Do you own a cat and if so, how do you prevent it from nibbling on your books?
I ask this because my household got a cat a couple weeks ago. It’s the most curious, friendly cat I’ve ever met. I’ve always thought that cats were aloof; you know, stuck up and giving zero fucks about cuddling up next to you. But this one likes such things. He loves to play and to be petted. He LOVES attention. I didn’t expect that at all.
He also loves to smell everything. Is that typical of cats? When he comes into my room, he smells every nook and cranny (that’s how I realized that certain areas were dusty because he sneezed…never heard a cat sneeze before). Once he saw some books on my chair and began to nibble on them. That’s a big no-no for me. So I told him to get out. Of course, he just paused to look at me before going back to nibbling. I had to take the book from him. He doesn’t bother the books on my shelves, so far, but he sure loves cords and the random wayward book laying on the bed or the chair. For some reason, though, he doesn’t bother the Funko Pops on my shelves. Weird cat.
Anyway, we’re touring the second bookcase in my room.
And we’re now on the third shelf from the bottom, which also has my middle grade books. You’ll also see a few YA books mixed in. Let’s take a look:
There are some more Funkos on this shelf. We have here Luna Lovegood from the Harry Potter series rocking her lion hat, which she wore to quidditch games when cheering for Gryffindor.
Next to her are two keychains: another Luna Lovegood in her school uniform and radish earrings, and a dementor. I also have here Dustin from Stranger Things and a Ravenclaw journal.
SITTING ON TOP
Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone (20th ed.) by J.K. Rowling, illus. by Levi Pinfold ★★★★★
I consider myself a Ravenclaw, but I got the Hufflepuff version of this edition because I LOVE the bright yellow color. I would like to get the Ravenclaw hardcover version, but I can’t convince myself to spend more money just to get another version.
Goth Girl and the Ghost of a Mouse by Chris Riddell (illus.)
The Assassination of Brangwain Spurge by M.T. Anderson, illus. by Eugene Yelchin
Raybearer by Jordan Ifueko
STACKED: LEFT TO RIGHT
The House of Secrets by Chris Columbus & Ned Vizzini, illus. by Greg Call
Jinx’s Magic by Sage Blackwood
Jinx by Sage Blackwood ★★★☆☆
About a boy abandoned in the forest who becomes an apprentice to a magician. The story was interesting and I’d love to reread it and continue on to the second book, Jinx’s Magic. I bought and read it because I like the cover. 😊
The Apprentice Witch by James Nicol ★★★☆☆
About a young woman who failed her witch’s exam and is sent to a little village to work as an apprentice before she can be considered a witch. I enjoyed reading it and would like to continue with the series.
The Last Ever After by Soman Chainani, illus. by Iacopo Bruno
The School for Good & Evil by Soman Chainani, illus. by Iacopo Bruno
A World Without Princes by Soman Chainani, illus. by Iacopo Bruno
The Hero’s Guide to Saving Your Kingdom by Christopher Healy, illus. by Todd Harris ★★★★☆
I had such a great time reading this book. It’s inspired by fairytales and is actually about the princes charming in the fairytales. It’s fantasy but also quite humorous. I’d love to continue with the series. The second book —
The Hero’s Guide to Storming the Castle by Christopher Healy, illus. by Todd Harris
A Path Begins by J.A. White, illus. by Andrea Offermann
STACKED: LEFT TO RIGHT (CONTINUED)
Keeper of the Lost Cities by Shannon Messenger
Fablehaven by Brandon Mull, illus. by Brandon Dorman ★★★☆☆
About a brother and sister who are sent to spend time with their grandparents, who they learn are caretakers of a haven for fey creatures. It was okay. It didn’t interest me enough to want to continue with the series. I considered unhauling the book, but I like the cover too much. I’d like to reread it too.
The following 5 books make up the Chronicles of Prydain series — about a boy who works as a pig keeper for a wizard. The boy goes on several quests on which he makes new friends, learn stuff about himself, and help save the world. It’s a fun read. I liked all the books except the last one, which really annoyed me. The books are listed from last to first.
