How to Tell If Your Cat Is Plotting to Kill You by Matthew Inman
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
Are You Dead Yet?
Then your cat is plotting to kill you. I give you this spoiler because I have four cats in my house, and that means probably not much time left. You should definitely run out and buy this with your holiday gift money (I did!): it may save your life.
Feel free to read the following aloud when you finish reading your copy: My theory is once the cat knows you're on to it, it'll have to keep its vengeance hidden, lest everyone know who to blame. In fact, now that the secret is out, it is in the best interest of all our cats to make sure we stay alive and healthy without suffering any suspicious accidents.
You're welcome.
Personal copy
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Sunday, January 30, 2022
Review: How to Tell If Your Cat Is Plotting to Kill You
Review: The Great Gatz
The Great Gatz by Lauren Baratz-Logsted
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
A warm and cuddly holiday treat with enough depth and humor to make the HEA feel earned. Also, it's delightful to see the literary magic of The Sisters Eight series in a mature tale. All the hygge I so needed.
Library copy
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Saturday, January 29, 2022
Review: Henri, le Chat Noir: The Existential Musings of an Angst-Filled Cat
Henri, le Chat Noir: The Existential Musings of an Angst-Filled Cat by William Braden
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
Fun fact: both my husband and I independently selected, wrapped, and gave this book to Veronica, because she is fond of existentialism, and French things, and cats. WE were both right! Yay, us.
Veronica's copy, natch
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Review: Simon's Cat
Simon's Cat by Simon Tofield
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
2009
Betsy Bird's review goes into rich detail. I'm content to say I loved it.
***
2022 January 29
It's odd that I am so fond of this book, and yet have never acquired another. Really need to remedy that.
We're at our record high for the pandemic, or just coming down off it. My cousin is one of 18 positive cases at her assisted living facility (despite be vaccinated and boosted), people from my department are sick, with their kids, the grocery store shelves have random weird blank spots every time I visit, and my few items cost way more than seems right: frozen pizza costs more than carryout. It's winter and January has been cold for us, whereas December was hot. We've had snowstorms three weekends in a row, but not enough to be really satisfying (because apparently I am not in a mood to be satisfied). So, yeah, I am really enjoying the break from my everything-is-horrible perception of reality for a bit. Cat cartoons are one of the eternal verities: no doubt one would find them in cave paintings.
Anyway, it's good to own books that make me smile. Kondo is right: keep the things that spark joy.
Personal copy
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Review: Simon's Cat
Simon's Cat by Simon Tofield
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
Betsy Bird's review goes into rich detail. I'm content to say I loved it.
View all my reviews
Review: Breaking Cat News: Cats Reporting on the News that Matters to Cats
Breaking Cat News: Cats Reporting on the News that Matters to Cats by Georgia Dunn
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
A belated birthday present, which is my third favorite, after Early and On Time.
That was adorable. I have this problem with short form entertainments: it's hard for me to get interested in a single day's cartoon or a sitcom episode on its own. I prefer fat books and binging on an entire season of a show. So when my husband wants me to see something amusing on his computer it is pretty much a waste of my time.
Ah, but a year's worth of a cartoon is different: I can engage. And then the premise of Breaking Cat News amuses me, and I can get a feel for personalities and such. I had never before noticed, for example, that the cats directly address the people as Man and Ma'am, which makes perfect sense for cats.
Cute and funny and warm and fuzzy.
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Review: Old Possum's Book of Practical Cats
Old Possum's Book of Practical Cats by T.S. Eliot
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
read again 10/24/2011
Because the combination of snarky poetry about cats and the illustrations of Gorey is magnificent.
***
2020 July 12
I know I have read this more times than I have dates for, so this mayn't be surprising, but I wanted there to be more variety. I want some young cats, and some very affectionate ones, and more lady cats. Actually, what I want is a collection of light verse by lots of different people: Lin Manuel Miranda and Kate Bush and Childish Gambino and Adele (I can think of a number of lyricists, but I am not up at all on actual poets as such). Wouldn't that be delightful?
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Review: Cat
Cat by B. Kliban
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
2008 September 20
I still love this above almost every other book of cartoons. And, they're funny to eight-year-olds, too.
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Thursday, January 27, 2022
Review: The Unadulterated Cat
The Unadulterated Cat by Terry Pratchett
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
The Unadulterated Cat - Terry Pratchett,Gray Jolliffe As a birthday present to myself I purchased a number of books. I only bought funny ones, because I'm rarely in the mood to go back and read a grim one. This has been on my list for quite a while, and now I have it. And I love it because it is silly, and you can read it in about fifteen minutes, and the pictures are funny, and the default conversational topic in our house is the cats: there are four, so at any given moment someone is doing something worth commenting on.This year my birthday was particularly happy.personal copy
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Review: I Could Pee On This: And Other Poems By Cats
I Could Pee On This: And Other Poems By Cats by Francesco Marciuliano
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
If you're only going to receive one book for Christmas, it had better be a good one. Funny, with cats in is a good bet. Thanks, Sweetie.
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Review: The New Yorker Book of Cat Cartoons
The New Yorker Book of Cat Cartoons by The New Yorker
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
I have both the normal-sized one, and the miniature, presumably so I can carry it with me. Or perhaps it is for enjoying while also conserving. Well, yes, it is primarily so there can be a display next to the register where people who already have a copy can think of friends who would also love it.
Might as well see if I prefer the diminutive.
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Wednesday, January 26, 2022
Tuesday, January 25, 2022
Review: Lazy Little Loafers
Lazy Little Loafers by Susan Orlean
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
Ha. Not all writers for adults do well switching over to children's, and I'm not sure Orlean is cut out for it. It had one good joke, though. And I liked the picture of the bullfighter.
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Sunday, January 23, 2022
Review: Mort
Mort by Terry Pratchett
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
January 1 2005
Mort - Terry Pratchett We started watching Hogfather, but I don't own a copy. And the Offspring had to hear something with Death in it.
***
June 11 2014
Having gotten into a Pratchetty mind set, I'm plowing through the Death sub-series with glee. The charming thing about Death is that he isn't a bit human, but humanity is interesting to him, and something he is striving towards. As are not we all?
In this case, Death has a teenaged daughter moping about the house, and having a proper sense of the rightness of things, he goes off and hires a young apprentice that the two may fall for one another. Complications, of course, ensue.
Personal copy
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Saturday, January 22, 2022
Review: A Piglet Named Mercy
A Piglet Named Mercy by Kate DiCamillo
My rating: 3 of 5 stars
It really bugs me that neither Watsons nor the Lincolns seems to have given a moment's thought about where the pig came from and who might be missing it. Maybe I have just seen too many postings for lost cats recently. Really, I have a lot of questions, such as who are their other neighbors and why do the Lincolns have a baby bottle?
I do appreciate having a family of color in the neighborhood even if they are literally in the background.
Library copy
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Thursday, January 13, 2022
Wednesday, January 12, 2022
Sunday, January 09, 2022
Saturday, January 08, 2022
Friday, January 07, 2022
Thursday, January 06, 2022
Review: Toys Meet Snow: Being the Wintertime Adventures of a Curious Stuffed Buffalo, a Sensitive Plush Stingray, and a Book-loving Rubber Ball
Toys Meet Snow: Being the Wintertime Adventures of a Curious Stuffed Buffalo, a Sensitive Plush Stingray, and a Book-loving Rubber Ball by Emily Jenkins
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
squee!
***
I dearly love this series. Jenkins' picture books spark joy in me.
Library copy
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