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Weird Books You Probably Shouldn’t Read

March 5, 2015 by Shellie Wilson

book-titles-crazy

I don’t know who these books were/are marketed at except maybe crazy Animal people or people who hate the world. I mean “Radiation Cooking” must have really been a big seller or how about the P.S Your Cat Is Dead Book?

Want to craft with all the Cat hair? Then check out this book on Amazon:

Crafting with Cat Hair: Cute Handicrafts to Make with Your Cat

Or you can pick up the  PS Your CAT is dead book whilst your over there too. If you have been wondering why you cat is always painting then you will definetly need a copy of this book. Why Cats Paint: A Theory of Feline Aesthetics.

Are you more of a Snake person? Then you will want to know What’s Wrong With My Snake?  next time it gets a cough or a stick shoved down it’s throat whilst wear a plastic latex glove.

Down to the Pantyhose Crafts: Well there is a whole collection of these books and I won’t comment too harshly as my mother used to create Granny dolls using pantyhose (new ones) so I better not call her crazy.

Panty Hose Craft Books

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Comments

  1. Susan Ivey Williams says

    March 5, 2015 at 11:28 am

    Only familiar with one of the weird books…Why Cats Paint. It’s a hoot! Maybe I love it because it’s a send up of art criticism, in the same elitist, pompous tone. And makes about as much sense as art critics do when they ascribe all the fatuous “deeper meanings” to human-made art that they do. Fun book.

    • Shellie Wilson says

      March 10, 2015 at 7:05 pm

      Love the title, my kids want to know if they can get a “painting cat” for Christmas.

  2. Christine B. says

    March 5, 2015 at 11:45 am

    Why Cats Paint is a sister book to Why Paint Cats: both are well done and are wonderfully written, seemingly serious but actually parodies. Read them and appreciate the humor with which they are written!

  3. Stephanie says

    March 5, 2015 at 7:04 pm

    I checked out the Crafting with Cat Hair from the library because it looked weird; but the crafts are actually really cute!

    • Shellie Wilson says

      March 10, 2015 at 7:04 pm

      Yes, I am sure you could make the crafts with felting wool instead.

  4. Becky PS says

    March 5, 2015 at 8:44 pm

    All these books are delightful -especially read in the spirit they are written. Except maybe the pantyhose crafts – it was written to actually do the crafts.

    Try reading the books.

    • Shellie Wilson says

      March 10, 2015 at 7:04 pm

      Becky, I think I could read everything except the snake book. The front cover is giving my nightmares.

  5. Marie says

    March 6, 2015 at 8:24 am

    PS Your Cat is Dead is actually very funny, a play by a guy named James Kirkwood who co-wrote A Chorus Line. The book title is weird, but definitely well worth reading if you can find it. I’m not sure it’s still in print.

    • Shellie Wilson says

      March 10, 2015 at 7:03 pm

      Marie, I am hoping some libraries still have it as lots of our readers are keen to read it now. 🙂

  6. Christine B. says

    March 6, 2015 at 12:42 pm

    The title of this article bothers me: “…You Probably Shouldn’t Read”…I think the author should have actually read some of these books before including them. Some of these books look pretty interesting!

    • Shellie Wilson says

      March 10, 2015 at 7:02 pm

      Christine, The best thing about a book is usually its captivating title. Glad to see it worked on the blog post too. Hope you enjoy the books.

  7. osofine says

    March 6, 2015 at 4:55 pm

    I remember when the Crafting with Cat Hair book came out – I assumed it was a joke book, but a quick scan of the Amazon page informed me that it was a real book for needle felting artisans and other crafters. The book currently has a 4.5 out of 5 rating from 172 reviews. 118 people gave it 5 stars! Most of the complaints are that most of the projects use other materials more than just cat hair (apparently the cute finger puppet on the cover is the only needle felted project that only uses cat hair). For a site aimed at crafters, I think it’s offensive to make fun of a book that the majority of crafters have positively reviewed is offensive and shows a lack of research in your subject. Why shouldn’t a needle felted that owns a cat or cats not use the excess fur they end up with after brushing their pets? One review said that the book gives directions for cleaning the cat hair before using it and points out that we use cleaned sheep’s wool for many, many things. What’s the difference? This kind of mindset is the same as people who eat store bought meat, but would be grossed out if they had to eat meat of farm animals that they saw alive.

    Oh, and on another post on this website (today is my first visit here), the writer typed “concur” instead of “conquer”. “Concur” means to agree with something. “Conquer” means to win or overcome. In this case the phrase was something like “I concur my fears”. That would mean you agree with your fears. Sorry I can’t point you to the post in question – it was in the first few pages of the site in mobile view (so fairly recent). I’m viewing and writing this on my iPhone, so please forgive any typos I may have made.

    This site has some good posts. Unfortunately, I’d have to rate this one as at least a partial fail.

    • Shellie Wilson says

      March 10, 2015 at 6:57 pm

      Welcome to the site !

