Let’s talk books!
Over the weekend, a friend sent me this tweet:
She clarified that it was going to be a gift for her mother. Talk about the pressure being on!
I got up from my computer and walked across the room to the bookshelf to and take a look at cat books there to see what books I really loved. Back when I moved five times in seven years, I pared down my book collection quite a bit, so if I was willing to keep carrying a book from house to house, I was pretty attached to it. I was surprised to find that I have almost no cat fiction on my shelf except one book:
Tailchaser’s Song is a the story of a young cat who sets out on a quest to locate his best friend and discovers that there’s so much more to the world than he ever imagined. I sometimes describe it as a cat version of the Richard Adams’ Watership Down novel about rabbits, but that’s oversimplifying things a lot. These characters stand well on their own and you really
Cat nonfiction is another story entirely. I have lots of that that I can recommend.
Dewey: The Small-Town Library Cat Who Touched the World by Vicki Myron is kind of a no-brainer if you’ve got someone who loves both cats and books on your list. A kitten left in the library book drop one frigid night was dubbed Dewey Readmore Books and became a valued member of the library staff. It’s a wonderful read about a cat who was not just loved by the library staff, but by the small town where he lived and by people around the world. I was surprised to discover that there is now a young adult edition of this book edited for younger readers called Dewey the Library Cat: A True Story, which takes out some of the author’s personal backstory that is interwoven into the book and also explains cultural references like Spuds MacKenzie. Boy, did I feel old realizing that needed an explanation! I have the original edition, which is out of print in favor of the YA version.
The Cat Who Came for Christmas is the story of a white kitten who came into the life of a crumudgeon one Christmas Eve and changed his life forever. Written by Cleveland Amory, founder of The Fund for Animals, the two followup books, The Cat and the Crumudgeon and The Best Cat Ever are also great, but there’s something about a dog lover’s journey into discovering how to come to terms with a cat that is especially charming in the first book of the trilogy. I should add that none of them is specifically a Christmas book, despite the title. Even though this book is part of a trilogy, it seems to have been written as a standalone book and doesn’t require the other two.
The Cat Who Went to Paris by Peter Norton is another delightful book about a man who didn’t like cats until he met the right cat, who happened to be a Scottish Fold kitten named Norton. I especially loved reading this book along with its followups, A Cat Abroad and The Cat Who’ll Live Forever, because Norton goes with Gethers to all sorts of events and places. These days, seeing a cat on a leash is unusual but not unheard of, but when these books were originally published, no one took their cats anywhere except the vet, so that made his tales even more fun, and the fun holds up rereading them today. The Cat Who Went to Paris was apparently written as a standalone book, so you don’t need to read the whole trilogy to get to know and love Norton.
Rescued: The Stories of 12 Cats, Through Their Eyes, edited by Janiss Garza, is one of the few recent cat books on my shelf. This anthology brings the stories of a dozen unlikely cats to life by letting them narrate how events unfolded. Each cat has its own, distinct voice, and the stories are frightening, joyful, and inspiring in turn.
The problem with the nonfiction books above (spoiler alert) is similar to the problem we have in real life: cat lifespans are shorter than our own, and the cats grow old and eventually pass on. In the trilogies, it isn’t until the final book, but some people don’t want anything to do with a book where that happens. I’m including recommendations for a couple more books from my shelf that won’t require all your tissues.
All My Patients are Under the Bed by Dr. Jouis J Camuti is an old favorite about a housecall doctor in Manhattan and the quirky cats and people he encountered during his practice. The laugh-out-loud stories about his experiences still hold up 35 years after its original publication. Veterinary medicine has changed quite a bit in the last 35 years, and I wouldn’t recommend this book to someone who just got their first cat and is absorbing every bit of veterinary advice like a sponge. But for someone who has had cats for years and enjoys hearing the funny stories about how humans and cats intersect, this is a great read.
Homer’s Odyssey by Gwen Cooper is the amazing tale of a blind kitten who never slowed town to know he had limits because of his lack of sight. People may shy away from this book because it’s about a cat who is differently-abled, especially worrying if it has a gross-out factor or is going to make you cry. It’s not graphic in the least, and if you cry while reading it, it won’t be because of anything bad happening to the cat They will likely be tears of joy. It’s an uplifting story, and a book I have recommended time and time again.
