Feline Post Includes Mentions of Jane Austen and ‘The Host’

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I, Misty the cat, say: “Putting together a guest blog post is like putting together a puzzle.” (Photo of my kitty self taken by my adult female human Laurel.)

Misty the cat here, returning for my every-two-month takeover of Dave’s blog — which I do by gunpoint, minus the gun. This is a particularly memorable time for me to post because tomorrow is the 8th anniversary of my adoption into my forever family, from whom I’ve received everything I could desire except a bed the size and shape of Buckingham Palace. King Chuck III has some ‘splaining to do.

And in nine days — December 16 — there’ll be a milestone moment for literature: the 250th anniversary of Jane Austen’s 1775 birth! Rebecca Budd, who comments here every week, has already posted about that anniversary in one of her great blogs. The year 1775 was also significant for being the start of the American Revolutionary War and for Apple’s rollout of the iMusket 9.

Back to Austen. I’m often (well, never) asked how I rank her six novels, and here’s my kitty answer: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6. Oh, you want titles, too? 1) Persuasion. 2) Pride and Prejudice. 3) Sense and Sensibility. 4) Mansfield Park. 5) Emma. 6) Northanger Abbey. This is also Dave’s order of faves (rhyme alert!), which means we were both bribed by the same literary scholars. Austen’s early 19th-century books have aged well…partly because I keep them in my wine cellar. Actually, I don’t have a wine cellar. No cat does.

And today, December 7, is the 84th anniversary of the 1941 attack on Pearl Harbor, an event vividly depicted near the end of Herman Wouk’s compelling novel The Winds of War. If those winds had become strong enough, Wouk’s book would’ve been titled The Hurricanes of War — storms that fall alphabetically between Hurricane Violin and Hurricane Xylophone.

The Winds of War was followed by Wouk’s epic War and Remembrance — the title of which has the initials “WAR.” Coincidence? Well, Hurricane Coincidence falls alphabetically between Hurricane Bassoon and Hurricane Didgeridoo.

My current reading? I, Misty the cat, recently finished Twilight author Stephenie Meyer’s The Host, an excellent work of sci-fi that stars a being who lives inside a human body. So, no, the book is not a historical novel about Johnny Carson, who was not related to The Heart Is a Lonely Hunter author Carson McCullers, who was a top-notch writer but apparently didn’t know that a heart can’t hunt animals without a permit and that vegans prefer Fannie Flagg’s novel Fried Green Tomatoes at the Whistle Stop Cafe. Also, American frontiersman Kit Carson was not a feline like me.

Natty Bumppo did the frontiersman thing, too, in James Fenimore Cooper’s five “Leatherstocking” novels that included The Last of the Mohicans. Cooper was an American contemporary of aforementioned Englishwoman Jane Austen, and there are even rumors that they collaborated on a novel called The Last of the Emmas. So I’m puzzled (see photo) that we later had people such as actresses Emma Thompson and Emma Watson.

The latter of course played Hermione Granger in the Harry Potter movies based on the J.K. Rowling novels. Seven books, eight movies, and nine lives (experienced by cats like me). Plus there are 10 characters in Agatha Christie’s famed mystery novel And Then There Were None, whose plot focuses on the number of dry-food pellets left in my bowl after I finish eating. No mystery where those pellets went.

Which books do I want for Christmas? Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol, Fannie Flagg’s A Redbird Christmas, John Grisham’s Skipping Christmas, Betty Smith’s A Christmas Tree Grows in Brooklyn, Anthony Burgess’ A Christmas Orange, Fyodor Dostoevsky’s Christmas and Punishment, Aldous Huxley’s Brave New Christmas, Barbara Kingsolver’s Demon Christmashead, E.M. Forster’s A Passage to Christmas, Chinua Achebe’s Christmas Falls Apart…

Dave will reply to comments as I either finish the puzzle I’m photographed with or swat every piece of that puzzle into January 2026.

I, Misty the cat, say: “There’s gotta be a sidewalk sale around here somewhere.”

Dave and my comedic 2024 book — the part-factual/part-fictional/not-a-children’s-work Misty the Cat…Unleashed — is described and can be purchased on Amazon in paperback or on Kindle. It’s feline-narrated! (And Amazon reviews are welcome. 🙂 )

This 90-second promo video for the book features a talking cat: 🙂

Dave is also the author of a 2017 literary-trivia book…

…and a 2012 memoir that focuses on cartooning and more, including many encounters with celebrities.

In addition to this weekly blog, Dave writes the 2003-started/award-winning “Montclairvoyant” topical-humor column every Thursday for Montclair Local. The latest piece — from which Sir Walter Scott should remove himself from discussion of a referendum-halting court decision — is here.

116 thoughts on “Feline Post Includes Mentions of Jane Austen and ‘The Host’”

  1. Hello Misty!

    Misha here and I’d like to congratulate for selecting the nice humans you did for your 4-ever home. Congratulations on 8 meowvellous years!

    Sounds like some good reading going on at your house. I was waiting to answer you until my human mom finished reading Jenny Cooper has a Sea Cat.

