3 comments about Tuxedo Cats 2008 Square Wall Calendar.

1. I am happy with it, not much to comment on really. The photos are lovely, the layout is good, large enough to read the numbers at a distance. These type of cats happen to be my favorites.



2. We have a tuxedo cat named Steve, so I bought this calendar for my wife for Christmas and she really liked it. Several of the photos look very similar to our own little furry buddy.



3. Ever since this kind of calendar has been availavle(several years), I have ordered one. It has so many pictures that look like my dear sweet ERNIE, that I save the really good lookalikes from each calendar and hang them up in my room. I highly recomend the purchase of this calendar to anyone who has a black and white cat(aka tuxedo cat).

4 comments about Good Mousekeeping - A Parody (Cat Humor).

1. Great idea! Lovers of cats (or of dogs for that matter) will find this book a beautiful, witty addition to the library. A gift, to be enjoyed when received and to be considered a sure success when given to friends. How wonderfully simple as a concept and how intricately creative as a final publication! This will remain a "classic" work, really unique.



2. I LOVED this magazine! Every cat lover must have it. It was so hilarious! I liked that even the ads were about cats. The author was so creative, and I look forward to reading her other books.



3. Please be so kind as to contact this publisher and arrange for a reprint of this publication!

   It's a hoot for all cat lovers everywhere!




4. "Good Mousekeeping©" is absolutly purrfect for any one interested in cats. Ilene Hochberg is a creativly talented lady and deserves lots of recognition for this book. It includes a purrspective as we think of cats, and the way we think they may look at certain situations. You will find this book close to that of Good Housekeeping©. It even includes a clever section called "At Home With Mouser Stewart". I'm looking forward to reading Vanity Fur and Catmopolitan, also by Ilene Hochberg. I hope you enjoy this book as much as I do! Don't Forget... Cats are smarter than we take them for, therefore, it could be said that we are, in a cat's eyes, very unintelligent for thinking cats aren't as intelligent as they really are!

No comments about A-Z of Cat Health and First Aid: A Holistic Veterinary Guide for Owners.

2 comments about Cat High: The Yearbook, Return of the Classic Spoof-Now in Its Third of Nine Lives.

1. This is my all time favorite humor book. I have the original and have enjoyed it for almost 20 years now. (It's getting a little shopworn, but still as funny as ever.) The students of cat high are hilarious- every possible high school stereotype from the cheerleader to the nerd. The teachers are your typical assortment, too, with a little Catholic School thrown in also- Sister Mary Spade- teacher of Cat-holicism and Dog-ma!!

   I wish I'd bought a few more copies at the price it's going for now!!




2. This is a really great book. Humanoid cats. Very cute, very funny. It's a shame it's out of print.

1 comments about A Cat in a Chorus Line (Alice Nestleton Mystery).

1. This incredibly confusing and ultimately idiotic offering left me with this thought. HUH? What was that all about? And who published it?

   To begin with, Alice (our protagonist)gets involved because she wants justice for her friend (who she actually barely knows) and can't figure out why he denied his identity to her moments before he was murdered. Since everyone involved only knew him by his real name, it makes no sense. Each time she decides to give up the investigation, she is drawn back because she wants this piece of information. But at the end of the book, we still don't know why he said he wasn't John. And the author doesn't even acknowledge that the information will not be found, maybe by having someone say "I guess we will never know". The issue is just ignored.
   I also thought the book was full of too many coincidences. Our heroine is sent to a restaurant by a police officer and it just happens to be owned by her old friend. A bartender that her friend often hires just happens to be neck deep in the the bootlegging of Broadway tapes. The son of an dying playwright is on the board of directors of a cat saving group even though we have no reason to think he particularly cares for cats. And we never really find out why the murder was committed in front of our detective or what the murderer was trying to accomplish. And why would the conspirators bother taking all the illegal tapes and leaving the oddly labeled boxes behind. It must have been time consuming. The only reason I can think of is that the author couldn't think of a sensible way to get the detective on the right track. And remind me why the second murder took place.
   Since the murderer seems to have gone mute or possibly insane at the end of the book I guess the author thought that tied up all loose ends.
   All in all I thought this book must have been written for possible ten year olds who wouldn't notice the incongruities. I think the author and publisher are just cashing in on the proliferation of cats in the mystery genre right now by writing this ill-conceived tripe. It's no where near as good as the Quilleran series which is pretty light fare anyway.

