Cat Poems

Posted on March 23, 2022 by katielx

Book: Cat Poems; Selected by Myra Cohn Livingston; Illustrated by Trina Schart Hyman

For this month’s picture book, I’m taking things way back. Cat Poems: published in 1987. Realistically it’s not that long ago, but for me this is one of the ultimate flashback to childhood books. I never owned a copy of the book, and it honestly was not a book that I have thought about much since elementary school. Yet, I was thrilled when my librarian friend at work put it on my desk one day. We are both cat ladies, so when she came across it while re-shelving she thought it would be funny to share. She was as surprised by my reaction as I was to see the book.

My elementary school had a yearly speech competition. The expectations for this varied between grades, but for the time I was there always focused on poetry. Each student was to choose a poem to memorize and recite in front of the class. Top students were chosen from each class to read in front of the school. Most students went to the most popular of poets at the time: Shel Silverstein. Not me. I was not going to memorize the same poem as anyone else. And, of course, it needed to be about cats. I convinced my mom to take me to the “real library” where I found this book. Despite being a pretty shy kid, and horrified of public speaking, this book took me to the semi-finals in three consecutive school years.

It really is exactly what you would expect: a collection of poems about cats. Based on the copyright information, there are a few original to the book, plus several others from various authors. The most famous, I suspect, being The Song of the Jellicles by T.S. Eliot. Most of the poems are light hearted or funny, although there are a few that are on the sad or spooky side as well. I was surprised that I remembered parts of quite a few, even after so many years. Each poem is also paired with a drawing, some a simple cat illustration in the corner and others with much greater detail that incorporate the poem into a full-page illustration. While there is certainly a nostalgic aspect to this for me personally, I think this is a nice little collection as an introduction to poetry.

Boris’s Thoughts: “You are so predictable.”

Four Years of Books and Cats

Posted on January 31, 2022 by katielx

Today marks the Fourth Anniversary of my very first blog post. Traditionally, Fourth anniversaries are marked with flowers or fruit as a sign of growing in to maturity. I find that fitting as I think about my plans moving forward in this space.

Last year at this time, I reflected on the various changes that I have made over the years, and decided that I finally felt myself to be in a good spot. I did that yearly reflection a little earlier this time around, and while I still feel that there are adjustments to be made, I am pretty content with where we find ourselves these days. I think my biggest challenge continues to be balancing my priorities—in my reading life and my life in general. I suppose that particular journey is one that will never end.

At this point, I think it will suffice to say this: Thank you, to each of you that have decided to come along for this ride. I hope you have found something here to interest or inspire you, or maybe just to bring a smile.

Cheers to four years, and hopefully many more to come.

Love,

Katie, Boris, & Minka

2021 Wrap Up

Posted on January 5, 2022 by katielx

Welcome to Books On My Cat 2022!

It has been a bit, so I wanted to kick off the year with a little wrap up for 2021—a year in review of sorts. Since I am a big nerd about data, here are some Books On My Cat 2021 stats:

Full Book Reviews: 31
Children’s Book Reviews: 11
Special Posts: 4
Total Books Read: 55
Unread Shelf Books: 25
Audio Books: 22
Other Books: 8
Starting Books to Read: 271
Ending Books to Read: 289

While I feel like I did a pretty good job of focusing on reading the books I already owned, this did not end up reflecting itself in my total books to read. It seems that I still have some of the issue surrounding the quick acquisition and accumulation of books. Looking back over the past several years, this is a trend: I often make progress in reducing my book total throughout the year, and yet somehow it always creeps back up come the turning of the year. Unfortunately, this is one of the highest jumps in recent years, and I think may put my to read list at an all time high.

I am working on some ideas to get a handle on this, but I feel like it is a problem that may never be solved. I suppose there are worse things that always having a book you want to read!

As usual, I have some new ideas for implementing in the blog this year, which will start again with regular posting next week. The most noticeable difference for readers will be a slight change in content: last year I wrote a few bonus bookish posts, and I hope to expand on that a little this year. Hopefully less noticeable will be a loosening of the guidelines I have set for myself: I am through sticking to self-imposed rules that drain the joy from reading and blogging. I plan to relax my expectations for myself in writing reviews, and I may not review every book that I read this year.

For those who have been following along my little blogging journey, thanks for sticking around. I wish you all another wonderful year filled with books and cats!

