New Orleans Mourning

One of my goals in 2022 is to read more. See other books I've read or listened to here.

The first in the Skip Langdon series by Julie Smith, New Orleans Mourning, indroduces the lead character.

Skip Langdon might be from a wealthy esteemed white family in New Orleans high society, but she’s worked hard to distence herself from that past and set her self apart. At first rebellious without direction, joining the NOLA PD changed all that. She started at the bottom and is making her own way and her own name. True, she’s still only a beat cop but she’s ready to prove she can solve a high profile murder that happens on her rounds. But it’s going to mean going back to the roots she’s been trying hard to leave behind.

I read the third in this series and I was excited to see how Skip got her start. I picked the books up initially by they were set in New Orleans and I’m always looking to be transported there. These books are some of the baest for that, in my opinion. More than any other books I’ve read, they feel like New Orleans. The descriptions and vibe, makes me happy and nostalgic for a town I love. They are an older series, this book was written in 1990, so there are some outdated notions, ideas and language. And things like interracial marriages, white washing, or colorism, might stull shock Skip. But the lead character feels like she could be a real denizen of Nola, too. Especially bc the city has a history of pioneering (mostly black) women, especially in the police force. Another way in which these books feel a little ahead of their time, or at least not behind it, is the take on queer characters. So there’s an interesting mix here of a little outdated and a little progressive. I don’t know if Julie Smith intended these themes to be prevalent or picked up on. I’m not sure if colorism, queerness, interacial marriage, and womanly bodies, female friendship, found families, and the general relationships between the various groups depicted were intended to start conversations here but they definitely could. On the other hand, these books can be read as fun, 90s, cop mysteries. I like that the series can do both and I intend to keep reading to find out what happens to Skip along the way!! I recommend the Skip Langdon series to those who like strong females leads, especially if you enjoy a bigger bodied heroine, readers who want to read books set in New Orleans, and people who like cop dramas and cop mysteries.

What is your favorite city for a book to be set in?

This book can be seen in my July Wrap Up.

More about books here:
BookTube
Goodreads

The Water Cure

One of my goals in 2022 is to read more. See other books I've read or listened to here.

I put The Water Cure by Sophie Mackintosh in my video about 20 Books I Heard About in 2020 and Want to Read in 2021, and was so happy to find it in a Little Free Library a few months later!!

IMG_7272.JPG

Three sisters live on an island with only their mother and father for company. They are put through rigorous tests and exercises, taught to be always vigilant against the outside world and especially the dangerous and afflicted males of the world. When three men wash up on the shore, their world is turned upside down.

Phew, this was an unsettling one. In tone, structure, and subject matter, this book was unconventional, strange and often off putting. We are kept in the dark about many things and at the same time shown seems in graphic detail. The book is told in multiple perspectives including a conbined perspective or conciousness which takes some getting used to. I don’t usually like multi perspectives, but this really warmed for me, in part by the reader is kept off kilter in many aspects, but also bc the perspectives do not alternate each chapter. Sections are devoted to all parties, often several chapters at a time, or for whole sections. There is a lot of grief and violence, unease and manipulation in this book, but I still felt for each main character in their own way. There are some anticipatory elements to this book, which usually I really dislike, but bc the entire book made me feel off kilter, these were just another aspect of the overall discomfort of this book. All that being said, I really liked this one, and look forward to reading more of Mackentosh’s work. This could have felt like a Young Adult Novel, by all the main characters are in their teens or early twenties, but luckily, it did not go that route. It is a novel for adult readers and there are many adults themes and trigger warnings. If you do not want to read about child abuse, spousal abuse, cheating, grooming, infant death, or bodily harm or horror, this might not be the book for you. I would recommend this book to those who like plague books, dystopian stories, isolated woman tales and readers who like weird books.

Sophie Mackentoch has a new book out this year, Blue Ticket, I look forwarding to reading that when I find it. If you like a book, will you move tight to the next of the authors work, or do you file the info away?

This book can be seen in my July Wrap Up.

More about books here:
BookTube
Goodreads

84, Charing Cross Road

One of my goals in 2022 is to read more. See other books I've read or listened to here.

