Non-fiction book reviews part 13 - Leonard Cohen for Kids, inspiration cats and some bonus sci-fi

This is part 13 in a series of non-fiction book reviews, based on the idea that the books I request tell you everything you need to know about me. Today we have a very mixed bag, featuring Leonard Cohen for kids, cartoon cats and some thoughts about sci-fi short stories. 

Leonard Cohen Maria Izabel Sanchez Vegara (releases 6 August 2024)

When I first told my husband that I had requested a book about Leonard Cohen for kids, he was confused about why I would request that, and also why anyone would write it. Having now read it, it's beautifully illustrated and probably largely factual, but very sanitised. I still don't know why a child would want a bio of Leonard Cohen. I guess if your child overhears you listening to his music, pays attention and want to know the history of the musician, stripped of sex, drugs and politics, this would be the book. There is an odd line, hidden on the very last page "with help from an adult, you can listen to his music on-line". Which just made the whole thing even more confusing, because if you haven't heard his music, why would you read a bio of him. Odd.

The Book of Purrs: Everyday thoughts from your feline friends Luis Cuelho (releases 22 October  2024)

This book is absolutely adorable. It's a mix of meditative, inspirational content, and funny stuff about cats. It's perfection, the web-comic style drawings of the cats, the text. I think this one would hit differently for different people - I loved the "living in the moment" bits, but read the "funny because it's true" parts about cat behaviour to my husband. To use a young person's word this book is so wholesome. Even though it was originally a web-comic, it works in this format - I planned to look at one or two pages a day, but every-time I picked it up, I found myself reading page after page. Funny, wry, wise and true. Well done. 

New Adventures in Space Opera Jonathan Strahan (editor) (Releases 13 August 2024)

This is a book of short stories by some of my favourite sci-fi authors, including  Becky Chambers, Ann Leckie, and Lavie Tidar. There are stories that are deeply serious, funny, touching, adventurous. I'm not going to do a story by story review, because I don't think that would be helpful. My 'problem' was that many of the stories are brilliant, but the effort it takes me to enter a whole new world,work out what's going in and then have it end so quickly is somewhat exhausting. Yes, I understand that I chose to read a book of short stories, and now I'm complaining that the stories are short! Also, I often read in certain circumstances - when having lunch, or in the bath and I don't want to leap from story to story - many of these need thinking over and considering, not just leaping to the next one. For me these rather wonderful sotries were most enjoyable when I read them one at a time, with one or more other books between them. They are, on the whole, worth savouring.