A STREET CAT NAMED BOB

A STREET CAT NAMED BOB

In February this year I posted here about a shopping experience, when I was persuaded by a young woman in a wheelchair to buy a particular book. It was called A Street Cat Named Bob and I promised to tell you about it when I finished reading. So here goes.

UK folk may have seen videos and interviews about the cat and owner/author of the book, James Bowen, but if they haven’t read the book I hope this will encourage them to do so.

James Bowen was a busker first and then became a vendor of the Big Issue. His life had been extremely unsettled and many things drove him to homelessness and drug abuse. At the time of writing he was on a drug dependency programme. But his life changed when an injured ginger tom, thought to be a feral cat, appeared near his flat. James took him in and began to look after him and in return the animal gave the guy something to live for. In effect, they looked after each other. When James was busking near London tube stations, Bob would go with him. He would sit on his shoulder as they travelled or walk beside him on a makeshift lead. Since the world is made up of animal lovers, commuters and foreign visitors loved Bob and generously dropped coins into James guitar case. Some brought treats for Bob and one lady knitted scarves to keep him warm. The increase in donations meant that James was able to feed them both.

There were some ups and downs but the cat remained close and James strove to kick the drug habit completely. They were buddies, each helping the other. One day a group of Spanish teenagers told James they had seen Bob on YouTube. That was news to James although a lot of folk had taken photographs of him and Bob so it was reasonable to expect that they did something with them.

An American lady, an agent by the name of Mary Pachnos, asked James to consider writing a book but it was the Spanish teenagers who made him realise that he and Bob were local celebrities. Since then James has been interviewed by the press and appeared with Bob on BBC’s The One Show.

The book was an insight into the life of Big Issue seller and I am firmly resolved to buy one in future instead of simply walking by.

I’d like to end this post with and final paragraph from the list of acknowledgements at the back of the book:

Last, and most definitely not least, of course, I have to thank the little fellow who came into my life in 2007 and who – from the moment I befriended him – has proven to be such a positive, life-changing force in my life. Everyone deserves a friend like Bob. I have been very fortunate indeed to have found one.

James Bowen

London, January 2012.

 

Below are some links to James and his book:

• For the latest news and stories from James and Bob go here 
• For Bobs very own Twitter site: @streetcatbob.
• And Amazon here 
• A special edition is available here for children aged 11 and above 

A Force to be Reckoned With, by Historian Jane Robinson

It was thanks to Twitter that I learned of this book about the history and eminence of the WI and I couldn’t wait to buy it. It is written in modern language with a thread of humour running through which makes for an enjoyable read.

Other books have been written about the WI and its origins, many of them factual but dull. None that I’ve read portray the original founders like real people. It is my opinion that Jane Robinson has produced a book that everybody should read and every Federation should possess. It is our history, something to be proud of.

Cover blurb:

Everyone knows three things about the Women’s Institute:

They spent the war making jam; the sensational Calendar Girls were WI members; and more recently the slow hand-clapping of Tony Blair.

But there’s so much more to this remarkable movement. Over 200,000 women in the UK belong to the WI and its membership is growing. It crosses class and religion, includes all ages – from students and metropolitan young professionals to rural centenarians – with passions that range from supporting the 1920s Bastardy Bill (in response to a wartime legacy of illegitimate babies) to the current SOS for the Honey Bees Campaign.

The WI was founded in 1915, not by worthy ladies in tweeds, but by the feistiest women in the country, including suffragettes, academics and social crusaders who discovered the heady power of sisterhood, changing women’s lives and their world in the process. Certainly its members boiled jam and sang Jerusalem, but they also made history. This fascinating book reveals for the first time how they are – and always were – a force to be reckoned with.

The chapters:

1.      The Beginnings: 1897-1913

2.      Taking Root 1913-1918

3.      The Women Carry On: 1^st World War

4.      Golden Eagle: Lady Denman (this was an eye-opener!)

5.      Marthas, Marys, Pigeons and Crows: the 1920s

6.      Change the World  in an Afternoon: the 30s

7.      Mum’s Army: 2^nd World War

8.      Halibut Hall and the Revolutions: 1945-1960

9.      How to Be Happy though Educated: Denman College

10.   Not According to Schedule: 1960-1999

11.    Bloody Marvellous: 1999 onwards

When I was asked to read a taster at our 81st Birthday Lunch I was hard pressed to find something to fit the allocated 15 minutes, because I couldn’t find a suitable break in the WI story. Today's the day, and I've decided to read a mid-chapter selection. I hope the members will enjoy it as much as I have. 