      If you are new to the site then (I am assuming here) you don’t have a full understanding of how we work, blog and review items. I think you will find the term “offensive to crafters” one statement that never comes our way. We proud ourselves on finding out about all the latest craft gossip and articles that interest and engage our readers.

      Concor, conquer,- many of our bloggers are working from home, cars, school pickups, in their lunch hours, on ipads and laptops. Even I do all my e-mailing via my i-phone usually in the school car-park. So I am sure you can “forgive” any typos we may make.

  8. Dianne says

    March 9, 2015 at 5:01 pm

    I’ve read “P.S. Your Cat is Dead.” The title is certainly quirky and actually very appropriate to the story (a story about one man’s really awful day).

    • Shellie Wilson says

      March 10, 2015 at 7:01 pm

      Dianne, Thanks for the feedback. I might pick it up next time I am at the library. I

  9. Laurie says

    March 16, 2015 at 11:14 am

    I have the “What’s Wrong with my Snake” book. It has actually been quite helpful in diagnosing when to take my son’s pet snakes to the vet. 🙂

Have you read?

Learn about Comoros for Kids

One thing I didn’t expect when I started writing posts about the countries of the world was that there would be countries I haven’t heard of. But here we are with Comoros, an independent archipelago made up of three islands in Southeastern Africa, which I had never heard of before it showed up on my list. So let’s see what we can learn about Comoros!

Comoros Basics

Comoros, or Union of the Comoros, is located in the Indian Ocean and is 641 square miles, or 1,659 square kilometers, making it the third-smallest African nation by area (there are other island groups that are smaller). 

The population is around 900,000, and the capital and largest city is Moroni. 

Comoros declared independence from France in 1975. One island that is considered part of the Comoro Islands voted against independence and is still an overseas department of France. 

The official state religion is Sunni Islam, and the official languages are Comorian, French and Arabic. It’s the only country that’s part of the Arab League that is completely in the Southern Hemisphere.

The islands were originally settled by Asian, Arab and African peoples before becoming part of the French empire. It’s a place of great political instability, which has had more than 20 coups or attempted coups. It is a presidential republic with a legislature. 

Here’s one the kids will like: legend has it the largest island was formed by a volcano that developed because a jinn dropped a jewel in the ocean. 

Comoros National Symbols

The Comoros flag bears four horizontal stripes in yellow, white, red and blue, with a green triangle on the left side featuring a white crescent moon and four stars. The four stripes and four stars represent the four main islands (including that one that voted against independence), while the green, star and crescent symbolize Islam. 

The national anthem is “Udzima wa ya Masiwa” (sometimes spelled different ways, but I’m following Wikipedia on this one), which means “Union of the Great Islands.” It was adopted in 1978 and also mentions that wayward island of Mayotte still claimed by the French. 

The national seal includes the same crescent and stars as on the flag, rotated on their side. This is on top of a stylized sun and surrounded by a pair of olive branches. The name of the country is written in French and Arabic, and the national motto (Unité, Solidarité, Développement, or Unity, Solidarity, Development) is written at the bottom. 

There’s not a lot of information available about the country, but the CIA Handbook tells me they do a lot of fishing, and the top agricultural products are bananas, coconuts, cassava, yams and maize. Perfume production is also a top industry. 

One website I found shows a picture of a Malagasy bulbul as the national bird. This songbird has a bright orange beak and is found on Madagascar and on some other nearby islands. It also suggests the Nectaropetalum zuluense, a small, five petaled white flower, is the national flower. 

Another video says the national flower is the ylang-ylang and the national animal is the mongoose lemur. It also says the national bird is the blue pigeon, but I couldn’t find any official word on any of this. The same video said the national fruit is the bungo fruit, which is sort of like a combination of an orange and pineapple with a hard orange shell. 

Comoros Activities for Kids

Learn more about the mongoose lemur, a critically endangered lemur that is indigenous to Madagascar and was introduced to Comoros. Another awesome animal from the island is the (also critically endangered) Livingstone’s fruit bat, also known as the Comoros flying fox.

Check out Mount Karthala, the still-active volcano that produced Grand Comore island (also known as Ngazidja). 

Comoros has a history of pirates and raiders, including a visit from the notorious Captain Kidd, whose crew took ill on the island and many are buried there. Learn more about Kidd and his supposed still-buried treasure from Britannica. 

Watch this video to learn about Moheli National Park, a remote marine sanctuary and tropical forest. 

Learn about the traditional dress and cultural activities of the islands on this page from Adore Comoros.

You’ll find some Comoros printables and other activities at Teachers Pay Teachers.

What many consider the national dish is madaba, made from cassava leaves and coconut milk. Since cassava can be hard to come by in many parts of the world, the recipes I’m finding use kale and/or collard greens instead. Another popular dish is ndrovi ya nazi, plantains cooked in coconut milk and served with fish. Epicurious has a recipe for the plantain part.

You can also try pulao, a meat and rice dish. I’m not sure what meat they would use but this recipe from This Muslim Girl Bakes uses lamb. There’s also mikatra siniya, a white cake made from rice flour and coconut, that is classic for celebrations in Comoros. Grab the recipe from 196 Flavors. 

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