If there are two things you should know about me by now, it’s that I love cats and I love books! And as a blogger, there’s nothing like a good book tag to have fun with when the rest of my brain isn’t working. A tag that combines cats and books is a rare treat! Thank you to Holly at Nut Free Nerd for this tag!

Note: clicking on the book titles will take you to Amazon if you are interested in purchasing any of the books. These are NOT affiliate links.

Purr: As cats do this when they’re happy or relaxed, what is the book that makes you happiest or relaxed? My Bible. Having quiet time when you can hear the Lord speaking to you through His Word is an experience unlike any other. Somehow, no matter what I’m feeling, I always wind up at the right verses that let me know that the Lord Jesus hears my every thought and prayer.

Sleep: What is a book that put you to sleep or was just boring? Great Expectations by Charles Dickens. I had to read it the summer before my senior year of high school (age 17-18) for my AP English Literature class. I seem to recall nearly dozing off many times while reading it, which is probably why it took me so long to get through it. Although to be fair, I’ve pretty much hated every book I’ve ever been forced to read in my life. Maybe it would be different now that I can read whatever I want, whenever I want.

Twitch while dreaming: Have you ever dreamt of a book you read? Ugg, yes, and it was frightening. I had either just finished or was about to finish Ravensbrück: Life and Death in Hitler’s Concentration Camp for Women by Sarah Helm, an explicitly detailed 768-page monster about, well, what the title says. And if you’ve never dreamed about being in a concentration camp, I hope you never do.

Seems to play nice…until the claws are out!: Which book had the biggest plot twist(s)? Thr3e by Ted Dekker. This book is vintage Dekker, published back in 2003. I think it was the first book of his that I ever read. He writes Christian fiction in a very compelling way, that makes you really think about what your faith in Jesus truly means. This book is a bit different from that from what I remember, but is a psychological thriller with a twist that literally had me yelling, “WHAT?!” It’s a twist I hadn’t seen used before or since. I’m not giving it away. ?

Cuddles: Which book character would you give a hug to? Even though I’ve tried to read the book twice now and just can’t seem to get more than halfway through, Pat Peoples from The Silver Linings Playbook by Matthew Quick. He just seems so vulnerable. The poor man wants to do anything he can to earn back the love of his life, Nicole. He’s just spent several years (unbeknownst to him) in a mental hospital that he’s terrified of being sent back to. Maybe my opinion would change if I actually finished the book, since I never saw the movie, either, so I don’t know how it turns out. But that’s my take on it for now.

Catnip: What’s a book that made you have warm and fuzzy feels? Oddly enough, a book about a cat called Dewey by Vicky Myron. I read this back when it came out in 2010, so it’s a bit difficult to remember details. But I especially remember the part about the library Christmas tree and Dewey’s reaction to “the biggest, stinkiest rubber band ever!” (Or something along those lines.) It made me think of a few certain felines I know! But who wouldn’t love a story about a library cat?

Cat breeds: Your favorite book(s)? I’ve answered this before in a book tag, but I never get tired of it! My favorite book is A Tree Grows in Brooklyn by Betty Smith. I fell in love with it right away. I could immediately relate to Francie and her love of reading. It was fascinating to read about life in the Williamsburg slums 100 years ago (an area which is now hipster central). I also love how it went back to when Johnny and Katie met and how it followed Francie past childhood. It’s a story that just feels so visceral and real. I love every bit of it. I think I’ve read it at least three times, which seems like barely enough over fifteen years! This means I must read it again!

Getting the cat: How did you find your favorite book(s)? In the summer of 2002, prior to my junior year of high school (age 16-17), we had to read in preparation for our AP English Language class. Our teacher surprisingly let us choose whatever book we wanted. I’d of course heard of A Tree Grows in Brooklyn and happened to see it sitting on the summer shelves at Barnes and Noble, so I picked it up. The cover attracted me. I wondered what the little girl seemed so sad about. As I was reading the book, I sniffled a little when I came across the part in the book that I knew was depicted on the cover- Francie’s eighth grade graduation. If you’ve read the book, you’ll get it.

Being in places they shouldn’t: Least favorite cliché? Warning: angry woman with fertility problems getting on her soapbox. When a couple gets married and the girl gets pregnant on her wedding night. Especially if she’s a virgin beforehand. It really doesn’t usually work that way. There’s only a 20% chance per cycle of a woman getting pregnant anyway. (Although, to be fair, that number may have been higher in the past.) So she’d have to be within that painfully short window and be able to ignore the, uh, extreme discomfort of it being the first time. Here’s looking at Secrets She Kept by Cathy Gohlke, sort-of The Vow by Felicity Goodrich, and the vomitous crap known as the series with the sparkly vampires.

The good old cardboard box: Most underrated book series? You know, I really did enjoy the Left Behind series by Tim Lahaye and Jerry B. Jenkins. It’s a series of 13 books, published between 1995 and 2007, plus a prequel trilogy that came after the fact. The books were written as an interpretation of how the book of Revelation, the final book of the Bible, which has not yet come to pass, might play out. In general, this includes the event known as the Rapture, in which believers in Christ will be removed from Earth before the seven-year Great Tribulation. The time will see the rise of the Antichrist and the False Prophet, Armageddon, and the second coming of Jesus Christ. Even if you don’t believe in these things (for the record, I do), this series makes for very exciting and shocking reading about the end times. Think Indiana Jones, Mission: Impossible, and other cool things like that. Just don’t watch the few movies that were made; they’re flat out awful. But the books are amazing!

What do you think of this tag? Feel free to participate if you want to! Have you read any of these books? Do you have any cats?

💛ribbonrx