Book Review: Perfect People by Peter James

John and Naomi Klaesson are grieving the death of their four year old son from a rare genetic disorder. It is only after the boy’s death that they discover they are both bearers of a rogue gene, therefore the odds of their next child contracting the same disease are high. Desperate for another child, they consult a geneticist at his floating clinic, and that is where the nightmare begins.

They are given a list of options: do they want their son to be a blue eyed, 6 ft tall, amiable, character, with supreme sporting abilities? If so, they tick the boxes and the geneticist does the rest. In other words, create a designer baby.

But things go very wrong.

Reporters get hold of the story and the couple are pursued by press and fanatics known as Disciples of the Third Millennium. The boy they crave turns out to be twins, one of each sex, with inbuilt problems, and the tension rises, making the book hard to put down. 

Some say this is a book about things to come... and I can well believe it with all the delving into genes and things.

The end of this riveting story was unexpected yet emotional in a weird way. It left me feeling I wanted to read the story a second time which, for me, is an unexpected reaction. 

I was glad that Peter James wrote this with shorter chapters... it gave me a chance to draw breath from the story’s high tension. I am very strict with my reading time but was often tempted to stick with it until the book was finished.

A line beneath the book title reads Be careful what you ask for ... a worrying thought for our future.

Praise for Perfect People

Front Row, Radio 4, said ‘The emotional credibility of the characters is as good as it gets. There is a movie in this book.’

The Guardian: As ever James writes beautifully, maintaining the pace with short punchy chapters. But it’s his firm grasp of the moral issues surrounding designer babies that makes Perfect People so satisfying – and so unsettling.

The Times: Peter James’s clever page-turner Perfect People focuses not on the past but risks for the future.

Mirror: Now, his first stand alone novel since the extraordinary, though completely deserved, success of the Roy Grace series features all James’ strengths, including his ability to capture a sense of real horror in a very real world ... This is very much a novel about the preciousness of life, the randomness of survival and, ultimately, humanity as we’ve always known it.

Shots Mag describes the book as a surreal journey of ethics, science and religion....

oOo

There are plenty more comments but I think you will get the gist that Peter James’ writing is as gripping as ever and his research ability knows no bounds. 

Book Review

FIFTY SHADES DARKER

by E L JAMES

It’s a rare event for me to start a book and not finish it. Even if the story is lame I persevere because my curiosity won’t let me give up. Recently, however, I gave up on one, went back to it, then tried again. I told myself not to be stupid and get on with the story, even though it’s not my kind of book.

Sainsburys, my local supermarket, had a huge display of books by E L James on special offer: a trilogy of Fifty Shades ... Fifty Shades of Grey, Fifty Shades Darker, and Fifty Shades Freed. It was such an impressive display that I decided to read one. Not realising at the time that it was a trilogy I selected a book ... the middle one.

I was put right by the checkout girl. ‘Is that for you?’ she asked. When I said it was she went on to inform me that I should read the first one, ‘otherwise you won’t know what it’s all about’.

Well, I’ve read books out of sequence before and have always been able to follow the storyline. A good author should be able to keep a reader up to date no matter what order the books are read.

Rather than go back and change it, I decided to carry on with the purchase.

Now I know why she smiled at me so meaningfully.

My habit is to read a chapter in the morning and another at night but reading the book at those times was, to say the least ... er ... disturbing. Having said that, I’m not sure at what time of day I could have read it without feeling ... er ... moved. There are NO sexual innuendos, what you get is the full blown thing in graphic detail and what the main characters do to each other is ... yes ...beyond belief. This isn’t just a sex book, it’s a damned instruction manual with sadism and masochism thrown in for good measure.

I’ve written some steamy stuff but I think readers would find that most actions are left to the imagination. Not so with the Fifty books. It’s fine detail or nothing. Sorry E L James but I won’t be reading the other two books. A brief glimpse in the red room of pain finished me forever. It’s positively indecent. No wonder your books are being burned in America.

