"A Dog's Way Home" by W. Bruce Cameron

A Dog's Way Home by W. Bruce Cameron is about Bella, a very good dog who is taken from her home in Denver until her owner, Lucas, can find a new place to live that allows pit bulls.  Unfortunately, Bella sees her opportunity to break out of that yard and head on home to her Lucas the day before he was coming to get her!  It takes her two years to find her way home!  Along the way, she runs into lots of adventures and has several different people who she lives with including doggie foster parents, two gay men, an alcoholic woman, a homeless vet, and a cougar!

I had a hard time getting through this book because it was just so heartbreaking.  I felt so bad for this poor dog and very angry at the animal control guy who was just part of a plot to harass Lucas and Bella.  The only reason I finished it was because the title implies that she does make it home. I liked how there were lots of cats in this story and some parts were pretty funny, such as when Bella discovered what a great place a grocery store is.  I also liked how the VA hospital patients enjoyed Bella which reminded me of how those in the nursing home enjoyed our dog, Abby's, visits when we used to take her every week.  The unfairness of the breed discriminatory law was very upsetting to me.  Anyone could see by her behavior that Bella was not a dangerous dog, nor was she a pure pit bull, but was viewed as one by one guy in animal control.
(Karen's review, 3 stars)

A Dog's Way Home by W. Bruce Cameron is told by Bella, who is a very good dog!  She is pronounced a pit bull by three animal control officers (in spite of being a mix and many others saying she is not a pit bull) and the state she lives in has laws that will not allow her to be a house pet.  She gets separated from her owner and makes it her goal to get back to her person somehow.  I enjoyed this book very much.  Bella tells the story quite well and it has a great ending!
(Gerard's review 8/6/17, 5 stars)

Have you read this one? What did you think of it? If you reviewed this too, feel free to share your link to your review in the comments. To find books on a specific topic, scroll to the bottom and click on the topic you want. Happy Reading!

"The Cat Who Saw Stars" by Lilian Jackson Braun

The Cat Who Saw Stars by Lilian Jackson Braun is about a small-town journalist named Qwilleran and his two Siamese cats, Koko and YumYum. He takes a little vacation to his beach house in Mooseville and visits with the townspeople. Some strange things happen that Koko senses. Supposedly, Koko has extra sensory perception.  Some in the town believe UFOs visit and Qwill is not buying it but Koko always watches the sky.  

This book really poked along for me and I was not impressed by any of it. I like cats so that is why I picked it up; however, the cats had a very small part in the book. None of the characters made me care about them much and were not well developed at all. I thought most of the book was very boring and kept waiting for it to get better but it never did! The only people I would recommend this too would be anyone who needs help getting to sleep or who is on a beach vacation and wants to read a book about someone else on a beach vacation. This author wrote many books, but I don’t think I’ll be reading any of them. (Karen's review, 2 stars)

Have you read this one? What did you think of it? If you reviewed this too, feel free to share your link to your review in the comments. To find books on a specific topic, scroll to the bottom and click on the topic you want. Happy Reading!

"Lawyer for the Cat" by Lee Robinson

Spunky Doodle highly recommends this one!

In Lawyer for the Cat by Lee Robinson, the story centers around Sally Baynard, an attorney who is appointed enforcer of a trust which makes it her duty to choose the best caretaker for the dead lady’s cat, Beatrice. According to the trust Lila set up, she named three people who she would like to see take care of her beautiful black cat, Beatrice. The stipulations were that the caretaker would have to live in her house with the cat until it died, and allow the cat to maintain its routines. When the cat dies, then the grown son will inherit the plantation but not before. The story also includes Sally’s other responsibilities, including her job, her mother who has Alzheimer’s and lives with her, and her relationship with Tony the vet who she met when she previously worked on a divorce case involving a dog.

This is a quirky quick read that I enjoyed. Beatrice had only a small part in the book which was a bit disappointing to me. I was happy with who the lawyer picked to be the caretaker for the cat though and enjoyed Sally’s mother and their relationship. This is a book I happened to see while browsing at the library and the title and cover called out to me! I found it to be a light, entertaining read and would recommend it for anyone interested in animal's rights or family court law.
(Karen's review, 4 stars)


Have you read this one? What did you think of it? If you reviewed this too, feel free to share your link to your review in the comments. To find books on a specific topic, scroll to the bottom and click on the topic you want. Happy Reading!