These are favorite books you would actually see on my shelf, published before I adopted ebooks as my primary reading source. What favorite cat books are on your bookshelf?
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Many of these are my human’s favorites too (well, not counting Rescued – that’s a given!). She may even do one of her own one of these years.
That is one great review of some really good books. We like some of those too. Thanks for this good review.
What great suggestions! The mom has read a number of these…but the others she needs to add to her every growing reading list.
Ooh, my favorite topic…cat books! The list is endless LOL
Deb Barnes’ Purr Prints of the Heart meant the world to me this year. I’m currently reading a hidden gem that was just released called Raphael’s Story which is just amazing. And did you know there’s a new Homer book out this week?
mom has read some of these but not all of them. Gwen now has a second book out about Homer as well that she wants to read.
WooHoo mom loves learning about new books and new authors…she has made note of this book
Thank you
Hugs madi your bfff
Another book by Gwen Cooper, Love Saves the Day, is my absolute favorite. I also want to read her new book about Homer.
Tailchaser’s song is one of ours. Also Diane Duane’s Book of Night with Moon (there’s a sequel too but the name escapes us). If you like Tailchaser’s Song, you’ll probably like that one.
As for mysteries, the Cat Who books, the Joe Grey books and there’s another cat mystery series and the name escapes me. But cats are big in mysteries! Kris Rusch has Five Feline Fancies if short stories count too!
Oh and Zari A is a supporting cast in Whisper Bound, by Bonnie Elizabeth. She’s kind of a cat… ;).
And we couldn’t resist tooting the woman’s horn. It could mean more fishy flakes for me.
Ohhh we are sooooooooo behind on doing our list, ours won’t be til just before Christmas. This is a great list, do you believe that with the tons of books that I have reviewed I have only read maybe TWO from this list?
Oh yea, there’s some darn good ones on your list!
You mentioned some of our favorites and others we knew nothing about. Mom says she wants to read the Camuti book. She loved all the “The Cat Who…” novels with kitties, KoKo and YumYum, by Lillian Jackson Braun. They are great when you don’t want anything heavy and just some fun. XOCK, Lily Olivia, Mauricio, Misty May, Giulietta, Fiona, Astrid, Lisbeth and Calista Jo
I’ve read a lot of these and I think they’re great recommendations. I’ll note the ones I haven’t read. I always like to have good book ideas. I’ve moved a lot too, and like you, I no longer have many of my books. For fiction I love the Joe Grey mysteries and Leann Sweeney’s Cats in Trouble series and many more.
Oh Mom has read nearly all of those to us! Great selection.
Rescued is an awesome book! I haven’t read most of the others you suggested, but I have a few of them and really want to read them soon.
One of my favorites is The Street Cat Named Bob. I LOVED this book so much.
guys…thanx for sharin bout theeze books !! we will hafta chex out Tailchaser’s Song 🙂
♥♥♥
What a pawsome list ! We would add the beautiful “Purr Prints of the Heart” from Deb Barns. Purrs
Will look into this list when all the craziness of the season is over.
That is a great list. I have read some of them and hope to read more of your suggestions.
Tailchaser….that was a book to end all books and the best ever and forever more. ALWAYS! The entire family is crazy about it. Me, my three sons for certain. And we have read and re-read it. Fantasy at its pluperfect best. You would love to go live in their world. For the length of the book…you do.
Those all sound like great books, looks like we also will want to check out Tailchaser’s Song.
I love your choices. I named my cat Polar Bear after Cleveland Amory’s cat and I love the books about Norton. 🙂
I’m excited cos the sequel to Homer’s Odessey is out! The trouble with lists is you can’t list them all.
We liked your review. Moms read the Dewey book and the 12 Cats book but not the others! Looking forward to reading at least two more soon! thanks for your great descriptions!
Some oldies but goodies here. I love Norton so much. If he was alive today he’d be as famous of Grumpy Cat!
This is great! We keep telling our human to do some book reviews. She has Homer but hasn’t read it yet!