Cat Book Links
A ninth-century Irish monk once set aside his sacred writing to compose a poem for Pangur Bán, the white cat purring on his lap. That companionship between writers and cats has endured through the centuries.
Here are links to the featured writers’ pages, recommended books and more.
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In the studies of writers, cats have been silent, and sometimes helpful, witnesses to the creation of masterpieces. The writers in this book shared their lives with cats who offered companionship, comfort and sometimes inspiration, and probably kept a close eye on the writing. Click an author’s name to visit their page for more links and recommended reading.
It is such fun to find out how besotted with their feline friends all these writers were.” ― Dame Lynley Dodd, (author of the Hairy Maclary books)
Cats and writers have long delighted me: their companionship, their curious habits and the many ways they find their way into literature. Over the years, I’ve written about feline companions and characters in stories. Here are my own resources on cats and the literary world.
Literary Pets – Foss the Cat
Edward Lear & The Owl and the Pussycat
T.S. Elliot & Macavity: The Mystery Cat
Harold Monro & Milk for the Cat
A.A. Milne & Pinkle Purr
The Cat in the Hat is first published
The Travelling Cat Chronicles
People and Their Pets
Cats in Books
Cats and Books
Christopher Smart is confined to a lunatic asylum
Dewey Readmore Books is found
Don’t have the book yet? Let’s fix that!
Great Writers & the Cats Who Owned Them is available here.
Order now and team your book with a matching TEA TOWEL and a GREETING CARD.
Cheryl Hill, my assistant and the biggest cat-aholic I know, has gathered books she’s read and enjoyed in which cats play memorable roles. Each brings its own feline personality to the story, and I’m pleased to share her favourites with fellow cat and book lovers.
Prefer to borrow? Search your local library’s online catalogue using the book title and author. If a title isn’t listed, ask your librarian whether it can be borrowed from another library through an interlibrary loan.
Jennie by Paul Gallico
Dewey: The Small-Town Library Cat Who Touched the World by Vicki Myron
Dewey’s Nine Lives: The Legacy of the Small-Town Library Cat Who Inspired Millions by Vicki Myron
The Travelling Cat Chronicles by Hiro Arikawa
Of Cats and Men by Sam Kalda
Choupette: The Private Life of a High-Flying Fashion Cat by Karl Lagerfeld
Stray by A.N. Wilson
The Cat Who Walked a Thousand Miles by Kij Johnson
On Cats by Doris Lessing
Bono: The Amazing Story of a Rescue Cat by Helen Brown
Cleo: The Cat Who Mended a Family by Helen Brown
Cat Sense: How the New Feline Science Can Make You a Better Friend to Your Pet by John Bradshaw
The Goodbye Cat by Hiro Arikawa
Trim, The Cartographer’s Cat by Matthew Flinders, Gillian Dooley, Philippa Sandall
We’ll Prescribe You a Cat by Syou Ishida
We’ll Prescribe You Another Cat by Syou Ishida
The Hidden Language of Cats: How They Have Us at Meow by Sarah Brown
The Guest Cat by Takashi Hiraide
If Cats Disappeared from the World by Genki Kawamura
The Divine Feline: A Chic Cat Lady’s Guide by Belinda Alexandra
The Dalai Lama’s Cat by David Michie
She and her Cat by Naruki Nagakawa & Makoto Shinkai
The Cat Who Saved Books by Sosuke Natsukawa
I provide these links for convenience only and do not endorse or assume liability for the content or quality of these third-party sites. I only recommend books I have read and know. Some of these links are my affiliate links. If you buy a product using these links I may receive a small commission. It doesn’t cost you anything extra, but does help cover the cost of producing my free newsletter.
A tail of literary love affairs that proves [that] behind every great writer, there’s a cat judging their first drafts.” ― Sarah, via Goodreads
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