Binky the space cat  & Binky to the Rescue by Ashley Spires

This simple graphic novel for young readers is an absolute delight.

Binky is a space cat since he has never left the family "space station" he thinks anything outside the house is outer space.  So Binky has a mission: to blast off into outer space (outside), explore unknown places (the backyard) and battle aliens (bugs). Binky must undergo rigorous training so he can repel the alien attacks that threaten his humans. As he builds his spaceship, he must be extremely careful with his blueprints - the enemy is always watching.

But the enemy are bugs and they are everywhere, so Binky spends a lot of time chasing and eating the bugs to save his humans from life under alien control.

Soon Binky is ready to voyage into outer space. His humans go out there every day and he's sure they need a certified space cat to protect them. But just as he's about to blast off with his co-pilot, Ted (stuffed mousie), Binky realizes that he's left something very important behind and it's not the zero-gravity kitty litter.

In the 2nd book Binky the space cat and Ted, his stuffed mouse, fall out of the window and find themselves adrift in outer space (the backyard), the cat has to rely on his training to combat the aliens (bees and spiders) and to get himself home again. Although the feline returns safely, his trusty cohort has been left behind and Binky must save his best friend as one never leaves a mouse behind!

These are so utterly delightful.  I love the cat elements while still making this kid friendly.  It's hysterical when Binky toots after eating too many bugs "aka aliens".  Can't wait to read more Binky adventures.

Shape of Snakes by Minette Walters

For 20 years Mrs. Ranelagh has quietly collected evidence about the suspicious death of her neighbor, a black woman known as "Mad Annie," whose body was found in the gutter one evening. London police concluded that Annie was hit by a passing truck. But Ranelagh now armed with letters, statements and testimonials from both official and nonofficial sources is convinced she was beaten to death in a fury of racial hatred. Moreover, she suspects that one of her neighbors, or even her husband, Sam, may have been the killer.

From such an intriguingly simple setup springs another searingly narrated psychological drama by Edgar-winner Walters in which manners and other forms of propriety slowly give way to raw, ugly emotion. Ranelagh, the story's narrator, is a middle-aged woman whose restrained public persona masks a bitter, unsparing nature driven by a life of disappointment and futility. She herself was scarred by Annie's death, terrorized in the months following for being a "nigger lover" and publicly doubting the police version. Not only does she want to find out who killed Annie, she wants personal revenge. One by one, she confronts her old neighbors a disparate cast of losers and social climbers now spread across the London area. Ranelagh's search, however, turns into not only a quest for justice but an agonizing odyssey that forces to the surface painful truths about herself and her family.

This was an extremely painful book to read.  There is much about torture of cats and just terrible people in general. I found it almost too much.  But obviously Walters did a lot of research about this and felt it was an important element of the story. I had to skim those parts.  I just can only read one of her books every couple of years as though they are really well done are extremely disturbing.

The cat, the quilt and the corpse : a cats in trouble mystery by Leann Sweeney

Jillian Hart's cat is allergic to people. When she returns home from a quilt show, the sneezing of her cat Chablis raises a red flag. Jillian uses a special shampoo and takes precautions so Chablis has no reactions to her. The sneezing can mean only one thing. Someone has been in her home while she was away. A further examination of the premises reveals that her Abyssinian cat Syrah is nowhere to be found. Convinced that Syrah has been kidnapped, Jillian Hart starts her own investigation, an investigation which leads her to stories of more missing cats and a murder.

Living in a small town South Carolina Jillian hasn't really bonded with anyone as her husband died just after they moved their earlier that year. So everyone knows her business but she is oblivious to what has been going on around her. Her world centers around cats, not only her beautiful rescue cats but she imparts her knowledge and love of cats in everything she does. She makes little cat quilts as a business and for the local shelter. When her cat quilts show up at the murder scene, the clues become even more mysterious and the stakes more personal. As she narrows down the possible suspects, Jillian suspects more cats are in trouble and she might just need to save herself as well.

The ending was unexpected as I really didn't have the killer figured out and enjoyed Jillian try to figure out the small town politics and find connections when she has been isolated for so long.

This was a fun cat mystery that has the flavor of the Cat Who books which used to be one of my favorite series from my high school days.  It makes a nice change from traditional cozy mysteries.  I'm looking forward to more by this author.

Size 12 is not fat! by Meg Cabot

Heather Wells mystery

Twenty-eight-year-old Heather Wells rocked out when she was a teen, as a pop star that toured local malls with the boy band Easy Street. But once she stopped being a teenager, started packing on the pounds, and decided she wanted to write her own songs, Heather lost it all. Her recording contract was promptly taken away, her mother took off with her manager and all of her money to Argentina, and her boyfriend, Easy Street member, Jordan Cartwright, dumped her for the newest hot pop star, Tania Trace. But Heather is finally getting her life back on track. She's the Assistant Residence Hall Director at New York College, and she's even shacking up with one of the hottest guys on earth - okay, just as friends - Cooper Cartwright, Jordan's estranged, private eye brother. But when the body of a female co-ed from Heather's residence hall is discovered at the bottom of an elevator shaft, and everyone claims it's just an accident, Heather knows better, because she knows girls, and girls don't elevator surf. Then another body appears, and Heather knows that two accidents in two weeks is utterly impossible. So she begins investigating. The only problem, by the time she finds out who the killer is, it may be too late...for her.



I haven't read a Meg Cabot book in several years - enjoyed several of the Princess Diaries books.  So I was intrigued to read this book, not realizing she was starting a mystery series.  It is pretty light on the mystery but it was a fun look at college life from someone who really isn't in college but living in the environment.  I'm not sure I liked it enough to read more of the series as I got a bit tired of the drama that was interjected on practically every page.  But after reading the prolog by Cabot I have a whole new appreciation for her and this series.  So I'll try again.

Cinderella Deal by Jennifer Crusie

Eccentric Daisy Flattery collects thrift-store furniture, stray cats, and wishes her life were as interesting as the stories she tells.

When her upstairs, uptight, but incredibly gorgeous neighbor Linc Blaise needs a fiancee to clench a position as a history professor in a small-town college, he, against his better judgment, can't think of anyone who could lie better than Daisy Flattery, professional storyteller (and starving artist).

Linc, a workaholic, with his chrome-and-glass furniture and black Porshe has his life just the way he wants it. He finds himself maddened but attracted-against-his-will to Daisy, with her stray cats, cracked Tiffany lamps, and compulsion to embellish her life at faculty gatherings.

When Linc and Daisy conveniently break up after Linc is hired for the position at the college, the chair of Linc's department makes it clear that a fiancee/wife was part of the bargain. Linc is sufficiently compelled to make a temporary "Cinderella Deal" with Daisy that will change them both.

I listened to this on CD and it was highly entertaining.  I've enjoyed other books by Jennifer Crusie but found this more like her older books so wasn't surprised to find it was a Loveswept book.  She makes a nice change of pace from the seriously intense mysteries I sometimes read.  I find her right up there with Janet Evanovich.