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Meowy Good Books from Sister Chloe the Convent Cat
Today we have a special guest blogger, Sister Chloe the Convent Cat.
A Meowy National Library Week to all you cats (and dogs I suppose). We heard last week about what is on Sister Maxine’s book shelf, so I asked if I could share some of my good books. You might be surprised to know that cats are excellent readers though we pretend to like to only lay on them.
Here’s what I’ve got on my kitty shelf:
- Jaguar by Alan Rabinowitz — Sister Julie read another book of his called Beyond the Last Village and loved it (I know because I sat on her while she stayed up all night to finish it)
- Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck — I’ve seen a lot of his books on Sister Maxine’s shelf, but of course the mice appealed to me.
- Chicken Soup for the Soul: My Cat’s Life — There’s a great essay in here about my friend Destiny written by his person Cate Adelman (a friend of my people and the A Nun’s Life Community).
Following in the footsteps of my humans, Sister Maxine and Sister Julie, I am something of a writer myself. I have a couple projects planned:
- I’d like to do a book about Saint Gertrude of Nivelles, the patron saint of cats. Very little is known about her so I’d like to do some more research and am planning a trip to Belgium.
- I’m thinking about writing a book in collaboration with Button my dog friend on the East Coast: Cats are from Mars, Dogs are from Venus: A Practical Guide for Working Collaboratively to Get Away with More.
Now with all this reading and writing, it’s important to remember to take a break. So in my spare time I head for choir practice with the Jingle Cats (best known for happy birthday songs and a fab rendition of Ode to Joy) or I find a nice spot in the sun and sleep.
Hmmm …. sleep ….
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Button says she would be most happy to collaborate with Sr. Chloe. “We could create our own blog or wiki, as some of Marg’s friends have done when working on books together. And of course, I have an “in” with a great researcher! Great idea, Sr. Chloe! Maybe we should start with a blog post for ‘A Nun’s Life!’”
Love,
Button
Button, this is the beginning of a long and beautiful friendship. Thank God our humans are handy with these computers or I might never have met you!
I love this!
Give my love to Lucy!
I’d suggest she check out Homer’s Odyssey, not the Greek one!
Goggle it, Chloe. I love Jingle Cats’ Ode to Joy!
A great suggestion, Sister Gayle! I will add that to my list.
Chloe -
Great writing. Will have to check out some of those titles….
How was the catnap?
Hmmmm …. catnap …. must go ….
Chloe, I’m very interested in your plans to write a book in collaboration with Button the dog: Cats are from Mars, Dogs are from Venus: A Practical Guide for Working Collaboratively to Get Away with More. Please let me know as soon as it’s published.
I like it when my human reads to me. Most of all I like to lick the glue on the binding.
Daisy
PS I like cats.
Daisy, have you ever tried lint tape? Highly recommend.
Chloe, I don’t think we have any lint tape. Does it taste anything like peanut butter, or those salmon snackies my human thinks I don’t know are in her pocket?
Sister Chloe, I thought that you might like to know that a monastery cat called Senor Pilich has written two books about his adventures with the Benedictine monks in Western Australia. Unfortunately I am having some trouble finding pictures of them online, but a nice lady has written a review of one of them here:
http://ohpeacefulday.blogspot.com/2009/10/new-norcia.html
and you can learn more about the monastery here:
http://www.newnorcia.wa.edu.au
New Norcia is a long way away, but if you’re brave enough to go to Belgium you could manage it, I’m sure.
My mom, Miss Kitty, has been through Belgium a few times. I will have to text her and see if she’s been to the monastery before. She knows many of the cats in the literary world — they keep telling her to write of her adventures traveling the world! I would love to see a picture of Senor Pilich. Maybe I will visit the monastery when I begin my research on Saint Gertrude.
i always heard miss kitty got around.
Dearest Chloe,
I just wanted to send an email via kbart that you and I are on the same page re the book you want to write. (My paws don’t include thumbs so that is why kbart is typing for me.)