The blurb on the book’s cover reads: Romantic, liberating and totally addictive, this is a novel that will obsess you, possess you, and stay with you forever.

Ye Gods, I do hope not.

Interestingly there were no reviews printed on the cover or inside the book. I did read some reviews on Amazon, though, and the following two extracts are from lengthy critiques ... which everyone seemed to agree with:

1.       It is an act of sadism against the English language.

2.      Sadly, I thought the story had great potential but this seemed to be lost in page after   page of highly descriptive sex.

I wonder if the supermarket realised what the books were like? As I said, it was a huge display. Strangely enough I haven’t seen them anywhere else.  If they’re in the booksellers, they’ve been carefully hidden.

I normally give my books to the local charity shop, but not this time  ...  this one is going in the trash where it feels comfortable.

Book Review

Harlan Coben, another best selling, crime writing American author who has become one of my firm favourites. A former series starring the imposing creation by the name of Myron Bolitar was enjoyable but I find his stand-alone books much more so. The Woods was a particular favourite and this one, The Innocent, has joined a rank position.

The main character, Matt Hunter, once served a four year prison sentence after a fight ended with his opponent cracking his skull but he manages to live a respectable life with a good job and a lovely wife. But things start to go wrong when he receives a photo on his camera phone that is destined to change his life. Everything he has worked for is threatened and he suddenly cannot trust anyone, least of all his loved ones. 

The Innocent is loaded with tension which demands that the reader keeps reading. The scene shifting is fluent, the characters utterly believable, and the thickening plot only unravelled at the very end.

~~~

Daily Express quoted Harlan Coben as being ‘One of the most sheerly entertaining and accomplished writers in the genre.’

The Daily Telegraph says ‘Harlan Coben has made his intention clear: he wants to fool his readers. And he makes a good job of doing so in The Innocent. The enjoyable intricate plot takes several turns before we are fooled for the last time and the villains and motive are revealed. A book to read in one gulp!’

The Times says ’Coben’s electrifying New Jersey based thriller plays games with notions of innocence and guilt. Adding to the enjoyment of this slickly crafted tale is the sharpness of the dialogue and the satisfying realism of the descriptive writing.’

Book Review

New York Times says ‘Women are addicted to her (Nora Roberts) novels as chocoholics are to Godiva’.

The Guardian described it as ‘sheer entertainment’.

The Washington Post claimed that Nora Roberts was ‘The greatest novelist on planet earth’.

~~~

Will Parker and Mal ever get their Happy Ever After?

I couldn’t wait to find out.

This book is the last of four books based on a successful wedding planning business run by childhood friends Mackensie, Parker, Laurel and Emmeline. Although they helped couples to organise the biggest day of their lives it seems they had trouble finding their own partners. This book is devoted to Parker who was the brains behind the outfit and the last to remain single. That is until Mal came along.

It is a typical Nora Roberts love story. Don’t misunderstand me, I like a good love story but this one started to irritate almost from the beginning. Why? Because it came across as a bit too sugary.

I don’t know if weddings are organised differently in the US but I doubt anyone does it this way in the UK. Usually brides do things for themselves, by choice, but it seems that the wedding business took over all the decisions, choosing the dress, shoes, flowers, the guest list, the gift list, the who-should-sit-where list, and the settling of family feuds. She took phone calls from nervous brides at all hours of the day and night which made me wonder what mothers were for! On top of all that the reader was taken through many weddings and given prolonged insight into the decor, the cake making, dress selection etc. which changed with each wedding. My goodness, I felt breathless.

Enter Mal, a nice guy with a realistic manner, who falls in love with Parker. The sex scenes are a Nora Roberts speciality, she leaves little to the imagination and knows how to get the reader’s pulse racing, koff koff. It was only curiosity that kept me going with the book; I did at least want to know how the Mal and Parker relationship achieved Happy Ever After.

I hit on a problem with names. It took me about half the story to get used to the names Mac, Mal and Parker. Mac (short for Mackensie) and Parker seemed such masculine names and Mal (short for Malcolm) had a feminine ring to it. I had to keep going back to check out who was who.  