"The Neighbor" by Lisa Gardner--Who Is the Real Monster?

The Neighbor by Lisa Gardner is a mystery told from multiple points of view about a wife and cat who turn up missing. She has a husband who works second shift and a 4-yr-old daughter who was the last person to see her mother before she disappeared. Both husband and wife had bad childhoods but love their daughter very much and want to give her a good family. The cops are clueless as to what happened to the wife but have lots of suspects.  The husband and wife are both good liars and very good at keeping secrets.

This book kept me guessing right to the unexpected ending but I felt really bad for the neighbor. It deals with family secrets, marriage issues, prejudice, computers and sexual abuse.  This book is an eye opener to the problems pedophiles face. The plot is similar to Gone Girl; however, I liked both the main characters in this and didn’t like either of the main characters in Gone Girl. This book doesn’t have near as much swearing as Gone Girl does either. I liked it!
 (Karen's review, 4 stars)

Gerard's Review, 5++ stars:
In The Neighbor by Lisa Gardner, a husband comes home and finds that his wife and cat are missing.  The rest of the house is normal and his young 4-yr.-old daughter is fine.  The police are on it and have plenty of suspects including the husband, but no body.  This is a real page turner!  The author keeps dropping tidbits that change the focus every so often to different possible suspects, but there's really no evidence.  I really enjoyed it a lot and was blown away by the ending!

Have you read this one? What did you think of it? If you reviewed this too, feel free to share your link to your review in the comments. To find books on a specific topic, scroll to the bottom and click on the topic you want. Happy Reading!

Happy International Cat Day!

In honor of International cat day, here are a couple cat book trailers I just saw on YouTube this week:

This was Booktube Read-a-thon challenge to re-enact a scene from a book done by Between Chapters.

After viewing this book trailer done by Why Mermaids for the Booktube Read-a-thon challenge, I quickly borrowed the e-book from the library and am currently reading it on my Kindle.

Have you read this one? What did you think of it? If you reviewed this too, feel free to share your link to your review in the comments. To find books on a specific topic, scroll to the bottom and click on the topic you want. Happy Reading!

"I Am Tama, Lucky Cat" (A Japanese Legend)

I Am Tama, Lucky Cat by Wendy Henrichs is about a kind Monk to brings in a cat and names it Tama.  In Japan, it is believed that when a cat washes his face, a guest will arrive.  (I didn't know that.  My cats wash their faces all the time and we don't get any guests.)  So, in the book, the cat brings luck. 

I was disappointed with this book.  The illustrations weren't all that cute and the story line was nothing exciting, just okay.  It is a picture book and I read it in five minutes.
(Karen's review, 2 stars)

Have you read this one? What did you think of it? If you reviewed this too, feel free to share your link to your review in the comments. Happy Reading!

A Letter to My Cat—Notes to Our Best Friends by Lisa Erspamer is full of Cuteness!

A Letter to My Cat—Notes to Our Best Friends by Lisa Erspamer had this cat lover saying “AWW” on practically every page!  The full-page color pictures of cats are beautiful and the letters by their owners are heartwarming.  It is a collection of notes from cat owners, including some celebrities, to their cats.  It is a quick read and very enjoyable.   This is a wonderful book for any cat lover! 

(Karen's review, 5 stars)

 Our cats like this book to and highly recommend it since there were several pictures of cats that looked like them.

Gerard and I (and Abby, or dog) also loved A Letter to My Dog.

Have you read this one? What did you think of it? If you reviewed this too, feel free to share your link to your review in the comments. Happy Reading!

"Posy" by Linda Newbery is a Cute Picture Book about a Kitten

Spunky Doodle reading POSY

Posy by Linda Newbery, illustrated by Catherine Rayner, is a cute picture book.  Little rhyming phrases describe a normal day in the life of Posy, the kitten.  Many of the descriptions apply to our cats so they loved this book!  Our cat, Spunky Doodle, was being the hissy spitter in our blog header for this week which was one of the descriptive phrases used in this book.  I liked it because of the clever rhyming phrases that describe cats in general as well as because many applied to our cats.
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(Karen's review, 4 stars) 

Spunky Recommends This One!

Have you read this one? What did you think of it? If you reviewed this too, feel free to share your link to your review in the comments. Happy Reading!

