Bennie and books
This is Bennie, our formerly-barn-cat. We don't know anything about his past, or how old he was (aside from "old"), but he was incredibly sweet, and took to indoor life and snuggling with people very quickly. Alas, he refused to use a litter box, so we had to take him outside, like you would a dog. But he quickly charmed pretty much everyone here.
He did rally from his rear paralysis from last Sunday - within a day or two, he was taking a few tottering steps when there was enough traction, and by the end of the week (after being on antibiotics for a bladder infection and steroids for whatever-was-going-on-with-his-spine) he was walking fairly reliably, if not terribly steadily. The main concern was that, despite chowing down like normal on Sunday, he refused to eat the rest of the week. Karen got him to eat a few bites on Thursday, but that was about it. He did drink some, but not a lot. And although he seemed somewhat continent, he mostly just leaked small amounts of urine when we took him out, rather than proper peeing. Karen took him to the vet again today, just to see if there was something more we could do, but, unfortunately, blood tests showed he was on his final 25% of kidney function, and that while giving IV fluids might help temporarily, it wouldn't solve whatever nerve issues were preventing his digestive and urinary tracts from working properly - probably a spinal tumor, lesion or something like cat-MS. And so we collectively made the decision it was time to let him go. It was just so sudden, though.
This means Karen has lost three cats in just over four months. :( And it's still less than a year since we lost Nala, too.
In other news: did anyone get pranked today? I pulled a minor one on the kids, putting their lunches in the opposite kid's lunchbag, but I did at least caution them to check the contents before they left the house, giving them the opportunity to switch back. I'm not that mean.
Meanwhile, my mom sent me this thing she found on FB: April Fool's Day is cancelled this year as no made up prank could match the unbelievable shit happening in the real world right now. Sadly, true. :P
I have a headcold, yay. :P My nose is stuffy and sniffly, and I'm coughing a little, and I'm tired, but I don't feel bad, you know? I went to work today (FINALLY a "safe" job at the middle school!) and survived fine. I would like to be able to breathe, though - sleeping is always so much more difficult with one's nose all clogged. :P
Ok, now that the book cover meme is over, I want to cheat a little bit and discuss some of my choices.
#1: The Phantom Tollbooth by Normon Juster. If you like puns and other language play, this is the book for you. I loved it as a kid, but loved it SO much more as an adult, when I understood even more of the jokes. It's a lovely coming-of-age-ish story about self-discovery and finding purpose, but it's also hilarious. It doesn't get nearly the attention it deserves.
#2: Prisoner of Azkaban by JKR. I don't think this one needs too much explanation. *g* The English-language cover I included is from a recent series of "covers" that I think was only offered for ebooks, but I love them. Every cover has a hidden image in it. PoA shows Azkaban on its island ... but also a howling wolf. All the covers are like that, and I love it. (I also liked the re-issued American paperback covers where, if you put the spines all together, you see Hogwarts, but I nobly refrained from buying them because I already have the full hardcover American books, the full British paperbacks, and several foreign-language editions.) And speaking of, the reason I included the German cover, is because HP is the only series I can read in German - simply because I'm SO freakin' familiar with the English, I can figure my way around words and phrases I might not otherwise know. I can do this best with PS/SS and PoA, but I'm working on GoF at night when I don't have other stuff to read, as well.
#3: Dave Barry's Guide to Guys by, duh, Dave Barry. I laughed so hard I cried. Remains one of the funniest books I've ever read.
#4: Elfquest book 2 by Richard and Wendy Pini. This was the only graphic novel series I ever got into. I started with Book 2 as that was the one gifted to me by a fantasy-loving high school friend of mine, and I went on from there. I stumbled upon one of them in German when I was in Vienna in 1992, and, as with PoA, it was for one of the issues I was familiar enough with in English that reading in German was manageable.
#5: Widdershins by Jordan L Hawk. I kind of cheated by using an image that showed the entire series. I don't even remember how I stumbled upon the first book on Amazon, but I gave it a shot and instantly fell in love with Whyborne and Griffin. Yes, there have been times I've wanted to shake a stick at one or the other of them, but by book 6 they worked out most of their Issues. I love the historical setting, most of the worldbuilding magic, the no-nonsense female best friend, and the love between the main characters. Guilty pleasure reading. The last book is coming up soon, and I'm going to be so sad when it's over.
#6: Mine for Keeps by Jean Little. This was a childhood favorite of mine for several reasons: The main character has cerebral palsy, and she befriends an immigrant family from Holland. My brother had cerebral palsy (much worse) and my dad's family lives in Holland. It's like the book was made for me. (Having an up-close connection to disability, I used to pretend I had various disabilities, myself - I used knitting needles to fashion leg braces, I'd close my eyes and pretend to be blind, etc.) It's a great kid's story about fitting in, and about accepting people as they are. I would check out this book from the library over and over again.
#7: Arrows of the Queen by Mercedes Lackey. I love pretty much all of the Valdemar books, although Lackey's writing I think has definitely gotten less strong in recent years. AotQ was not actually the first book I read in her series, but I loved this particular one for how nicely she really explains how everything in her universe really works.
And now let me tell you of a number of books I seriously thought of including, but didn't.
The False Prince by Jennifer Nielsen: It's a fun read with a twist I truly didn't see coming. I'm not as thrilled with the remaining two books in the trilogy, though - I kept expecting equivalent twists and there weren't any. But the first book? I love it.
Leviathan by Scott Westerfeld: Awesome, awesome retelling of WWI-era, redefining the two camps as "Clankers" - the steampunk side - and the Darwinists - using engineered animals as the basis for their vehicles and machinery. So cool. Also: girl defying gender restrictions by serving in the military disguised as a boy.
Simon vs the Homo-Sapiens Agenda by Becky Albertalli: Adorable coming-of-age m/m story, with some letter-writing format in the storytelling. (This is the reason I also love The Enchanted Chocolate Pot by Patricia Wrede and Caroline Stevermer - the letter-writing.) Funny and sweet and real in an adorable way. See also: Autoboyography by Christina Lauren
Thud! by PTerry: This was the first Night Watch book I ever read, and I was immediately charmed. This was good because the first actual PTerry book I had read was Wee Free Men which, which cute, hadn't really grabbed me, you know? And I couldn't get into Small Gods at all. But I immediately loved the Watch books and a number of the other ones - the three witches, and Moist, and such.
Clan of the Cave Bear by Jean M. Auel: The first properly "grownup" book I ever read. (Ok, I'd read a few historical romances before that, but I'm not counting them.) Still the strongest book in the entire series. As with Elfquest, I completely mentally immersed myself in this world. If I could have lived in it, and still had modern healthcare, and could have been Ayla's best friend, I would have done it.
Clockwork Princess by Cassie Clare: Ok, so Cassie's books are flawed and her characters reliably have too many dark shadows "like bruises" under their eyes. But I like them anyway, and get emotionally caught up in the characters' lives. Clockwork Princess has an ending that leaves me sobbing, and there aren't many books that do that to me. (The Wild Swans by
pegkerr is another one.) Although if I were going to go for "favorite cover" of the series, that would be the original cover for Clockwork Prince with Jem on it. *g*
I'm sure if I stood in front of my bookshelves, I could list many many more favorites. These were just the ones I could think of offhand.