I love Tom Cox's writing and I am very glad that with his books I have had privilege to get to know his wonderful cats. A delightful read which is packed full of humour, insight, melancholy, observations of the natural world and an endless love for his feline friends. I very much enjoyed [b:21st-Century Yokel|34846976|21st-Century Yokel|Tom Cox|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1498133219s/34846976.jpg|56081667] and am excited to read Tom's first foray into fiction [b:Help the Witch|40799510|Help the Witch|Tom Cox|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1531490466s/40799510.jpg|63530275] but I think his cat books will always remain my favourites.

I.Love.The.Bear.

These books are wonderful - funny, charming, thoughtful, and just lovely.

It's a joy to find a cat lady who's actually a dude. Bust up those stereotypes! What a fun read, too.

the memoir of a 37 year old man with four cats, also a surprisingly poignant argument for letting people (and cats) that you love be themselves even if it's weird and hard, also a funny book about cats.

I'm a sucker for cats and memoirs, but even three stars feels generous. Life doesn't always make for good stories, but I guess when you're third book is due you work with what you've got.

Another brilliant book in this series. Cat lovers will both recognise their cats in these "characters" but also look at them in a different way afterwards. Besides cats, there are other interesting characters both animal and human and the writing is witty and hilarious.

As a twitter user who has a cat, I was of course familiar with @mysadcat before reading this book. But I didn't know that the curator of that account also wrote books. What a pleasant surprise! My husband got me this book for our annual Christmas Eve reading gift, and even got me a signed copy. There were multiple times when reading this book when I burst into laughter, something that I really needed at the time I was reading it. Not really a work of high literature, but great comedic writing about rural life in England and hilarious yet maddening cats. Sad to learn that The Bear (the cover cat for the book and the @mysadcat cat) passed away in December, but his rather strange memory lives on through this book.

This was an absolute delight, and a must-read for anyone who lives with little furry cat friends. I found myself chuckling at parts, and nodding along thinking, "Yep, that's [insert cat] to a T," at others. And I admit I may have gotten a little teary, too. Plus, there are pictures!

The Bear (the title's "most melancholy cat") is a cat who can see into your soul. He's the wise old philosopher of the bunch, who can give the best hugs. Ralph likes to meow his own name at the top of his lungs ("Raaaaaaaalph.") I had to wonder if he got that name before or after his penchant for shouting became clear. Janet is actually a male cat. Rodent-hunter extraordinaire. Also tends to catch his tail on fire walking by candles. Shipley is a mouthy fella, with a bit of attitude. The cure: flip him upside down and he'll turn to putty. Roscoe is a cute little tuxie who is still learning to meow.

Though the book centers around Tom Cox's life with these four cats, a few more make appearances throughout, making for a rather interesting cast of characters. Also appearing, in no particular order: toads, frogs, hedgehogs, dogs, foxes, horses, heron, koi . . . and other humans. If you're looking for a good, pretty quick read, love cats, enjoy memoirs, and/or like reading about England, I would very highly recommend this one.