Guest Blog by Elizabeth Eagan Cox's Lap-Cats

A Guest Blog 

by Lucy and Darby

Lap-Cat Favorite Books.

By Lucy and Darby, 

(Jack’s Catnip-loving Friends.)

Lucy, here. I’m the oldest and wisest of the two cats who share a home with the authoress, Elizabeth Eagan-Cox. Being a writer’s best friend has its drawbacks. As hard as it is to believe, sometimes my mistress is too busy to give me a well-deserved scratch behind my ears. In those moments I retreat to my own library, a secreted pocket of our home where I keep a few of my favorites books in paw.

Elizabeth, in one of her wiser moments, asked me to pen a few reviews of my feline favorite books, in other words, to let the cat out of the bag as to which books are worth their scratch. I figure my review is a good lesson for Darby. He’s the newest member of our family and, at 19-months old, he’s finally ready for some serious reading… something he can sink his claws into, instead of that nonsense he’s been reading about Puss and Boots!

First up is a must-have for all cats and their adoring persons:

ASPCA Complete Cat Care Manual. 

   (We have an old library copy purchased from a library book sale, and though it is aged, I will vouch for it not being out of date.) 
   Aside from the crucial basics that all cat lovers should know, such as ear cleaning, feeding, bathing, how to deal with poisons, injuries and illness, there are chapters relating to esoteric topics.

The chapter on Assessing a Cat’s Mood is fascinating! Every human should take note of this chapter because discerning, and appreciating, what mood we are in is vital to happy home. Happy cat, happy life, I always say.  

Recently, another chapter proved to be priceless. The chapter on Dealing with Unwanted Behavior assisted us in training Darby to stop playing in his water bowl. Yikes! He certainly was making a watery mess of things in our kitchen! We learned that Darby’s excuse for water play were lame. He kept saying he was hard-wired to play with water because he’s a Maine Coon! Well, we found out that being a Maine Coon is not a reason for creating a water polo field on the kitchen floor!

Second on my list is:

99 Lives:Cats in History, Legend and Literature 

by Howard Loxton. 

   This book makes my toes curl, it is that good! Imagine, an entire book that honors the fantastic culture of felines. The book covers centuries of worldly content, including; Personalities, "A Cat’s Life," "Cats on Location," and my favorite chapter: "Cats of Make-believe and Magic!"
    In addition, wise and witty truths are shared in succinct phrases, such as: "A cat’s eye is the mirror of the soul," and, "God made the cat to give humankind the pleasure of caressing the tiger."

Third on my list is… uh, one moment please…

Hey, folks! Darby here, Lucy got called to the office about something, or another, don’t know, and don’t care. Now is my chance to put in my catnip’s worth of reading ideas. Other than Puss and Boots, which I believe is the best cat-action adventure story, ever… well, I guess the other book would be:

The Cat Catalog: The Ultimate Cat Book. 

   The book is edited by Judy Fireman, and I’d sure like to lick her paw to thank her for putting together this treasure trove of fun facts and trivia. As soon as I opened the book, I knew it was the greatest book, ever, because it has two big pages of funny illustrations by an artist named Edward Gorey.
   Yeah! Gotta love that guy, if ever there was a major, really major, cat lover, it’s Gorey. The rest of the book is good, too. I’m on page 5, out of 352, but on this page it tells about how the ancient Egyptians adored us felines. Can you believe it? They worshipped us as gods!
   So, you know if a book starts out like this, the rest of it must be good! Hey, I hear Lucy padding it up the stairs, so, I best skedaddle.
      Later....

   Hmmm, I see that Darby could not leave well enough alone and he has tracked his big snowshoe feet all over the keyboard!
   At least he mentioned the third book on my list, though I do believe he mostly looks at the pictures.

   Now, before I sign off, there is one other book, one that my mistress wrote, that I’d like to mention: 

 A Ghost of Brother Jonathan’s

by Elizabeth Eagan-Cox 

   And wouldn’t you know it, there are ghost cats in that book!
   The concept of a ghost cat is my genius at work. I have to admit that I planted that idea in Elizabeth’s ear. It is sooo easy to influence her thoughts while she sleeps; a few words purred softly into her ear... and BINGO! Her novel has ghost cats in it!

But, shhhh… don’t tell Elizabeth this was my idea or I may never have another opportunity to write to Jack.

Thank you, THANK you, Thank YOU both

Lucy and Darby. 

I am so glad you wrote something for my blog!

Please write again, and let me know of any other good books to read!

JACK!

Mmmm, now let me see if Arline has a copy of Puss and Boots!  Oh, there it is! On the top shelf, right between the bird house, the Jan Elmy papier mache fish, and a picture of one of her favorite poets. Now that I'm down to only 16 pounds, I can easily...LEAP.

WHACK!

BOOM!

OUCH!

Mmuph! Whew!

Okay, no worries. We're all in the floor, but nothing is broken, not even the picture frame...

Now, let me see...hmmm.  

While I'm down here it will be easy to get it open. Yep, those six toes really work good on the pages.

Great Pictures Darby!  

THANKS!