Two of my favorite things are cats and books. I could spend hours in a bookstore perusing the shelves and getting lost in a story. Add a cat to the mix and I’d have to get kicked out at closing time! There’s something comforting and cozy about being in a bookstore with a cat, and Brandon Shultz brings this to life in his book, Bookstore Cats.
Bookstore cats is a beautiful book that, in this age of digital media (I admit I can’t live without my Kindle), is a breath of fresh air. The journey into the world of cats that live (or should I say, run) bookstores starts with the gorgeous picture on the cover.
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| From Bookstore Cats by Brandon Schultz, copyright © 2017, published by Glitterati Incorporated |
Throughout the book we meet 50 cats from 23 bookstores, throughout the US and Canada, who were all rescued from various situations. Or, in The Great Catsby’s case, hitched a ride in a car and found himself at The Gallery Bookshop in Mendocino, CA.
"Bookstore cats are an international phenomenon and this wonderful investigation has turned up the curious cats running bookshops worldwide. Now, for the first time, some of the world's most beloved bookstore cats are collected together in one adorable directory, making the perfect gift for cat lovers, book lovers, shoppers, and the generally curious worldwide. With personalities and histories as varied as the books they tend, each cat has a story worth telling."
Many of these cats are already celebrities in their own right. Hodge (of Selected Works) is not only the most famous cat in Chicago, he’s the subject of his own book.
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| From Bookstore Cats by Brandon Schultz, copyright © 2017, published by Glitterati Incorporated |
And Nietzsche (of The Book Man) is the star of a cat calendar six years in the running and the subject of plenty of social media coverage. (He also graces the cover.)
My favorite of all the bookstores featured is definitely Cat Tales in Portland, IN which was founded in the cat café fashion to house cats that are adoptable through Midwest Pet Refuge. Between their opening in May 2016 and December 2016, 36 cats were adopted! Success! How wonderful would it be for bookstores like this to pop up all over the country? I hope Cat Tales inspires a new trend.
"Cats steal the attention of countless passersby wherever they happen to prowl but, as it turns out, many of these enchanting creatures live in every reader’s favorite environment: the bookstore. "
Let’s take a look at some of the beautiful Bookstore Cats.
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| Gatsby. From Bookstore Cats by Brandon Schultz, copyright © 2017, published by Glitterati Incorporated |
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| Amelia. From Bookstore Cats by Brandon Schultz, copyright © 2017, published by Glitterati Incorporated |
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| Rosita Slice-A-Pizza. From Bookstore Cats by Brandon Schultz, copyright © 2017, published by Glitterati Incorporated |
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| Scout. From Bookstore Cats by Brandon Schultz, copyright © 2017, published by Glitterati Incorporated |
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| Shiva. From Bookstore Cats by Brandon Schultz, copyright © 2017, published by Glitterati Incorporated |
Schultz shares with the readers each cats’ story about how they were adopted and gives us a glimpse into their personalities. For example, Sterling of Abraxas Books is especially skilled at calming difficult customers; Atticus of Books with a Past likes chin scritches, chicken and Edgar Allen Poe; Henry of David Mason Books has cultivated a carefully hidden collection of paper balls; and Emma of Recycle Bookstore likes to hunt down customers and take a seat in their laps.
Interspersed throughout the book is interesting trivia about cats in literature, such as lists of cats in poetry, children’s books, horror novels and more. There are also poems such as The Owl and The Pussy Cat and To a Cat.
Bookstore Cats is a book that all cat lovers will enjoy and appreciate. It’s a beautiful collection of cats who are very loved not only by their parents but the community as well. The photos are stunning and a pretty book ribbon is included. This is certainly a book cat lovers will pick up again and again.
Thanks to Brandon Schultz and the folks at Glitterati one of our lucky readers will win a copy of Bookstore Cats. Just enter via the Rafflecopter below. The giveaway is open to residents of the US and Canada, 18+ years of age, except where prohibited by law. Three winners will be selected randomly by Rafflecopter and contacted via email. The winner will have 48 hours to claim their prize. Failure to do so will result in forfeiture of the prize, and a new winner will be randomly selected by Rafflecopter. To qualify for the giveaway, a comment must be left on our blog post. Other entry options are available after a comment is left.The giveaway closes on Friday, January 26 at Midnight Eastern.
