Staring out the window at the falling rain of Spring and wishing you had something new to read?  Have no fear...KnowBetter is here to keep you from having to grab your umbrella and galoshes and drive out to a print bookstore when it's stormy.  In fact, our latest ebook list is all about raining cats and dogs.  In one instance, it's even 'reigning'.  So stay dry with ebooks, and enjoy our newest batch of recommendations.  They're purrfect reads that'll keep you from going to the dogs...and will reinforce that when it comes to ebooks, KnowBetter certainly isn't all wet.

• The Truth About Cats by Robyn Anders
  Microsoft Reader/HTML/Adobe
  Rick Engle had seen Jennifer Hollman, she'd been the rich girl dumping him for someone from her own background. He'd thought he had put her behind her but when he saw her working in that low-rent department store, the attraction still sizzled. When he gets her fired from her job and kicked out of her apartment, he has to take her in. Not that he minds too much. Meanwhile, Jennifer still hurts from the way Rick had left her years before. She knows he'll laugh when he discovers her father lost his fortune day trading. Still, she doesn't have a lot of options--although if Rick thinks he's going to get lucky just because he makes her ache with desire, he's got another thing coming. One thing about Jennifer, though. She is a planner and a fixer. Before Rick knows what's happening, she has a twelve step program that is certain to make him perfect. If only he'll sit still long enough for it to take. Yes, a kitten features in the storyline.
   
• Fantasy Readers Wanted: Apply Within Edited by Nick Aires and James Richey
  Multiple Formats 
  Short story collection includes "Reigning Cats And Dogs.": Fantasy story of the barbarian Davon, whose quest to remove his banishment from the human cities leads to humorous and bawdy adventure with the warring dogmen and catmen.
   
• Kangaroo Dog by Marlies Bugmann
  Multiple Formats 
  Seven-year-old Ben Arthurson likes nothing better than exploring the wilderness near his grandparent's farm, Evergreen, in north-eastern Tasmania. During one such trek he stumbles on an amazing surprise-a young thylacine, a Tasmanian tiger. The creature has long been thought extinct, and Ben and his Aunt Steffie excitedly take photographs of the extraordinary discovery. But Aunt Steffie's fiancé, an ambitious journalist, finds the photos. Can they stop him before the Kangaroo Dog's existence is revealed and its peaceful life is destroyed?
   
• Cally Cat Takes A Bath by Cassyashton Porter
  Microsoft Reader/PDF/RTF/HTML
  Cally Cat loves playing with the bubbles in her owner's bath. But what will happen when she accidentally falls in?  Children's story.
   
• Can't Teach An Old Dog New Tricks by Charles Vald
  Microsoft Reader/PDF/RTF/HTML
  Alison thinks Tony is useless. The dog won't do any tricks for her, but then as her Dad tells her, 'You can't teach an old dog new tricks,' The clock in the town rings. It is time for Tony to teach Alison a few tricks of his own. Children's story.
   
• Scholastic Q&A: Can It Rain Cats And Dogs? by Melvin Berger and Robert Sullivan
  Microsoft Reader
  Adobe Reader
  This book will answer children's questions about weather as it explores the basics in beautifully-illustrated sections on sun, air, and wind; rain, snow, and hail; and wild weather like hurricanes and tornadoes. The questions and answers should help to appease even the most curious child's need to know why the weather keeps changing, what happens to puddles after it rains, if you can smell the rain, if lightning can grow hair, and if groundhogs really can predict the weather.
   
• Buffy The Vampire Slayer: Halloween Rain by Christopher Golden and Nancy Holder
  Microsoft Reader
  Adobe Reader
  Palm Reader
  Mobipocket
  As long as there have been vampires, there has been the Slayer. One girl in the all the world, to find them where they gather and to stop the spread of their evil and the swell of their numbers. Around Sunnydale, they say a scarecrow saturated with Halloween rain will come alive and slaughter anyone in sight. (Lovely place, Sunnydale.) Buffy's best friends, Xander and Willow, used to think the tale was nonsense--but after a few adventures with Buffy, they're not so sure. Even without a maniacal scarecrow, a Sunnydale Halloween is a truly horrific happening. There are enough zombies and vampires about, ready to party hearty and eat some brains, to keep the Slayer and her friends up all night. And then rain starts to fall....
   
• After The Rain by Connie Vines
  Multiple Formats 
  Rancher Brede Kristensen had more than his share of problems: his rambunctious daughter was trying to get herself expelled from school, and his cook ran off. Then in the midst of a violent storm, he found a beautiful woman abandoned in flooded gully--a woman that hadn't a clue as to who she was or where she came from! Cheyenne Maddox had no memory of the accident--but she was certain that Brede, with his determination and strength, had saved her life. As her body healed and she searched for clues to her past, Cheyenne found herself falling in love with the gruff rancher. But she knew it was wrong to love Brede and his daughter--because whoever had tried to kill her would return. It was only a matter of time!
   
