Midnight Crossroad (Midnight, Texas #1)

 Midnight Crossroad (Midnight, Texas #1)

by Charlaine Harris

Pages: 305

Stars: 5 out of 5 stars

A fun read from the creator of the Sookie Stackhouse series, Aurora Teagarden series and other supernatural mysteries. Midnight, Texas is a very small town with the few businesses lining Davy Road and situated at the crossing of Witch Light Road. It is a small, old, western town. But newcomer, Manfred Bernardo is happy with the quiet location and the locals who keep mostly to themselves. There's a small diner and a gas station but you have to drive into Davy to find a grocery store and most other services. 

Everything starts out quiet and friendly enough, but a gathering for a picnic just outside of town reveals a murder. Now the county sheriff and other out of town people are snooping around and the local residents do not appreciate any digging into their past. They all have something to hide, but who is a murderer?

A Cat's Tale: A Journey Through Feline History

 A Cat's Tale: A Journey through Feline History

by Baba the Cat as told to Paul Koudounaris

Pages: 288

Rating 5 out of 5 stars

This is a history of domestic cats through history, all around the world, told from a cat's point of view by Baba the Cat. The author describes different famous cats through history and why and how cats and humans relationships have changed throughout time due to politics, religion and agriculture. Baba also is  a very agreeable cat and poses for fun photos in costumes related to the culture and time period being discussed. The book also includes photos and news articles about cats around the world. 

Interesting facts and fun for any cat lover. 

The True Tails of Baker and Taylor: The Library Cats Who Left Their Pawprints on a Small Town . . . and the World

 The True Tails of Baker and Taylor: The Library Cats Who Left Their Pawprints on a Small Town . . . and the World by Jan Louch and Lisa Rogak

Pages: 274

5 out of 5 stars

In this true story of Baker and Taylor, two library cats who not only lifted the spirits of the library staff struggling to meet the demands of a rapidly growing community, but the community itself, Jan Louch shares how the library came to have the two cats, how the book company Baker & Taylor came to use them as their mascots and make them feline celebrities. The cats even became pen pals to school children in another state and helped encourage reading and writing. 

For everyone who loves cats, but especially for those who also love books and libraries. 

The Starless Sea by Erin Morgenstern

I am loving this world and the concept. I love Erin's writing style. She has like twenty-seven million stories going on and it's perfect. Her descriptions.. chef's kiss
Alexa play "Into the Unknown"
....Am I the only one getting tons of LOTR references.
But seriously they are living the dream. *Insert gif of Lumiere from Beauty and the Beast raising his arms yelling "and BOOKS!"
Cats...I love the cats.
The kitchen *sobbing*
Eleanor *more sobbing*
Simon *uncontrollable sobbing*
I'm fine.
I knew there was going to be a Pirates of the Caribbean reference...Now if only I can find the jar of dirt...

512 Pages

Double-Booked for Death (Black Cat Bookshop Mystery #1)

 Double-Booked for Death (Black Cat Bookshop Mystery # 1)
by Ali Brandon
Pages: 325
Rating: 4 out of 5

Darla inherited her aunt's bookstore in New York City. It is a big change for a small town girl from Texas but she's loving it. However, the book market is tough with Amazon taking business from small shop owners. She is thrilled that a popular teen author has agreed to a book signing at her shop. But an accident leads to bad publicity and the suspicion that it wasn't an accident. Can Darla solve the mystery and save her business and new home?

How to Talk to Your Cat About Gun Safety: And Abstinence, Drugs, Satanism, and Other Dangers That Threaten Their Nine Lives

 How to Talk to your Cat about Gun Safety: And Abstinence, Drugs, Satanism and Other Dangers that Threaten their Nine Lives
by Zachary Auburn
Pages: 144
Rating: 3 out of 5 stars

Collection of essays on how to talk to your cat about important life issues from gun safety to drugs to cults. Parody of parenting guides with a liberal bent.

Chicken Soup for the Soul: Life Lessons from the Cat: 101 Tales of Family, Friendship and Fun

 Chicken Soup for the Soul: Life Lessons from the Cat: 101 Tales of Family, Friendship and Fun
by Amy Newmark
Pages: 352
Rating: 5 out of 5

Collection of stories from our feline friends and the lessons they can teach us each day. They provide unconditional love, companionship, and are warm fuzzies. Touching stories to make your day. Part of the proceeds of this book go to the American Humane Society.

Return to Howliday Inn by James Howe

I got a little nostalgic and decided to read one of my favorite scary stories from my childhood. It's fun to visit with Harold, Chester, and Howie as they try to discover who is making the creepy noises in the night. The only thing that disappoints me in this one is Bunnicula is not in it very much, but it's great otherwise!

