Goodbye, Friend: Healing Wisdom for Anyone Who Has Ever Lost a Pet by Gary Kowalski

We have a special guest blogger - @seabasscat's mom, Amy Palmer. She submitted three book reviews for us to enjoy. The first book is Goodbye, Friend: Healing Wisdom for Anyone Who Has Ever Lost a Pet by Gary Kowalski.

I decided to read Goodbye, Friend: Healing Wisdom for Anyone Who Has Ever Lost a Pet by Gary Kowalski first thing this year. I lost my dear kitty Sebastian last June and have had a very hard time dealing with the grief. I wanted to start the new year with a fresh look at the loss and try to move on.

I'm so glad I read this book. It helped me put things into perspective about my loss. Mr. Kowalski talks about the cycle of life in a way that helped me accept things. He also spoke about the afterlife, which put my mind at ease.

There is a section of readings at the end of the book that can be used in a memorial ceremony for a deceased pet. They vary in length and style. Some are biblical passages and some are quotes from books. Whatever your religious views, you should find something that fits your needs.

I would suggest this book for anyone who has lost a beloved pet. This is also a book that I would consider gifting to a friend who is dealing with this type of loss. The book is short. I read it in just a couple of hours. It's a book that I know I will read again sometime in the future, as our pets just don't live as long as we would like.

Thank you Amy! I think this is an impawtant book for us all to know about. Sometimes humans just need help coping when we cross the bridge. It's good to know there are sources out there to help them.

There are two more book reviews coming up. I hope you'll read them all.

April 2013 #ReadPawty

I hope everyone enjoyed the last #readpawty. I know I did.

For our next book, we decided to pick anything we want to read from James Herriott. His books are easy to find just about anywhere. You can buy them from Amazon or Barnes and Noble. You can borrow them from the library. If you have a kindle, you can borrow them from Lendle.me or booklending.com. I'm sure there are similar sites for Nooks.

Our next meeting will be Tuesday, April 9, at 8PM ET.  I'd like to have a list of books ready a fewof weeks ahead of time for people to look at and choose from to make picking our June book easier. Please leave your suggestions in the comments and I'll make a list with links to the books about 3 weeks before our next #readpawty.

Happy reading!

February 2013 #ReadPawty

Sorry the last #readpawty was a bit of a bust. My fault entirely. *embarrassed* I promise to do better next time. I set an alarm so I wouldn't forget when it is.

"So when is it?", I bet you're asking yourselves. The next #readpawty is Tuesday, February 12, at 8 PM ET. The book that was chosen is Julia's Cats by Patricia Barey and Therese Burson. There were several requests for it, plus I thought it would be a nice short book to read over the holiday season.

After reading other pals book reviews and comparing them to mine, I realize how bad I am at reviewing books. But since this is a book club blog, we really should be posting reviews of the books we read. So I'd like to once again invite you to submit reviews to the blogs not only of books we've read for #readpawty, but other books you're reading, too. Send your reviews with all pertinent pictures and links to pumpkinpuddy at pumpkinpuddy dot com, and I'll format them and post them. This is your blog. Please don't be shy about contributing to it!

Have a great holiday season everyone! See you in February (if not before)

I'm So Embarrassed!

My pals, I have to hang my head in shame. I totally forgot about #readpawty tonight. I know we were gonna move it back to Tuesday's starting next time, but I guess we're starting this time. So I'll see you all tomorrow, Dec 11 at 8PM ET for #readpawty. I promise not to forget again. *slinks off*

December #Readpawty

Howdy all! Wasn't last #readpawty pawsome? @Seabasscat is going to write a review of 'Kitty Cornered' for his blog and is going to let me post it here, too.

I don't know what happened to the poll I had on the side, but I do remember from the last time I saw it that the concesus was that we stick to animal books.

The next #readpawty will be Monday, December 10. There were a lot of good suggestions for books for next time. As usual, most of them were cat books. @GizmoGeodog suggested a dog book: 'I'm Listening With a Broken Ear', so I thought we'd give that book a try. If you have Amazon Prime and a Kindle, you can borrow it for free! You can also borrow it via Lendle.me or booklending.com. For those you don't need a Kindle, just a Kindle app. I'm sure there are similar sites for Nook.

A lot of people wanted to read 'A Street Cat Named Bob', and a lot of us have already read it. So I thought we could discuss that next time, too. I really enjoyed it and when I get chance, I'm going to post a review.

We also discussed moving #readpawty back to Tuesdays. I'd like to know how pals feel about that. It would definitely make things easier for @mariodacat. If pals decide that Tuesday is better, we'd make the change in February.

Speaking of February #readpawty, there have been lots of requests for us to read Julia's Cats. It's a nice short book and I think that would be a great one to read over the holidays for February. Maybe we could find another really short book (not about cats) to pair with it.

I guess I'm leaving you all with a lot to think about, so I'll stop now. See you on twitter!

Book Review - Zina's Jade by Robin Bisha

Happy Sunday everyone! Today I have the pleasure of reviewing the book Zina's Jade by Robin Bisha. For those who don't know Robin, she's mom to several cats, including my pals @CheshireK and @NutmegTorby. She also helps @CheshireK with his blog, Cheshire Loves Karma.

Zina's Jade center's around Zina, a woman with unusual powers, but who doesn't really know she has them. It is a journey of discovery. She's trying to find her way in the world, but her mother (and, she thinks, her father) are pressuring her to be who they want her to be. Her whole life has been mapped out for her.

Then Zina meets a mystic who gives her a special stone, and her journey begins. She's betrayed by someone she trusts, and the same mystic and a spiritual guide help her heal and find her true self. What she learns about herself is amazing.

I had a bit of a hard time getting into the book when I first started reading it. Zina's Jade is written almost entirely in the third person like it's a narration, except for when there's dialog. Then it relaxes. It felt rather stiff and formal and so it took me a little longer to get into the story. But once I did, I was hooked. The book ends just when Zina's story is really getting started, leaving me wanting more of the story. I'm hoping this is just the first in a series. I'd like to find out what happens to Zina now that she's really found herself. I give this book 3 paws up.

Zina's Jade is available in both paper and ebook at Amazon.com. Have a great week everyone!

Review reprinted from Adventures of a Suburban Kitty.

October #Readpawty

Hi everyone! @pumpkinpuddy here. I don't know about you, but I thought the last #readpawty was pawsome. It's amazing how much we found to talk about. For a book that was so hard to read, it turned out to spark the most discussion!

Not only did the regulars show up for #readpawty, but some new pals showed up too! I hope they'll join us next time. After all, the more, the merrier!

Picture courtesy of bobtarte.com

The next #readpawty will be Monday, October 8th. The book will be 'Kitty Cornered: How Frannie and Five Other Incorrigible Cats Seized Control of Our House and Made It Their Home' by Bob Tarte, suggested by @SeabassCat. It's available as a regular book and an ebook.

Some pals were wondering about suggesting books that have nothing to do with animals. So I've created a poll and put it in the sidebar. Comments on the subject are welcome, too.

I'd like to see more book reviews in the #readpawty blog. So anyone that's writing reviews, would you mind if we run your review here, too? The review would link back to your blog of course. Or if you don't have your own blog and would like to post a review here, let me know.

See you at the next #readpawty (if not before). Happy reading!