SERIESLY, THOUGH | Adventures of Pickles ... ahem, I mean, BRUCE

Pickles, Book 1

The story of a domesticated cat that decides to venture out into the great outdoors for a well deserved vacation. This tongue-in-cheek book is very fast paced and told through the lens of the cat, Pickles. A MUST read for all cat lovers and those that find all the nuances of animal behavior interesting and endearing. You will be quickly transported into their world and you may not want to return.

★★★☆☆

A stray cat is found hanging around a Kmart dumpster in Burbank, CA. He's taken to a local animal shelter, then later adopted. He wants his name to be Bruce because he thinks it'll make him seem tough... but his new humans decide to call him Pickles Pips. The reader follows Pickles and the experience of his first few days in his new home. Once acclimated, he becomes curious about activities outdoors. Pickles slips outside one day while his humans are out and while on his adventures meets a weathered tomcat by the name of Ding-A-Ling who shows him the ropes of outdoor life. The experience proves to be a little overwhelming for Pickles. But Ding-A-Ling promises to make it up to him by offering to take him to Cat Paradiso (the setting of the sequel).

Short as the story is (44 pages), the scenes described will be heartwarming to cat people --- those first moments in a new home, told from the cat's perspective, fascination with laser dots, even how cats manage to "correct" human behavior they don't like! LOL 

The writing here is simple but Pickles is charming, so the appeal of this story spreads wide. Our main kitty acknowledges the reader several times throughout the story, and who can't root for a feline whose theme song is "Lions" by Skillet? :-)

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Pickles #2

Pickles here. If you liked my first book, you are going to LOVE this one. Have you wondered how Ding-a-Ling ended up a stray on the streets? Have you wondered what exactly Dum-Dum is saying? Well I still don’t speak dog, so I can’t help ya with Dum-Dum, but he is back for this book. In this new adventure, Eddie Spaghetti and Selfie as well as a host of other new friends we meet along the way will join Dum-Dum, Ding-a-Ling and me as we trek to The Cat Paradiso. This adventure will definitely blow your hair back so put on some shades, settle in, and prepare for another fast paced, tongue-in-cheek, quirky, and heartwarming chapter in the story of life in the animal kingdom. You may just not want to come back.

★★★☆☆

Going by the slightly traumatizing events documented in his first book, here Pickles comes to the conclusion that while adventures are fun, they are best if experienced in the safety of broad daylight. 

Cat Paradiso picks up one day after where the first book closed. Pickles has had himself a little restorative nap and is now ready to see what this land of Cat Paradiso is all about and if it lives up to the hype of being this fairytale-like place just bursting with birds and squirrels.  Pickles spends the day chasing and befriending squirrels and learning about the past life experiences of some of the characters introduced in Book 1. 

Not a ton to say, as these stories are so short it's hard to get much detail out of them to discuss. But I will say, seeing how these two stories have been pretty lighthearted and humorous for the most part, I was disappointed to see this one end on a sad note.