Second I thought since you shared what is on your book shelf, I would share what is on kbart’s shelf. She reads to me frequently, although I am all knowing. I let her think she is telling me something I don’t know already by reading to me.
Smooch Your Pooch by Teddy Slater: Scholastic, 2010. Its a wonderful children’s book about loving your furry companion which in this case is a pooch. kbart brought it home for me and she and marg take turns reading it.
Wherever you go, there you are : mindfulness meditation in everyday life by Jon Kabat-Zinn: Hyperion, 1994. A really nice book for kbart when she needs calming down. (if you ask me petting and smooching me should do the trick but sometimes she needs more)
The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society by Mary Ann Shaffer: Dial Press, 2008. Kbart says this is just a wonderful book – says it is full of hope and what people are capable of. She also likes that it is written in the presentation of letters that you would get from a friend. And while she has read it – she always goes back to it for ideas.
And if I perish : frontline U.S. Army nurses in World War II by Evelyn M. Monahan & Rosemary Neidel-Greenlee: knopf, 2003. Kbart is doing a lot of research and writing in the area of women in World War 2, especially the WACs and the donut dollies of the American Red Cross who drove clubmobiles just behind Patton’s army.
And the things I like the best on her bookshelf are the sort-of cookbooks she has that deal with the stories behind whatever the recipe is. She and I particularly like the one:
Cooking with Italian grandmothers : recipes and stories from Tuscany to Sicily by Jessica Theroux: Welcome books, 2010.
Anyway Chloe I just wanted to share these with you. I am so glad that you and I have become fur-riends!
Your kbart’s bookshelf sounds as fascinating as Sister Julie’s closet when I break into it in the wee hours of the morning. Sister Maxine reads the Wall Street Journal to me, though I can’t quite understand why this guy she talks about, Dow Jones, always gets her going! Must be a dog (no offense).
Teddy and I would be interested in joining your literary society, Sr. Chloe. We are not religious dogs, but we are friends of several nuns, so we think we would fit in nicely. Since we live in a rather literary environment, we’ve been exposed to some of the classics, like “Travels with Charlie,” “Lad, a Dog,” and “Lassie, Come Home,” but we also are very fond of “Marley and Me,” and “Born Free.” OK, that one is about a really big cat, but we have limited acquaintance (by Marsha’s orders) with the domestic variety. We’re sure we’d learn to love cats and not chase them up draperies if we had more chance to get acquainted.
~~~Gentleman Jack (more often known as Jack, the Dog.)
Jack, we really liked the post about your parish on your blog. Everyone knows that I’m a Catholic dog because I wear a St. Francis medal on my collar.
We’re right now reading “The Cosmic Pilgrim” by Margaret MacIntyre. I might be partly summarized by: http://www.globalcommunity.org/flash/wombat.shtml
but goes beyond that even.
Dear Chloe,
Thanks so much for mentioning my story! It delights my heart to see the story of my beloved Destiny reaching so many people. I even received a beautiful note from a man in Saudi Arabia who loved our story!!
What a small world it is!
I just found out that our story is available on the web for those who are interested:
http://www.beliefnet.com/Inspiration/Chicken-Soup-For-The-Soul/2011/04/Destiny.aspx
purrrrrrrrrrrrrrrs to all from Fiona
So, in catching up with my Treat Lady’s (I have no owner) reading for her, I ran across this post. It seems my kind is being discriminated against around here, although it doesn’t surprise me out of a cat. If cats are from Mars and dogs are from Venus, where are chickens from? And if anybody says Uranus I’m coming after you, spurs drawn.
I might be interested in joining your literary society, as well, although don’t expect me to read any of that “chicken soup” stuff. My Treat Lady reads those, but I have a hard time getting past that title. Besides, I have a more refined book shelf. Might I interest you in “Animal Farm?” Or maybe the complete stories of Henny Penny (Henny Penny is a hottie). My Treat Lady loves Flannery O’Connor, too. She did write one story about her own pet chicken, although it was a banty and I’m sure they don’t count as real chickens.
I say, “equal time for chickens!”