Summer Break

Posted on June 30, 2021 by katielx

The cats and I have decided to take a week off to rest up and recuperate from a busy spring. We will be spending some extra time lounging in the sun, napping, and, of course, catching up on our reading.

The world of education has been challenging the past year, navigating the world of virtual and hybrid learning amidst the pandemic and ever changing guidance. As a cap on the year, I also agreed to work summer school for the first time ever. We plan to be back next week with our June pick for the Unread Shelf Project (a book bought in a spending spree), and an update on how we have been doing with tackling that way to long to read list (spoiler alert: it’s not great!).

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Wishing you all some rest and relaxation as we close out June.

Love,

Katie, Boris, and Minka

Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants, Part 2

Posted on August 28, 2019 by katielx

The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants (Series) by Ann Brashares

Girls in Pants

Although I gave all of the books in these series a similar overall rating, I felt book three of the Sisterhood was an improvement over book two. It starts out with what has now become a tradition to begin the summer: celebrating their friendship and bringing the pants out from their winter hibernation. In this case, three of the four are planning to be home for the summer, with Bridget off to coach at a soccer camp. Her story seems to come full circle here, with her experiences with the boys on her team as well as reencountering Eric from her past. Her story does well to highlight the growing up that she has done since the end of the first book.

Tibby’s story here was not as interesting as the ones in the previous books, but there was nothing that I specifically disliked. My feelings on Carmen’s story were similar to those from her book two plot, although a bit more balanced by adding in her caring for Lena’s grandmother. Carmen’s interactions with her mother seemed melodramatic, and sometimes borderline vindictive. While I would like to say that she made some growth by the end, I am not convinced that’s true. She seemed very aware that she was behaving badly, and acknowledged how she could be better, but was uninterested in making a change.

My favorite story here was Lena’s—and I was so happy to see that her story was not centered on Kostos! The prior books mentioned her art, but did not describe it as the passion that can be seen here. Lena’s struggle between following her dreams and following the rules of her family is captivating and relatable. I love that she is able to use her love for art as well as her talent to learn more about herself, and connect that to her relationships with her family.

Forever in Blue

Book four of the Sisterhood, Forever in Blue, provides a perfect wrap up to this series full of ups and downs for this group of friends. It starts with some uncertainty for all of the girls—they are not together for their traditional kick off to summer, and since they have all been apart at college they never retired the pants as they did in previous winters. I was happy to see some personal growth for all of the girls, and was especially pleased with the stories for Lena and Carmen (finally!!!). The ending, with Carmen’s friends showing up to support her at her play, and then the four girls coming together to search for the lost pants in Greece was a fitting end to this series of adventures and growing up. The loss of the pants fits well with the “magic” element that I was not too crazy about: they have served their purpose for the girls, and so have moved on.

There were some unique insights on both finding and forgetting oneself that struck me here. For the first time in the series, I found myself jotting down quotes that I did not want to forget. To end the series, I’ll share two of the tidbits I chose to capture for myself, I believe both of them coming from Carmen’s narrative:

“You couldn’t always know what would matter to you.”

“When you belonged nowhere, you sort of belonged everywhere.”

I am Pusheen the Cat

Posted on February 20, 2019 by katielx

Book: I Am Pusheen the Cat by Claire Belton

I spotted this book at my school’s book fair this fall, and simply could not pass it up. Prior to finding this book, I had seen a plethora of Pusheen merchandise, but had never seen any of the comics. This is a collection of many of the online comics, with a few bonus comics thrown in. Pusheen is a friendly cat, who loves food and various other cat things. Through the comics she shares some funny and valuable knowledge from the life of a cat: how to make cookies, where cats belong, and some other creative imaginings from the mind of a cat.

I have to admit, that there is a bit of a draw for the online comics. Although the animation is simple, it does add a bit of pizzazz that is lacking in the book. However, I still thought this was a fun book, and do not regret adding it to my shelves. I expect that it will be a great one to look at with my niece when she is a bit older. I imagine that we will have a bit of fun comparing Pusheen to Boris, my own fat gray cat who loves food. The book is primarily based in pictures, with fairly simple text throughout. It could make a good book for young readers who want to read longer chapter books, but may not be quite ready for them yet.

Boris’s thoughts: “Hhhhrrmmmph. I am NOT fat. I am just BIG. She is pretty cute though. But not as cute as ME. 2 paws.”