I like Nora Roberts but I think I have over-read her work. I have now started reading another Harlan Coben which was not only exciting from the first word but a more comfortable read.

Book Review

Postcard Killers

by James Patterson

Why is it that non-violent people or people who hate violence of any kind get so much enjoyment from murder mysteries. A friend and I were talking about this the other day. She is a very laid back person, nice manners and easy to be with, yet she confessed that she reads crime novels and the more outrageous the better. And so do I.

Is it the crime we enjoy or the solving of same? Whichever, we both agreed that James Patterson’s ‘Postcard Killers’ was gripping stuff. 

Together with Liza Marklund he created a terrifying read where a NYPD detective tries to find his daughter’s killer. The only clue is the postcard sent to local reporters which he discovers is an indication of where the next murder will be committed.  The investigation takes him to Stockholm where he teams up with a Swedish reporter who has also received a postcard. There follows gruesome accounts of more murders and astonishing facts that lead to the identity of the killer.

The Mirror said ‘Patterson’s annual summer thriller is another exceptional read’ while the News of the World claimed that ‘it feels like you’re reading a Bruce Willis film’.

I couldn’t agree more. I have just read 513 pages of pure intrigue.

Book Review

Sam’s Letters to Jennifer by James Patterson,

written in 1988 and reprinted in 2004.

Sam’s Letters to Jennifer was a refreshing change to James Patterson’s various murder mysteries. The one thing I like about his books is the shortness of chapters and this being only a slim volume it didn’t take me long to read. When I read a book I restrict my time to morning and night, otherwise I would get nothing done in the day. While having breakfast and when I retire to bed, those are my special reading times. However, with the smallness of each chapter in this book I kept adding another, and then another, until the book was almost read.

Sam’s letters to Jennifer were actually different chapters of Sam’s life which she wanted to impart to her granddaughter. In them she reveals a huge secret which helps Jennifer to take charge of her own life. It is a surprising and hitherto unknown love story laced with sadness. I smiled a lot yet often had tears in my eyes whilst reading. It was deeply moving but to say more would spoil the story.

The setting is Lake Geneva which served to give the reader a sense of warmth and freedom. Imagine tumbling out of bed at early dawn and diving into the lake for a swim. What bliss!

As the blurb says ... ‘With a tantalising mystery entwining two deeply moving love stories, Sam’s Letters to Jennifer is an extraordinary and unforgettable novel that will enthral millions of readers worldwide.

Cosmopolitan described the book as ‘Skilfully put together’ whilst Times Metro quoted it as being ‘Compulsively readable’. Both are right but the best review came from The Times ... ‘Compulsively readable, a see-saw of hopes and fears that keeps the reader guessing right up to the last minute and then trumps expectations’.

Book Review

The Betrayal of Trust by Susan Hill

This book is promoted as ‘A Simon Serrailler Crime Novel’

The Daily Express says: "Susan Hill’s Serrailler novels, with their persuasively drawn copper and his equally well-rounded family, are a real treat."

Ruth Rendell says: "Not all great novelists can write crime fiction but when one like Susan Hill does the result is stunning."

In the past this has been the case and because of it I have always looked out for more stories with DSI Simon Serrailler taking the leading role and his familiar settling nicely around him. However, this one was different. It was nothing more than a hotchpotch of plots and sub plots.

Simon’s sister, Cat, is a well known and well loved doctor so it was presumed that the slightly off-key and uncomfortable drama involving a terminally ill patient who wants to end her own life was directly linked to her. For a long time I was left wondering where the connection lay. The subject of Euthanasia had no real place in this book and there was no connection at all to the police investigation.

Although the storyline was about two bodies washed out of shallow graves in torrential rainstorm and the ensuing police investigation, the reader was taken on a tour of a seedy Swiss establishment where the ‘patient’ would be put to death in dire surroundings. The elderly lady suffered from motor neurone disease which was well described medically but had little relevance to the story. Thankfully she backed out so an envisaged ‘final’ scene was avoided. Of course it all fell into place in the end but the way the topic was set in the ‘middle of nowhere’ rather spoilt the flow of the story. I found this quite depressing and longed for the return of a bit of detective work to ‘lift’ the spirits. Sadly it failed to materialise.

