Best of 2014: Keep Calm and Have Faith

SUSAN ELIA MACNEAL: Happy 2015, lovely readers and gentle Reds! 

Ispired by Julia's pet post, I'm revisiting mine about Faith, the Church Cat of St. Augustine's. 

Here's to Faith and faith — and a new year of caring and kindness and bravery! 

(And reading and writing, of course...)

I recently learned from the wonderful blog World War II in Color about Faith, the Church Cat of St. Augustine's in London, who was awarded a medal for bravery during the Battle of Britain, for shielding her kitten during the Blitz. JR at World War II in Color says it better than I ever could:

"This is Faith, church cat at Church of England (Episcopalean) Church of St Augustine's and St Faith's, Watling Street, London. She was awarded the Dicken Medal in Silver, and a silver medal from the Greenwich Village Humane Society of New York, for her her courage in sheltering her kitten (Panda - he was black and white) in a hidey-hole in the rectory basement, to which she had retreated from her more comfortable position upstairs, in the course of a severe bombing raid on the night of 9 September, 1940. 

The church and rectory were, basically, battered and burned to destruction by the Luftwaffe, but Faith continued to shield her kitten, under a heap of smouldering rubble, until rescued by her human friends the following day. 

Shortly afterwards, the remainder of the church fell down, destroying her position of refuge. Faith resumed her life as church cat, dying peacefully some years later on her mat in front of an ecclesiastical fireplace. The kitten, Panda, went on to a successful career as resident cat in a care home. 

Yes, I know - this will seem silly to many In Here. But consider. Apart from the fact that it is true, Faith's story became widely known in London at the time, and must have contributed to the morale of many hard-pressed Londoners. 

Her courage and endurance reflected something that Londoners hoped to find in themselves - and generally did. I am a cat person, by the way ... Best regards, JR."

Best of 2014: Pet Parade 2014

The winners of Mette Ivie Harrison's The Bishop's Wife are Deb Romano and Lynda. You can reach Mette via her Gmail, where she is Ironmom (with an extra m at the end of mom.)

JULIA SPENCER-FLEMING: I decided to revisit this post because someone on the back blog was asking about my dogs, and of course, I felt obligated to answer with my pet pics! Since I posted this in September, Louis the Shih Tzu has been to the groomers and is no longer the scruffy mop you see here. Instead, he was shaved within an inch of his life and now resembles a sort of large, velvety rodent as painted by the Big-Eyes artist.
  

I'm going to be perfectly upfront with you, dear readers - this post exists solely for the purpose of showing off pictures of my pets. If you don't care for dogs and cats, I suggest you head over to Wikipedia and delve into their article on Hegelian dialectics. Because honestly, if you don't like dogs and cats, what are you doing on the internet? Isn't it like 99% comprised of cute pet pics and videos?(1)

Our story starts with Marvin, our beloved Big Dog. (2) We adopted Marvin from the Kennebec Humane Society back in 2008, after a lengthy on-line search and a terrifying two-hour car ride wherein we discovered our learning-to-drive Smithie was not ready for the Maine Turnpike Experience. (3) Marvin was and is a sweet, placid beast who was probably abandoned in the early months of the Great Recession by owners who could no longer afford his Lyme Disease treatment. (4)

Marvin was our sole pet for a couple years, until our family got hit with a one-two punch in August of '10. We packed The Smithie off to college for the first time, and Ross was diagnosed with melanoma. (5) Youngest and I, feeling a bit overwhelmed, did the most cliche thing imaginable: we got a half-grown kitten. Neko was on display at our local hardware store as part of the loan-out program of the Maine Animal Refuge League. We went in to buy energy-efficient light bulbs and some potting soil and came out with an adoption application. (6)

We always intended to have a companion for Neko, but as kids came and went from college and high school, life seemed too busy to actually invest the time into finding another cat. Until this summer. With the whole family home, my two daughters, drunk with power, began  concerted lobbying campaign my 20-year-old son dubbed "Operation Get Pussy." (7)

When Youngest found out the Coastal Humane Society was having a Christmas in July event - with free cat adoptions - I weakened enough to agree we could "go take a look." (8) Those of you who are parents can see where this is going. We came home with a scraggly, forlorn looking young cat who had been found knocking about the mean streets of Brunswick, ME. The joke was on us - once out of the constraints of the shelter, Juno spent approximately two days creeping about out house before declaring herself Queen Goddess of the Home: stealing Neko and Marvin's food (9), jumping on the counter to eat half a stick of butter, demanding affection and then biting the hand that scritches her. (10)

