Feline Behaviour and Psychology (audio book) by Centre of Excellence (Author), Brian Greyson (Narrator)


Feline Behaviour and Psychology (audio book) by Centre of Excellence (Author), Brian Greyson (Narrator)
Publisher: Author’s Republic
Genre: Non-Fiction
Rating: 4 stars
Reviewed by Lavender

The Feline Behaviour and Psychology audiobook provides a greater understanding of what is going on in the mind of your cat(s), why they do certain things, and how to improve your and your other pets’ relationship with them.

For cat lovers, part of the attraction to their feline friends is the very thing that sets them apart from other pets: their intelligence and behaviors, though this can also be an avenue of confusion, leaving you with unanswered questions:

“Why is my cat constantly spraying my curtains, even though he’s been neutered?”
“Why does my cat chew my plants?”
“Why does my cat sometimes bite me when I stroke her?”
Written by our feline psychology expert who has more than 12 years of experience in this fascinating field, this audiobook aims to give you the latest comprehensive, up-to-date knowledge that can help you answer many of you cat-related questions, aiding you to build stronger relationships with your feline companions.

Have you ever wondered why your cat does such strange things? It’s certainly amusing to watch cats in action.

This book gives us an inside view into cat behavior. We learn things such as: are certain personality traits of cats linked to certain breeds? What are the signs that your cat is unhappy? What are cats trying to express to us? Can cats ever be social creatures, and if so, how? Can they be trained?

Even people who don’t have cats might find this book interesting. It has many good points that are not so commonly known. Why not give this short book a quick listen and learn something while being entertained?

Reading Lolita in Tehran by Azar Nafisi


Reading Lolita in Tehran by Azar Nafisi
Publisher: Random House Trade Paperbacks
Genre: Non-fiction, Historical
Rating: 5 stars
Reviewed by Lavender

For two years before she left Iran in 1997, Nafisi gathered seven young women at her house every Thursday morning to read and discuss forbidden works of Western literature. They were all former students whom she had taught at university. Some came from conservative and religious families, others were progressive and secular; several had spent time in jail. They were shy and uncomfortable at first, unaccustomed to being asked to speak their minds, but soon they began to open up and to speak more freely, not only about the novels they were reading but also about themselves, their dreams and disappointments. Their stories intertwined with those they were reading—Pride and Prejudice, Washington Square, Daisy Miller and Lolita—their Lolita, as they imagined her in Tehran.

Nafisi’s account flashes back to the early days of the revolution, when she first started teaching at the University of Tehran amid the swirl of protests and demonstrations. In those frenetic days, the students took control of the university, expelled faculty members and purged the curriculum. When a radical Islamist in Nafisi’s class questioned her decision to teach The Great Gatsby, which he saw as an immoral work that preached falsehoods of “the Great Satan,” she decided to let him put Gatsby on trial and stood as the sole witness for the defense.

Azar Nafisi’s luminous tale offers a fascinating portrait of the Iran-Iraq war viewed from Tehran and gives us a rare glimpse, from the inside, of women’s lives in revolutionary Iran. It is a work of great passion and poetic beauty, written with a startlingly original voice.

Azar Nafisi left Iran in the late 1990s for America with quite a story to tell. She teaches at John Hopkins University and was a teacher of English literature in Tehran. Why did she leave?

Reading Lolita in Tehran is a touching story of the author’s experiences in Iran, especially as a woman. She defied authorities and prodded others to do so. Her account of this fascinating situation is underlined with discussions of literature and how it can open minds. She brilliantly tied the people in famous books with what was happening around her and tells a very human story of struggle and relationships.

Nafisi’s writing flows and is down to earth, bringing one in the moment. Readers will learn about the dramatic things happening in her country but will also be treated to learning about great works of writing. This author’s emotional narrative is smart and well worth the read.

