I was absolutely thrilled to learn that my book, 77 Things to Know Before You Get a Cat, won a Muse medallion at the Cat Writers’ Association conference last weekend.

To celebrate, here are three short reviews of three very different books, all featuring cats.

Crazy Cat Lady by Agnes Loonstra (illustrations) and Ester Scholten is a small gift book that is ideal for the crazy cat lady…or man…in your life.

If you believe in shopping early, the book would make a great stocking stuffer, or give it to someone just because.

This is not a book about cat care or why you should or shouldn’t have cats.

It’s an illustrated guide that all cat lovers can relate to.

As an example, “It’s not drinking alone when the cats are home,” and “I don’t need therapy, I talk to my cats.”

Interspersed with that kind of statement is information such as how to plant catnip, famous cat people, and the fact that owning a cat can lessen your chance of a heart attack.

If you have both cats and dogs, just substitute “dog” for “cat” and in most instances, it works. Crazy for cats? You’ll enjoy Crazy Cat Lady.

Next, a very different kind of book. When I first heard the title, Engineering for Cats I thought it would be a cute gift book featuring cats illustrating various engineering principles, rather like a math book for cats that might show a cat adding three sardines plus two sardines. Boy, was I wrong.

Engineering for Cats by Mac Delaney is an easy-to-understand book showing people how to build things for cats to use.

What kind of things? Well, something as simple as a shelf for your cat, or a scratching post, or, if you’re really ambitious, an exercise wheel.

In between these extremes, the author gives you instructions for a water fountain, bunk beds, and a litter box cabinet.

(There are 10 building projects in all).

At the beginning of each chapter, Delaney rates the difficulty of the project, lists materials and approximate cost, and how long it should take to build.

For instance, the water fountain rates as low difficulty, low to medium cost and should take one to two hours.

The exercise wheel, on the other hand, has high difficulty, high cost, and will take 10 to 20 hours to make.

The instructions are clear and there are step-by-step pictures to help you construct your project.

At the beginning of the book, Delaney goes over some basic construction information to help you understand what you might be doing with each object.

It was fascinating to see how things were put together, and I learned things about construction that I didn’t know.

This is the perfect book for the cat person who also likes do-it-yourself projects.

Engineering for Cats makes me want to go buy a hammer and saw.

Don’t wait for a vacation at the beach to read-and enjoy-Cat Chase the Moon by Shirley Rousseau Murphy.

Cat Chase the Moon is the latest in a series of novels by Murphy featuring the talking cats of Molina Point, California.

I enjoy these books because the cats are the main characters.

They don’t just supply support to the humans in the story; they actively work to solve the mysteries, then share what they’ve learned with the humans around them.

Joe Grey takes the lead, and is the town “snitch,” frequently phoning in anonymous tips to the local sheriff.

The author knows her cats, and they have different personalities, but all seem to like their creature comforts and are happy to snuggle into a pile of pillows anytime for a nap.

This is the 21st Joe Grey mystery, and although it does stand alone, I think it would help a new reader to start earlier in the series. I hadn’t read a book from this series in a while and would have appreciated a short introductory section, matching up cats with their personal humans, and reminding me who did and didn’t know that the cats could speak.

A paragraph on the history of this particular species of fictional cat would have helped, too.

I kept trying to remember things as I went along, which distracted a bit from the story.

If you’re a Joe Grey fan, don’t miss the latest.

If you’ve never read one of Murphy’s novels, start at the beginning and catch up with the rest of her fans.

If you love cats, add these books to your reading list.