Neko, a year older and much wider, would still be giving Juno the stink-eye, if we hadn't done something to unite them in mutual disapproval. Yes, dear readers, last Sunday we adopted a second dog. (11) Not just a second dog, but a small dog, after decades of exclusively large dogs. Not a young dog to contrast with Marvin's aged dignity, but  dog that was nine years old. Louis (12) is a pure-bred shih tzu who was obviously well-loved by his owners until some trouble - losing jobs? medical bills? - left them homeless and unable to care for the little guy. It was a pleasure to be able to pick up the responsibility, despite what will be extra food costs; Louis' mouth was in such bad shape he needed dental surgery, and he comes to us with a happy heart but only three teeth. (13)

The upshot of our animal kingdom? For now, the girls are taking equal responsibility for feeding, walking and brushing (although guess who shovels out the litter box? Go ahead, guess!) (14) Now that everyone is back at school or work, I can write at home again, and do so surrounded by up to four animals at a time. (15) We have a nice balance of personalities and roles; the calm, remote cat and the lawless, slutty cat (16), the giant economy-sized dog and the single-serving dog.

And I urge you all, dear readers, to consider adoption from a shelter or rescue organization when it's time for you to expand your family. There are so many great cats and dogs out there - many of whom will not eat your butter and who have teeth! - who need homes. If you can't adopt, consider supporting your local shelter as a donor or volunteer.  I'm sure I'll be back to one of our wonderful no-kill shelters in Maine in four years... after all, we'll need to replace Youngest when she heads off to college!


(1) The other 1% consists of pr*n, theories about chemtrails, and authors shilling their books.

(2) Marvin is part yellow lab, part Husky, and part cow.

(3) She felt uncomfortable driving faster than the posted on-ramp speed, so she merged into busy 70mph traffic going 35 mph. That was the reason my hair turned silver.




 
(4) He's doing fine now. Sometimes he needs aspirin for his joints, but then again, so do I.

(5) He's doing fine, now, too. Ask him to show you his "shark bite" at Bouchercon!

(6) That's some fiendishly clever marketing right there. What else beside a kitten is interesting at a hardware store?

(7) I know. You don't have to say it. I know.

(8) Let's face it, free is a good price for a cat.

(9) and then barfing it up. Which is no deterrent to Marvin, who will take another shot at it  if I don't get it cleaned up asap.

(10) The squirt bottle is getting a workout.

(11) Coastal Humane Society was still having the adoption special, so it was a steal at $50. What right-thinking penny-pincher could resist?

(12) My grandfather Greuling was also called Louis. Mom, if you're reading this, his former owners gave him the name. Sorry.

(13) All this happened after The Boy had gone back to Trinity, leading to the following telephone conversation:
The Boy: Why did you get another dog?
Me: Well, honey, we missed you. We had to fill the void somehow.
The Boy: Is it true he only has three teeth?
Me: Yes. We've replaced you with  tiny, fluffy toothless old dog. It just seemed right somehow.

(14) Me.

(15) It feels kind of like that scene in the dwarves' kitchen in SNOW WHITE,  except instead of cleaning the room, my pets demand affection and fart.

(16) I'm using that word in an ironic, third-wave feminist way, of course.

The Best of 2014: Deb Crombie--The Book That Almost Got Away

The Book That Almost Got Away

DEBORAH CROMBIE: This has been such a fun week, not only reading the other REDs favorite posts from 2014, but going back through the months to find the blog I wanted to repost. This one was without doubt my favorite. We all love books with such passion. Sometimes those passions overlap and intersect, and sometimes we discover something entirely new.

And sometimes we don't live up to our own expectations. I did what Hallie suggested in the original comments on this post--I printed the entire blog, with all our lovely Reds and readers suggestions, intending to read MANY of them.

First, I bought A Winter's Tale to re-read, and it's still sitting in the to-read pile. Sigh. I didn't even get that far with many others I meant to explore. But, then, I have in this last year come across many new and completely unexpected treasures. I suppose there are worse things than an abundance of books to read!

So how about you, REDs and readers? Was anyone inspired to read the mentioned books? And what new special books have you discovered since?
 
DEBORAH CROMBIE ( from March, 2014): There are THOSE books. The books you read that you know as soon as you've read a few chapters, or even a few pages, are going to be books that you can't imagine NOT having read and that will forever be part of you in some indefinable way.

We've talked before (more than once, as it's a subject obviously dear to our hearts) about books we read as children that impacted us profoundly, both as writers (for we who are writers) and as people.

But what about books we've read as adults that we knew, instantly, were special? One of those for me was Possession by A.S. Byatt. For my daughter, Shadow of the Wind by Carlos Ruiz Zafon. These special books could be classics that we've just now got round to reading. Or something recommended by a friend, or a book review, put on a list or in a TBR pile and left to gather dust.

And then one day, something brings it to mind, or you run out of things that you have to read (which for working writers, doesn't happen very often.) You pick up this book. You begin. Soon you know you will be seduced, transported, and changed. And you think, "How could I NOT have read this???"