The Marvels

Posted on February 13, 2019 by katielx

Book: The Marvels by Brian Selznick

Date Read: December 29, 2018 to January 3, 2019

Rating: 5 (of 5) stars

I am completely fascinated by the work of Brian Selznik. The way he perfectly intertwines illustration and narrative to tell a story is incredible. The concept he used in this particular book is unique even for him, and was done spectacularly.

The Marvels tells two stories– the first completely through illustration in the first 400-ish pages, the second in a traditional novel format. The whole time I was reading, I was trying to solve the mystery of how the stories would come together in the end. I was constantly making guesses as to where things were going, and constantly being surprised. When the stories began to overlap, I thought it was a clever twist that the novel turned to do the same thing that I was doing as a reader– putting words to the original illustrated story, and then trying to solve the mystery as well.

This book was beautifully put together. The illustrations beautiful, and the stories compelling. While perhaps geared more toward a younger demographic, there is much here to enjoy for readers of all ages. I was also thrilled to discover, as I came to the end, that this story was based, in part, on real events. While the story is completely fictional, the idea behind the story is based on an actual person and museum in London. I have definitely found somewhere that I will need to add to my travel wish list.

Boris’s thoughts: “This book is heavy, and I’m kind of over it. 2 paws.”

A Year of Books (On My Cat)

Posted on February 6, 2019 by katielx

It’s hard to believe, but it has been a full year since I have started this blog! Along the way I have shared some of my favorite books, as well as many pictures of my favorite cat!! It has been a ton of fun, and I am looking forward to see where the next year will take me. I have some ideas to mix things up a bit for the next year, and hope that you enjoy the ride!

To celebrate my first year of posts, I thought it would be fun to show a little glimpse onto the other side of this project. While I will fully admit that I am in no way a professional photography, I try to choose the best of my pictures to include with my blog posts. While Boris is generally a good sport about these things, cats have a fickle nature, which has lead to quick a few “outtakes” along the way. Enjoy!

The Ocean at the End of the Lane

Posted on January 30, 2019 by katielx

Book: The Ocean at the End of the Lane by Neil Gaiman

Date Read: December 3 to 29, 2018

Rating: 4 (of 5) stars

I have unintentionally done something that I generally try to avoid: writing about the same author twice in a row. At least there was a week off in between? Previously, I wrote about Cinnamon, a picture book by Neil Gaiman. I realized shortly after posting, that another work by Gaiman was up next on my novel reading list. While I suppose it is not ideal, here we are.

Despite the length of time it took me to read this relatively short book, I did quite enjoy it. In a way, it is a book about nostalgia and magic. But at the same time, it is itself nostalgia and magic. I love the idea Gaiman has here of magical places in the world, stuck in time: we go to them to remember things that happened there, but when we leave we start to forget. Forget the memories, forget the magic that we have experienced.

The main plot of the story is primarily a fantasy adventure, although I would say that it is “fantasy lite.” The magical creatures, both good and evil, are there, but the story primarily takes place in our world. In fact, the main point of the adventure aspect is to protect our world from things that are trying to sneak into it. For me, it really was the perfect amount and taste of fantasy: I do enjoy elements of magic, but get overwhelmed by the lengthy and often complicated works that dominate the true fantasy genre.

Boris’s thoughts: “The real important message in this story is the importance of the cat. Shame on that boy for forgetting his kitten. 2 paws.”

Cinnamon

Posted on January 16, 2019 by katielx

img_8521-1 Book: Cinnamon by Neil Gaiman

Something that I could not quite put my finger on has drawn me to this book a few times when I have perused the children’s section of my local bookstore. I suppose it is most likely the beautiful cover, combined with an affinity for Neil Gaiman’s work in general. Despite picking it up a few times, I never actually read through the book until recently.

I always buy a book for each of the kids at our extended family’s Christmas party, and finally decided to pick this one up while shopping for them. I loved the simplicity of this book. It has the feeling of a folktale, although I am not sure if it has any basis in the actual mythology of India. Cinnamon is a princess who is blind and also does not speak. Her parents have offered many riches to anyone who is able to get her to speak, but all have failed. A tiger steps in to do the work that humans have failed to complete. In addition to an enjoyable story, I find Divya Srinivasan’s illustrations striking. The colors are bright and bold; the style is simplistic but full of detail.

Boris’s thoughts: “I could be a tiger. Majestic and all. Roar. Although I don’t know why the tiger would WANT more humans to talk. 3 paws.”

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