5 comments about Secrets of the Cat : Its Lore, Legend, and Lives (Common Reader Editions).

1. Another wonderful book from one of my favorite authors. A must read if you live with moggies or are considering the adoption of one. This book made me laugh out loud reading about Boston Blackie (I've entertained thoughts of a hired killer a few times with my brood)and gave me chills while reading the chapters on the cat in history. I've bought copies of this book for cat loving friends and like all of Barbara Holland's books, a keeper.



2. When it comes to cats, I'm a sap. There is only one cat in my house, and there will be for quite awhile because my cat will not tolerate any others in her presence. In fact, if you were to attempt such a foolish task as trying to introduce another feline in our house you would be faced with my cat bullying the other to the bottom of our couch in the living room, and observing pieces of hair everywhere that my cat has pulled out of the other.

   In our futile attempt to find a way to alleviate this behavior, my wife and I went through several books, dozens of phone calls to veterinarians in Lincoln and Omaha (Nebraska) and were never to find a way to keep our tort shell from beating up on the calico kitten we brought home. Finally, however, we had to give the calico to my stepdaughter.

   In our desperate attempt to find a way to stop Pokeman (yes, at last I reveal the cat's name) from being a bully we discovered this wonderful book by Barbara Holland. It starts with a tale of hope for our family with a short essay called "The Conversion of Boston Blackie". Boston Blackie was a stray that would terrify all the other cats in the author's household. It became so bad that Ms. Holland actually hired someone to assassinate Blackie. As it turns out, there was no need to do so, as for some reason the cat converted. Truly a story that kept us going for awhile in our fruitless attempt to convert our cat.

   There's great stuff in this book, including the one I mentioned, some of it very sad (a story of a woman who would only let her cat live alone in a basement), some of it useful (how to wash a cat to prevent allergens from reacting).

   Lyrical, recommended, and picked up at our house and browsed through frequently.




3. I've already pressed "Secrets of the Cat" into the hands of my husband and my two of my best friends and said, "You must read this."

   So what were the odds that all of them would actually read the book and enjoy it? Slim to none, I'd have guessed from previous treatments of my recommendations.

   In this case though, both husband and friends were hooked from the first page. The author begins with the tale of Boston Blackie, a cat who went berserk in the presence of other felines. He ripped off their ears, he gouged out their eyes, he sent them streaking for the bushes even at feeding time. And then, one day...but I don't want to spoil Blackie's story for you. Just a hint - his name was changed to Basil and no anatomical alterations were involved.

   Barbara Holland has written an extremely personal book about the history, lore, and personality of 'Felis libyca.' In the chapter, "A Choice of Cats" she does riffs on many of the different feline breeds, but it is easy to see that the Siamese is her favorite:

   "Properly treated, Siamese develop a deep, single-hearted devotion to their people and overreact to competition, absences, and infidelity like an adolescent in love. They need attention, and think nothing of pulling the books out of the bookcase and the pictures off the walls to get it. They demand notice in a raucous, echoing voice that many people and some other cats find alarming; the sound has been compared to that of a giant sea gull in distress. Taking on a Siamese is rather like getting married."

   Our own preference is for Maine Coons (we share the house with five), and Barbara Holland tells a great story about them, too. Not that I agreed with everything she wrote. For instance, she stated that gray cats as a class are much friendlier than tabbies, which is exactly the opposite of our experience---and we've lived with two grays and about a million tabbies over the years.

