Today's book is about birds ~ and a cat

The Cat Who Sang for the Birds (Book 20 of 29) ~ by Lilian Jackson Braun, 1998, cozy mystery, pages

This book features journalist Jim Qwilleran and his Siamese cats, Koko and Yum Yum, as they investigate a series of suspicious events in their small town of Pickax, including vandalism, a suspicious fire, and a missing artist.  The plot involves a local scandal, an anti-computer uprising, and a murder, with Koko's unique "birdcalling" hinting at clues.

As early spring comes to Moose County, Jim Qwilleran is looking forward to the peaceful beauty of nature’s rebirth.  What he gets instead is a chorus of noisy birds that constantly wakes him from a sound sleep — especially when Koko insists on joining in with his own feline version of birdcalling.  But soon Qwill is wondering whether Koko is trying to say more than just "tweet tweet," because a series of strange events — starting with an act of vandalism and culminating in a mysterious chain of death and disappearance — has Pickax in a similar uproar.  It seems that this spring, a cat’s fancy may turn to crime solving

I like reading books to learn how people think

Look for Me There: Grieving My Father, Finding Myself ~ by Luke Russert, 2023, memoir, 272 pages

This memoir by Luke Russert, son of the late news anchor Tim Russert, details his journey to process grief and find his own path after his father's sudden death.  The book chronicles his decision to leave his successful NBC News career and embark on a three-year, multi-continent travel adventure to confront his loss, family expectations, and search for purpose.  It ultimately leads him to self-discovery.  It has been described as a mix of travelogue, family history, and a poignant story of a man coming to terms with loss and forging his own identity.

• On Monday, I mused about a couple of words, HERE.
• On Thursday, my subject was a book set in Big Stone Gap, Virginia, HERE.
• Friday's Book Beginnings was about cats, HERE.
• On Saturday, I wrote about Certified Nursing Assistants, HERE, using an AI summary I found online.

is hosted by Deb at Readerbuzz.

Saturday Stuff

I was in the lobby a few minutes ago when a neighbor I know came home in all the snow we're having in the midwest.  She stopped to check her mailbox, and I made a comment about the weather.  That's when she said something to the effect of quitting her job.  So I asked what she does.  She replied, "CNA."  I came home and looked it up.  This is the AI Summary:

• A CNA is a Certified Nursing Assistant who provides basic patient care and daily living assistance under the supervision of registered nurses or licensed practical nurses.
• What CNAs do = They help with activities of daily living, monitor patients, and support healthcare teams in hospitals, nursing homes, and long‑term care facilities.
• Education and certification = CNAs complete state-approved training programs and pass written or oral and practical exams to earn certification.  Requirements and processes vary by state.
• Salary and role context = This is an entry‑level healthcare position that offers hands‑on patient care experience, with typical entry salaries around entry‑level ranges in the low to mid teens per hour, depending on location and facility.

Beginning ~ with a mountain lion (what???)

Beginning

"6 ways to tell if your cat thinks it's a mountain lion"

How to Tell If Your Cat Is Plotting to Kill You ~ by Matthew Inman, 2012, humor, 136 pages, 6/10

The Oatmeal's most popular cat jokes, including “How to Pet a Kitty” and “The Bobcats,” plus 15 new and cat-themed comics, are presented in this collection from Matthew Inman, creator of the popular website The Oatmeal.  If your cat is kneading you, that's not a sign of affection.  Your cat is actually checking your internal organs for weakness.  If your cat brings you a dead animal, it isn't a gift.  It's a warning. 

This book is full of comics, facts, and instructional guides about crazy cat behaviors.  It presents fan favorites, such as "Cat vs. Internet," "How to Pet a Kitty," "The Bobcats," plus 17 more cat-themed comic strips.  Cat lovers will enjoy it, though I was confused when some drawings seemed to have two or more of the same cat at different points in a trajactory.  That's part of the reason I rated it 6 of 10.

Gilion at Rose City Reader hosts

Book Beginnings on Fridays.

Thinking about my visits to Virginia

Big Stone Gap ~ by Adriana Trigiani, 2000, literary fiction, 272 pages

It's 1978, and Ave Maria Mulligan is the thirty-five-year-old self-proclaimed spinster of Big Stone Gap, a sleepy hamlet in the Blue Ridge Mountains of Virginia.  She’s also the local pharmacist, the co-captain of the Rescue Squad, and the director of The Trail of the Lonesome Pine, the town’s long-running Outdoor Drama.  Ave Maria is content with her life — until, one fateful day, her past opens wide with the revelation of a long-buried secret that will alter the course of her life.  Before she knows it, Ave Maria is fielding marriage proposals, trying to claim her rightful inheritance, and planning the trip of a lifetime to Italy — one that will change her view of the world and her own place in it forever.

*Note:  I've been meaning to read this one for a decade or two.  Big Stone Gap, where the author was born, is a real place.  I've been in that area of southwest Virginia, and now I am ready to "travel" there in fiction.

Musing about a couple of words

Someone left this comment on one of my posts recently:

"That first line grab my attrition.  The summary of the book has me intrigue."

My first thought was that the person is not a native English speaker (no past tense for either verb).  My second thought was that "attrition" and "intrigue" are interesting word choices that would NOT be used by someone who knows very little English.  Later, I also wondered if AI (artificial intelligence) had something to do with the comment.  Here are those two words defined:

attrition / əˈtriSHən / noun = Attrition is the gradual reduction or wearing away of something, commonly referring to workforce reduction (by employees leaving or being fired), loss of participants in research, or weakening of an enemy through constant pressure in warfare (war of attrition).  It happens due to various factors like retirement, poor management, lack of advancement (in business), or simply friction and erosion (in nature).

  

intrigue / verb / inˈtriɡ = As a verb, intrigue means to arouse someone's curiosity or interest in something, to captivate someone's attention or make them want to know more.

*Note:  I'm sure the person who commented meant "attention" for the first word I listed above, as in this second definition, so the first line had grabbed his or her attention.

Another week flew by

Sophie's Choice ~ by William Styron, 1976, literary fiction, 576 pages

An online comment says that "despite the title, the Polish refugee Sophie is not the principal character.  This honor is given to the narrator, a 22-year-old writer from the South, nicknamed Stingo but clearly the author himself, come up to try his luck in the big city."

Three stories are told here:  (1) a young Southerner wants to become a writer; (2) a turbulent love-hate affair between a brilliant Jew and a beautiful Polish woman; and (3) an awful wound in that woman's past — one that impels both Sophie and Nathan toward destruction.

I've never read this book, partly because of the length (576 pages).  If you've read it, tell me whether you think it's worth the time for this heavy book that has been donated to our small Crown Center library.

• On Monday, I mused about finding lost things, HERE.
• TWOsday's subject was monkeys on the loose in St. Louis, HERE.
• On Wednesday, my subject was library loot, HERE.
• Friday's Book Beginnings was from a book about a half orphan, HERE.
• On Saturday, I wrote about visiting the Mauhaus Cat Cafe, HERE.

is hosted by Deb at Readerbuzz.