What My Cat Is Reading This Week

I was involved in sports camp this week at Parma Heights Baptist Church.  I am coaching 19 4th grade boys in basketball in the mornings and 13 in the afternoons this week.  We have 20 minutes for devotions each day so I get up early to run through it to time it.  I left my stuff on the floor yesterday to eat breakfast and when I came back, I saw my Manny Boy reading the Bible.  It was so cute, I had to take a picture!  Our theme verse this week is I Peter 5:7:  Give all your worries and cares to God for He cares about you.

Have you read your Bible lately? Happy Reading!

My Reading Companion

Manny Boy likes to come on my lap to read along with me.  I just started Keep Quiet by Lisa Scottoline yesterday and am already into it and looking forward to reading more today.  This was Gerard's favorite for May.  My favorite read in May was Now You See Her by James Patterson.

Do you have any cats who enjoy reading with you?

Happy Reading!  Purrr!

"A Street Cat Named Bob and How He Saved My Life" by James Bowen

A Street Cat Named Bob and How He Saved My Life by James Bowen is a true story the bond that developed between him and a street cat he named Bob that helps them both.  The second part of the book focuses more on James than it does on the cat.  This book is nowhere near as good as Dewey, the Library Cat which is one of the best books I ever read!  In my opinion, this is still a book well worth reading because the parts that have Bob, the cat, in it are really good!  Glad it has a happy ending!  (4 stars)

Have you read this one? What did you think of it? If you reviewed this too, feel free to share your link to your review in the comments. Happy Reading!

Monday Mischief: Out Takes--Who Says Modeling Is Easy?

Thought you might enjoy so comical header outtakes:

Wait Manny!  Don't go yet!

Why do we always have to be in the background, mom?

Spunky Doodle, look at the books!

Joining in with the Monday Mischief and Cats on Tuesday blog hops.

"Lost Cat--A True Story of Love, Desperation, and GPS Technology" by Caroline Paul

"This Cat had a fun adventure; good book."--Manny Boy

Lost Cat--A True Story of Love, Desperation, and GPS Technology by Caroline Paul with illustrations by Wendy MacNaughton is a short tale of a cat who ran away from home for five weeks and returned. Caroline, owner of Tibby, the runaway cat, tries to figure out where it went using various methods, only to find that talking face-to-face with the neighbors worked best. This is filled with humor and is a light, fun read I recommend to any cat lover who will appreciate the cat-owner relationship. My favorite part was the animals communications class! The illustrations are cute too!

Here's a teaser from it: 

Today I had brought two sides of myself to the class:  My skeptical side counted the people in the room and added up the money the teacher was making.  My earnest side stared at Tiby's photo and told him, "Tonight we're going to have a little chat."

(Karen's review)

Have you read this one? What did you think of it? If you reviewed this too, feel free to share your link to your review in the comments. Happy Reading!

"The Cat That God Sent" by Jim Kraus is a Favorite of Mine!

Great Book--Petey even looks like me!

The Cat That God Sent by Jim Kraus is a delightful Christian fiction novel that is about a preacher who lost his faith and Petey, a cat who helps him.  I enjoyed this book very much because it is both humorous and yet deals with some serious issues.  Jake just got called to a small country church after being fired from a large one, and is very unsure of himself.  Petey, a cat, hung around him when he arrived and turned out to be quite a hit with his congregation when the cat followed him into the church and sat on the platform with him as he preached!  Parts are so funny that I actually laughed out loud!

Although the cat shares its thoughts with the reader, it acts like a real cat and does not talk English but communicates the way real cats do.  For me, this gave the book more credibility.  There are even discussion questions in the back which could make this a good book club read.  I liked the idea of how God used the cat to help both Jake and Tess and to get more people to come to church.  I loved it and look forward to reading this author's other book, The Dog That Talked to God!  This is a must read for all cat lovers!

(Karen's review, 5 stars!)

Hey, if you like cats, you have to read this one!  Petey, the cat is sent by God to help the new preacher who is struggling with his faith.  He also has to protect a young girl named Tess who got dumped by her boyfriend.  He likes going to church and people come just to see him!  He is a good cat, like me and even looks like me as you can see in the picture of me with the book.  This is a must read for all cats and cat lovers!
(Manny's review) 

Author's blog:  Jimkraus.com

Have you read this one? What did you think of it? If you reviewed this too, feel free to share your link to your review in the comments. Happy Reading!

