Zee and Zoey by Deborah Barnes: Book Spotlight & Review

I love this book...it's as simple as that! I was taken with The Chronicles of Zee and Zoey: A Journey of Extraordinarily Ordinary as soon as it arrived in the mail and I dove right in. It's just the kind of book that makes you want to do that!

I send my thanks to Pump Up Your Book Virtual Publicity Tours for allowing me a spot on this tour - it was phenomenal!

About the Book:

Paperback: 180 pages
ZZP Publishing (October 2011)

Combining a warm, humorous, and conversational style of writing with stunning photos and charming artwork, readers are immediately immersed into the world of Zee, a lovable male Maine Coon cat, and Zoey, a high-spirited female Bengal cat, as they share their amazing relationship and bond that formed between the two of them in The Chronicles of Zee & Zoey. What makes this story so compelling, is that the author narrates the journey of the cats through the personal trials and tribulations of her own life. Readers will easily be able to relate to the many moments the author shares and her spot on accuracy in understanding the many nuances of a cat is so realistic, one might think the author was a cat herself!  You will be certain to smile and laugh on more than one occasion as you share this incredible journey with Zee and Zoey and learn the ultimate message they teach us – to embrace the ordinary in life and dare to make it extraordinary.

About the Author:

Deborah Barnes currently resides in South Florida and after an unexpected life changing event, she decided to follow her dreams of becoming an author and used the relationship of her cats as inspiration for her first book, The Chronicles of Zee & Zoey: A Journey of Extraordinarily Ordinary.  She also writes the popular blog, Zee & Zoey’s Chronicle Connection, that is a collection of beautiful photos, artwork, and heartfelt stories about her feline crew.

You can visit Deborah’s website at http://www.zeezoey.com.

Connect with her on Twitter at http://www.twitter.com/zeeandzoey and Facebook at   http://www.facebook.com/zeezoey. 

Book Excerpt:

“Imagine, if you would, a world of love at first sight, where pigs do fly, where carpets are meant for magical rides, where empty boxes are transformed to magnificent castles and forts and a door becomes the gateway to the unlimited possibility of a charming and enchanted garden filled with endless adventure and intrigue. That, my dear readers, is the looking glass world of Zee and Zoey and this is their journey of a shared life, where everyday, the merest of ordinary becomes the possibility of extraordinary in their minds eye.

Zee is my lovable male Maine Coon cat and Zoey my female wild-child leopard inspired Bengal cat who fell madly, deeply in love. Zee was sharing his home with his two humans – myself and my fiancé, Dan, as well as a dog and two other cats before being introduced to Zoey for the first time, and was, in his opinion, leading a rather boring and mundane life. Zoey came unsuspectingly into his world as a tiny slip of a thing and stole his heart from the very beginning. Her youth and exuberance was contagious and she celebrated everything with gusto and passion. Nothing was ordinary to her and Zee came to follow in her example as they explored life together, completely inseparable, reveling in every extraordinary moment…”



My Thoughts:

As I mentioned in the opening, I adored this book - it was fun, different and a really entertaining read.  I was most taken with the pictures, they are so beautiful and full of emotion - it is almost as if just the pictures themselves could tell the story.  Upon first glance, the cover is striking and really catches your eye.  The author was also kind enough to include a beautiful bookmark which I will treasure.  This is the kind of book that I immediately thought would make the perfect gift for someone this Christmas (or anytime of year!)

This is the kind of book and story that make you happy, make you see what love animals bring to the world and how endearing they can be.  It touches the human spirit in just the right way, and it makes you want to help make sure animals everywhere are taken care of.  Zee and Zoey will make readers smile, shake their heads and really feel the emotions of a cat-owning family.  It left me with an overwhelming urge to make my cats feel a little more loved :)

I love the concept of animals finding, needing, and loving each other - that is what being an animal lover is all about and those of us that can see the beautiful in animals know that experience many of the same emotions as humans.  This glimpse into their world that Deborah provides is priceless and makes for a great book.

This is such a great book for this author to put out, it will be interesting to see what she comes up with next.  I am definitely a new fan of Deborah Barnes and her work and will be adding her to my favorite authors blogroll.  I can't wait to see more from her!