Apart from one or two errors in the proofreading the book was well written, it was just that the sequence of events seemed unbalanced in the midst of an important murder enquiry. DSI Serrailler solved the murders rather hastily in the end, almost as if the author had run out of time.

Bitterly disappointing!

Book Review

I have just finished reading this book. It didn't take long because of its unputdownable quality. I wonder if the film was as enjoyable.

Quoting from the book: “Enter a vanished world of Jackson, Mississippi 1962, where black maids raise white children but aren’t trusted not to steal the silver.”

Aaibileen, raises her 17^th child whilst still hurting after the death of her own son.

Minnie cooks for her white mistress.

Miss Skeeter, a white young woman, wants to know what happened to the maid who raised her.

Against all odds the three get together and gradually start to overcome boundaries. They have a remarkable story to tell.

This is a gripping book that stirs the emotions. I felt anger at the injustices towards black people; I was shocked and ashamed by the prejudice but laughed at the humour portrayed by the writer. Kathryn Stockett told the story as if it was happening in real life, right before my eyes. I thoroughly recommend it, it is a brilliant read and thoroughly engrossing.

Book Review

‘She’d never gambled in her life, not with money. Money was something to be earned, saved, and carefully watched. But her fingers slipped into her pocket where the last of her crumpled bills seemed to pulse with heat against her skin. If not now, when? She asked herself with another bubbling giggle she could no longer quite control. What good was 9.37? It would buy her a meal, she told herself, gnawing on her lip. But then what?’

~~~

Well, she played and she hit the big one. 2 million dollars, and romance.

There are a variety of love stories in the book world but this one was a little different because it was so improbable. You win money and the heart of the guy who owns the Casino in Vegas. Who wouldn’t be happy in those circumstances? The glamour and richness lend themselves to the story. Reading it was like playing make-believe as a child. There was no real depth yet every time I picked up the book I was swept into a different world, and loving it.

Although Nora Roberts wrote the book in 1998 I have only just come across it. Her writing has ‘grown’ since then but I found this earlier work most acceptable. Nora has a terrific following. I too am a great fan because of her ability to write a variety of genre, would that I were as skilled. She is a terrific storyteller who writes with warmth, humour and emotion.

Book Review

'Cleave's heroine is by turns funny, sad, flawed, sympathetic, both damaged and indomitable, and triumphantly convincing.' (Sunday Telegraph)

The Sunday Telegraph was just one critique, others followed in the same vein. This is my view.

INCENDIARY

I’ve read that people found this story interesting and realistic but I’m afraid it wasn’t so with me. The main character didn’t inspire any sympathy or real emotion. The blurb on the back page which attracted me in the first place was this:

“You aren’t stupid.

You know there’s no such thing as a perfect mother. Plenty of other books will tell you there is but this one won’t lie to you.

I was weak and I cheated and I was punished but my god I loved my child through all of it. Love means you never break and it means you’re stronger than the things they do to you. I know this is true because I have been through fire and I am the proof that love survives.

I am not a perfect mother but I will tell you the perfect truth, because this is you and me talking. This is my story.”

The whole story is, in fact, a sometimes humorously written letter to Osama Bin Laden, because he was the cause of her predicament. It concerns the plight of the main character’s policeman husband and small son who were tragically killed when terrorists blew up a football ground; this while she was having sex with another man. The entire book is based on sex, sometimes crude, and her exploits left me wondering where her heart was. The boy becomes a tool in her life, an imaginary presence throughout the story. If she had shown some remorse for her actions I might have had more sympathy. As it was I was at first sympathetic, then irritated by everything she did.

Admittedly the idea for the book was clever although the characters were somewhat implausible.

The style of writing was unusual: no punctuation, or rather no commas, which made the narrator seem illiterate. Her style of speech also made me think she was not well educated. Certain phraseology gave me the impression that she was working class living in a working class area, yet her policeman husband and noted journalist neighbours (whose behaviour at times was beyond belief) were more middle than working class. In other words, none of it rang ring true.

Chris Cleave is an excellent writer of words and knows how to put a laugh into a tale. However, the chosen subject was too serious so I would have preferred a little less flippancy in the compilation. I shall probably try reading another of his books. But not yet.