A contender for my favorite nonfiction, and possibly book of 2021, 84 Charing Cross Road is not at all what I expected. More of a memoir told in letters, and Helene Hanff’s love letter to book lovers.

*this book did end up being my favorite of the year!! See that video here.

IMG_7287.JPG

Finding the used books surrounding her upper west side apartment lacking, Helene Hanff turns to writing to a renowned book seller she has heard about at 84 Charing Cross Road, London, England. A play write, screen writer, and scholar, her book taste are extensive and specific. She finds a match to her love of books and a friend with the attendants on the other end of her letters.

This collection of letters, spanning more than 30 years, become more than just requests for specific used books, and Helene becomes a friend and patron of the workers at 84 Charing Cross Road. Her unorthodox manner and style, practically unheard of at the time, endears not only the main book seller, but many of the other employees, some writing to her in secret. Through many letters, the reader learns her personality, as they must have on the recieveing end of her requests. As we learn more about her life, and generosity, so too do we learn about the individuals and family, friends and neighbors of the Charing Cross road book shop. Helene goes out of her way to care for her new friends, sending care packages and letters to spouses. Although the letters can be sporacdic, partly bc Helene was not terribly organized, and partly be she originally didn’t intend to keep them, one comes to love both sides of this unusual exchange and becomes invested in the lives and well being of all these seemingly disparate people. I particularly love the ideas and implications of community, family and shared love for people who may never meet. The times when letters go unanswered or months or year pass with no letter at all seem intolerable and deeply sad. But then a letter or a book will arrive and we are once again among friends. Some of the original authors of letters disappear, and we have no way of contacting them or finding out their further stories and it is heartbreaking. The relationships built in the slim volume will stick with me for a long time, and I have thought about this book so often since first reading it. I would highly recommend this book to all readers, partly bc it is a love letter to readers and books, partly bc it’s a delightful and easy read for fiction and nonfiction lovers, and partly bc it is a heartwarming and heartbreaking story of caring for our fellow human. I would entreat all to read this book.

I also read the sequel and continuation of this nonfiction story (much later in 2021) . It’s rare we get a sequel to a true life story, but with Helene we are that lucky!

This book can be seen in my July Wrap Up.

More about books here:
BookTube
Goodreads

Weekly Video Round Up #49

1/18 - BookTube Spin 2022 | Spin 5 Reaction | Tricked Again! | BookTube Game | Rick MacDonnell

1/24 - Keep or Toss 2021 | Going thru all 95 books I read last year | Unhaul | Bookshelf Tour | Read Shelf

1/26 - Favorite and Least Favorite Book Covers of 2021 | Best and Worst Covers I Read | 2021 Year in Review

1/28 - Little Library Tour | 12 Little Libraries in New Jersey | Xmas decor, jersey shore, free books!

Children of Men

One of my goals in 2022 is to read more. See other books I've read or listened to here.

The last of three books I read for a PD James reading Vlog, Children of Men is her only Sci Fi. I was lucky enough to find this library discard copy in a little free library near my work.

IMG_7282.JPG

It’s been 30 years since it was discovered that no new children were being born. Theo has settled into the end of his life, he teaches adults in college, he loves his flat, he only sometimes regrets his lost loves. He is comfortable and not looking for excitement before death. He is not expecting to get thrown into conspiracy, and possibly change the course of the human race.

This books starts on Jan 1 2021, and I almost wish I had started reading it then, too. But I’m happy that it was a coincidence that I did end up reading it sometime in 2021. It’s also about a global phenomenon that effects all humans, so reading it in 2021 was timely in that way, as well. As I mentioned this is PD James’ only sci fi. Written in the 90s, It was made into a well received movie in the 2000s. I really liked the idea of how each nation, focusing on England, would deal with a global health crisis. This book is quite English centric, perhaps satirically stating that England would handle this issue far better than other nations. But behind the national inovations, comforts and conceits there are dark forces at work, to keep the peace at least from a outside perspective. Under the stoic sheen of a well organized country and world dying naturally, PD James does a great job at keeping an undercurrent of uncomfortableness and unease. I don’t love tense anticipation in stories, but this was more of a proclaimed foreboding. This is a story about the salvation of the human race, but also of one man and the idea that self possessed determination can change the course of a life. One can decide to live, or resign themselves to death. This book tackles that in an interesting way, depicting a resistance to action with a long interlude in the middle of the story. This book and story have certainly earned a place in sci fi history and it’s easy to see why this is a modern classic of the genre. I would highly recommend this to PD James fans, bc it is so different than her well known mysteries. But there are glimmers of her more more traditional work. For instance the flat of our main character is pretty much identical to a flat described in The Private Patient, the last of the Adam Dalgliesh novels and written nearly 30 years later. I would also recommend this book to sci fi lovers, those interested in the classics of the genre, people who like end of the world stories, or readers who want to read about global pandemics and their geopolitical repercussions.