Rating: 3.5/5
Pages: 195

Pet Sematary by Stephen King

Sometimes dead is better....When the Creeds move into a beautiful old house in rural Maine, it all seems too good to be true: physician father, beautiful wife, charming little daughter, adorable infant son -- and now an idyllic home. As a family, they've got it all...right down to the friendly cat. But the nearby woods hide a blood-chilling truth -- more terrifying than death itself...and hideously more powerful.

-One of the best King books I've read so far! It is absolutely terrifying and the imagery has stuck with me. If you like scary things, half-dead cats, and supernatural burial grounds this book is for you!

Pages: 374

5 out of 5 stars

Cat-echisms: Fundamentals of Feline Faith

by Ellis Weiner. Barbara Davilman, Susan Burnstine

Pages: 128

Rating: 4 out of 5 stars

Why do cats think they are so special?

Can they explain this to a mere human?

What do cats get out of the human/cat relationship?

This book will answer that and explain all the tenets of the feline lifestyle and spirituality. 

Poetry from Scratch: A Kitten's Book of Verse

 Poetry from Scratch: A Kitten's Book of Verse
by Jennifer McCartney

5 out of 5 stars

96 pages

Modeled after A Child's Book of Verse this poetry book collected by Jennifer McCartney includes poems based on classic works as well as new works all "written" by cats. According to the introduction these poems are written by the cats of the cafe Biblioteca Batto in Milan and our translated here into English for the first time. A fun book for anyone who loves cats. A great book for anyone who loves cats and poetry.

Baroque and Desperate (Den of Antiquity #5) by Tamar Myers

 Baroque and Desperate (Den of Antiquity #5) by Tamar Myers

My Rating: 3 out of 5 stars

Abigail Timberlake, antique dealer and owner of Charlotte, North Carolina's Den of Antiquity, is called upon to use her expertise to assist wealthy member of the Latham family, Tradd Maxwell Burton. His Grandmother is setting up a family treasure hunt and this year it's inside your antique filled-manor. Each guest only gets one guess at what the valuable item is and they are allowed to bring another person to help them. Accompanied by her friend C.J., they arrive at the estate to an icy reception from the rest of the family. Then the maid is stabbed with an antique kris and everyone is accusing C.J. Can Abbey find the real killer before C.J. is charged with murder? Pages: 250

I am a Cat by Natsume Sōseki

I am a Cat by Natsume Sōseki

My Rating: 3 out of 5 stars

A classic of Japanese literature, I Am a Cat is one of the author's best-known novels. This novel was written over the course of 1904 to 1906. The main character is a cat who is never given a name but lives with a middle-class family. Cat tells the reader his observations of human behavior and Japanese society during the Meiji era in all of his cat snarkiness.

Page Numbers: 470

The Guest Cat by Takashi Hiraide

 The Guest Cat by Takashi Hiraide

My Rating: 3 out of 5 stars

Pages: 140

This novel by the acclaimed Japanese poet, Takashi Hiraide, is a subtle, moving story that could take place anywhere. A couple in their thirties live in a small rented cottage in a quiet part of Tokyo. Since they are both writers and work from home they keep their own hours and are awake when the neighbors have gone to sleep. One day a cat invites herself into their small kitchen. It leaves, but the next day comes again, and then again and again. The couple start leaving a window open for her and start buying treats for the cat. They begin to think of her as their cat, even though they know she belongs to the family next door and always leave in time to see the young boy off to school each morning.The description of how the cat changes their lives is interesting but there are also descriptions of the garden and house in great detail. The details of the visits with the cat are also told in order of their emotional effect more than a strict timeline, which seems fitting as the author is known as a poet.

Death of a Rug Lord by Tamar Myers

Death of a Rug Lord by Tamar Myers

My Rating: 3 out of 5 stars.

Pages: 294

Book 14 in the fun, cozy mystery series: Den of Antiquity this title once again finds our heroine antique dealer, Abigail up to her eyes in trouble. Abby finds herself in a business slump. A new rug store is luring away her customers with rock bottom prices even though they are antique rugs. She decides to check out her competition and is amazed to find a priceless Persian rug amid the cut-rate carpets. She approaches the store manager, Gwendolyn to verify the price and is shocked when the manager insists that she take the rug home for the price listed. Abby feels guilty about such a steal especially when  Gwendolyn is found dead the next morning wrapped in a cheap rug.

