REVIEW: We'll Prescribe You Another Cat (We'll Prescribe You a Cat, #2) by Syou Ishida (3 stars)

 I loved the first book, We’ll Prescribe You a Cat, for its whimsical yet emotionally resonant storytelling. Unfortunately, the sequel didn’t quite live up to that promise. While the concept remains charming—a mysterious cat named Dr. Nikké prescribing feline companions to help humans navigate emotional challenges—the execution this time felt uneven and occasionally tone-deaf.

Much of the book’s attention is oddly focused on documenting cat poop and butt-sniffing, which detracts from the emotional depth of the stories. One quote from Dr. Nikké stood out for the wrong reasons:

“It’s no bad thing to be choosey about your cat, whether it be about its appearance or breed...”

This framing misses a valuable opportunity to promote fostering and rescue. Instead, it implies cats are interchangeable based on aesthetics or breed preference, which felt unsettling.

The first story arc had potential—a young woman with a distant, emotionally unavailable boyfriend is prescribed three purebred cats with distinct personalities. I expected a message about choosing companions (human or feline) based on emotional compatibility rather than looks, but the theme was never fully developed.

The second story, about an elderly man and his grandchild, was confusing but seemed to culminate in a shared mission to help neighbors find lost cats. The third story, featuring a jealous younger sister and a disconnected household, was more compelling. The prescribed munchkin cat helped bridge emotional gaps and reinvigorate family bonds.

The final story, centered on the older brother (a shelter worker), introduces a strange twist: Dr. Nikké appears in human form, borrowing the brother’s appearance. This creates confusion for the sister, but oddly, the brother doesn’t notice the resemblance. The mechanics of Dr. Nikké’s magical transformation are murky—he’s lethargic and locked in a pen, yet somehow projecting himself into the clinic. Is he dying? Exhausted? The ambiguity feels less magical and more inconsistent.

Overall, the book has moments of charm and insight, but it lacks the emotional clarity and thematic cohesion of the first volume. I’d love to see future installments embrace the realities of animal rescue and deepen the emotional arcs of the human characters.

REVIEW: We'll Prescribe You Another Cat (We'll Prescribe You a Cat, #2) by Syou Ishida 

RATING: 3 stars

© Jennifer R Clark. This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License. You may share and adapt this content with proper attribution.

REVIEW: "We'll Prescribe You A Cat" (3 Stars)

We'll Prescribe You A Cat is a collection of short stories—or so it seems at first. Each chapter introduces a new character, a new struggle, and a new cat. But as the book unfolds, the stories begin to interlace, revealing a deeper, interconnected narrative centered around the mysterious Clinic for the Soul.

The clinic itself is a marvel: it appears when you need it most, staffed by an imperious nurse and a delightfully silly vet who, instead of pills or therapy, prescribe cats. Not just any cats—the cat you didn’t know you needed. The kind that curls up in the hollow places of your life and fills them with warmth, mischief, and meaning.

The book never explains how the clinic works, where the cats come from, or why it sometimes disappears. And it doesn’t need to. The magic lies in the acceptance that healing can be whimsical, that transformation can arrive on four paws, and that sometimes the best prescription is a purring companion who chooses you.

If you’ve ever been chosen by a cat—or wished you would be—this book will feel like a warm, knowing nudge from the universe.

We'll Prescribe You a Cat by Syou Ishida,  E. Madison Shimoda (Translator)

RATING: 3 stars

REVIEW: Medieval Cats: Claws, Paws and Kitties of Yore by Catherine Nappington (4-stars)

Thanks to NetGalley for sharing this ARC for me to enjoy on a cold rainy caturday. 

Really enjoyable, light read with plenty of interesting tidbits.  I wonder if the final book will include an appendix or go through a fact checker.  The claim that Pope Gregory's call to kill cats resulted in the Black Plague is a myth.  I also am curious why the Clan Chattan wildcat and motto "Touch not the cat" are not included as it is of medieval origin.  

Many of the cats have human looking faces - which is weird - and a lot of pictures of cats licking their butts.  Fun compendium and would make a nice gift book. 

REVIEW: Medieval Cats: Claws, Paws and Kitties of Yore by Catherine Nappington 

RATING: 4-stars

© Jennifer R Clark. This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License. You may share and adapt this content with proper attribution.