Rise to Globalism: American Foreign Policy Since 1938 by Stephen E. Ambrose and Douglas G. Brinkley


Rise to Globalism: American Foreign Policy Since 1938 by Stephen E. Ambrose and Douglas G. Brinkley
Publisher: Penguin Books
Genre: Non-fiction, Historical
Rating: 5 stars
Reviewed by Lavender

Since it first appeared in 1971, Rise to Globalism has sold hundreds of thousands of copies. The ninth edition of this classic survey, now updated through the administration of George W. Bush, offers a concise and informative overview of the evolution of American foreign policy from 1938 to the present, focusing on such pivotal events as World War II, the Cuban Missile Crisis, Vietnam, and 9/11. Examining everything from the Iran-Contra scandal to the rise of international terrorism, the authors analyze-in light of the enormous global power of the United States-how American economic aggressiveness, racism, and fear of Communism have shaped the nation’s evolving foreign policy.

What are some important events concerning other nations that every American should know? In Rise to Globalism, readers learn about foreign policy over the past several decades. These facts are presented to a general audience and are very enlightening.

The authors begin with the World War II era and take us through to the election of Obama. Presidents had some hard decisions to make. How did Americans at the time react to those decisions. How would you have reacted?

Each president’s positive and negative points are laid out for readers as they happened, giving people lots to think about. Many people will remember living through some of these things. Events will be clarified, and holes in knowledge will be filled in. Why not give this informative book a try?

In Five Years by Rebecca Serle


In Five Years by Rebecca Serle
Publisher: Atria books
Genre: Contemporary, Mystery/Suspense/Thriller, Women’s Fiction
Rating: 4 stars
Reviewed by Lavender

Where do you see yourself in five years?

Dannie Kohan lives her life by the numbers.

She is nothing like her lifelong best friend—the wild, whimsical, believes-in-fate Bella. Her meticulous planning seems to have paid off after she nails the most important job interview of her career and accepts her boyfriend’s marriage proposal in one fell swoop, falling asleep completely content.

But when she awakens, she’s suddenly in a different apartment, with a different ring on her finger, and beside a very different man. Dannie spends one hour exactly five years in the future before she wakes again in her own home on the brink of midnight—but it is one hour she cannot shake. In Five Years is an unforgettable love story, but it is not the one you’re expecting.

Something strange happens to Dannie, a corporate lawyer. Dannie lives in New York with her fiancé, David, when one night she wakes up five years in the future with a different man. They spent some heated moments together; then Dannie wakes back up in her present. What happened to David? Why weren’t they still together?

Suspense is achieved with this in mind, and it increases when Dannie’s best friend Bella introduces Dannie to her new boyfriend, the man Dannie had woken up next to in the future. Dannie would never betray Bella or David, so she is determined not to allow herself and Bella’s boyfriend to become close, but they do—in a way. Dannie increases her efforts to get closer to David and speed up the time until she marries him, yet she still hesitates.

This story is a good exploration of friendship and being true to oneself. Dannie’s job is an expedient backdrop to the plot and offers a peek into a demanding industry. Dannie makes some hard choices, especially when she receives some shocking news. She discovers more about herself and faces strong emotions.

In Five Years is an entertaining book showing life in New York at its best. It is worth the read.

A Lesson in Woo-Woo and Murder by David Unger, PhD


A Lesson in Woo-Woo and Murder by David Unger, PhD
Publisher: Self-published
Genre: Mystery/Suspense/Thriller, Recent Historical (1985), Cozy Mystery
Rating: 3 stars
Reviewed by Lavender

David’s chakras are stimulated and he takes a skeptical step into the unknown when he’s asked for support at the Santa Monica Whole Life Expo – bad juju is coming, and positive therapeutic auras are required.

Murder soon spoils the cosmic karma, and with the posse on hand to spice up the mystic mix, David’s sleuthing leads him to places he’s never been before, and most likely won’t return to.

But David is distracted – Nova, the Love Doctor, puts the “oo” in his personal woo-woo, and when a psychic foretells of romance in his future, he all but enters a different dimension.

David’s special brand of voodoo-therapy-magic has never been more at home, but can he overcome his super Nova distraction for long enough to unmask the killer before anyone else gets hurt?

This is a clever way to present a murder mystery…with a bit of the paranormal, or rather, paranormal practitioners. Dave is a psychologist at an event with booths and people featuring such things as tarot readings, psychics, and tantric sex. While there, someone is murdered and then someone else loses their life.

Dave wants to figure out who the guilty party is. He is friendly with the others at this convention and follows people in order to see what they are up to. As this is going on, there is a romantic subplot, kind of. He’s interested in a woman in this group.

