The Band on the Run

Click on the orange link below to read the profiles of our band of reviewers.

http://josephsreviews.wordpress.com/2010/12/16/meet-the-reviewers/

Win A Second Chance!

Click on the orange link below to see how you can win a copy of The Season of Second Chances: A Novel by Diane Meier.

http://josephsreviews.wordpress.com/2010/09/04/win-a-second-chance/

I'm the Cat

Click on the orange link below to read a review of Frankie Works the Night Shift by Lisa Westberg Peters; illustrated by Jennifer Taylor.

http://josephsreviews.wordpress.com/2010/08/21/catting-around/

The little puppy says Woof!

Click on the orange link below to read a review of Little Puppy Says Woof!. This is one to consider for the toddler who loves dogs!

http://josephsreviews.wordpress.com/2010/04/29/little-puppy-says-woof/

About our staff...

Click on the orange link below to read about our collection of book reviewers.

http://josephsreviews.wordpress.com/2010/02/10/about-our-reviewers/

Munchy gets his beauty sleep...

Heading to a baby shower? Need the right gift?

Munchy the cat has just the gift recommendation for you! Click on the orange link below to read his comments...

http://josephsreviews.wordpress.com/2009/09/03/like-a-tiger/

The Art of Racing in the Rain: A Book Giveaway...

Click on the orange link below to read the simple rules for entering a new book giveaway contest.

http://josephsreviews.wordpress.com/2009/08/23/racing-in-the-rain-with-enzo-the-dog-a-book-giveaway-contest/

Those crazy cat people!

This is probably self-explanatory, but Munchy does love this action figure!

Munchy the cat

Munchy the cat
by Joseph

Munchy the cat leads
the good life
retired, on furlough
every day...

He owns the yard,
he owns the house,
He owns the beds
Everything goes his way...

Once he was a young
rebel
A fighter, the toughest
cat pound for pound
Battling all the time
And winning almost
every round...

Now these days he
relives in his head
the days when he was
hearty and hale
Living off the interest
on his priceless tales...

He's now the cat
emeritus
Ready to publish his
memories
When he finds a
ghostwriter
Who speaks Felinese.


Photo: Joseph (Munchy's Archives)

If Seattle's Best can do this, why can't Starbucks?

Yesterday afternoon I visited my local Borders Books. On the positive side, my store is no longer running its "please don't ask us for a bag" campaign. I bought a music CD and was, nevertheless, asked if I wanted a bag. I said yes and was given a full size bag to go. (The bag was subsequently used when Munchy's litter box was cleaned.)

The counter signs discouraging customers from asking for a bag have also been either removed or covered up. See, the customer is always right!

We're posting the link, below, to our earlier write-up about Borders when we were not so pleased with the chain.

But while I was at Borders, I went to the Seattle's Best coffee counter and ordered a bold coffee. Even though it was mid-afternoon, this was no problem. The bold coffee served by Seattle's Best is about an 85% scale version of Peet's Major Dickason bold. But then something is far better than nothing.

This, then, begs the question... If Seattle's Best, which is fully owned by Starbucks of Seattle, can serve its customers bold coffee whenever they're open why can't Starbucks?

http://tinyurl.com/re8kov

Photos: flickr (bottom photo of Seattle's Best in the Ginza, Tokyo, by cloganese)

A feather in Ginger's cap (& she didn't have to kill a bird to get it)!

We earlier told the tail of how Ginger became the live-in and working cat at Orinda Books. Our story was picked up by the well-read Mental Floss site and they included Ginger in their listing of Top 8 bookstore cats! Here's the link to the Mental Floss article:

http://www.mentalfloss.com/blogs/archives/26153

To read our earlier post on Ginger, click on the link below, or go to the white rectangular search box, above and to the left, enter Orinda Books, then click on Search Blog and you'll get the full details. Munchy says Yeowk!

http://tinyurl.com/m5rks6

Photo courtesy of Beth Gallagher.

The tail of Ginger, the bookstore cat...

Earlier we told you about Orinda Books, the Munchy-certified bookstore in Orinda, California. In our review of the store, you saw the photographs of Ginger, the working cat. Some have wondered how Ginger came to be the official greeter at this bookstore, so she has given us permission to tell her true tail.