REVIEW: Mrs. Chippy's Last Expedition: The Remarkable Journal of Shackleton's Polar-Bound Cat by Caroline Alexander (3-stars)

We all know the true end to Mrs Chippy's expedition -- and I have put off reading this book for ages because of it.  The book itself is an homage to life from the perspective of a very self-assured feline.  The world revolves around him, in his mind, and he doesn't see the ultimate betrayal coming at the end.

There are some laugh out loud passages in this book -- like when two of the ship mates are describing how to turn around in a bunk while Mrs Chippy is nestled between one's ankles.  Mrs Chippy finds this droll but "instructive" because, as he notes -- his sleep has been disturbed by the tossing and turning of louts who were not very considerate.  Mrs. Chippy is depicted as very curious - inspecting and supervising, going on watches and tormenting the dogs who are persistently depicted as less intelligent. 

Whenever someone picks up and carries Mrs Chippy - it's always "I accompanied him on his shoulders ..." or "I accompanied him in the crook of his left arm" ... as if Mrs Chippy is making the decision to have the person pick him up and carry him.

The book is a very amusing exercise in life from the perspective of the cat -- but ultimately, it's an homage to a creature who was betrayed by those humans whose lives intertwined with his.  His mate, Chippy, never forgave Shackleton for this act.  There's a statue to Mrs. Chippy in Wellington!

REVIEW: Mrs. Chippy's Last Expedition: The Remarkable Journal of Shackleton's Polar-Bound Cat  by Caroline Alexander 

RATING: 3-stars

© Jennifer R Clark. This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License. You may share and adapt this content with proper attribution.

Squash Blossom Brunch & more fruit...

SQUASH BLOSSOMS: I've been dying to make these. Somehow, James and I never got around to making dinner after we got home from The Trappist on Friday -- we found ourselves busy with non-food preparation related entertainment.

After the picnic in Dolores Park with the green bloggers, I took him to Ristorante Bacco for the first time - we had a fantastic dinner with the same server, Lucca, who was there the last time I had dinner with my friend Samael7.

James ordered a salmon carpaccio over a fennel salad, and I had a nice arugula and radiccio salad. For dinner, he had the fregola (tiny round pea shaped pasta) with seafood, and they made me a fantastic dish of rigatoni with truffle oil, green beans, asparagus, pine nuts, red pepper and carrots. Since we have liked the Layer Cake primitivo, we ordered another primitivo which had a bit more bite but which was delicious. We finished off with a mango sorbet that was creamy and delicious but not nearly as good as the WWOZ mango sorbet.

All this means is that we still had squash blossom sitting in my fridge when we got back to the east bay.

This morning I was determined to make up a squash blossom brunch. I made a nice nut cheese to stuff in the blossoms:

1/4 c raw pistachio nut meat
1/2 c raw cashews
1/4 c. raw pinenuts
1/2 tsp of chopped garlic from a jar
1/4 tsp chopped ginger from a jar
1 Tb white miso
1/4 tsp powdered cumin
dash of cayenne & salt
nutritional yeast to taste (optional)
dozen sprigs of cilantro (optional)
1/2 tsp lime juice (optional)

Whir in a food processor or high watt blender with a good knife-in-bowl system.

The nut cheese came out pretty astonishingly good.






Next:

Stuffed 12 squash blossoms with the nut cheese, and roll in batter:

1 c. flour
3 Tb crushed black sesame seeds
salt and coarsely crushed black pepper to taste
1-1 1/2 c water to make a thick batter

Make sure you get the blossom ends and a bit inside the blossom ends to keep them stuck together when you fry.

Thinking a batter would cling to the blossoms better than if I dunked them in flour-water-flower. It worked stupendously -- we had the most gorgeous and delicious squash blossom fritters with a side of sauteed red pepper, mushroom, chopped squash blossoms and grated zucchini and one sliced, sauteed sage-apple gluten sausage (pictures are coming, I swear!). We made a sauce with some chili oil, soy and lime -- but I think I would try one of the fruit chutneys I have made or a fruit- chili based sauce next time.

FRUIT: I know - I was going to take it easy, but... after delivering jars of apricot jam (and I got a jar made from the same apricots by James' neighbors), I picked more apricots from the tree next door to James' apartment. We went and got some gorgeous green gage plums and some light green/yellow apples. The plums are so astonishingly tasty - it's all I have had for dinner so far. Dobson loves the bruised apricots and the squishy plums, too.