Have you read this book? What are your thoughts? What is your favorite classic sci fi story?

This book can be seen in my July Wrap Up.

More about books here:
BookTube
Goodreads

Call Me By Your Name

One of my goals in 2021 is to read more. See other books I've read or listened to here.

I was looking around for another book featuring queer writers or characters for Pride month and settled on Call Me By Your Name by Andre Aciman. I had heard of the book and the movie, but never seen the latter.

9780312426781_p0_v8_s1200x630.jpg

Elio is used to his father’s university students joining them for their summers in Italy. The students help his father with his work, study and work on their own writing, lounge by the pool and visit the village. Elio doesn’t often interact with them. But the year Oliver is on exchange, Elio takes notice. An at first timid and distant relationship soon blossoms into something new and strange. This coming of age and coming out story is to told in the sweeping and majestic thoughts, feelings and emotions of a teenage boy.

I had heard of the movie with Timothy Chalemet and Arrmie Hammer, heard that this was a queer love story of two young men in Italy over a summer. I had also heard that there was some controversy over the age gap and potential grooming/exploitation. I was interested to learn that Aciman was an Egyptian author, the first I have read from, I believe. And I was excited to read this divisive queer book. I found it on audio, read by Hammer. He had recently fallen under another shadow in the media, being accused of potential abuse and cannibalistic tendencies. But I really enjoyed his performance and voice acting. I might still be torn on the age difference in this book, as it is a little too far and the young portion a little too young to be entirely comfortable. And I was quite shocked with the graphic sexual descriptions and content in this book. It was much steamier than I had anticipated. It was the kind of audio book one wants to make sure others don’t hear snippets of ideally or out of context, unexpectedly. All that being said, I really enjoyed the book, the love story and it’s, to many readers, unsatisfying ending. There has recently been a sequel written, but personally I would not like to read it and have this story extended. I quite liked the ending and feel satisfied with the story as so and would not want to learn something I may not like. This book reminded me a lot in subject and in tone to a movie from the 90s I equally like, Stealing Beauty. It gave me the same longing, vacation, wishing for love, vibes that that movie does. The infinite possibilities of summer, the wistfulness for summer love. I would recommend this book for those interested in reading something in that vain, those who want to read more m/m romances, readers who like queer books, but in all those categories, only those who can handle explicit sex scenes in books.

What is your favorite queer centered book?

This book can be seen in my July Wrap Up.

More about books here:
BookTube
Goodreads

Regularly Scheduled Programming

In 2016, I started looking back and seeing what posts I used regularly and making a list. Every year, I look back for my own memory, mostly, but you may want to take a look back, too! I’m late to this article this year, but I think this year it’s especially important to log this info.

Why is that you may ask? Well in 2021, I pretty much didn’t post on my blog. If we looked back and did the calculations (I have not actually done that), I would have posted less blogs posted than in most of the past years. If these are my regular series, but I haven’t posted many of them this year, do they still count? How do we look at what series I stuck with despite being scarcely here? Which count and which don’t?

Below is a list of everything that I would consider a regular series. I’ve starred the ones that were more relevant or more often posted in 2021.

There are several series that are more usually updated, at least monthly and/or weekly:

Month in Review - A review of each month and my favorite instagrams for that month. *

Monthly Plant Update - A review of all the plants I've observed for each month. *

Mad Cat Garden - We started our garden a few years ago, but it’s become a great blog feature.

