My Kiki cat is quite good at lying for a good cause, but sometimes we have to laugh at her. When my roommate Donna comes home from work, Kiki will tell her she hasn’t had her afternoon treats yet ... and Donna’s cat Sammy will come running to sit on the piano hoping Kiki convinces the human that they are poor, pitiful, starving kitties who never get their treats on time. The only trouble with their scheme is that I’m usually right there in the room. Donna looks at me and says to Kiki, "But you already HAD your treats." Kiki, the more talkative of the two, says plaintively, "Maiow mew mew." Donna says, "Yes, you did." Kiki replies, "Meow miahow mew!" Donna says again, "Yes, you DID." Kiki, "Meow miaow MEOW, myou." They never seem to notice that humans communicate with each other as well as with them. Finally, Kiki gives up and plops in the floor with her back to Donna, and Sammy sighs.
And that brings me to the subject of the book I completed last night, Cat's Eyewitness, a mystery written by Rita Mae Brown and her furry partner Sneaky Pie Brown. First off, I've gotta say, this is NOT one of their better collaborations. The idea was good, but reading it was mostly a waste of time. I would have put it aside, except for the fact that I was reading it for a reading challenge ... and wanted to put Kiki alongside the investigative trio (the meddling menagerie?) of indefatigable felines Mrs. Murphy and Pewter, along with the dogged corgi Tee Tucker. If that isn't too twee for you and you are still reading along, let's run through my book review and get this over with:
Title, author, date of book, and genre?Cat's Eyewitness, by Rita Mae Brown, 2005, mystery
Summarize the book without giving away the ending.
Murder, another murder, suspects, a few interesting details, case solved.
Were there any especially interesting characters?
Umm, well, no.
Did you think the characters and their problems were believable?
The story was a bit more far-fetched than usual.
What did you like most about the book?
It reads quickly.
What did you like least?
I wanted to know whodunnit, but I never really got involved in the story.
Share a quote from the book.
The notes I took have nothing to do with plot or characters ... but with words I noticed. (Does this tell you how "uninvolved" I was with what the book was supposedly about?)
So long as "man" is the measure of all things, women will be shortchanged (p. 72). (Makes sense to me!)What do you think will be your lasting impression of this book?
Cooper pulled up the wooden chair, an old office chair from the 1940s (p. 176). (I made a note of this because I wondered if it's like the chair I'm sitting in now, as I type this review into my computer, a chair that once belonged to my paternal grandfather, who died in 1944.)
doodley-squat (p. 189) (Hmmm, I've always heard it as "diddley-squat.")
jimmy-rigged (p. 202) (Hey, I looked up jerry-rigged and jury-rigged just this week!)
I don't think I'll have a lasting impression. None of the Mrs. Murphy mysteries is deep and challenging, but this one seemed less, somehow, than any of the others I've read, which were more entertaining.
How would you rate this book?
Rated: 4/10, struggled to finish, but not worth it.
6 comments:
Can you believe I still haven't read anything in this series? I've always meant to but I never seem to find the right time.
Hi Bonnie!
I have a question for you. When reading, I sometimes find typos - I feel like I should do something about them, tell someone. What do you think? Would the publishing company like to know?
I hope you are well and happy, and staying warm! Love your new header picture - the snow - did you take it?
Tink, start with another of the books, rather than this one.
Susan, I hate typos. If I own the book, I often "fix" them, if possible. Yeah, I'd like to tell someone, too, but who? And would it matter? Probably not, so I don't.
Now for that header: If I had suddenly learned all about how to post photos taken by moi, don't you just KNOW that I would plaster every one of my blogs with photos? I would, I really KNOW I would, go overboard. So nah, that it's a photo I took. Besides, I would've had to travel somewhere else in this mild weather to even SEE that much snow. The best we've done around here (in the valley, at least) is a dusting of snow.
So back to the header. Karen, at Verbatim offers lots of interesting stuff, one of which was this:
http://verbatim.blogs.com/verbatim/2008/01/cd-cover-meme.html
The idea was to make a CD cover of "your" new band's first release. The photo now at the top of Bonnie's Books came from my search. If you read Karen's post AND the comments, you'll find out all about it. I don't have PhotoShop, so I couldn't "make" my CD cover ... and simply put the very lovely photo in my header, instead.
I tried to read one of these books once, and couldn't get further than a couple pages. However! Rubyfruit Jungle by the same author is well worth reading.
I am really enjoying your blog and getting to know you. You have made me realise that I need to spend a lot more time reading. It is a joyful experience!
Today a friend sent me an email about how loving dogs are, while cats aren't ... because they believe you are there to serve them. I wrote back and told her about this time from Kiki's early years with me:
I had been out of town for 3 or 4 days. I had left plenty of food and water, which works for a cat, who eats what she needs and saves the rest. When I got home and opened the door to the kitchen, Kiki ran past me like crazy through the garage to the driveway, happy to be outside again. But she stopped suddenly, turned around, ran back and "kissed" me by licking my chin. Then she felt free to run out into the glorious sunshine.
You may laugh about cats ignoring you, but Kiki loves me and remembered to welcome me home with a kiss before she went outside to smell the fresh air and play. As I've said before, she is the most loving cat I've ever had. I feel blessed to be loved by Kiki.
~~~ Kiki's best friend, Bonnie
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