This happened to me recently with two novels by Connie Willis, Blackout and All Clear. Blackout was published in 2010, and was recommended to me by my friend Kate Charles. I thought, "Oh, sounds interesting," but somehow just never got around to picking it up. Then I saw another mention, somewhere, and thought, yes, I really must read that. I bought it (in paperback, thank goodness) started reading, and KNEW. And everyone I talked to about this fabulous book said, "You haven't read Connie Willis???" Where had I been, behind a rock??? I soon discovered that Blackout and its sequel, All Clear (which won the Hugo and the Nebula and heaven knows what else, it's that good) were actually one very long novel. So be forewarned, if you haven't read these books, you should buy All Clear before you finish Blackout because you will HAVE to know how the story turns out and what happens to the characters (three time-traveling historians from 2060 Oxford who go back to WWII and get stuck in the Blitz.) I have still to read Willis's earlier time-traveling-Oxford-historians books, but I will.

So, dear REDS, what have you read that you now can't imagine having NOT read?

HANK PHILLIPPI RYAN:  Wow, Debs, those sound fabulous.  I was preening because I have long proselytized about Mark Helprin's A Winter's Tale, which I thought HAH when it was made into a big budget movie, then worried  because NO WAY was that gonna work, and apparently it didn't. But the
book is FABULOUS and I could read it a million times.

And I came late to Philip Pullman's  amazing Golden Compass books--love them. Huh. Guess I am drawn to novels that cannot be made into successful movies.

RHYS BOWEN: Debs, I'm also a huge fan of Possession, and have re-read it several times. Also adore Connie Willis. My latest find is Kate Morton. I loved her Forgotten Garden and The Secret Keeper. And Hank, I was also so impressed with The Winter's Tale. Not sure about seeing the movie.

I found the movies of The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings were disappointing. To me they didn't capture the flavor of the books, the whole concept of little people taking on tasks far beyond them, but still remaining their simple, loveable selves.

HALLIE EPHRON: Great question. At the top of my list would be Audrey Niffenegger's The Time Traveler's Wife. Talk about a 12-hankie ending. And that's another book that did not translate well to the screen. Also Carol Shields's The Stone Diaries Anything by Barbara Pym (Excellent Women.) Olive Kitteridge. Women's fiction, all of them.

SUSAN ELIA MACNEAL: Like Hank, I absolutely adore A Winter's Tale by Mark Helprin — so I'm pretty wary about seeing the movie. (It's gotten pretty terrible reviews, although I don't let reviews dictate what I see and don't see....)

One of my favorite books in the entire world is The Golden Compass by Phillip Pullman, part of the trilogy His Dark Materials. The movie should have been fantastic — it had a huge budget, big stars, great special effects — and yet, alas, wasn't. Sometimes things are just better in your head than on the screen.

One series of books I think has been adapted well to the (small) screen are George R. R. Martin's Game of Thrones. I think the HBO series might actually have more nuance and shades of gray than the books.... (Maybe not — have only read the first book, but three seasons of the TV series...)

JULIA SPENCER-FLEMING: I've long waved the flag for the fabulous Lois McMaster Bujold, whose Vorkosigan series is both a fabulous read and a master class in blending genres - just writes science fiction interwoven with mystery/romance/comedy of manners, all populated by the most real characters ever. No signs of a movie for these books, alas, although Vorkosiverse fen (plural of fans for the non-skiffy among us) are very excited about the possibility of the talented and hunky Peter Dinklage as the hero, Miles Vorkosigan.

It is interesting how some of the best books don't translate well onto the screen, isn't it? And when I think of movies that have improved on the book, the book is invariably almost unreadable:Last of the Mohican's, Bridges of Madison County, etc.

DEBS: I never ceased to be amazed by the things that we seven diverse writers (and readers) have in common. Hank, I was thinking about how much you love A Winter's Tale when I wrote the intro to this post. Do you know that I read it when it was first published, and can you believe it's been forty years??? I had a hardcover copy, which disappeared, sadly, in some book purge or other. I've just now bought the paperback, which should be easier to read, weight wise:-) I hope I can time find to re-read it.

Hallie, I LOVED The Time Traveler's Wife. The movie--yuck. 

Phillip Pullman's His Dark Materials trilogy is up there, too, but it has a very special and weird emotional place for me. When I was stranded in London the week after 9/11, no phone, no internet, no contact with family or friends in the US. I bought a copy of The Golden Compass. Then the next two books. I read non-stop. Those books were what got me through that week. 

Julia, I got to read a Vorkosigan book in manuscript as a first reader! How cool is that?  They are wonderful, and one day (some day...) I'm going to read the series straight through.

And then somehow this discussion morphed into books that did or didn't translate to the screen, but I think that is a whole other blog! Or two. Or three!

So, READERS, what books have you come across, perhaps unexpectedly, that have impacted you so profoundly that you can't imagine having NOT read them?