A Blind Kitty Won My Heart

I just finished "Homer's Odyssey: A Fearless Feline Tale, Or How I Learned About Love and Life with a Blind Wonder Cat" by Gwen Cooper. This selection was something I had been interested in reading and it happened to come up as one of the selections for a book club I participate in on Twitter, so it became my 19th read of the year.

The title pretty well describes the premise of the book. Ms. Cooper is (for most of the book) a single gal living with three cats. As she moves through life, the cats play a huge role for her. She is able to rely on them to boost her up and keep her moving when times are difficult. They are able to show her things about loving that she wasn't previously aware of. As she is caring for them, they are caring for her too.

There are tons of great anecdotes throughout the book, all of which I thoroughly enjoyed. However, the chapters that moved me the most were the two that centered on her experiences on September 11, 12, and 13, 2001. As I sat reading and crying through these chapters, I felt so connected to the author. I could understand her emotions and her fight to get through those days. It was heart-wrenching. It was also healing for my soul to know this woman existed in the world. A woman who would do anything possible to protect her pets.

Gwen Cooper, I think I love you!

A Little Time Travel Never Hurt Anybody

For book #18 of 2010, I chose "Now & Then" by Jacqueline Sheehan. I had previously read another of Ms. Sheehan's books, "Lost & Found" and thoroughly enjoyed it. This book caught my attention because, like the first of her books I read, there was a dog on the cover. Not just any dog, mind you, but an Irish Wolfhound. Being a lover of sight hounds, I picked it up and read the description on the back. Somehow I didn't pick up on the fact that there was time travel involved. All I seemed to notice was the pooch!

In "Now & Then" Anna, a former lawyer and her nephew, Joseph are somehow sucked through time from present day Boston to 1844 Ireland. They arrive separately and fall into very different lives. Anna spends her days trying to find Joseph, trying to understand how she got to where she is and trying to figure out how to get home. In the midst of their travels they each find love but also discover a curse that had been cast on their family all those years ago.

I am not a fan of anything fantasy-like and had I known that the story centered around time travel I probably would not have read it. That being said, I'm very glad that I didn't know what the book was about! I would have missed out on a wonderful story.

Unfortunately, the Irish Wolfhound did not play as big a role in the story as I had thought he would. Since I enjoyed the book so much, I'm willing to overlook that fact!