On My Mind On Friday Morning - A few things I've noticed around the internet, and life, recorded on Friday morning. *

Book Reviews - What I've been reading.*

Weekly Video Round Ups - Here I put the collection of videos from my BookTube each week. *

6 More Months of Zero Waste - In this series of posts we tackle moving to a more zero waste lifestyle. We will be taking a break (kinda) on this series up for at least the first six months of 2021.

Bullet Journal - I've been keeping a BuJo for several years now, and I like to check in about once a month.

Mad Cat Capsule - In 2017, I started keeping a capsule wardrobe, follow my progress here.

Zero Waste - 2017 also marked the start of my zero waste, plastic free journey. I post thoughts, ideas, recipes, and goals. 

Something Nice - Don't you love it when nice stuff happens? 

Something New - Something new I've learned or done. 

.Tattoo Story - To remember my tattoos and why I got them, I record it here.

Recipes - I want to include more recipes, specifically zero waste recipes, here.

Definitions - Some terms that I and other bloggers use but might be new to you. Here’s where you can learn more about all the things we talk about on MCQ.

Product Review - This is where I record reviews of products I have tried.

Monthly Goals - I have been trying to achieve several monthly goals so taht they can eventually become regular habits.

Pandemic Pantry - Originally started to showcase how to use up items druing the worst of lock down, I have taken aspects of this practice into daily life.

Homeschooling - In 2020, I started recording my homeschooling history. I would like to expand this series more in 2021.

Tattoo Story - The stories of my tattoos.

Joy of Using Up - This has been an off and on series, but I find myself gravitating to it more and more.

A Week of Books - Here I post even more book reviews to catch up and keep on track!

Sewing/Quilting - I would really like to bring back weekly sewing posts, but so far I’ve made it about one monthly.

Shelfie - Just pics of my home. (this one is an old series, but something I would like to bring back monthly).

There have been quite a few series that have fallen by the wayside, some I would like to bring back, others that might be gone forever.

Art and Nature... - Art and nature go together. I like to write about it here. 

Zoo at Home, Zoo Abroad - We love to visit animals, zoos, aquariums, etc... when we can.

Travel - One of my long standing goals is to document my travels.

Life Admin Day - This is where we check in on some admin goals we need to achieve, then see if we do achieve them.

Off Season - Notes on places I've seen, been, or explored and why I like them better in the off season. 

What I Eat in a Day - I love to eat, love to know what people are eating, love to share!

Habit Shift - Here I talk about the habits I love and those I want to make

So we can see that really only a few of these actually made in to be reoccuring series this year. And scrolling back through a year of posts, it’s easy to see what some of the issues, distractions and priorities were were. My booktube definitely was part of the reason the blog was not as loved in 2021. But also, I’ve been having lots of difficulties with the squarespace interface almost all year. Those issues not only derailed my being able to actually post, but frustrated me to the point that blogging become unpleasant and upsetting. Although those issues and frustrations haven’t ceased, I have developed some workarounds that have made posting a little easier.

It’s always nice to look back, see what series and posts make a regular scheduled programing on the blog and to reflect on what I love to post. Of course that makes me think of the year ahead and what posts will be like going forward.

Do you have a series on Mad Cat Quits that you enjoy? One that you missed in the year of 2021? One that you would like to see added? All feedback is welcome!

Hunger Makes Me a Modern Girl

One of my goals in 2021 is to read more. See other books I've read or listened to here.

My friend Noah was getting rid of some books before they moved and I spotted Carrie Brownstein’s memoir, Hunger Makes Me a Modern Girl.

IMG_7277.JPG

Carrie Brownstein is one of the forerunners and creators of the post punk girl band Sleater Kinney. She is an actress and comedian also well known for Portlandia. In Hunger Makes Me a Modern Girl she shares moments of her childhood, creating her dream band, her thoughts on growing up queer and her struggles with anxiety and mental health.