"Purry Logic" by Jane Seabrook Would Be a Hit With Cat Lovers

Purry Logic by Jane Seabrook is a delightful amusing little book that any cat lover would enjoy!  Each page has a close up a different breed of cat along with a cute quote.  In the back she lists all the breeds pictured.  It is a very quick read, like five minutes.  This is the 5th book I have in my Furry Logic collection! 

Have you read this one? What did you think of it? If you reviewed this too, feel free to share your link to your review in the comments. Happy Reading!

"Dear Sparkle: Advice From One Cat to Another" by Sparkle

Image source:  Amazon

Dear Sparkle: Advice From One Cat to Another (No Humans!) by Sparkle the Designer Cat is not only a fun read but also insightful and informative. There are all kinds of different problems that cats have, most involving their humans. The advice is given in such a way that humans can benefit from it as well. I highly recommend this cute book to any cat owner. The cat letters may be fictional; however, the tip part for humans is really non-fiction. Sparkle says what a smart cat owner should do. I found it both amusing and interesting.  Visit Sparkle's blog too, it's very cat friendly and interesting!
(Karen's review, 5 stars)

You HAVE to read this one!

This is a very good book for all cats.  We LOVED it as much as Sparkle's other book:  Dear Sparkle:  Cat to Cat Advice From the World's Most Foremost Feline Columnist by Sparkle the Designer Cat.  It's a must read!
(Spunky Doodle and Manny Boy's review)


Have you read this one? What did you think of it? If you reviewed this too, feel free to share your link to your review in the comments. Happy Reading!

Which Blog Header Picture Do You Like Best?

Just trying to liven things up a bit

Here is what our mom called an outtake.  We think she should have used this for the header picture this week.  Which one do you like best?  We are also reading Dear Sparkle:  Advice From One Cat to Another but it is on the Kindle so isn't pictured in the header.  We did borrow an image from Amazon though and posted it on the side bar.  It's a great book for us cats!  Meow! 

Find more pet posts at the Camera Critters  and Pet Pride blog hops.

"Spy Cat" by Peg Kehret and Pete the Cat

Spy Cat by Peg Kehret is an adventure with the cat and the little boy being the ones to find the burglars who have been breaking into homes in the neighborhood.  It has excitement, adventure and animals.  Parts are funny, such as when Pete the cat eats the burglar's hamburger and fries.

This is a quick fun read that shows the strong bond between kids and their pets.  I liked it!  
(Karen's review)

Have you read this one? What did you think of it? If you reviewed this too, feel free to share your link to your review in the comments. Happy Reading!

"The Stranger Next Door" by Peg Kehret and Pete the Cat

Manny and Spunky's favorite character is Pete the Cat!

The Stranger Next Door by Peg Kehret and Pete the Cat is actually better than I expected.  Although the author's cat helped write parts of this book, in the story we know what the cat is thinking and saying, but the people in the book only hear it meowing which makes it more realistic.  Shortly after an aloof family move in next door to Alex's family, houses burn in the neighborhood, including the new neighbor's.  Pete the cat sees what happens and using his cat intelligence, makes his people aware of what is happening.

This book has both mystery and adventure, plus it's a quick fun read with the Pete the Cat being one of the main characters.  I think any kid who likes cats would enjoy this book very much, I did!
(Karen's review, rating 5 stars)

Other books I liked by this author:  Animals Welcome

Have you read this one? What did you think of it? If you reviewed this too, feel free to share your link to your review in the comments. Happy Reading!

"Cat Daddy" by Jackson Galaxy

His cat Benny looks like Spunky Doodle so Spunky liked it.

Cat Daddy--What the World's Most Incorrigible Cat Taught Me about Life, Love, and Coming Clean by Jackson Galaxy was both eye-opening and disappointing to me. It is about Jackson Galaxy more than it is about cats, although it does have some suggestions for relating to cats and has a touching story about the cat he rescued, Benny. Jackson is a cat consultant who seeks to help people solve problems they have with their cats instead of having them euthanized. I was surprised to learn about all of Jackson's addictions. I thought it would be more like his TV show, “My Cat From Hell,” telling about the different cat owners he consulted with about their cats but it's not that at all.  The bad language in this book really was a turn off for me.
(Karen's review)

Have you read this one? What did you think of it? If you reviewed this too, feel free to share your link to your review in the comments. Happy Reading!

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