Dave talks to these believers with respect, but he doesn’t really believe himself. This gives the conversations between him and the others a slightly humorous feel. Is he being sarcastic after all? It’s set in the 1980s. Perhaps, it could have used more emphasis on this time because really, it could have been modern day.

It’s a quirky tale that will have readers wondering who did the evil deed. Why not follow along and try to figure out the case for yourself?

This Time Tomorrow by Emma Straub


This Time Tomorrow by Emma Straub
Publisher: Riverhead Books
Genre: Sci-Fi/Fantasy, Time-Travel, Contemporary, Recent Historical
Rating: 4 stars
Reviewed by Lavender

What if you could take a vacation to your past?

With her celebrated humor, insight, and heart, beloved New York Times bestseller Emma Straub offers her own twist on traditional time travel tropes and a different kind of love story.

On the eve of her fortieth birthday, Alice’s life isn’t terrible. She likes her job, even if it isn’t exactly the one she expected. She’s happy with her apartment, her romantic status, and her independence, and she adores her lifelong best friend. But her father is ailing, and it feels to her as if something is missing. When she wakes up the next morning, she finds herself back in 1996, reliving her sixteenth birthday. But it isn’t just her adolescent body that shocks her, or seeing her high school crush—it’s her dad, the vital, charming, forty-something version of her father with whom she is reunited. Now armed with a new perspective on her own life and his, some past events take on new meaning. Is there anything that she would change if she could?

Emma is forty but gets to be sixteen again. Now’s the time to change some things. On her fortieth birthday, Emma wakes up in the home of her single father, and she’s a lot younger. So is he. She has some decisions to make.

Emma interacts with her teenage friends and boyfriends and alters history. Then she goes back to her present and sees the differences. In many ways, her life is better, but still, something is wrong.

Also, in her present, her dad is dying. Can she change this? She is going to go back and try.

Probably the best feature of this book is the relationship between Emma and her dad. He’s an author, and he’s doing the best he can to be a great dad. He and Emma are close. There are many touching father-daughter moments in this book.

Sam, Emma’s best friend, makes for a good sounding-board as Emma opens up to her and tells her what’s really going on. Their relationship is well-developed too.

Other characters come into play. Their importance lies in how they make Emma ponder things and make changes. She comes to realizations along the way.

The time travel aspect is clever, and one doesn’t know quite what to expect. This is a fun book more about relationships than anything.

Variation on a Theme by Thomas Watson


Variation on a Theme by Thomas Watson
Publisher: Self-published
Genre: Paranormal, Sci-Fi/Fantasy
Rating: 4 stars
Reviewed by Lavender

On a bitterly cold night under the stars, an old man willingly embraces the end of his life. Illness and a revelation of betrayal have convinced him that the time has come. But in dying, Gregory Williamson discovers that time is not what he believes it to be, and neither are life and death. Granted a new awareness of the true complexity of existence, he is offered the chance to live another life. A life that will show him the powerful truth of love. A life that could make the world a better place.

Better, that is, from a certain point of view.

Greg is an old man about to die when he is confronted with an odd situation. He becomes 17 again, and this time, he should make different decisions, changing his life, but more importantly, changing the lives of others.

What would you do if this happened to you? Would you choose a different life partner? Greg dares to do so with interesting results. Luckily, he retains his memories of his past life; however, when he makes a new choice, he is put on a novel path, not knowing what to expect.

This is a charming story that features different types of relationships. Greg sees his parents and teachers through more mature eyes. He figures out a way to help his sister and friends as well, affecting their fate. Most importantly, Greg chooses to take a chance on the one who got away. This will put them both on quite a different path. Will this stick? Will there be bad consequences?

As things unfold, readers will wonder about these things and want to know more. Life and death situations arise, and there are surprises in this novel.

This is a good do-over book that many will likely enjoy.

Do-Over by David T. Wolf


Do-Over by David T. Wolf
Publisher: Self-published
Genre: Time-travel, Sci-fi/Fantasy, Historical
Rating: 4 stars
Reviewed by Lavender

What if you woke up one morning and discovered that you were your preteen self, but with all your present memories intact? What if this alternate science-fiction universe gave you the chance to undo the many things you regretted? To act on those opportunities you missed? What tragedies would you act to prevent? Given the chance, what would you change about your life–and the world?