The High King by Lloyd Alexander ★★☆☆☆
Taran Wanderer by Lloyd Alexander ★★★★☆
The Castle of Llyr by Lloyd Alexander ★★★☆☆
The Black Cauldron by Lloyd Alexander ★★★☆☆
The Book of Three by Lloyd Alexander ★★★☆☆
The Lost Years of Merlin by T.A. Barron ★★☆☆☆
A childhood favorite I reread fairly recently but didn’t like 😩. It’s about the great wizard Merlin as a boy.
The Chronicles of Narnia series are childhood favorites and are some of the books that got me interested in fantasy. I’ve forgotten the story in most of the books, but I recall the Magician’s Nephew and The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe quite well. I’d like to revisit this series.
Prince Caspian by C.S. Lewis, illus. by Pauline Baynes ★★★★☆
The Magician’s Nephew by C.S. Lewis, illus. by Pauline Baynes ★★★★★
STACKED: Horizontally
The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe by C.S. Lewis, illus. by Pauline Baynes ★★★★★
The Voyage of the Dawn Treader by C.S. Lewis, illus. by Pauline Baynes ★★★☆☆
The Horse and His Boy by C.S. Lewis, illus. by Pauline Baynes ★★★☆☆
Spindle’s End by Robin McKinley ★★★★★
This is a YA fantasy retelling of Sleeping Beauty. I love the story and McKinley’s writing and the lush setting that’s so full of magic people have to hire fairies to come by to clear it up.
Sunshine by Robin McKinley
Below are the second and third books in the Earthsea Cycle series by Ursula Le Guin. They were good reads, but I prefer the first book — A Wizard of Earthsea.
The Farthest Shore by Ursula Le Guin ★★☆☆☆
The Tombs of Atuan by Ursula Le Guin ★★★☆☆
Last is one of my favorite YA fantasy series — the Song of the Lioness Quartet by Tamora Pierce. It’s about a girl who disguises herself as a boy to become a knight. Parts of it don’t hold up well to a modern perspective (white saviorism), but I still enjoy the story and recommend it.
Alanna: The First Adventure by Tamora Pierce ★★★★★
In the Hand of the Goddess by Tamora Pierce ★★★★★
The Woman Who Rides Like a Man by Tamora Pierce ★★★★★
Lioness Rampant by Tamora Pierce ★★★★★
← Bookshelf Tour, Pt. 18 | Middle Grade (continues)
Bookshelf Tour, Pt. 20 | YA (begins) →
SOME STATS
Total books in this row(s) = 35
How many I completed = 23
How many I will unhaul = 0
Total shelves so far = 9
Total books so far = 695
How many completed = 299
How many I will unhaul = 23
Zezee with Books 
As usual I like seeing your books and they remind me of how many we have in common that I still need to read! Lol
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Similar tastes 🙂
So many unread! I thought I’d be reading a lot more this year but it’s been a distracting year too.
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Yeah for someone home almost all the time and now unemployed for 3 months, I hadn’t read anywhere near what I would have thought if someone told me I’d have this much time to myself.
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It’s such an unstable time. Sometimes there’s too much worry/stress to be able to focus on a book.
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Cat’s killed the dinosaurs!
But that’s a long story,
That’s not the way it is, you can’t own a cat!
The cat has selected you to be it’s servant,,
Now cats aren’t stupid, they select intelligent, agile, hard working good servants and if the “chosen one“ stares in the book then surely the book is worthy of the cat.
Cat psychology 101
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🤣🤣 I like this a lot. It makes me feel a little better about the cat nibbling on my books.
…would love to know more about how/why cats killed the dinosaurs.
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How” is with an asteroid, we were working for the cats then. They use their thoughts and use them well.
Dinosaurs
You know, we’re not the cats pyjamas.
Nothing so terrifying as a lickalotapus.
Tho,
the cat told me this one evening as we passed a smoke of catnip,
She said, ”
You see over yonder, by the old rusty honda”
The tails she told.
