“Dewey” by Vicki Myron with Bret Witter

“Dewey” by Vicki Myron with Bret Witter
2008, Grand Central Publishing
ISBN: 978-0-446-40741-0

“Dewey”. Read it. Like it. Cry at the end. See how short a book review can be? I’ll say more.

Somewhere on the internet several months ago I read a review somebody had posted about “Dewey”. I don’t remember who it was. That is part of the magic of the internet. I immediately logged onto my account at the Oakland Public Library and put a hold on the book. Twelve people were ahead of me, but I have the patience of a cat. It paid off last Friday. I checked out the book and read it on Memorial Day.

This is the story of Dewey who, on a frost bitten day in January, 1988, was rescued from the very, very cold book drop at the public library in Spencer, Iowa. The librarian Vicki and her staff thawed Dewey out. He immediately captured their hearts and became the library cat.

This story shows how Dewey recovered and thrived but also how many, many people in the town of Spencer and throughout the world came to know of him and to love him.

If you like to hear about cats you’re going to love this story. Dewey lived to the ripe old age of 19 but he was the library’s ambassador for all the years he lived in the library. There wasn’t one person who walked through those doors Dewey didn’t go say hello to. He would stay around for a quick pat. He’d curl up in their laps. He’d chase after the keys in the librarian’s typewriters. When they moved to computers he’d bask in the heat given off of the monitors. A film crew came from Japan to film him. People would go hundreds of miles out of their way to visit with him.

But, mostly he thawed the ice between people, for folks who didn't talk much when they came to the library became folks who opened up to Dewey and the staff. For special children with handicaps Dewey helped them to break out of their prisons and experience something more. Dewey healed a lot of hearts in the time he lived in the library. I know just reading about him helped to make me feel better.

Vicky Myron has written of what a special cat Dewey meant to her and her family. I felt an instant empathy with her. We have 5 cats in our family right now and each and every one of them is special and unique.

I believe you will enjoy this book. You can get more information about Dewey at the Spencer Library website. Also, take a look at The Library Cats Map where cats all over the world who live and lived in libraries are listed.

The picture I took of Dewey's book has my own Shelby interested in what is going on inside.

“The Witch’s Trinity” by Erika Mailman

“The Witch’s Trinity” by Erika Mailman
2007, Hodder & Stroughton, Ltd
ISBN: 978-0-340-96221-3

This is a scary book. It’s a story of fiction, but the events that unfold are true. We know of the Inquisition. We know women had a hard time of it in the 16th century. We know the hunt for witches was sweeping. What Erika Mailman tells in this story is what it might really have looked like.

During times of hardship many people become what might be thought of as their baser selves. Suddenly generosity and good will in times of plenty does not exist anymore and it becomes a dog eat dog world. Hardship, desperation, famine can bring out the worst in people and this is what happens in this book.

What is interesting to me is to see normal people, people who are most definitely not witches, tap into what might be construed other than normal behaviors. As a psychic I recognize that people can communicate in their dreams, that messages not understood by the conscious self can be delivered by the unconscious self, that astral traveling is a very real thing.

I mourn for those who endured the trials. I am sorry for the role the church played in the Inquisition. I sincerely hope those who hear of these times from history know the importance of not repeating those same lessons. And, I am so very glad in my heart that I can live a life where I can talk to dead people and not be condemned to die in flames.

Read, “The Witch’s Trinity” and you will be drawn into a story told in the manner of a woman who lived in the early 1500’s. You will be able to relate easily to these people even though more than 500 years separate you from her life. As a psychic I know you lived even then. Be reminded of what it was like and hope it never happens again.

“The Stand” by Stephen King

“The Stand” by Stephen King
1991, Signet
ISBN: 0-451-16953-0

“The Stand” is one of my all time favorite books. I have read it many times over the years and each time I enjoy it just as much as the first time. For the last 2 weeks I’ve had the flu. I had a paperback copy of, “The Stand” on a bookshelf here in the house and I figured, “How appropriate.” So, I hauled it out and in between hacking my lungs out and blowing my sinuses into 4, count them, 4 boxes of Kleenex I read, “The Stand” once more.

The question posed is: What happens when a SuperFlu is released by accident by the US military? Life as we know it is over.

The story draws on several sets of characters scattered all over, from Texas to Maine and New York City. These are the people who survive and who are drawn together.

The fight is on between good and evil. Good is represented by Mother Abigail, a 108 year old woman who lives in Nebraska. Evil is represented by Randall Flagg, the Walking Dude, of Las Vegas. Survivors all over the country are dreaming of both of these people and are being drawn toward them. Our 4 characters, Stu Redmond, Nick Andros, Frannie Goldsmith and Larry Underwood all end up moving to Nebraska. Mother Abigail tells them that they aren’t done yet and they must all gather in Boulder, Colorado for the big showdown.

This story shows people who are much stronger than they think they are. Faced with terrible odds of survival they seek the goodness and will not accept the idea that evil has a place in their lives.

What I love about how Stephen King writes is how he seeks the humanity in horror. Where the ordinary guy can be a hero or a villain, and how those roles can change too as the characters change.

I thoroughly enjoyed reading, “The Stand” again. It won’t be the last time.

“At First Sight” by Nicholas Sparks

“At First Sight” by Nicholas Sparks
2005, Warner Books
ISBN: 978-0-446-69846-7


I think the sign of a great storyteller is the ability to grab onto the most mundane thing and craft a story out of it. Nicholas Sparks does a really good job with, “At First Sight”. Don't get me wrong, love is not mundane, but there are lots of love stories out there and this one is definately different.

I loved, too, the look into the mind of a writer. Being one (unpublished, but one nevertheless) I love to hear of writing related experiences and to see just how a master storyteller weaves a story.

Jeremy and Lexie meet and fall in love. Fast. Within weeks she learns that she is pregnant and they determine to marry. His family and friends are alarmed and seek to caution him about the dangers of tying the knot too soon. He will not listen, but what happens is that seeds of doubt are planted.

This is a story about learning how to love despite misunderstandings and anger. It is learning more about yourself as an individual and about how to be a couple.

This is a terrific book for young people just starting out their lives as adults not sure of themselves in a world full of people of the opposite sex. I wish I’d come upon it when I was in my 20’s.

“Nightshade” by Susan Wittig Albert

“Nightshade” by Susan Wittig Albert
2008, Berkley Publishing Group
ISBN: 98-0-425-21956-0

This is the 16th book in the China Bayles mystery series. China used to be an attorney, but when she decided to leave that field she decided to center in on her love of herbs and opened a shop called, “Thyme and Seasons”. Her husband, McQuaid, is an ex-policeman turned private investigator. The two make a formidable team.

In this story China and McQuaid are launched into a terrible mystery to find out why her brother Miles has just been killed. The whole story reaches back years and years to when her father had also died. Her father’s death had been ruled an accident, but the information Miles had recently uncovered pointed to much more than just an accident.

The pace is quick, China is quirky and I think you will like this story.