Among the stories about getting a second chance to do your life—becoming young again—this is one of the good ones. Rick, middle-aged, wakes up to find that he is twelve years old again. Can you imagine this? What things would you do differently? Luckily, Rick remembers things and can make wise decisions.

Rick recalls issues from the 1970s through the first part of the 2000s. He runs into some widely known people and changes not only his own life but that of those who can affect others. He can’t change everything, but what he does have power over brings food for thought, sometimes with a bit of amusement.

The story rolls out in an entertaining way while inspiring readers to think about their own lives. Some things are pleasantly surprising, but others are just…surprising. For example, he marries the same woman, but when his children are born, the unexpected causes Rick to really ponder the situation.

This is a short story written by a talented author that many are sure to enjoy. The author’s voice is just right, and the tale can probably be read in one sitting.

Murder for Liar by Verlin Darrow


Murder for Liar by Verlin Darrow
Publisher: The Wild Rose Press, Inc.
Genre: Contemporary, Mystery/Suspense/Thriller
Rating: 3 stars
Reviewed by Lavender

Tom is dangerously close to discovering where his threshold is—the point of no return for his sanity. His encounter with the killer represents one more bizarre hot potato he’s forced to juggle instead of filing away neatly. It’s not one too many, but what if the next one is? And could all the coincidences that keep happening to Tom be nothing more than that? Could a young woman named Zig-Zag really be an angel? How could a dog lead Tom to one of the most important clues? The questions pile up, much as the murders do.

Want an unusual read sure to keep you guessing? Murder for Liar by Verlin Darrow could be for you. Psychotherapist Tom has eccentric patients and a murder mystery on his hands. Arundel visits Tom for counseling, but he’s not very cooperative and even makes Tom a bit uncomfortable. What’s up with this guy?

Soon other equally unique characters show up at Tom’s door. There’s a strange connection between them and something odd going on. Are these occurrences connected to the murders happening around town? Someone Tom knows, a perfectly lovely colleague, becomes a victim. Then a new friend of his becomes threatened. These characters and the questions they raise really drive the story forward.

Tom finds himself in some wild situations and begins to question his own sanity. Could he really be losing his stability, or is something sinister the cause of it all? This book does a good job making one wonder. It is hard to tell what is at the root of it all, making for an engaging mystery. For a book full of surprises with an underlying spiritual theme, why not have a look at this one?

Fresh Water for Flowers by Valérie Perrin


Fresh Water for Flowers by Valérie Perrin
Publisher: Europa Editions
Genre: Romance, Women’s Fiction, Literary Fiction
Rating: 5 stars
Reviewed by Lavender

Violette Toussaint is the caretaker at a cemetery in a small town in Bourgogne, France. Traversing the grounds by unicycle, tending to her many gardens—and being present for the intimate, often humorous confidences of visitors—Violette’s life follows the predictable rhythms of mourning. But then Violette’s routine is disrupted by the arrival of Julien Sole, the local police chief.

Julien has come to scatter the ashes of his recently deceased mother on the gravesite of a complete stranger. It soon becomes clear that Julien’s inexplicable gesture is intertwined with Violette’s own complicated past.

What would it be like to be a young caretaker of a cemetery? What would you learn and experience from this? Violette often ponders the lives of the dead as she looks at their birth and death dates. She has her own issues to deal with as well. She wants to be happy. She is deserted by her husband and loves her daughter; then tragedy hits.

The years roll on as Violette describes her life, her loves, family, friends, and the search for answers. Her narration and insights are written as if a friend were speaking in an elegant way, but she makes many lists throughout the story. Her thoughts and observations offer readers a lot to think about and touch upon many emotions.

The book is layered and complex and crosses time and characters’ perspectives. It starts with Violette appreciating the good she could find in things around her, but the book takes a turn into more serious territory.

It is an intelligent story with cleverness abounding. Turns of action and discoveries will take readers by surprise. The mood is enveloping, and one will be treated to French culture along the way. Why not check out this character-driven tale of a woman with unusual life circumstances and be entertained while being given plenty to think about?