"Kiwi in Cat City" by Vicky Johnstone Book Review

Read more information including a book giveaway here .Kiwi in Cat City by Vickie Johnstone My rating: 5 of 5 stars What a delightful middle grade book for cat lovers!  Since we have fourteen cats, I am always looking for books about cats, and this one is definitely a keeper.  My daughter is in fourth grade, and I can hardly wait for her to read it!  This book has it all--humor, mystery, fantasy, and lots of cats!  I'm glad to know that this is the first in a series--at least from what I can tell.  I don't want to give away any details, but this is a book that will delight children as well as adults who still have fond memories of childhood.  It is a clever read, and it is action-packed.  There was never a dull moment.  Indeed a "catastic" book!

I was sent a copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.  I was not financially compensated, and all opinions are 100 percent mine. View all my reviews

"Man Vs. Cat" by David M. Brown Book Review

Man vs Cat by David M. Brown
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Let me begin by saying that for most of my life, I saw myself as a "dog" person. Cats were okay, but I just never could figure them out. Until my daughter got her very first kitten. We now have fourteen cats (most of them have been tamed by my daughter and me), and I could relate to this book in a very real way. In fact, I realized that my fourteen cats don't wreak as much havoc as the six in this book!

This book is written in a wonderfully humorous style, and it is so fun to get into the actual psyche of the cats. They have conversations and write letters--not too bad, right? And I can so sympathize with the man in this story. I think I feel that I have a better understanding of my cats--or at least, I hope I do!

If you love cats, I promise you that you will like this book. There are plenty of references to popular culture and even a throwback to the classics and history. After all, these cats are pretty smart, and it's nice to know that sometimes they are willing to share their intelligence with us. There are no major problems with profanity, and you can rest assured that there are no sexual situations. I think even your kids may like this. I have considered showing it to my daughter! I know she would get a kick out of it.

I was sent a copy of this book in exchange for my honest review. I was not financially compensated, and all opinions are 100 percent mine.

View all my reviews

Read the guest post, enter the giveaway, and find more information about this book here.

Raining Cats and Dogs Tour 2013: "Man Vs. Cat" by David M. Brown Guest Post/Promo/Giveaway (Ends 2/14) WW

Guest Post – A Change of Direction (by the author)

Since heading down the self-publishing path, my only interest has been in writing fantasy novels. I’m currently hard at work on the third instalment of my Elencheran Chronicles series but in 2012 I discovered that there was another path I was able to walk – the way of non-fiction.

I enjoy reading both fiction and non-fiction. My appetite stretches to encompass many genres but when it comes to non-fiction I usually enjoy a good history book or a compelling biography. I’ve always thought of writing history books but I’ve never been sure what period to write about. So, how did I end up wandering into non-fiction? Two reasons. I like to try and make people laugh and I have six cats. Bear with me while I explain.

Now, I would never profess to be a comedian or a hilarious person for that matter, but usually when I meet someone I can find a way to make them laugh or at the very least smile. I can be serious when I want to be but when I interact with people I do enjoy seeing them smile. Those that know my wife, Donna, and I well in person and online have heard many a tale about our cats, usually involving a joke or two at my expense.

I had never owned cats before so this is still very much a new experience for me. It’s been hard work seeing the household increase from two cats at the start to three, then four and a final leap to six. Serenity is seldom found in our home but the cats do bring with them a lot of inspiration. I devoted two blog features to them which I started in 2010, one observing their daily behaviour, while the other was a fictionalised set of meetings where the cats discussed current affairs.

By the time Donna and I merged our blogs to form Tweedle Dee & Tweedle Dave I wasn’t sure what to do with my cat posts. The two of us then hit on the idea of a book, collecting the anecdotes in our blog posts and adding some new material into the mix. The final result was Man vs Cat.

From the start, I meant for this book to be an amusing series of memoirs. I couldn’t write something poignant like a Marley & Me type book so I turned to humour to convey my message about our six boys – Kain, Razz, Buggles, Charlie, Bilbo and Frodo. My biggest worry, which Donna shared, was that no one but us would find this book amusing. These are, after all, our cats. They have no claim to fame from being in movies or on television, so we did wonder what the response would be.

Thankfully, the feedback has been positive so far. Everyone seems to love our cats and how the cats adore Donna (Frizzy Hair in the book). What disappoints me is that I have garnered no sympathy as the downtrodden cat owner (Beard Face in the book). I was hoping everyone would side with me and not the cats. Maybe I can redress the balance with the next cat book because at the moment it’s  very much Man 0 Cat 1.

Synopsis

History has known many famous cats - Garfield, Mr Bigglesworth, Simon's Cat, the Aristocats, the Cheshire cat and the Keyboard Cat on YouTube.

In recent years these feline things have replaced man's best friend as the most popular pet in the U.S. while the Ancient Egyptians once worshipped them as gods. This was a mistake and I'm here to tell you why.

Man vs Cat is the story of one man, one woman and the six cats that changed their lives forever. To the woman they brought love and affection, to the man they brought sleepless nights, fear, paranoia and even ruined his jigsaw. Need I say more?

Man vs Cat on Amazon US: http://amzn.to/11QcZnL

Man vs Cat on Amazon UK: http://amzn.to/SL2oGC

Goodreads: http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/17050199-man-vs-cat

Here's the link to my 5-star review.

About the author

David Brown could be considered a fantasy fanatic, especially since he has spent the last 10 years developing a 47,000-year history for his fictional world of Elenchera. When converting his obsession into literary form, David commits himself to a rigorous writing and editing process before his work can meet his approval. Combined with the critical eye of his wife and a BA Hons in History and English, David's dedication leads him to his goal of inspiring readers through heartfelt stories and characters.

Twitter: @elenchera

Facebook: davidmbrownauthor

Website: http://elenchera.com

Blog: http://tweedling.com

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