Not your typical summer read

For those of you that didn’t read it in hardback when it came out last year, Cat Daddy by Jackson Galaxy (of Animal Planet’s My Cat From Hell fame) is now available in paperback (as well as audiobook & ebook).

The subtitle: What the world’s most incorrigible cat taught me about life, love and coming clean, barely begins to scratch the surface.

This is an unflinching and honest look at a human life, ruined by addictions and redeemed by the love of a cat, that not for the faint of heart.

But for those with the courage to take it up, you will be rewarded. While there are tips about cat care scattered throughout, this is more in the vein of an full-throttle autobiography (both Jackson’s and his cat Benny’s).

Rarely have we come across an author so willing to rip away the mask and yet so able to eloquently tell his truth (about shelters, addiction, loss, change, growth and so much more) in a can’t-put-it down fashion.

Definitely 5 stars. Definitely someone we hope will be publishing future works, of fiction, nonfiction or even verse!

National Devil’s Food Cake Day. Mmmm, that’s right, the Devil made us do it, just ask Mr Webster!

 For those of you that were unaware, today is National Devil’s Food Cake Day. For those of you wondering . . . Devil’s Food Cake is the counterpart to Angel Food Cake. It differs from chocolate cake because it uses cocoa (and sometimes coffee too), rather than chocolate, hellish boiling water rather than milk as it’s liquid component, less eggs and more baking soda. Devil’s food cake was introduced in the United States in the early 20th century with the recipe in print as early as 1905.

In some turn of the century cookbooks the red velvet cake and devil’s food cake are used interchangeably. This is because of the red anthocyanin in the cocoa. And as your taking this free-wheeling ride through the history of words, grab a great new book on Noah Webster to go with your slice of Devil’s Food:  Joshua Kendall’s The Forgotten Founding Father: Noah Webster’s Obsession and the Creation of an American Culture.

This new bio new of the pioneering lexicographer Noah Webster Jr. (1758-1843) is a welcome addition to any word lover’s collection. Webster gave America some of its most beloved educational tools: The Elementary Spelling Book, and the American Dictionary of the English Language (aka Webster’s Dictionary). The latter of which would go onto document and shape American thinking from the first publication, even up to today.

If you still don’t have your Devil fix, kick back and enjoy the Devil and Daniel Webster (in this case Daniel, Noah’s Cousin, and the Senator that first proposed copyright laws, written by Noah!) based on the book by  Stephen Vincent Benet.