January 2023 Book of the Month Club - Homer’s Odyssey and/or The Cat Who Saved Books 🐈

[verna davies]

Mamanyt1953 , Homer's Odyssey was a feel good book and I think its always nice to be pleasantly surprised when a book turns out to be different from expected. Glad you enjoyed both.

rubysmama Did you enjoy rereading Homer and was it different to what you remembered?

gilmargl
You have obviously give The Cat Who Saved Books a great deal of thought to understand it and answer your questions . You gave it 3 stars in your review, do you still feel the same about the book now?

pearl99 Is The Cat Who Saved Books one you will read again if only for the usable quotes?

 

[rubysmama]

some of the things that Homer achieved I wondered if they were totally accurate or some exaggeration for the sake of the story.

Some of Homer's achievements did seem almost impossible to believe, but then cats are pretty amazing animals, so maybe things did happen as written.

rubysmama rubysmama Did you enjoy rereading Homer and was it different to what you remembered?

I did enjoy re-reading it, as there were things I'd forgotten, such as Homer having 2 feline siblings.

 

[laureen227]

I only read Homer's Odyssey. The other wasn't attractive to me. I really loved it, though. Homer makes me think of my Widget (cat in back in my avatar), at least, looked a lot like him, other than the obvious! I very much enjoyed reading about the different personalities of Gwen's cats. I laughed at that one part where the visitor pets Scarlett and SHE LOVED IT! Then he asks, "Which one is the mean one?". I think, for people who consider their cats/pets as family members this book would be the perfect read, because we can so identify with how Gwen feels about her cats.

 

[verna davies]

I laughed at that one part where the visitor pets Scarlett and SHE LOVED IT! Then he asks, "Which one is the mean one?".

Isn't that so typical of cats, they always do the opposite of our descriptions of them to other people.

 

[rubysmama]

laureen227 : glad you were able to join us this month, and happy to see you enjoyed Homer.
I agree, for those of us who consider our cats and other pets family members, it was the perfect read.

 

[gilmargl]

gilmargl
You have obviously give The Cat Who Saved Books a great deal of thought to understand it and answer your questions . You gave it 3 stars in your review, do you still feel the same about the book now?

I wanted to forget thinking about this book and now I'm asked a difficult question! I didn't enjoy the book as such - Goodreads had told me it was a good book if you liked cats and enjoyed books. I was reading it as though it were a lecture on the value of books so I was disappointed by the style, the rather boring so-called dangerous missions and the non-catlike cat. By the end I found it totally illogical so had to put on my thinking cap - which no longer fits me too well. It took a while till I realised that instead of books, grandfather could have been an art collector, and the cat could have been a dog - or any other non-human animal or bird. The important subject was the boy and how he was going to live the rest of his life - hence the danger - sink or swim!
I prefer books I can like or hate the first time around - I am no longer at school reading excerpts from "The Seven Pillars of Wisdom" for public English Literature examinations and learning the subtieties of language in descriptions of blowing up a train or bridge in the desert. But, I do prefer books where I have to think - but not rethink the whole story as in the case of "The Cat Who Saved Books"!
The German book is called "The Cat Who Dreamt About Books" and there is another English translation of the title "The Cat Who Loved to Protect Books". I assumed I was going to learn something about that cat - but I was disappointed. So, I'll stick to three stars.

 

[rubysmama]

I assumed I was going to learn something about that cat - but I was disappointed.

gilmargl : I agree the title was deceiving, as the cat could have been replaced by a dog or any other non-human, and the story would have been exactly the same .

 

[pearl99]

pearl99 Is The Cat Who Saved Books one you will read again if only for the usable quotes?

I think I would, skim it and write them down this time.

 

[gilmargl]

Goodreads has a list of quotes

Quotes from "The Cat Who Saved Books​

 

[verna davies]

Good find gilmargl , thank you

 

[rubysmama]

Good find gilmargl , thank you

Ditto. Lots of great quotes, weren't there.

This one really stood out for me, as it's very timely.

“In today's world, a lot of what should be obvious has been turned upside down. The weak are used as stepping stones and those in need are taken advantage of. People just caught up in this pattern. Nobody stands up and calls for it to stop.”