Dear Agony Aunt: I really like this boy but…

Dinner for Two

By

Mike Gayle

A paperback!!! The first I’ve read in a while but was in a Turkish bath house and needed a physical book to read, so borrowed this one from my daughter.

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What do you do when you turn thirty, are married, have a cat, and your wife has a miscarriage, AND you lose your job as a pop music journo? Clearly you become an agony aunt for a teen girl’s magazine.

This book has a number of  ‘Ah’  moments – such as when Dave writes a letter to his 6 week old foetus, and his columns as the self-aware male for the women’s magazine are very well written, as are his responses for the Agony Aunt.

But then in real life,  Mike – the author – has been a music journalist; and then wrote himself for a teen magazine as the Agony Aunt. So he definitely writes from experience and his own self-awareness shows in this book.

The best book I have ever read that was written by a male for the chick lit audience. He nails it!

5 stars.

 

Cats multiply – Universal Coons

Danger in Cat World

By Nina Post

A review for the publisher: Curiosity Quills

When asked to describe what Danger in Cat World is about during an interview Nina Post replied:

Danger in Cat World is a procedural murder mystery about a homicide detective who feels isolated by his work and investigates the murder of a reclusive heiress. When he discovers a window to another universe and dozens of cats begin appearing out of thin air, he must embrace the unknown to solve the case.

Now this is a different take of course on the idea of Schrodinger’s Cat – I must assume – mixed up with the latest physics about we are living in only one of many multiple universes – each of which contains the same matter but has deviated in its pathway due to a different decision made at a crucial point.

It seemed to me that I’d better explore this theory more and so found a ‘for Dummies’ site:

The multiverse is a theory in which our universe is not the only one, but states that many universes exist parallel to each other. These distinct universes within the multiverse theory are called parallel universes.

Every single possibility exists somewhere and has happened somewhere – thus Hitler won WW2 in several and /or invaded Britain and so on.

If there are multiple universes then it stands to reason that at times our universe may interact with other or cross over or… thus if you are clever enough you can build a machine that can make these interactions take place. And a Coon cat can therefore multiply in our universe as all these other universes all have such a cat, and they can all cross over into ours – every hour if the rather clever machine is still operating….

A Coon cat is an American breed that is rarely seen here in the UK, so I needed a picture of one and to learn a little more about them – being a cat lover, of course.

Maine Coon cats are among the top 10 breeds in the US I read. It weights between 12 and 18 pounds and is very large looking at the photos, and shaggy, and a good mouser apparently. It is hardy too and thus very much an outdoor cat I would assume. You can buy them in the UK of course but I personally have never seen one.

So what did I think of the book? Well Nina has a rather zany imagination as evidenced by her book titles.

• The Last Condo Board of the Apocalypse(February 2012)
• One Ghost Per Serving(July 2012)
• The Last Donut Shop of the Apocalypse(October 2012)
• Danger in Cat World(February 2013)
• Extra Credit Epidemic(July 2013)
• The Zaanics Deceit(February 2014)
• Danger Returns in Pairs(March 2015)

And this zaniness is reflected in her writing style which I thought refreshing and different and amusing. I thoroughly enjoyed this book in a very light-hearted way and loved the detective named Danger and his

I think I need more about Danger to read and I see he a new book will come in February next year. I am definitely going to check out her other books too as she seems an author worth following.

5 stars!

The animal knitathon

The animals are having a knitathon and showing off what they have made:
The cups for their coffee are on the rug that Hedgehog made; Pussy is still sewing her gloves up; Beagle is sporting his blue hat, and showing off his bells for the tree; Eeyore being always depressed is slow to knit and thus has only knitted 4 tree bells; Teddy has a hat and a bag; Dino kntted a very special small bag; Panda is wearing his jumper and Rabbit made some gloves too. unfortunately Snail failed to make anything claiming that his hands were too small to hold knitting needles and thus is looking very shameful under Pussy’s gloves.

I’m holding my own knitathon in Willesden Green on Nov 1st and would welcome anyone from the UK and London to come along and see and buy what the animals – and I – have made! If you can’t come, please consider making a donation at:https://bigissue.believe.in/fundraising/im-running-a-knitathon-to-support-big-issue-vendors-over-the-harsh-winter-season/. We are trying to raise money through the Big Issue newspaper to provide some winter shelters for the homeless.