    Mom was reading it out loud to the dad human. I sat and listened patiently, waiting, waiting and waiting for the sea cat to come into the story.

    What a rip off! There’s NO Sea Cat in the story. There wasn’t even a land cat. There were no cats at all.

    Hisss! Boo! Hissss!

    Resa, the mom person, thinks it’s a smooth read that pulls you in, and is a bit of a departure for Joy, although not as much as Grand Avenue. It’s intriguing as all get out, and makes you think. Apparently.

    She hopes Dave’ll read it, and let her know what he thinks. It’s probably at the library.

    Make sure Dave understands, there are NO SEA CATS!

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  3. Misty, you did a fine job! Congrats on your 8th year adoption anniversary! That is so special! Too funny about the bed, and I was surprised that you don’t have a wine cellar. 🙂 Who doesn’t like Jane Austen? Thanks for mentioning the anniversary. I read the Harry Potter books when my kids were younger and really enjoyed them. No wonder J.K. Rowling is successful. I’ve also read many of the Christmas books you list. So thanks for taking the time to write this post. And I wish you and your family a wonderful holiday. 😊🎄

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  10. Hi Misty, and good to see you here again. I’d only change your order of Jane Austen novels slightly, with Sense and Sensibility (1), Persuasion (2) Pride & Prejudice (3) Emma (4) Mansfield Park (5) and Northanger Abbey (6). As to seasonal feline reads, have you ever read The Cat Before Christmas and How the Cat got Christmas Back (after the Grinch stole it)? Whatever you’re doing, have a wonderful festive feline time, and see you in the New Year (although I’ll see Dave before that, I’m sure). 🙂

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  11. Hi Dave! I’m glad you enjoyed my comment and found it amusing! Now it’s my turn to laugh: ‘Latedecember’ !!George Eliot’s ‘Middlemarch’. Very funny! However, on a serious point, such good books yet to read, Dave.

    Thank you for the delightful post! So cheering. Hope your Christmas preparations are going well. If they are going at all!!! ☺

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  12. Dear Misty! If you find Fyodor Dostoevsky’s, ‘Christmas and Punishment’ and Chinua Achebe’s, ‘Christmas Falls Apart’, in your Christmas stocking can I borrow them after you have finished reading them, please?! I’ll pay the postage!!!

    You have listed some great books, perhaps over the holidays I will get a chance to read some more!

    Thanks Misty! I am forever in your debt. 🙀

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    • Ha ha, Sharon! 😂 (Borrowing those two Christmas titles.) I greatly enjoyed your seriocomic comment! Misty thinks almost every novel could use Christmas in its title, or at least feels George Eliot’s “Middlemarch” should be renamed “Latedecember.”

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  13. Hi Misty, always nice to see you, I can see you have been busy with that jigsaw puzzle, looks rather pretty, but yes, being a cat it is often nice to drop some on the floor so those hoomans can find them later. I can see you have been busy reading good works… very impressive. All those Christmas books!

    If you are interested I would suggest either The Dalai Lama’s Cat by David Michie (and you can listen to it on your laptop, and it’s free) or maybe this one: The Book of Catitudes: Dubious Wit and Wisdom from Cats by Cider Mill Press (not free, but fun for both cat and hoomans).

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  15. Misty, you were not misting a beat, I mean missing a beat, with your post here – and still laughing at
    “Apple’s rollout of the iMusket 9” – and as great as they are – too bad they let too many changes RUIN iTunes back in the day – hope they learn from their mistakes with that – because they “funked” it all up with too many non user friendly changes.,
    But I digress.
    My three Austen favs in order, Pride and Prejudice, Mansfield Park, and Persuasion.

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  16. Your playful mix of literary milestones, history, and feline mischief makes this piece a fun little adventure, and I smiled at how casually you weave in Austen alongside puzzle-swatting duties. The humor feels effortless, yet there’s a clear love for books beneath it all — a reminder that stories are best enjoyed with curiosity and a touch of whiskered wit.

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  17. Hi Dave,

    Can I ask you, and anyone else prepared to chime in, a kind of random question? One of the younger people at my work has just read “Nineteen Eighty-Four” and kept telling me how boring it is. I guess he doesn’t read much, and I’m super impressed that he stuck with a book that he wasn’t enjoying. He said he liked the world building but then it just didn’t go anywhere. And I guess I see his point – even if he’s wrong! He was expecting more fight between the government and the citizens; not the complacency and feeling of defeat that Winston has through much of the novel. So, my question is can you recommend something dystopian with a bit more oomph? I’d love to steer him toward another great book of literature that can convince him they’re not all boring.

    Thanks for any suggestions.

    Sue

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    • Thank you, Sue! I guess I differ, as you do, from your work colleague about “Nineteen Eighty-Four”; I found the novel very page-turning (in a horrific way). There was some fight among the citizenry, but, yes, not as much as one would want — kind of realistic in many real-world situations; the brutal power of authoritarians is sadly quite intimidating.

