September Books Read

     It's been a chaotic few weeks.  I've been reading, but I haven't felt like posting because very few cheerful things have been happening.  Our business computer crashed and burned (as did my husband).  We had to buy a new desk computer and have our brilliant computer guy, one-arm-Brian, spend the day recovering lost data.  A few days later, our backup program went into action restoring files we had already restored and deleting new data.  Brian came back, gave them a good whacking, and straightened out the problem.  I think we lost only two files.

     In addition, my step-daughter is now in week three in the ICU, recovering from major surgery.  I have one thing to say to any smokers reading this:  STOP!  You don't want to go through what she's going through.

     We did have a lovely lunch at Great Sage in Clarksville, MD, a very busy vegan restaurant with delicious food.  And, on the same trip to visit my step-daugher at Johns Hopkins, I got to stop at Daedalus Books in Columbia, MD.  I've mail-ordered from them for years but had never visited, despite driving past several times.  I was so overwhelmed that I only bought four books, two of them for my little grandnieces, a mystery for me, and an adult coloring book for me about Paris.  For those days when all I can do is sit quietly and color in my coloring book.

     So, here's what I managed to finish reading in September:  

     The Studio Crime  -  Jerrold
     Blood Sinister  -  Harrod-Eagles
     As the Pig Turns  -  Beaton
     The Nature of the Beast  -  Penny
     Four Seasons in Rome  -  Doerr
     A Street Cat Named Bob  -  Bowen
     The Clue of the Tapping Heels  -  Keene
     Reckless  -  Hynde
     A Murder is Announced  -  Christie

     How's that for diversity, with a heavy lean on mystery?  I've blogged about some of the books but not others.  That doesn't mean that I didn't like them, I just didn't have a lot to say about them.  Or  they were finished while in the midst of the above referenced chaos.  I started two mysteries and abandoned them.  If they don't grab me fast, I'm not staying.

     I hope you had a good September.

A Street Cat Named Bob - James Bowen

I believe it was Travellin' Penguin who mentioned this book.  She said it was very popular, all over the Internet, and that she didn't know how she'd missed it.  Well, I missed it, too.  She also said that the cat doesn't die at the end of the book.  That was enough for me to ask for my library's copy.  I no longer read books or see movies in which animals are hurt or die.  There's enough of that in real life.

Bob and James Bowen found each other when they were down and out in London.  James was a recovering addict working as a street busker.  Bob showed up on his doorstep.  James tried to find Bob's owner and originally didn't want to keep him.  But they quickly formed a strong bond and James realized that caring for Bob helped him in his recovery.

They became an Internet sensation when Bob started riding to work on James's shoulder, riding on the bus with him, and sitting in his guitar case while James performed.  Life working on the street is hard, but James explains why some people do it.  Bob attracted a lot of attention and affection, increasing James's income.  People knitted scarves for Bob, yes, for Bob, not for James!  They brought gifts and food for him.  They took photos and videos.

The book is simply written.  There were no photos in my copy, but you can Google Bob and James and find quite a few videos of them.  I wish them both well in their voyage through life.  And I wish we could take our pets to all the places that apparently welcome them in Great Britain.  Here, only my bank and some restaurants with outdoor seating welcome dogs.