Book #53: Guys Can Be Cat Ladies Too!

Guys Can Be Cat Ladies Too, by Michael Showalter. Paperback

I always thought of myself as a cat fella, or a cat dude, or a cat man. But none of those terms quite reflect how I viewed myself viz-a-viz the felines in my life. But now I know ... I am a Cat Lady Guy.

In his delightful and surprisingly informative book, comedian and actor Michael Showalter walks through the steps for any fellow to become a better-than-average cat caretaker. Every step of the process is covered, moving us from Beginner Cat to Intermediate Cat, all the way to Advanced Cat.

He gives key insights about what your cat is thinking about (eating and kocking things over), what your cat dreams about (eating and knocking things over), and what your cat's greatest hopes and dreams are (world domination, eating, and knocking things over, with the occassional 14-hour nap thrown in).

The writing is funny enough, but the charts and pictures are the highlight of the book. Pie charts, photos, quizzes, and diagrams are integrated into the book very nicely.

This book is a quick read, because it is so fun to read. Highly recommended for anyone owned by their cat, or anybody who would like to be.

My Podcast Awards ballot

I will be voting daily in the Podcast Awards, until the balloting closes on November 15.

Here are the shows I will be voting for -- in some categories, I am listing alternative options, because in those categories, there are multiple shows that I am a fan of, and want to give them all their appropriate "shout-outs."

People's Choice:  Two of my favorite podcasts are nominated here, No Agenda, and Satellite Sisters. I have been listening to both of these shows for years, and you can't go wrong with either one, so I equally support both. But I'll vote for the Satellite Sisters, by a whisker.

Business: DH Unplugged. The absolutely best business and finance podcast available.

Culture/Arts:  I have been a long-time fan of Sword & Laser, so they are my first choice, but Major Spoilers is also very good.

Education: Grammar Girl is my first choice, although the History Chicks is very good, as well.

Entertainment: A Podcast of Ice and Fire, covering the George RR Martin books, and occasionally the related TV show, is a terrific podcast, getting better every episode. They won a Geekie Award earlier in the year, a well-deserved honor.

General: Satellite Sisters. 5 real-life sisters, talking about anything and everything. Lian Dolan is one of the sisters, and I have written about her podcasts and books on this site before.

Politics/News: No Agenda. A journalist and a former MTV DJ, analyzing the news and the media coverage of it. A great show.

Religion Inspiration: This is one of the topics where I was familiar with a lot of the nominees. I will be voting for Tyler Smith's film criticism show More Than One Lesson, although the The Break w/ Father Roderick is a terrific show, and the Sci-Fi Christian is very solid, as well.

Technology: This is another category where I am familiar with many of the nominated show. I am voting for The Waves of Tech, because I like what these "little guys" have been able to build over the years. Obviously, This Week in Tech is a very slick, professional podcast, and The Audacity to Podcast is a terrific show about the details of podcasting.

October Reading List

52. Invasion (pb), by Jon S. Lewis
51. Callahan's Legacy (ua), by Spider Robinson


Earlier in 2013:
50. Severe Clear (ua), Stuart Woods
49. The Third Kingdom (ua), by Terry Goodkind
48. Gotham Central: In the Line of Duty HC (gn), by Ed Brubaker, Greg Rucka, and Michael Lark
47. Mockingjay (ua), by Suzanne Collins
46. The Shambling Guide to New York City (pb), by Mur Lafferty
45. The Hound of the Baskervilles (ua), by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
44. Guild of the Cowry Catchers: Book 4 (ua), by Abigail Hilton
43. The Big Cat Nap (ua), by Rita Mae Brown and Sneaky Pie Brown
42. Free (ua), by Chris Anderson
41. Iron Man: Legacy of Doom (gn), by David Michelinie,
40. The She-Hulk Diaries (pb), by Marta Acosta
39. Elizabeth the First Wife (Nook), by Lian Dolan
38. The Maze (nook), by Jason Brannon
37. The President's Vampire (ua), by Christopher Farnsworth
36. The Pope Who Quit (pb), by Jon M Sweeney
35. Memoirs of Sherlock Homes (ua), by Arthur Conan Doyle
34. More or Less (ua), by Jeff Shinaberger
33. Blood & Wine: Readings for Lent and Easter (pb), by various
32. The Children of Hurin (ua), by J.R.R. Tolkien
31. Atlantyx, (pb), by Chase Dalton
30. Callahan's Secret (ua), by Spider Robinson
29. Take Four (ua), by Karen Kingsbury
28. Skull-Kickers, Treasure Trove volume 1, by Jim Zub and various artists
27. The Dalek Generation (pb), by Nicholas Briggs
26. The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes (ua), by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
25. The Areas of My Expertise (pb), by John Hodgman
24. The Skin Map (ua), by Stephen Lawhead
23. Catching Fire (ua), by Suzanne Collins
22. Quitter (ua) , by Jon Acuff.
21. The Bone Bed (ua), by Patricia Cornwell.
20. Stop Asking Jesus Into Your Heart (hc), by J.D. Greear
19. Left Behind: The Kids #28 (pb), by Jerry B. Jenkins, Tim LaHaye, & Chris Fabry
18. Left Behind: The Kids #27 (pb), by Jerry B. Jenkins, Tim LaHaye, & Chris Fabry
17. Left Behind: The Kids #26 (pb), by Jerry B. Jenkins, Tim LaHaye, & Chris Fabry
16. Time Travelers Strictly Cash (aa), by Spider Robinson
15. The Devil's Company (ua), by David Liss
14. Deadly Straits (ua), by R.E. McDermott
13. Doctor Who: Paradise Towers (ua), by Stephen Wyatt
12. DC Universe Secret Origins (gn), by various writers and artists
11. The Gods of Mars (ua), by Edgar Rice Burroughs
10. Craving Grace (hc), by Lisa Velthouse
9. The Sign of Four (ua), by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
8. DC Dead (ua), by Stuart Woods
7. A Study in Scarlet (ua), by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
6. The Hunger Games (ua), by Suzanne Collins
5. Take Three (ua), by Karen Kingsbury
4. Mary Through The Centuries (hc), by Jaroslav Pelikan
3. Roil (ua), by Trent Jamieson
2. The Devil You Know (ua), by Mike Carey
1. Ender's Shadow Ultimate Collection (gn), by Mike Carey