I was never a huge fan of Sleater Kinney, but I was indrotuced to them by an ex who was. Much like my favorite post punk band, Sleater Kinney contained an introverted but luminescent member who people of a certain ilk were drawn to. In Sleater Kinney that was Carrie Brownstien. Lovely, queer, quiet but Carrie wrote my favorite song from the group. She titled this memoir after that song. I was very interested in learning more about her relationshio to the band, growing up in Olympia Washington, and growing up queer. And while this memoir does relate many of those things, as well as her relationship with her mother who suffered from a severe eating disorder, her father coming out as gay later in life, and her struggle with mental health and anxiety, this book is mostly about her time and experiences with Sleater Kinney. This memoir is weirdly impersonnal, holding the reader at arm’s length at all times. How Brownstien felt about many of the elements in her life is told in a clinical or separated way, and one never feels like you know the whole story, even from her perspective. She is holding back from connecting with the audience and with telling her truth. I enjoyed this book, but it left me not much more educated about it’s subject than I was before reading it. I would recommend this book to readers who like band memoirs, especially those who like to hear about each album of a band and how they were conceived, or fans of the band Sleater Kinney. I would not suggest this book for those who like in depth memoirs, or fans of Portlandia.

What is your favorite book about a band? Or what is your favorite memoir?

This book can be seen in my June Wrap Up.

More about books here:
BookTube
Goodreads

Weekly Video Round Up #47 - The End of BXXKmas, the Start of a New Year

1/5 - 2022 Reading and Channel Goals | 2021 Goals Recap | New Year 2022 | Can I meet these book goals??

1/6 - BXXKmas 2021 | Week 5 Vlog | Finishing Books | Readathons Recap | Happy New Year 2022!! | Cat Butts

1/7 - TBR ASMR #16 | Book ASMR, page turning, scratching, rubbing, bird & nature sounds, gentle breathing

1/9 - December Vlog Style Reading Wrap Up | December 2021 | 8 books in Dec | Classic Mystery, Nonfiction

The Nickel Boys

One of my goals in 2021 is to read more. See other books I've read or listened to here.

For most of 2021, I thought The Nickel Boys would be my favorite read of the year. I read so many amazing books but it still made my top ten.

IMG_6395.JPG

Elwood Curtis’ life is changed forever when he is sent to The Nickel Academy, a reform school for boys in 1960s Florida.

* editor’s note: This book is reviewed out of order. Usually I post books in order that I read them. This is one of my favorite books of the year, but I struggled to review it and so it is later in my reviews and out of order.

Based on true places and events, this was a beautiful and heartbreaking book. It was a short novel but definitely is well defined and well paced. It was also a brutal tale of racism, prejudice and hope in the heart of the civil rights movement. Made more sad and poignant bc we know many of these true stories exist, this fictional account really emotionally involved the reader. I loved that the story unfolded in a way that kept me guessing, and broke my heart but was also ultimately uplifting. I cried at the end of this book, for the characters but also that we live in a world where reform school existed and still exist. I read this only weeks before hearing of the bodies uncovered in Canadian reform schools where indigenous children were imprisoned, tortured and killed. And to know that those injustices still run rampant, it’s defintatly a tough read. I would highly recommend this book tho, if you, as a reader, can handle the difficult subject matter. The writing is compelling and characters endearing. I think this is a good book for those who know some of this true history and are looking to hear fictional stories of that time, or those who want to learn more but aren’t ready to start with the more graphic true accounts. I would recommend The Nickel Boys to readers who like historical fiction set during the civil rights movement, or people who like southern American tales.

This book is featured in my March Wrap Up.

More about books here:
BookTube
Goodreads

Best Nine 2021

I always really like to get my best nine on instagram each year. I’ve been doing it for the last 6 years. Ever since we moved to Asbury Park. This year I couldn’t get the bestnine website to work. I tried multiple times starting in december to get them to generate my grid. And it just wouldn’t do it. Luckily, 2021 was not a banner year for me and insta. Or unluckily. Either way, I sat down the other day, looked at every insta post I did and found my most viewed nine posts. And made my own grid.

2021

This grid has some interesting aspects but most notable is that this is the first grid with no cats.

In 2022, I hope to post more on instagram again. As of today, I haven’t actually posted at all this year, yet. But I have been taking photos every day. I’m trying to figure out a way to post on insta without actually going on insta. One idea I’m working on is a 365 photo project. Another is getting a insta feeding app so that I can schedule my posts but not actually be on the insta app.