Once upon a time, in a land known as the East Bay, a book store in Orinda had no official greeter cat. Oh, at one time it did and the big black cat known as Fish did a great job until he went to Cat Heaven. So a year passed by with this key position left vacant...

Then one lucky day, as Dennis of Orinda Books (OB) left his early morning BART train he heard a kitten crying. Being a wise person, Dennis climbed over tall obstacles, found the kitty, and brought her to OB. She was all of five weeks young, with a collar and bell, but no name tag.

In less than a nanosecond, no-name kitty decided to make the shop her new purr-fect home. But where were her owner-parents? The search went on for more than 30 long days for the mom and/or dad of no-name kitty, but none was ever found.

Thus, the kitten was appointed the official meeter and greeter of OB. And everyone in the land was asked to suggest a name. After hearing more than 200 choices, the no-name cat said, "Rrrorrw!," which means - of course - "I'd like to be known as Ginger." So Ginger she became!

Ginger is not only a greeter, she's a book critic and seller who very carefully chooses books to recommend. These are the books that go on her special table, and they go quickly. When authors appear at OB, Ginger serves as host and master of ceremonies.

Naturally, Ginger is always there for young kids - just don't get her too tired - and for the older kids (some call them "adults") who come into OB just to pet the cat. So who is greeting who?

And now you know the very true tail of Ginger, the Feline Executive Officer (FEO) of OB!

post-script: "Yeowk!" says Munchy, which means "Would you pleaz tell me that story again!?"

Photos of Ginger courtesy of Beth Gallagher.

By Popular Demand...

OK, Ok, ok... We get so many requests to post new photos of Munchy the brown tabby Norwegian Forest Cat that we asked him to approve the release of this one. He said "yeowk!" (yes), so here it is.


Photo: Munchy Archives (cat-alogued); click on the photo to see a much larger version.

Note: Coming up on the weekend, if all goes as we hope it does, we will tell the tail of how Ginger came to be the book store cat!

How to Search This Blog... (or any blogspot site)

Friends have asked me how to search for particular articles - such as book or music reviews - within this blog. I had no idea until about a week ago when a fellow blogger explained it to me.

In the upper left corner of this sample blog page, you'll see a blank white rectangular box. This is where you can enter a search term phrase or keywords such as: bob dylan, dave mason, small faces, jenny dalton, green day, great central government, munchy, peet's, starbucks, bold coffee or some other topic and then click on Search Blog (earlier Search This Blog). The multiple results for these topics will then appear as one long web page. Pretty cool.

I feel like I should keep writing except there is nothing more to say, it's as simple as this.

In praise of Weasel (The Cheese)...

I've tried, with just one exception to date, to refrain from borrowing content from posts on other blog sites. I'm not going to do that here, but instead recommend a very well writen - and very much from the heart - piece on Stinky Junior's blog. It's about Weasel, the cat who now resides in Feline Heaven. I think any animal lover, and all cat lovers, will identify with this posting.

Weasel (also known as The Cheese) was a well loved cat. Our Munchy says that although he never met Weasel, he knows they would have been great pals!

Here's the link address:

http://stinkyjunior.blogspot.com/2009/05/one-year.html

That's a good one, Munchy...!

Izzles the Norwegian Forest Cat laughs at a joke that Munchy sent to him via Twitter. Yeowk, yeowk...

Photo: flickr (basul22)

Munchy has released this photograph...

Although he earlier took a "no more photos" stance, Munchy has consented to release this recent photograph to his multitude of fans. He appears to be a gray tabby here due to the angle of the sunlight, but rest assured that he is still brown.

Photo: Joseph / Munchy Archives

Here's Munchy the cat...

Saying "no, thanks" I don't want to be photographed any more today...

Photo: Joseph/Munchy Archives

Keeping Up with Munchy...

Attached is a recent photograph of Munchy as he rests on a warm quilt on a cold, winter's, day (California dreamin'). Munchy's fans should know that additional photos of His Munchyness can be found at the Creative Bureau Cat (CBC) blog; just click on the CBC link in the My Blog List column to the left.

Photo: Joseph/Munchy Archives; click on the photo to see a much - or Munch - larger version.