Choosing to Be by Kat Tansey

Choosing to Be, Lessons in Living from a Feline Zen Master

Genre: Fiction

Kat Tansey is looking for a way to overcome her severe bouts of depression. After suffering from a long term illness, she loses her job and is faced with financial difficulties. She looks for help through Buddhist meditation. A topic that happens to be the expertise of her Maine Coon cat, Poohbear. He’s more than willing to be her teacher and help her seek answers she needs so desperately.

This is a fictionalized account of the authors’ tortured journey. She has marvelous talks with Poohbear, who convinces her to acquire a Maine Coon kitty, Catzenbear. Together, they show Ms. Tansey the way. The reader lives through Kat’s experiences and feel both her pain and joy. There are several cute cat antics that will leave a smile on all cat lovers’ faces.

As a cat lover myself, I often have full fledged conversations with my cats and I’m not the least bit embarrassed to admit it. I know from my own experiences, they do help keep the stress levels down and they are a sounding board that doesn’t judge.

I found this book to be one of the most enjoyable I’ve read in a long time. I practically devoured it in one day. The writing flows well, it’s fast-paced and I hated to see it come to an end. It’s one of the few books I’m passing along to my husband. He’s going to love it as well.


For Reading Challenge: What an animal reading challenge