Our road trip

So if you follow on Twitter, Facebook or Instagram you will know we took miss paws on her first ever road trip and ticked a few things off her bucket list. Trixie is seventeen, has a lot of health problems and we had to come home on an emergency flight in March as we thought we were going to loose her as she took unwell. I tell you, the trip up north, the country air fair agreed with her. She was up on counters (I haven't seen her do that in years!), actually sprinted three times in one morning and played chasing a light reflection.





She gets really car sick, she was only sick once on the way up and not at all on the drive home. I think the travel cage really seems to help. Look at her wee harness!








I took a fair few books, mostly hardback and my kindle and now catching up with the reviews and prepping blog tours I have agreed to before focusing on work stuff. My foot is getting better and whilst going through intense physio hoping to get back to work soon!





Because I now have the boot off and focusing on the exercises we managed to go a decent walk whilst we were up there. An abandoned building is normally all shut off. This time they have opened a wee path you can walk in to go in so I was delighted to get a wee nosey through it. No miss paws this time and we got caught in the rain but it was so worth it, I love abandoned buildings and whilst we couldn't go inside properly and I certainly couldn't climb anyway I was delighted to get so close.


The sky pictures, if you follow my instagram you will know how much I love them, managed to get a fair few snaps.











We always go up to the tourist shops at John O'Groats and I buy a bookmark, sweets or a book. I saw this and couldn't resist. I used to collect coins as a kid, now it is books/bookmarks and look, a wee wren (I think) on the farthing so I HAD to buy it.





Miss paws is exhausted but I think she had a great trip, I certainly needed a few days away, just some down time, recharge and it is lovely seeing family. I think we will keep up trying to get kitty to see a bit more of the outdoors (she is an indoor cat) as she coped so well out and about. Climbing furniture like a kitten, on the beach and up on her first wall looking like a boss!





So, that has been our adventures, 370 piccys by the way just from the phone - she is the most photographed kitty in the world. Happy 1st of August, I am looking forward to the new shark movie Meg (may even get a chance to re read the book before we see it), it is my birthday this month, I am looking forward to seeing some of my fav humans. Being stuck indoors so much and seeing so little people has been horrific for a gab a minute social butterfly like me. So I am just going to draw the winner for July's comp and I will get August's giveaway prepped and ready to go. Have an amazing August you guys, a fresh new month.

The Pharaoh's Cat by Maria Luisa Lang

The Pharaoh's Cat by Maria Luisa Lang
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Time taken to read - 1 day

Pages - 182

Publisher - Self published

Blurb from Goodreads

The Pharaoh’s Cat, a tragicomic fantasy narrated in the present tense by the cat himself, tells of a free-spirited, wise-cracking stray in ancient Egypt who suddenly acquires human powers and immediately captivates the young Pharaoh, making him laugh for the first time since his parents’ death.

The cat becomes the Pharaoh’s constant companion and, at the royal palace and on a tour of Egypt, participates in the festivities, developing an insatiable appetite for good food, wine, and gossip. Gradually, he renews the Pharaoh’s ability to enjoy life and inspires him to become a stronger leader. The bond of selfless love they share will change Egypt’s destiny.

The cat has a good friend in the High Priest of the god Amun-Ra and seeks his help in solving the mystery of his human powers and the supernatural manifestations that plague him. He has a mortal enemy in the Vizier—the second most powerful man in Egypt--who hates him for his close relationship with the Pharaoh. The Vizier’s persecution of the cat ultimately results in his fleeing with the High Priest to present-day New York City, where they find an ally in an Egyptologist’s daughter.



My Review

A wee stray cat in Egypt suddenly finds himself able to talk and stand upright, saved from a horrible fate by the Pharaoh whilst making an enemy. Wrappa-Hamen (the cat) is the protagonist, whilst meeting the Pharaoh changes his life he in turn enriches the Pharaoh's waking him from his grief and embracing life and his role. The Vizier, the second most powerful man next to the Pharaoh is not pleased with Wrappa-Hamen's influence and his arrival kick starts a deadly change of events.

I have had this on my review tbr for a long time, I wish I had read it sooner, the cat would steal the show even if he wasn't the main character. He is sassy, funny, witty and brings joy and chaos to the realm stirring everything up. The Vizier is not a nice man, he had the Pharaoh where he wanted him, almost like a puppet, with the arrival of Wrappa-Hamen everything changes and the Pharaoh comes into his own. The book is about actions, choices, consequences and lives lessons without being done in a preachy manner. There is also a lot about Egyptian history, I have always been interested in it but never really gotten around to reading much, I did find myself putting the book down to google some things & will read further hopefully soon.

A heart warming story that covers a lot of ground, snippets of history, magic, relationships, lies, love, friendship, persecution and even some time travel. This book won't be loved by all however I thought it was really well done. A sweet tale with some moral lessons and the kitty is a cheeky wee thing with some flare, I found myself laughing at some of his quips! 4/5 for me this time, there is another book with this character that I will bump up my list, not too sure how it will go with how well rounded this one was was but I look forward to reading it. Thanks so much to the author for bringing this to my attention it is a wee gem of a book particularly if you like cats and something a bit different.

View all my reviews

Wee catch up

February hasn't been the most active with posts on here as you may have noticed if you are a regular visitor to the blog, I also have only read 5 books this month which, for me, isn't a lot considering I had some time off. Well there has been lots going on and most recently has been with Princess Trixie (the adorable kitty that features on here).





We took her in for her check up, she is 16 has stage 3 kidney failure and every day we get is one more than we expected but she had been grand. It wasn't great news, her health had deteriorated, her weight dropped 7%, her eyesight was going, arthritis is getting worse and starting in her front legs. We left and it was pretty emotional however she got some strong painkillers which seen her rally the last time & they took some bloods.





We got a phone call from the vet on Saturday to say all bloods were much better than expected, we were going out to celebrate a friends big birthday so it turned into a double celebration. And what better way to celebrate than with my fav drink and a wee goblet with a super cool nerdy bottle opener.





One night after her painkillers and we had a very playful kitty, if you follow us on Instagram (Always_reading) you can see a wee video of her!





So now that we have our blog mascot fighting fit for another day, I am considering trying a new feature as I don't know about you but I LOVE seeing peoples furbabies and books so watching this space. Now I can concentrate on reading I can get stuck into the ever growing TBR list and I have some time off coming up which is just as well with all the incoming reviews.





Today will be catching up on my reviews, I have already posted my thoughts on Rattle, the new debut by Fiona Cummins and hoping to get another few up and finish my current read. I wanted something a bit different and it has been a while since I added to my zombie reads so today is Underground from the ZomB series by Darren Shan.