The Cat Who Hates Me

I’m a cat person. Some of my friends even jokingly call me the Cat Whisperer because I pretty much get along with all of them. I love cats and they love me… mostly.

My dad’s cat, Katie, does NOT love me. She hates me. With a passion. Now to be fair, she pretty much hates everyone with the exception of my dad. She tolerates my mom, but probably only because Mom feeds her.

Katie - Can't you just see the disdain for me on her face?

It still kills me though, every time I visit them, I try to play with her, try to feed her, try to pet her, all with no joy. If I get within two feet of her cat tree, she starts to growl! If I get too close, she swats me.

As for my dad, he gets along with most any animal, especially, of course, his rotten cat. My cat, Luna, however, doesn’t like him very much… but he has been known to spit gum at her occasionally… don’t ask!

Luna - The epitome of cute.

It occurred to me today that cats and readers have something in common. Not that they growl and swat me! But because what works for one person doesn’t necessarily work for another person… or cat. How many people love love love 50 Shades of Grey? Yeah, soooo not me. But I adore The Stand by Stephen King and I’ve found quite a few scathing reviews of it that I completely disagree with. Taste – and the love of a cat apparently – is subjective.

So the next time I get a less-than-glowing review, I’ll try to keep Luna and Katie in mind. And I’ll do my best not to growl at the reviewer.

Jumping on the Book Bandwagon

I’ve often picked up a book because a friend recommended it. Strangely, I’m sometimes obstinately opposed to reading books that everyone recommends. I think of it as the book bandwagon. OMG you have to read it! It’s the best book ever written in the history of the universe!!! Their over-the-top praise and extra exclamation marks do not move me. Yet occasionally I’ll change my mind and join the bandwagon-book-reading masses. A firm recommendation from a friend usually does it, but then there are those other times when I just have to see what all the fuss is about. This has happened to me twice recently with different outcomes.

The first one of the bandwagon books I tried was – say it with me because you know what’s coming, right? – 50 Shades of Grey. Let’s be clear: I don’t have any problem with erotica. In fact, I used to review erotica novels for RT Book Reviews. But I admit, I didn’t finish it. I found the characters in 50 Shades kind of irritating and the writing only okay…ish… – just my opinion. On the other hand, I know there are plenty of people who swear it is a fabulous book series and love, love, love it. I gotta ask though, is this the first erotica novel they picked up? Try the erotica by Bertrice Small, Sasha White, or the Sleeping Beauty series by Anne Rice instead.

The second time I’ve jumped on the book bandwagon recently has been for Game of Thrones. So many people have recommended this to me, yet I resisted. Huge, sweeping fantasy epics aren’t usually my favorites. I think it was the guy at my eye doc’s office who changed my mind. He was talking about how much he loved the HBO series, and when I made a reference to the book series, he looked surprised. He had no idea it was a book first. That told me one thing – it must be a fabulous story, because here was this guy who thought it was so awesome he was actually now considering picking up the book, even though he admitted he hadn't read a book in years (and isn’t that a sad state of affairs?). So I’m mid-way through book one, and I agree – the story is fantastic. I’m sure I’ll read them all, now that I’m an epic fantasy convert. I have since seen the first episode of the TV series and it looks great too, but I don’t want to get ahead of the books, so I’ll wait on the rest of it for now.

What’s your take on 50 Shades and Thrones? Have any new book recommendations for me?