Teaser Tuesday

Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by MizB of Should Be Reading. Anyone can
play along!
Just do the following:

Grab your current read.

Open to a random page.

Share two (2) “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page.

BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (make sure that what you share doesn’t give too much away! You don’t want to ruin the book for others!)

From page 16 & 17 of the paperback version of I Shouldn't Be Telling You This, by Kate White. "So how do you make certain you're not thinking all wrong about your destiny? You need to always challenge your thinking, especially anything you're especially adamant about."

Walking Dead, 61-72

The Walking Dead, issues 61-72, by Robert Kirkman & Charlie Adlard.

The crew is heading to Washington, but it turns out not for the reason we think. Eugene is not the high-powered scientist he had earlier portrayed himself as. The plot point about changes in zombie behavior that intrigued me in the prior batch of episodes is dropped here, but I do hope it gets picked up at a later point.

The surviviors run across a group of hunters, who are also cannibals, and they kidnap Dale. Between having a leg severed and being bitten by a roamer, he dies and Andrea is totally wrecked. They take refuge for a few issues in a church, and we find a nuanced but not sympathetic character in Father Gabriel Jones. There is one memorable conversation about faith before and after the zombie apocalypse.

They make it to a safe community, and things look good. Maybe things look too good?  Douglas, The leader of the group is not a self-styled politician a la The Governor, but an actual former elected official, a House member from Ohio. So far we have not seen any of the craziness in Douglas or this community, and I assume that Robert Kirkman is not going to give us a carbon copy of Woodbury. But I have learned from priorissues of the Walking Dead is that as soon as things look like they are going well, they will turn very wrong.

Along the way, Carl kills a child (again), because that child had killed another child. Rick is still a bit out of his mind, talking on the phone in issue 61, and his paranoia is definitely showing in issues 71 & 72. I am predicting that Rick and the group self-sabotages their own good thing, but only time will tell.

Source: public library.

Adapting Holmes: Baker Street, issues 6-10

Baker Street: Children of the Night, consisting of issues 6-10, written and drawn by Guy Davis. Caliber Press, 1991-1992

 Sharon Ford is a former police officer, working unofficially as a consulting detective. She and her girlfriend Sam Neville advertised for a housekeeper, and newly-arrived American med-school student Susan Pendergrass took the job in exchange for rent.

Sue was immediately thrust into the British punk scene, where Sharon (a.k.a. Harlequin) was a major force.  As I mentioned when I reviewed the first 5-issue arc, this series takes place in a neo-Victorian, paleo-steampunk of the British punk scene, in a world where Victorian fashion and ethics still maintain.

This is the obligitory "Jack the Ripper" arc, totally envisioned by Davis, without participation from co-creator Gary Reed. The punk scene has been torn apart by the horrific murders committed on their turf. The police are only mildly interested in the crimes, as along as they stay among the punk scene.

But Sharon just has to investigate, and everything changes. We have met the killer, and the revelation of the Ripper's identity in issue 8 is a shock, although the clues were seeded in prior issues. And it has ramifications in the issues that follow.

This series was nominated for a 1989 Harvey Award for "Best new series," and rightly so. And twenty years later, the is no sense in which the story is "dated," expect for the fact that is black-and-white.

I was surprised to see the $2.50 cover price, which was very high for the time. Standard full-length issues of DC & Marvel books were selling for only $1.00  An issue of Fantastic Four (#358) sold during this time for $2.50, but it was a triple-sized issue.  To be fair ro Baker Street, these issues averaged an above-standard 30 pages of story.

Source: My own collection. I am almost certain that I bought these as they came out, and I would guess it was from Dave’s Comics, in Richmond, Virginia.

 

Book #52. Invasion

Invasion, by Jon S Lewis.

High school student Colt McAllister’s life radically changes when his parents are killed by a drunk driver. He finds information about a major story his journalist mother was working on, an expose on the mind control program run by the mega-large Trident Industries. An informant tells Colt that his parents were actually murdered, and then Colt becomes a target, as well.

In a world where aliens have appeared, and the gateways between worlds are protected by a secretive government agency called CHAOS, anything is possible.

Colt moves in with his grandfather in Arizona, far away from the San Diego beaches he loves. Finding new friends and allies, and some startling secrets about his grandfather's past actions as a CHAOS agent in World War II, Colt finds himself in a position to save the world.

There are two positive distinctives about this novel. The relationsips between Colt and his buddy Oz, their friend Danielle, and the cute girl that Colt likes (Lily) are all well-drawn. Lewis does a good job giving them all beleivable dialogue and motivations, which are critical in a novel with an out-of-this-world premise and over-the-top action.

Lewis also brings in a pulp-era feel, which is fun. The CHAOS agency was created in the early 1940s, and many of the flashbacks (some of the current adventures) involves jet packs and similarly old-fashioned technology.

This particular volume has an ending, but clearly leads into the next volume, which I have put on my to-read list.