I put all the fruit out on trays so that the apricots and apples can ripen a bit more. Then I spent aobut 2 hours cleaning the kitchen - I pulled out the stove and cleaned behind as best I could without detaching the gas hose pipe. I took the top off and cleaned out all the gooey, caramelized, burnt jam from under the burners, pulled out the bottom shelf and scrubbed it and the inside of the oven door. The sides are clean, as is the side of the cabinet and I even vacuumed and got all the bottle caps from behind the stove. It is CLEAN.

After finishing in the kitchen, I spent about six hours re-staking and re-tying tomato plants. My brother arrived and worked on the solar dehydrator -- it's practically a whole box now! I'm pretty excited and feel very grateful that my brother has stepped up to assemble the solar dehydrator for me. I don't know when I would have had time to do it with all the other stuff I have going on with preserving and housework. Oh - and there's that quilt I'm trying to finish up for Samael7 before his birthday on 9/11.

Ah... projects. I am going to figure out the dinner project and find a book. The kitties are zonked (except Dobs) -- George found a neighbor cat to fight with (no scratches or blood) but he was so tired out that he has been asleep since eating dinner at 6pm. Even though all the doors were open until 8:30, he just curled up on the bed in a ball and won't even wake up when I pet him.

BANG: Oh - and - there was a shooting around the corner from me last night. I missed it because I was at my sweetie's house... the 2 victims crashed their car, taking out about 4 cars and totalling them. The neighbors say there were about 8 shots, semi-automatic weapon fire.

CSA Box for June 13

IMGP6878
Originally uploaded by jennconspiracy

Pretty good combination - some fruit to make up for the overripe fruit I got last Friday (cherries had mold on them, peaches were brown and mushy).

Lavender was in this week's box - something else to strike from my list as I have some growing in the yard (and almost 1# dried lavender blossoms from my herbs purchase!)

Dobson inspected the box and we were both puzzled that my request for "no plastic" resulted in every item being enclosed in plastic!

Customer service was very good - she is going to make sure that it's all in paper next week. Click on the photo for more pictures of Dobson's CSA inspection process.

Vegetable Revelations

A bouquet of collard greens is good for over 1 week in a Hull beanpot - then some of the leaves get kinda yellow, so I chopped up the rest of the leaves and made some killer collard greens on Monday night (thanks Erin & Dave!).

I paired the collard greens with a really decent curry (and tumeric/bharat seasoned quinoa) that included all my leftover veggies from the party weekend before last and stuff from Friday's CSA box: Nantes carrots, green beans, peas, 1/4 of a cauliflower, two small yellow potatoes, a red onion, mushrooms, raw cashews (browned), garlic, and the remaining 4 frozen cubes of tomato juice and 4 TB of frozen tomato paste. I added a pile of garam masala, a bit of hot curry powder, chili flakes and a bit of water at the end to simmer and soften up the carrots and potatoes more. It turned out fantastic. That was lunch and dinner yesterday, and lunch today.

I also used up the radishes from the CSA box and the red leaf lettuce to make up four salads for lunch for the week -- turns out that Dobson really really likes radishes. My cats keep acting like they are starving -- Dobson is going to the corner house and entering the kitchen when their door is open to eat dog food (much to the astonishment of Frankie, a small black dog about Dobs' size but much taller due to his long skinny legs) and George is foraging around backyard grills and bringing back chop and steak bones (into the HOUSE!).

After I made the salads for the week, I left a pile of radish, lettuce and carrot peels for Dobs - it was all gone by morning.

This evening, I wanted to have some fruit juice -- but I didn't have any in the house. Sitting in my fridge was a small yellow watermelon -- it was a bit overripe when I got it, hauling it to Black Sand Beach and back on Sunday probably didn't help. I cleaned it and put it in the blender with water and agave, strained half of it and now have a pitcher of gorgeous refresco. Though my favorite is agua de melon, I'm very happy with my yellow agua de sandia!