While attending social gatherings with her friends and family, Abby discovers that valuable rugs are going missing from some of Charleston's elite families and have been replaced with cheap fakes. Now Abby is convinced Gwendolyn was trying to send her a message but will she be able to find out who is stealing the valuable rugs before anymore disappear and anyone else gets hurt?

"The Devious Book for Cats: A Parody" by Fluffy & Bonkers

This book is borrowed from Tammy P. and is written by cats for cats.  It has advice on lots of topics like cardboard boxes, catnip, kitty litter, grooming, vacuum cleaners, and my favorite, crazy cat ladies.  There are also plenty of devious instructions in chapters like "Getting Away With It," "Secrets of Daredevil Cats," "The Pros and Cons of Being Sullen," and "Toying With Allergy Sufferers."  It's a good thing cats can't read or we would all be in big trouble!  224 pages.

The Cat Who Dropped A Bombshell by Lilian Jackson Braun

(Posted for Paul Mathews)

Jim helps the planning of the town of Pickax celebration with the help of Siamese cats Koko and Yum Yum.

Audio:  4 hrs. 31 min.
Print:  288 pages

"Shotgun" by Marie Sexton

This is book #7 in the Coda Series, and I really liked it for several reasons.  The story itself is an unrequited love story between two men who first meet when they are seventeen and are only together for a few hours.  Fifteen years later, they meet again in the same town, Coda, CO, where Dominic Jacobsen has lived his whole life, and where Lamar Franklin has just moved.  When Lamar's car is vandalized, the garage that Dominic's family owns ends up fixing it.  Lamar is out, and he's just moved to Coda to take a teaching job and to get away from the married man with whom he was having an affair.  He's also depressed.  Dominic lives with his 13-year-old daughter, Naomi, and is still in the closet.  He believes that having a gay father will hurt Naomi, so he sacrifices is love life to protect her.  It has worked fine until he sees Lamar again, and all of the emotions he's kept hidden for 15 years come flooding back.

There was a lot of angst and drama in this story.  Lamar is being stalked by someone who vandalizes his car numerous times and breaks into his house.  Dominic has a big family, some of whom are homophobic, especially his father.  Staying in the closet hasn't been a problem until Lamar arrives, and Dom goes back and forth with coming out, which hurts Lamar.  However, it was worth the read to catch up with the couples from previous books in the series.  Matt and Jared as well as Angelo and Zach all play important roles in helping Lamar and Dominic, especially Matt since he is the police officer working on Lamar's stalking case.  And there was a cute kitty with the silly name of Missy Prissy Pom-Pom Paw!  Another great story from Marie Sexton.  260 pages (Kindle edition).

"Part & Parcel" by Abigail Roux

This latest installment in the "Cut & Run" universe finds Marine Force Recon team Sidewinder reunited again, this time on a quest left by their fallen comrade Elias Sanchez.  Nick O'Flaherty is recovering from injuries sustained in the book "Crash & Burn" with boyfriend Kelly Abbott trying his best to help.  With lots of down time, Nick decides to go through storage boxes and discovers letters from Sanchez addressed to the Sidewinder team, so he gets the guys together for a cross-country adventure that turns out to be more emotional than any of them had anticipated.

I was so glad to see Ty Grady and Zane Garrett again; they are the heart of the "Cut & Run" universe since the actual "C&R" series was about them.  This book focuses on Nick and Kelly's relationship but also gives us more insight to the other two Sidewinder members, Digger and Owen Johns.  Another plus - Ty brings along his two new kittens (which really wasn't plausible but still fun to picture).  This story is another winner for Roux.  Hooray for team Sidewinder!  270 pages (Kindle edition).

"Lost Cat: A True Story of Love, Desperation and GPS Technology" by Caroline Paul, illustrated by Wendy MacNaughton

This very cute true story covers the adventures of Tibby, a cat who wonders off for five weeks, worrying her human, Caroline Paul, who is recovering from injuries sustained in a plane crash.  She and her girlfriend, illustrator MacNaughton, post fliers and comb the neighborhood but cannot locate him.  However, he wanders back home one day fatter and sleeker than when he left.  He also won't eat his usual food, so Paul knows he was being fed somewhere.  She tries two tech devices to track his gallivanting when he leaves again:  a tiny camera attached to his collar and then a GPS device.  Will one of them give her a clue about where he goes and who feeds him?

I really liked this book for several reasons:  amusing writing, wonderful watercolors of the cats (Tibby has a twin sister, Fibby), and an entertaining adventure.  Read more about Tibby and his adventures here.  Highly recommended for cat lovers!  176 pages.