      Dystopian novels with a little more excitement? Maybe Suzanne Collins’ “The Hunger Games,” Margaret Atwood’s “Oryx and Crake,” Stephen King’s “The Stand,” Octavia Butler’s “Parable of the Sower,” and Ray Bradbury’s “Fahrenheit 451”?

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      • Thanks Dave. I figured he’d already be aware of “The Hunger Games” if he was looking for more dystopian novels. I thought about lending him my copy of “The Stand” but maybe too long for someone who doesn’t read a lot. Plus my copy is already falling apart and I’d cry if he didn’t return it. I would have liked to lend him a copy of “Fahrenheit 451” however when I tried to find the copy on my shelf last night it wasn’t there, I suspect it’s because I don’t actually own it! I did find my copy of Cormac McCarthy’s “The Road” which I thought about bringing in, but it’s another one that’s all about a bleak world with not a lot actually happening.

        Anyway, I asked if he had a new book today and he said he’s just started Dan Brown’s “The Lost Symbol” so there goes my plan of finding him exciting, well written literature to read! Though the fact that Dan Brown is so highly rated may be a different kind of dystopian story. No, I shouldn’t say that. I did actually enjoy “The Da Vince Code” when it first hit the shelves. And honestly, I’m very excited that someone else in my office is reading on their lunch break!

        Thanks for your help.

        Sue

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        • You’re welcome, Sue! Yes, “The Road,” while good, is not exactly brimming with excitement. And “The Stand,” while a page-turner, is indeed lonnng, as you note.

          As for Dan Brown, I’ve also read “The Da Vinci Code” and thought the premise was compelling but the writing clunky (as you allude to). Hopefully, Brown’s writing has improved since then. Coincidentally, my next post this Sunday will kind of relate to the above, and I might even mention Brown.

          “…the fact that Dan Brown is so highly rated may be a different kind of dystopian story” — LOL! 😂

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  18. Dear Misty! A wonderful, joyful ride through literature, anniversaries and feline wisdom. I read every line with a smile. Your timing could not be better as we approach Jane Austen’s 250th birthday. I am honoured that my little reflection was mentioned, and I must say that the ranking of the novels seems entirely “sensible”. Persuasion at the top feels just right, especially as we lean into a season of reflection. I also appreciated the whirlwind tour through history and fiction, from Pearl Harbor to Wouk to Cooper to Dickens, all tied together with your impeccable logic and well-fed scepticism. Only a cat could link hurricanes, Herman Wouk and Johnny Carson with such authority.

    And speaking of gifts, I have been remembering Thornton Wilder, who passed away on this day in 1975. He left us many gifts, from Our Town to The Skin of Our Teeth, but the one I return to most often is The Bridge of San Luis Rey. At the end of that novel, he offers a line that stays with me no matter how many years pass: “The bridge is love, the only survival, the only meaning.” These words remind us that, beneath all art and all conversation, it is love that endures and gives shape to our experience. Love is the greatest gift we have to give.

    Another stellar post, Misty!!!

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    • Thank you very much, Rebecca! 🙂 Glad you enjoyed Misty’s post, as I enjoyed your vivid response to it! That cat does tend to free-associate, which happens to fit my budget for guest bloggers. 🙂 And, yes, “Persuasion” might not have the cultural cachet of “Pride and Prejudice,” but it’s the Jane Austen novel that has stuck with me the most.

      Wow — quite an anniversary, albeit a somber one, for Thornton Wilder! He was an exceptionally profound writer, and the poignant line you quoted from “The Bridge of San Luis Rey” is an excellent example.

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  21. Bravo, Misty! Between literary rankings, hurricane alphabets, and a dash of feline mischief, you’ve officially raised the bar for guest bloggers. And your Christmas wish list? Pure genius — I’m especially rooting for Brave New Christmas and Christmas and Punishment!

    Dave, it’s clear your blog has been delightfully hijacked by a cat with impeccable taste— I love stepping into Misty’s unleashed world. 😃♥️💕💕💕

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  22. Misty has officially out-punned, out-read, and out-charmed us all—this post is literary chaos at its most brilliant 😺📚
    Your wit, references, and feline philosophy are a joy to read; I laughed and learned at the same time.
    I’d love it if you (and Misty!) stopped by my blog too and shared your thoughts—it would truly make my day.

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  24. I always love reading about Misty because of my own little girl, Picasso the calico. Hong Kong SPCA. She was with me for 21 years. We moved from Hong Kong to mainland China to Thailand to Vietnam to three cities in North Carolina. Our relationship outlasted my marriage. She liked scrubbing my beard with her scratchy tongue, and she was so disappointed when I shaved it off that I had to grow it back. The stories of the hour-long bicycle rides I made over the years and countries to buy her favorite cat foods are downright ridiculous. What I did for the year I lived in a small Chinese town that didn’t sell cat litter are even more absurd. Truth will always be stranger than fiction.

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    • Thank you, Michael! Wow — that’s quite a saga you had with your beloved cat Picasso, including in Asia and the U.S.! Fascinating and wonderful. Sounds like you were very devoted to her, and it’s great that she lived such a long time.

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