From the Publisher: Author Brandon Schultz was inspired to investigate the lives of bookstore cats after reading an article about the bookstore industry's favorite feline employees. Cats have strong personalities that enchant and engage, and it turns out there are many of them living in every reader’s favorite environment: the bookstore. With personalities and histories as varied as the books they tend, each cat has a story worth telling. Collected here are their tales, along with enchanting photos of the bookstore cats in their shops.
ISBN 13: 978-1-943876-52-5
160 pages, 6 x 7½", hardcover with ribbon marker
Buy a copy here:
About the Author: Author Brandon Schultz loves cats, bookstores, and expecially bookstores run by cats. Among other things he is a book publisher, travel writer and ice cream enthusiast. This is his fourth book, and he lives in Brooklyn, New York with a cat named Lucy who has previously authored her own book.
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| Ooh, look! An NYC cat! |
Tiny the Usurper is at Community Bookstore in Brooklyn, which I will just have to visit! Is there a bookstore cat in your town?
Dawn
I won a copy of this already, so don't enter me. I do want to say, my human found out that there are a pair of bookstore cats not far from us that she didn't know about! She will be visiting them sometime soon.
ReplyDeleteThose cats look incredible and the book looks like fun too!
ReplyDeleteOMC, what a fun book. Anyone who knows me well knows I LOVE books and cats, but to have a book about cats in bookstores, that would be awesome. If I'm not a winner, I'm going to buy this book. Thanks for blogging about it or I wouldn't have known about this book!
ReplyDeleteL & L !!! how kewl iz thiz !! thanx for sharin bout theez soooper kewl catz; we will chex out Brandon's book for sure :)♥♥
ReplyDeleteLet's face it, we love to see kitties EVERYWHERE! Great giveaway...thanks!
ReplyDeleteWhat a lovely review to have posted, and on my birthday, too! I hope everyone enjoys the book. :)
ReplyDelete-Brandon Schultz
IG: @thebrandonalexandr
I haven't seen any bookstore cats around here. I usually stay away from bookstores in favor of the library ... but a feline employee would be enough to change my mind! Gorgeous pictures of these incredible felines!
ReplyDeleteWhat a cool book! We would love to be bookstore cats...what fun!
ReplyDeleteThey are all such beautiful kitties. Every bookstore and library needs a cat :)
ReplyDeleteThis is such a cute book.
ReplyDeleteOh, I'd love this book. I wish the bookstores by me had cats!
ReplyDeleteWhat a wonderful book. Hope we win and thanks fur the chance
ReplyDeleteI wish every bookstore had a cat or two! This looks like a very fun book!
ReplyDeleteOh, that must be a fine read, Lola...we love the pictures of the kitties too. Pawkisses for a Happy Sunday :) <3
ReplyDeleteWhat a wonderful book. I wish there were still more bookstores -- and more cats to own them!
ReplyDeleteThat sounds like a great book. If cats can make libraries famous, why not book stores!! AN absolutely great idea for a book, and I wish there was a bookstore here with cats. Love bookstores!
ReplyDeleteThis is such a awesome sounding book! I love the cats in the bookstore, very cute!
ReplyDeletethis book, Bookstore Cats, sounds like a great read for a snowy afternoon. there used a be a bookstore in my area that had cats and dogs running around in it. they sold used books. it was a very nice store just to go and read.
ReplyDeleteGreat pictures. Any store is made better by a cat!
ReplyDeleteI yearn to look at books of cat photos, but they're so rare and expensive--the library doesn't have them, they quickly go out of print, etc. This book would assuage my bitter soul!
ReplyDeleteI would love ❤ a book of Cat's. We have 5 Cat's!!! So awesome 😊
ReplyDeleteThis looks like an interesting book!
ReplyDelete