   Holland is also very upset by some of the artificially propagated breeds, such as the Cornish Rex and the Scottish Fold. Her chapter on "Show Business" is sad, hilarious, and razor-sharp---sometimes all three in the same sentence. Even if you think she is way off-base on her assessment of say, Himalayans or feline intelligence or declawing procedures, you'll want to keep reading until the end of the book. She is opinionated even to the point of irritation, but she is also extremely readable.

   And Holland never confuses 'cat' with 'cute.'

   There is one chapter in "Secrets of the Cat" (originally titled "The Name of the Cat") that you might want to skip: not because it is badly written, but because it is totally horrifying. That chapter is called, "Cats and the Church" and it relates the history of cats in (primarily) medieval Europe.




4. I've already pressed "Secrets of the Cat" into the hands of my husband and my best friend and said, "You must read this."

   So what were the odds that both of them would actually read the book and enjoy it? Slim to none, I'd have guessed from previous treatments of my recommendations.

   In this case though, both husband and friend were hooked from the first page. The author begins with the tale of Boston Blackie, a cat who went berserk in the presence of other felines. He ripped off their ears, he gouged out their eyes, he sent them streaking for the bushes even at feeding time. And then, one day...but I don't want to spoil Blackie's story for you. Just a hint - his name was changed to Basil and no anatomical alterations were involved.

   Barbara Holland has written an extremely personal book about the history, lore, and personality of 'Felis libyca.' In the chapter, "A Choice of Cats" she does riffs on many of the different feline breeds, but it is easy to see that the Siamese is her favorite:

   "Properly treated, Siamese develop a deep, single-hearted devotion to their people and overreact to competition, absences, and infidelity like an adolescent in love. They need attention, and think nothing of pulling the books out of the bookcase and the pictures off the walls to get it. They demand notice in a raucous, echoing voice that many people and some other cats find alarming; the sound has been compared to that of a giant sea gull in distress. Taking on a Siamese is rather like getting married."

   Our own preference is for Maine Coons (we share the house with five), and Barbara Holland tells a great story about them, too. Not that I agreed with everything she wrote. For instance, she stated that gray cats as a class are much friendlier than tabbies, which is exactly the opposite of our experience---and we've lived with two grays and about a million tabbies over the years.

   Holland is also very upset by some of the artificially propagated breeds, such as the Cornish Rex and the Scottish Fold. Her chapter on "Show Business" is sad, hilarious, and razor-sharp---sometimes all three in the same sentence. Even if you think she is way off-base on her assessment of say, Himalayans or feline intelligence or declawing procedures, you'll want to keep reading until the end of the book. She is opinionated even to the point of irritation, but she is also extremely readable.

   And Holland never confuses 'cat' with 'cute.'

   There is one chapter in "Secrets of the Cat" (originally titled "The Name of the Cat") that you might want to skip: not because it is badly written, but because it is totally horrifying. That chapter is called, "Cats and the Church" and it relates the history of cats in (primarily) medieval Europe.




5. This is a book written by someone that loves and understands cats very deeply. Some of the stories made me laugh to tears, while others made me cry. I believe that the story of the cat who was so lonely that found friends in the cellar mice is the saddest cat tale I've ever read. The book is well researched, however I disagree with some of the author's views on witchcraft. But that doesn't change the fact that every catlover is going to love this book.

No comments about Choosing and Raising a Cat (Hamlyn Reference).

No comments about Small Animal Nutrition.

2 comments about Garfield Takes Up Space (Garfield, No 20).

1. "Garfield Takes Up Space" is a cute addition to this book series. Again, with witty lines and one-of-a-kind facial expressions, this book will get you smirking. I recommend.



2. Everybody out there keep buying Garfield books! They can be worth a lot of money someday and can become collector's items! I'm always going to keep all of mine so when I have kids they can read them!

No comments about Wild Kittens.