Although I love insta in many ways, I find that is can be depressing to see certain real world events unfold there, and it’s a giant time suck when I get stuck in endless scrolling.

I’ll be excited to see what 2022 brings in pictures.

Here are all the past years:

2020

2019

2018

2017

2016

2015

Weekly Video Round Up #46 - Penultimate BXXKmas Videos

12/27 - 20 Books that I Found Out About in 2020 and Want to Read in 2021 Recap | BXXKmas 2021 | Reaction Vid

12/28 - BookTube Spin 2021 Reading Vlog | Spin 4, Book 1 | BXXKmas 2021 | Golden Age Classic Mystery | Crime

12/29 - 21 Books I Found Out About in 2021 That I Want to Read in 2022 | BXXKmas 2021 | Booklist for 2022

12/30 - BXXKmas 2021 | Week 4 Vlog | xmas day reading, lights, romances, horror, finishing two books!

12/31 - LAST Recently Acquired Books | BXXKMas 2021 | Little Free Libraries, Used Book Stores, From Mom

December Plant Update

December had unseasonably warm days, chilly days, rain and sun. It was a good month for plant and beach and animal observations. We stayed close to home for all of the month, pretty much; Never traveling further than our county and not venturing far, even then.

Two somber boys.

Many sun rises.

A Cooper’s Hawk?

A neighbor cat.

One very confused iris.

Beautiful but in entirely the wrong time and place.

Decorations and celebrations.

Fata Morgana - when ships appear to float on air rather than sea.

In December, my work sched was almost entirely early mornings, which allowed me to see many great sights, including a floating air ship and striking sunrises. In Jan, I might catch some sunsets from work.

We’ve alread had snow in the new month and the new year. What were you’re plant observations for December and the end of 2021? What are you looking forward to in 2022?

(More Than A) Weekly Video Round Up #45 - More BXXKMas

12/15 - 12 Days of Bookmas Tag | BXXKmas 2021 | See me struggle to remember the words | NO singing

12/16 - BXXKmas Week 2021 | Week 2 Vlog | More sunrises, finishing books, creepy dolls | SPOILERS

12/18 - Booktuber Shoutouts | BXXKmas 2021 | Find Booktubers I Love | 500 Subs | 1000 Subs

12/23 - BXXKmas 2021 | Week 3 Vlog | New Jersey in December | Christie's Missing, Cloak and Dagger, Mystery

12/25 - Rant Review of When No One Was Watching | The Lost Reading Vlog of 2021 | Bxxkmas 2021

Death Comes to Pemberley

One of my goals in 2021 is to read more. See other books I've read or listened to here.

Death at Pemberley is PD James’ homage to and continuation of Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austin.

After the events of Pride and Prejudice, Elisabeth and Mr Darcy are once again thrown into drama but in a stuffy British way. .

I’ve never read P&P, having done so might have increased my enjoyment of this book. But maybe not. I read this book as part of my project (“project”) to read all of PD James’ work. We ALL know I love her mysteries, but she has a few other types of books as well. I read this along side with one of her mysteries and her only Sci Fi. What I really did enjoy about Death Comes to Pemberley was that is was obvious that this book was an exercised for James to write in the style of another author. Although I haven’t read from the author she is emulating, I feel like this was a really successful take on it. The writing in this felt very “classic”! I liked that this book was a big departure from the kind of writing I’m used to reading from PD James. I liked that I was able to live vicariously through this book as far as reading a book (P&P) that I will never actually read. Or don’t even plan or intend to read. There was a lot about Pride and Prejudice in this book so I feel like I don’t really need to read that one now. Although this is billed as a mystery, there isn’t much mystery here. But I feel like that was an intentional choice as that is how a P&P mystery would be. More stuffy as well as easy to solve is how I would assume Jane Austin would have written this “sequel”. I certainly didn’t dislike this book, I thought it was fine. I would recommend this book for fans of Pride and Prejudice, people who enjoy retellings of classic novels, readers who like to read continuations of classics written by modern authors, and of course PD James lovers, like me!

What modern retelling or continuation is your favorite?

This book can be seen in my June Wrap Up.

More about books here:
BookTube
Goodreads