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🤣🤣
Oh man. You can’t trust anything a cat tells you when it’s hitting that catnip.
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Where was I
That’s right, long story.
You see over yonder by the old rusty honda.
“you see over yonder by the old rusty honda” yes I said looking towards where her clawry paw pointed, yes I do. You could remove that and have beaver flatten that area, make the airstrip larger for a xxxxxx (large plane), build housing for the squirrels, a factory of course, storage for the nuts and catnip.
Beaver! Squirrels! Airstrip ‘i said ‘
Most people know beaver build dams right, but they also build a dam good runway, and squirrels you know only eat 20% of the nuts that they Bury (even less when modified) That’s where forests come from! Squirrels! (and both will work for nuts, and a little catnip!)
‘You could broadcast flying squirrels and beaver’ (which need parachutes, there are no flying beaver!) ‘the squirrels will plant the forest, the beaver will build the strips!
As I said, smart cat, the nip had really opened my eyes to the possibilitys and the money went ca-ching x2.
In a former life the cat claims to have influenced Elon musk (things she knows about starlink – tesla)
I see them the other night, spectacular – night train in the sky!
‘had his service a couple of years she says’.
Now the cat mentioned this after looking over the papers I was doing, research, always there in the field, over the shoulder, staring.
The study was to do with drought /transportation of fluids to dry regions.
Research which over many years proved that beverages such as beer /wine tea and coffee and other such lead to a “doubling” effect!!!
eg: drink 1 bottles of beer, pee 2
Another example tea b4 bedtime,, up all night peeing!.
So yeah, over that smoke, toke-toke, roll-roll (the cat purrfurs to roll in it) we discussed the possibility of first moistening an area for afforestation then planting, lastly bringing the squirrel – beaver back to steee-Corp.
And that’s how we were born.
The tuppa-whare whales came later.
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Lol “purrfurrs”
That’s quite a discussion y’all had.
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These book spines are so colorful; I love it! Especially those Tamora Pierce books!
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Thanks!
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Cats definitely smell everything! I have had some cats who adore being held and loved on, and others not so much. They have their own little personalities! I’ve not had one that liked to nibble books, though. Take a picture and share your cat in a future post, if you want to – I’d love to see him.
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Well this little one the fam has is one that loves to cuddle. I keep wondering if he was taken too early from his mom and that’s why he loves being pet so much and get attention.
I shared some on IG but will def share them here in another post.
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No idea how to prevent nibbling, luckily mine doesn’t do that but I do know another bookish friend whose one cat LOVES to nibble on their books and they just…gave up and let them.
Maybe find a book that you don’t mind getting nibbled on as a decoy book and spray some tabasco on it and the cat will learn not to nibble. Alternatively, you could redirect them to something they ARE allowed to nibble on and hopefully they will leave the books alone (I got my cat some cardboard cat scratchers and he doesn’t bother the furniture.) Good luck!
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Lol! Well, I’m so picky about the condition of my books that I’ve stopped allowing him into my room.
We got those cardboard scratchers too so that he’ll leave the furniture alone, but there’s a sofa he loves so much that he won’t stop scratching it.
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Oh no. Well they have that double sided tape you can put on the furniture and that might stop him from scratching, they don’t like their paws getting stuck. Cats! I love them but they can be a pain sometimes. 🙂
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Lol I’m realizing that.
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Wonderful collection! I’m also a McKinley fan, as you know 😉 The Magician’s Nephew is my favorite Narnia book.
You have a curious cat! I think he might be nibbling on book corners because they have an interesting smell for him?
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Thanks! 🙂 Yep, I remember. I need to get more of McKinley’s books so I can reread them.
For me, it’s a toss up between Magician’s Nephew and Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe. The latter is probably because it was the first one I read that got me hooked on the books as a kid.
That could be it since I realize he doesn’t nibble on the ones in the living room.
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Love your MG Collection!! I really enjoyed The School for Good and Evil – now I want to reread and finally continue the series!
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Thanks!
It’s one I was hoping to get to this summer, but maybe I will before the end of the year.
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