Book Review

Published in the UK under the name The Other Hand, Little Bee was shortlisted for the Costa Prize for Best Novel. CHRIS CLEAVE lives with his wife and three children in Kingston-upon-Thames, England. Visit www.chriscleave.com.

Little Bee is a remarkable and special story which the author requests is not spoilt by revealing the plot before anyone has the chance to read it.

Nevertheless, I can say that (a) it is extremely funny and (b) a scene set on an African beach is shocking.

The story starts there, but the book doesn't. It is what occurs afterwards that is most important.

The book was given to me by a blogging friend and I am grateful that I had the opportunity to read this amazing story.

The author, Chris Cleave, writes in the front of the book ‘Please don't tell anyone what happens. The magic is in how it unfolds.

I have been given another Chris Cleave book, entitled Incendiary. If it’s as good as Little Bee, I can’t wait to start reading.

Book Review

My latest read was a book by Douglas Kennedy called The Moment.

I waited ages for him to publish another novel but I didn’t mind because I knew when it arrived it would have been worth the wait. How wrong can a girl be?

Some authors get books published at a rapid rate and I often wonder how they do it. Writing itself takes time, not to mention the umpteen edits, on top of which there’s a life to live.

I remember being surprised on hearing about the way Barbara Cartland wrote books … well, in truth, it was a secretarial team that did the work. I suppose she set the theme of each book and let them get on with it. It killed the illusion of hard grafting.

You know the old saying ‘when you’ve read one you’ve read them all’ … for sure reading Cartland’s ‘much the same’ novels didn’t have the same appeal as a book someone had spent time on. The image of a struggling author bent over a desk, quill pen in hand, crumpled paper on the floor and not a secretary in sight does more to attract me to purchase the end product.

Barbara Cartland is no longer with us but she was not alone in saturating the market with reading matter. Nora Roberts is one of many more. I love her work but do wonder how on earth she gets so much stuff finished and published in record time.

I wonder if the transition to e-Books will be the same?

Copy and paste has a lot going for it so writing a book on a computer must be quicker than using laborious handwriting and reams of paper but that doesn’t mean the final result will be any better.

Going back to the latest Douglas Kennedy: the disappointment was acute. Tediousness was such that I found myself skimming whole paragraphs to try and get on with the story. Dialogue was undertaken with outrageously long words that would drive a true conversationalist insane. I’m sure nobody speaks that way in the real world. The background was historic, based on life in Berlin in the days when the Wall still existed, but Kennedy included the seamy side and dwelled on it. I’m not averse to a bit of dodgy goings-on provided it’s done without causing offence but there is such a thing as overkill.

The main characters didn’t get together until almost the middle of the book which made me wonder if the story would ever gain pace. Mediocre sex scenes were loosely described, mainly a lot of tumbling in and out of bed which failed to stir the senses, if you know what I mean.

Basically the story is a recap of an American writer’s romance in Berlin. He was essentially there to get material for a forthcoming book. On his arrival lodgings were found in the home of an Irish drug addict cum artist who was totally gay and who used the F word like it was going out of fashion. I had no objection to the guy being gay but I did so dislike the excessive use of bad language. Okay I know it’s used as illustration but the English language is powerful enough to describe such scenarios without insulting the reader.

The man meets woman situation was hasty; she was moving in with him within days. Their conversations, when they weren’t devouring each other in bed, were extensively geared to readers of the Chambers Dictionary. One chapter was devoted to the female character’s past life, conversationally narrated with interminable descriptions and almost page length paragraphs that made me want to skip the lot. I have yet to meet anyone who can relate a life story without interruption. I was taught that a writer should aim for space in order to give the reader breathing space.

One thing in Kennedy’s favour is the amount of research that was done; a history lesson in itself if written as such.

I have studied the reviews. Whilst first time Kennedy readers thought it was good, his regular followers did not. I wish I’d read them before chancing my arm, though I would probably have ignored them on the grounds that I’d always liked the author so wouldn’t be disappointed in his work.

So, Mr Kennedy, I’m afraid it’s goodbye from me. It’s unlikely that I will wait for the next one.