a rare peek at life in a close- knit community.

Lende's book isn't all about death and dying (or nearly dying), there are stories of her husband's induction into the local Tlingit tribe's Eagle Clan, her great love of the mountains and beauty of Alaska, and the customs and traditions that make small-town living so great.

TAKE GOOD CARE OF THE GARDEN AND THE DOGS is a gentle, sweet memoir that will resonant with folks looking for a simpler way of life no matter if they are in Alaska or Texas or anywhere in between. It's just a pleasure to read.