• The Curious Incident Of The Dog In The Night Time by Mark Haddon
  Microsoft Reader
  Adobe Reader
  Palm Reader/Mobipocket
  Christopher John Francis Boone knows all the countries of the world and their capitals and every prime number up to 7,057. Although gifted with a superbly logical brain, Christopher is autistic. Everyday interactions and admonishments have little meaning for him. At fifteen, Christopher's carefully constructed world falls apart when he finds his neighbour's dog Wellington impaled on a garden fork, and he is initially blamed for the killing. Christopher decides that he will track down the real killer, and turns to his favourite fictional character, the impeccably logical Sherlock Holmes, for inspiration. But the investigation leads him down some unexpected paths and ultimately brings him face to face with the dissolution of his parents' marriage. As Christopher tries to deal with the crisis within his own family, the narrative draws readers into the workings of Christopher's mind.
   
• Going For The Blue: Showdogs and Dog Shows by Roger A. Caras
  Microsoft Reader
  Adobe Reader
  Palm Reader
  In this patented puppy tell-all, Roger Caras will enlighten, edify, and amuse you with the inside scoop that only he can provide on what really goes on behind the scenes of dog shows. He gives a brief history of how, without knowledge of genetics, ancient people first selectively bred dogs from wolves. He goes on to explain which factors are utilitarian and which are purely aesthetic and how these figure in judging a dog today. He then describes how dog shows have evolved, how winners are selected, the immense amount of preparation that goes into grooming a show dog, what constitutes a champion, and the most important factor in a dog show: politics.
   
• Acid Rain by Peter Tyson
  Palm Reader
  Acid rain caused by the burning of fossil fuels is harming the planet's trees, lakes, soils, ancient and modern structures, and even human beings. 'Earth at Risk: Acid Rain' describes the history of this pollution problem from its origins during the Industrial Revolution to its devastating effects on today's woodlands, aquatic ecosystems, and wildlife. The book discusses the special problems of dealing with an environmental hazard that has crossed state and national boundaries.
   
• The Master Of Rain by Tom Bradby
  Microsoft Reader
  Adobe Reader
  Palm Reader/Mobipocket
  Shanghai, 1926. A city glistening with decadence and rife with corruption--a humid, bustling society at the cultural crossroads of British civil servants, American gun runners, Russian princesses, and Chinese gangsters. For Richard Field, a young Englishman new to the international police force, Shanghai represents a brave new world away from the past he is trying to escape. But his naiveté is quickly dashed when he is called to the scene of a brutal crime, in which a young Russian woman, Lena Orlov, has been found sadistically murdered in her bed. Field's idealistic instincts push him to investigate the case, but his attempts are met with apathy--then menace--from his colleagues. He begins to recognize that some cases in Shanghai are intended to remain unsolved, and, in a matter of days, he glimpses the murky depths that lurk beneath a luminous city.
   
• The Cat Who Could Read Backwards by Lillian Jackson Braun
  Microsoft Reader
  Adobe Reader
  Palm Reader
  The world of modern art is a mystery to many. But for Jim Qwilleran, it turns into a mystery of another sort when his assignment to the art beat for The Daily Fluxion leads down the path to murder. A stabbing in an art gallery, vandalized paintings, a fatal fall from a scaffolding -- this is not at all what Qwilleran expects when he turns his reportorial talents to art. But Qwilleran and his newly found partner, Koko the brilliant Siamese, are back in their element -- sniffing out clues and confounding criminals intent on mayhem and murder.The first of 'The Cat Who' series.
  
• Those Doggone Dogs: A Tribute In Poetry And Verse To Our Canine Friends by Jean Marie Stine
  Microsoft Reader
  Adobe Reader
  Mobipocket
  For everyone who loves dogs! This collection pays tribute in story and verse to our four-footed canine friends--those doggone dogs. You will find every kind of dog: loyal and devoted dogs, honest to a fault dogs, brave dogs, trouble-prone dogs, hungry dogs, bad dogs, misunderstood dogs, understanding dogs, comforting dogs, and many more. Among the stories, verse, dogs, and writers represented in this one of a kind collection are: Albert Payson Terhune and Bruce, Richard Harding Davis with the story of "The Bar Sinister," so good it has been made into a movie twice! Stanton Coblentz and his memorable poem, "Heritage," Dorthy Lundt and her touching account of "Dikkon's Dog" and the fate it meets at a remote army outpost, Bret Harte's droll tale of "The Yellow Dog," Mary E. Wilkins moving "The Lost Dog," plus "Dog Wanted," "A Railroad Dog," "A Dog's Life," "The Doings of David," The Surrender," "Character in Dogs," "To a Dog Grown Blind," and many others.
   
• Letters From Cleo And Tyrone: A Feline Perspective On Love, Life And Litter by L. Virginia Brown and Linda Hamner
  Microsoft Reader
  Palm Reader
  Cleo and Tyrone take time out from their busy schedule to correspond and share their thoughts--polemics, really--about dogs, fashion, real estate, medical science, fine dining, cinema, poetry (haiku included), and the pitiful state of their owners' social lives. More than treatises on the feline and human condition, this is also a love story. Cleo and Tyrone will wrap their furry little paws around your heart and hold on for a lifetime.