Life and Things
This was a very hard week. This Monday past, I had to make the call to put ZeeZee to sleep. She went downhill fast in the space of a few hours. It hurt so much, seeing her like that. Knowing, she’s just a toddler by our standards. No infant deserves that suffering. I know, it just is. No fairness based on human values. Nature is impartial. And still…
Brother Loki went with us. Loki needed to see that ZeeZee was gone, so he wouldn’t be confused. Both our vet and the vets at the special clinic said it was a necessary thing. I was holding him right by her when they did it. I am firmly convinced that he saw her leave. Everything about his body language suggested he suddenly saw something in the air above her that we couldn’t. He was laser-focused. He cocked his head, as if listening, looked back at ZeeZee’s body, then seemed to follow that something with his eyes as it went to (or through) the ceiling. No, there was no bug. I checked. And he never squirmed to get down.
You will be missed, little bit!
On a happier note…
I got my second prosthesis yesterday. So freaking cool! Then I went to get my state ID renewed. Not cool at all. We were there for over four hours, standing in line after line. The evening was nice though. We went to see School of Rock at the Orpheum.
Enjoyable posts of the week from others
Please forgive. I just decided to start this, so the selection isn’t an accurate representation of the whole week!
Where The Red Fern Grows by Wilson Rawls
Blog Tour/Book Review: Call of the Curlew by Elizabeth Brooks
Children’s Books Readathon – Polls to Choose Books (August 2018)
ARC Review: A Thousand Beginnings and Endings by Ellen Oh, Elsie Chapman
Book Bloggers Responsibilities
My Posts of the week ICYMT
Review: What Kitty Did Next by Carrie Kablean
Tour: What Kitty Did Next by Carrie Kablean
A ‘Star’ is Born; from Minor to Major
Books read, reviewed, and posted/scheduled this past week
What Kitty Did Next by Carrie Kablean, 4*
Monstrum by Kat Ross, July 5th, 5*
Favourite Read(s) of the Week
Current Read
Next Up (maybe)
Building a Trade Empire by Paul E Horsman
High Merchant by Paul E Horsman
Fascinating New Yorkers by Clifford Browder
Hiding by Jenny Morton Potts
Jurassic Florida by Hunter Shea
Everything Under the Sun by Jessica Redmerski
Dunn by Kay Jay
Book Haul
‘An intimate look at the full spectrum of shame—often masked by addiction, promiscuity, perfectionism, self-loathing, or narcissism—that offers a new, positive route forward
Encounters with embarrassment, guilt, self-consciousness, remorse, etc. are an unavoidable part of everyday life, and they sometimes have lessons to teach us—about our goals and values, about the person we expect ourselves to be. In contrast to the prevailing cultural view of shame as a uniformly toxic influence, Shame is a book that approaches the subject of shame as an entire family of emotions which share a “painful awareness of self.”
Challenging widely-accepted views within the self-esteem movement, auhor Joseph Burgo argues that self-esteem does NOT thrive in the soil of non-stop praise and encouragement, but rather depends upon setting and meeting goals, living up to the expectations we hold for ourselves, and finally sharing our joy in achievement with the people who matter most to us. Along the way, listening to and learning from our encounters with shame will go further than affirmations and positive self-talk in helping us to build authentic self-esteem.
Richly illustrated with clinical stories from Burgo’s 35 years in private practice, Shame also describes the myriad ways that unacknowledged shame often hides behind a broad spectrum of mental disorders including social anxiety, narcissism, addiction, and masochism.’
‘A fugitive slips away through a crowd of onlookers while Qigiq and Kandy investigate a desert cremation they suspect was designed to destroy evidence. But of what crime? As they attempt to tie up loose ends on their last case, they dodge infernos of destruction only to arrive at a concert where a member of the audience is murdered—putting them on a collision course with the FBI.
The Feds want them out of the way. Captain Jasik wants them on an unexplained death involving a wealthy venture capitalist, a beautiful woman, and a wall safe filled with cash—standing open. Then a second case of a rich male, missing female, and two locked safes has them chasing leads to a casino penthouse where a young woman has died—yet again with no apparent murder weapon.
Evidence so improbable that Qigiq and Kandy initially hesitate to accept it leads back to the violist named Mylin: talented, beautiful, and illegal. Her all-female orchestra is now headlining an extravagant outdoor concert midst the casino life of Reno featuring a rock band named Magnetic Fusion—and extraordinary pyrotechnics.
From black rock desert to a penthouse in San Francisco, the glitter of heavy metal concerts to the desolation of street busking without a home, Burn Up moves like a scirocco-stoked wildfire through the world of concert promotion, high-stakes finance, and fast motorcycle chases as Qigiq realizes, once again, that one picture can truly reveal much more than 1,000 words.’
‘New York Times bestselling author Kathleen Gear’s new apocalyptic thriller Maze Master shows the world ending not in fire nor in ice but in science.
Kathleen Gear, who often co-writes with her husband W. Michael Gear, has authored 42 books which have been New York Times, USA Today and international bestsellers. Translated into 29 languages, there are around 17 million copies of her books in print worldwide.
LucentB is a retrovirus that’s inevitable, unstoppable, and utterly catastrophic for humanity. The US government believes the only person who can find the cure is the geneticist who tried to warn them about it and then disappeared: James Hakari. They assign the task of finding him to his former student Anna Asher, who in turn recruits paleographer and religious studies scholar Dr. Martin Nadai.
The brilliant but insane geneticist is leaving clues for Anna and Martin to follow, showing he’s truly earned his students’ nickname for him: the Maze Master. The search takes Anna and Martin around the world and into a warzone they never imagined.
Maze Master’s LucentB is based off of the real retrovirus HERV-K, which has caused several plagues over the past 75,000 years, almost wiping out Neandertals 50,000 years ago, and maybe 30,000 years ago. Modern geneticists consider HERV-K not to be extinct, but rather to be waiting for some trigger to come alive again.
With its scientific and archaeological authenticity and suspenseful clues, Maze Master will have readers rushing through its intricate maze to find out the fate of the world in this thrilling adventure.’
So sorry for your loss. 🙁 I hope you’re taking it easy and that Loki is keeping you warm and happy. Stay safe.
Thanks so much!
Loki loves to torment Persephone now. 🤣🤣 My poor kitty is so patient with him. We are going to be getting him a younger companion soon. Not that we want to replace ZeeZee 😕 He really needs an age-mate and our other two cats are middle-aged, and can’t keep up with his energy.
Awww how tough is that! Poor thing. It’s so wonderful you took Loki with you so that he would know she was gone. ❤️
Yeah, I’m really glad we did too. I think it made it easier for him to adjust.
Oh no I am so sorry for ZeeZee. You told us a few days back that she would not last long but it’s always sad when one of our beloved animals leaves us.
Thank you! It was hard, but the right choice to keep her from unnecessary suffering. I just wish we could have made her better. 😕