Tonight's dinner was pasta with sauce - I used up some olive tapenade, 8 oz of cremini mushrooms, a small shallot, garlic and a can of plain 365 tomato sauce. I threw in a couple of cubes of frozen arugula-basil pesto and - voila! Killer pasta sauce in under 30 minutes. The key is to carmelize the onions and mushrooms first -- that makes the sauce rich and tasty. Much cheaper than buying a jar of prepared sauce. Pictures forthcoming...

Garden is coming along nicely - the tomato plants that went in a few weeks ago are really picking up steam. I'm a bit worried about the pepper sprouts and the other tomato sprouts - they don't seem to be doing quite so well (yet). The basil sprouts are also looking poorly. I found something to put over the parsley seeds to keep the boys from digging them up again. The catnip plant is high up on top of my shed in a pot -- my mom suggested growing it in a hanging basket -- might make more sense given the agility of the kitty who was most attracted to the fresh catnip -- George is a leaper.

The chard is really perking up and the arugula is just a day or two away from being a salad or pesto. Time to put in more arugula seeds!

China troubles...

Lonely kitten in earthquake rubble in China.

China has a terrible record for human rights and pollution - among other things. They're doing their best to clean things up before the Olympics, including fostering ideas about cats as carriers of human disease and killing hundreds of thousands of cats. This has gotten so out of hand that even school teachers on playgrounds feel compelled to beat stray cats to death with sticks to keep their charges safe.

On a slightly lighter note - they are also trying to ban any horror films that feature "wronged spirits and violent ghosts, monsters, demons, and other inhuman portrayals, strange and supernatural storytelling for the sole purpose of seeking terror and horror."

Americans are showing a stronger aversion to the "Made in China" label. While it's clearly more green to buy local -- it's quite difficult to avoid products made in China is widely documented.

When I lost my stainless steel insulated mug, I found that they all seem to be made in China. I settled for a second-hand mug that was abandoned in the kitchen at my office last fall after a round of layoffs. I definitely spend more on shoes to get vegetarian shoes (from VeganEssentials.com and MooShoes.com) which are made in England and other places that are Not China.

How do you do it? What have you given up or substituted?

Garden Update

I'd like to welcome three people to Distributed Gardening project -- my friend Eric (genius chef behind Millennium), neighbor Beth (writer of Fake Plastic Fish), and coworker Jay (storyteller behind the GreenGorilla).

They all have different gardening areas -- Eric has a terraced area behind his apartment building, Beth has a small, bare front yard surrounded by big buhes that looks great for the 'maters (and maybe some arugula, mint and strawbs if she wants to cover the bare dirt), and Jay has raised beds and more limited space.

Chef Eric witnessed the release of some pretty active ladybugs -- there are still a lot of them on the plum tree and they are still all over the tomato plants. Dobson and George helped.



This morning, after I dropped off the tomato seedlings, I got to meet Beth's charming lovelies, Soots & Arya:


As promised, here are some photos of the garden:



The plum tree is casting more shade than I expected over that part of the garden. I still have quite a few seedlings left to distribute to some friends in San Francisco and some "TBD" recipients.



The basil seedlings are doing pretty well - and the pepper sprouts are moving right along. I just have to figure out where I'm going to put all this stuff!

Hot Times in the Garden

The Bay Area is currently having a bit of a heat wave -- fortunately, James and I got both of our gardens planted on Saturday. They're looking pretty good.

I mowed the front and back lawn but the lawnmower is a mulching mower -- it doesn't leave more than a handful of grass clippings. The front yard is all foxtails -- I don't want that on my garden. I have to find someone who has actual lawn so I can go get some mulch -- I don't want to go with bark.

Anyone need to get rid of some grass clippings?

Meanwhile... aphids are overtaking the yard. They love this hot weather. The plum tree is covered with little aphids and white flies, the ants seem to especially like the corner of the garden where my chard seeds are starting to come up. And, of course, the aphids have dripped off the plum tree onto my remaining tomato seedlings and strawberry plant.

Today I bought a mantis egg pouch and some more ladybugs, they'll go out tonight.

James reports that his lettuces and other seedlings are drooping in the heat but his tomatoes are fine.

My cats are drooping in the heat. Little furballs were battling and insisted on going outside today - I opened both doors and the hot wind from the east blew through my back door and raised the temp inside my home from 70 degrees to 80 degrees. The cats are all melted and keep moving around to different areas on the floor after their body heat makes it intolerably warm. ha!