REVIEW: Bono

Bono
Author: Helen Brown

The front cover is the first thing that made me want to read this book. A fluffy, obviously cattitude-filled, black cat is featured behind the title. Bono. A cat named Bono? Extremely awesome. Then I read that the book is based on a true experience the author had with a foster cat in New York City. Ok. Sucked in. Immediate must read.

I'm a sucker for foster cats. I've been a foster for orphaned kittens in North Carolina for several years now. Babies that nobody wants...abandoned....orphans....dropped at the animal shelter...sometimes just thrown out with the garbage or on the side of the road. They come to my house. I bottle feed them, keep them warm, clean them, and pet them for hours, telling them what good cats they are going to be and how a family somewhere needs them. Sometimes, unfortunately, I pet them and love them as they take their last breaths and bury them with much respect and sadness. Those who survive and thrive are adopted to great furever homes, often in other states. Goodbye sweet babies -- go make a family very, very happy. Live a good and beautiful life.

I had to read this book about Bono. :)

The basics: The author was having a bit of a midlife crisis and decided it was a good time to travel to New York City from Australia to promote her latest book. Her publisher told her that it would be perfect if she would foster a homeless cat from a local shelter while in NYC. She agreed, figuring she either wouldn't be able to find an apartment that would allow a cat or she would get a fat, middle aged cat that just wanted to sleep all day. Wrong. AirBnb had a studio that would allow a cat....and she was matched with Bono. Bono suffered from kidney failure and was basically unadoptable. His medical needs were expensive and nobody wanted to adopt him. The author basically was giving Bono a vacation from the shelter for awhile. Little did either realize that the cat needed Helen Brown. And Helen Brown needed the little cat. Their relationship started out shaky with much hissing, hiding under beds, and cat temper fits....but with a little bit of patience from both, the outcome is quite heartwarming.

I loved this story. I'm definitely going to be reading more by this author. The story of how she bonded with Bono is heart-warming and real. Cats can be great therapy at low spots in our lives. She rescued Bono, and in return he rescued her. Beautiful! :)

There is always time for kindness. I find that I receive much more from the tiny little kittens I foster than I give to them. There is just something joyful in saving a tiny life and sending it out into the world to bring happiness to someone I will never even meet. I get messages, emails and photos from those who adopt the babies I raise. It's totally worth the feedings every two hours, the frantic trips to the vet in an emergency and all the time, effort and mess.

As I warm the formula to go and feed the latest little one (her name is Annie after Little Orphan Annie...the only one in her litter to survive after her mother was run over and killed), I'm thinking kind thoughts about Helen Brown and Bono. It's amazing how much animals bring to our lives in exchange for just a little love and affection.

Lovely book! I highly recommend it!

**I voluntarily read an advance readers copy of this book from Kensington via NetGalley. All opinions expressed are entirely my own. Adopt -- don't shop! Donate to your local humane society.**