Fur In The Paint

I am a voracious reader. In my downtime months I can work a 40 hour week and still easily plow through up to 3 books. That being said I rarely pick up a book that wasn’t recommended by someone, where I know nothing about the story or the author.

I went to the Rolfe Library to get the Dewey book (see below) and the book, How to Live: A Search for Wisdom from Old People (While They Are Still on This Earth) by Henry Alford was sitting out on the counter. The only reason it caught my eye was because it had a wrinkly Shar Pei dog on the cover. However the title made me smile. I flipped it over and read the back which was all glowing praises. Apparently this was a book written from many different interviews of people over the age of 80. Some famous, some not so much. And so intrigued, I checked it out, without so much as cracking open the book to read the inside cover.

I must say I was rather disappointed in this book. It just didn’t deliver. There were more words about his personal life (a gay man in his 40’s) than about the actual interviews. I mean seriously, he interviewed Phyllis Diller. Surely she warranted more than a few paragraphs. I guess I might have liked the book, had I not expected it to be something different that what it turned out to be. It was kinda like going out, expecting fine dining, only to be taken to a burger place.

Maybe I’ll read the inside cover next time.

What Budda’s Reading Now

We also just finished Dewey: The Small-Town Library Cat Who Touched the World by Vicki Myron. Not withstanding my great love of critters I don’t often read stories about animals. Not sure why. Probably they lean a little on the smaltzy side.

So why did I pick up this book you ask. Well mostly because I have been asked repeatedly if I’d read it yet. But also because I met Dewey and the small town in question is about an hour away from where I live.

In general I enjoyed the book. It gave quite a bit of Spencer’s history which I would think would be interesting to anyone from the area. (Perhaps not so much if you live anywhere else though.) Also, it talked allot about how Dewey brought comfort to many library patrons, including the elderly and disabled. Also she talked openly about her fight with cancer and how Dewey made life bearable through such a difficult time. (I’m a sucker for a book about critters helping people on an emotional or spiritual level.)

Budda liked that it was about a cat (for once.) He gives it a resounding 3 Paws up.

Tags: books

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