"The Healing Power of Cats: Nine Lessons from Our Feline Friends" by Ulrica Norberg and Carina Nunstedt is a warm, fact-filled, and heartening read. I found it to be packed with fascinating information about our feline companions along with sweet, memorable stories that highlight their calming, restorative presence in our lives. The authors do a lovely job of blending science, history, and personal anecdotes, making the book both informative and comforting.

While I currently don’t have a cat, I have had one in the past, and I hope to have another in the future—so this book was an especially enjoyable reminder of the joy, humor, and healing energy that cats bring into a home. It would make a thoughtful gift for the feline fan in your life or a gentle, uplifting read for anyone who appreciates the special bond we share with our pets.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher August Books of Canelo for the eARC of this book.

Intuitively I knew my cat was good for me, and now I have the proof! This book covers a wide variety of topics from cats in history to cat behavior to the research on cats. Via meticulous research and interviews, the authors provide an accessible and thorough love letter to our resident felines. If you have ever loved a cat or know someone who does, this book is for you.
Many thanks to NetGalley and August Books for the advance copy. All opinions are my own.

As a current clever cat lady with 4 cats, I found this to be a very interesting book. It was fascinating to read about the studies that confirm what I have observed in my home. There were personal stories about cats, research study findings, drawings, and poetry. It was a nice which really made it interesting. It never felt dry or boring. Reading about a subject I love is great and learning new things is a bonus!

Thank you to the author, August Books, and NetGalley for the Advanced Reader Copy (ARC) copy of this book and I am voluntarily leaving an honest review.

If you are here, chances are you love cats and see their healing power, and wish to know more about it.
Then it is with great satisfaction can I say that this book is a winner.
There is a combination of scientific facts and anecdotes/stories about our feline friends in this book, and the balance is right.
I only wish it were longer, and somewhat/in some places differently structured and presented, but the writing and the content exceeded my expectations.

Some lovely, feelgood and inspiring stories which will appeal to animal lovers and cat lovers especially. It's great to read the affirming stories of the love and healing that cats can bring to our lives. The anecdotes are appealing and back up the science behind them. The illustrations are gorgeous and those and the little references to cats and famous people, amusing facts etc. added to the enjoyment. It's nice to know that cats bring calm and peace to so many, as well as just being adorable, entertaining little bundles of love!
We should all be more cat whenever we can be!

This was really interesting and had some really good I information. It was set out in a great way that’s easy to understand. Very well researched. I love cats and definitely believe that they are good helpers either way healing (maybe not my cat though she’s just abit odd 🤣🤣)

This book was a great read!

The writing style was casual and flowed well.

I loved how both that authors wove their personal stories with their cats into the book before each informational chapter. The facts were very insightful and fascinating!

I definitely recommend for cat lovers to read this adorable book.

I was super excited to be approved for this ARC, I had it in my want to read list for a while! I LOVE cats, so I really wanted to read this book because I absolutely believe these animals are fuzzy, little healing machines.

This book is a lovely mix of really pretty inked illustrations of cats, cat facts, poetry about cats, research on specific cat things like cats in care homes, feline behavior, their population and how different countries see and care for them, etc, as well as personal stories from the two authors on how their cats helped keep their family together.

I loved every part of it and I found the different mediums were a total hit for me. This book is also very respectful of holistic practices despite being, at its core, a research-based book, and I was grateful for it. Interacting with cats, knowing they’re not truly domesticated and just appreciate or tolerate us enough to deal with us, is magical in itself.

I did not know some facts in the book, despite having always had cats! Some were a pleasant surprise and my favorite thing was learning about Jacobson’s organ. I'm also a huge horse lover and know about the flehmen behavior through horses - learning that it’s exactly the same thing for cats made me chuckle! I knew cats could smell things better with their mouths open but never did the connection with horses.

Overall, this is an interesting and sweet read for cat lovers, and also for cat skeptics haha!

As a cat lover, this book brought me so much joy! The Healing Power of Cats by Ultica Norberg and Carina Nunstedt delights the reader with stories about their own cats and well-researched facts about cat history, cat behaviors, and impact on human health. I loved reading about the science of cat purring and how it can affect humans. I would be remiss not to mention the beautiful artwork in this book; the illustrations capture the many facets of cats. This book is perfect for everyone who loves cats!

I really enjoyed this book. It reminded me how much cats can teach us—about slowing down, staying calm, and finding comfort in simple moments. The stories about their history and their so-called “nine lives” were fun to read, and I loved how it showed their playful, clean, and caring side. If you’re a cat lover, this feels like a cozy, gentle reminder of why they mean so much.

Being a fervent cat lover I was drawn immediately to this book and I am very pleased to say that I was not disappointed. It is a mixture of history, pop culture, science and a number of anecdotes. Just as everyone lives their lives in different ways, so it is with cats, they too, live their lives in very different ways. My family have always had cats and our final cat who had been the runt of the litter, lived until she was nearly twenty years old. As I read this book I could almost feel her sitting on my lap! There is so much to be learned from this book and it is beautifully illustrated. This book will be on my list to buy for gifts.
Thank you NetGalley and the publisher, for allowing me to read this ARC in exchange for my honest review.
#netgalley #TheHealingPowerOfCats

Such a heart warming book. I absolutely loved reading the stories about the cats, espeically cats being so important during isolation. I got my cat during lockdown with Covid and we are inseperable. The tips about intereacting with our cats and seeing thee world through their eyes can definitely lead to a more fulfilling, connected life.

This is a wonderful book, and a quick read. Norberg and Nunstedt share their personal stories with cats, interspersed with interesting facts, quotes, and research about the cats. The illustrations of cats are quite lovely. A purrfect read for cat lovers.

'The Healing Power Of Cats' by Ulrica Norberg and Carina Nunstedt is the perfect gift for all cat lovers. I especially adored the beautiful illustrations to every chapter.
It is often said that cats have nine lives. Here we can learn nine life lessons from cats to improve our own lives. We meet well known cats like Lil BUB and Bob the streetcat and also hear of famous cat people like Doris Lessing, Joyce Carol Oates, Ernest Hemingway and Freddie Mercury. Cats are spiritual animals and there are lots of cat legends from ancient Egypt, Myanmar and Hinduism.
I loved the stories of the authors' cats which illustrated the chapters.
Even though I enjoyed reading about the cats and their powers and traits the book didn't grab me as much as I would have thought. But I loved the illustrations.
Many thanks to NetGalley and August Books for the ARC.

This was such an interesting book. When I see a cover with cats, it immediately gets my attention. But then the premise has to sound like something I actually want to read and this book was exactly that. I’m constantly looking for books about cats and this is probably as close to what I looked for as I’ve found so far.

What we find in this book is a combination of personal stories with cats and information about cats that relate to the title of the book. I love that because it’s what I want. I want to hear cute stories of people and their cats. But I also want to learn more about their anatomy or behaviour because I love learning more and more about cats. Not just to understand the one that’s part of my family better but to understand all cats. Some information was not new for me but might be for others. But a good amount of facts I read about in the book were either something I didn’t know or something I knew but seen from a different perspective, which added nuance to it.
The book contains the results of different kinds of research done with cats by different experts from different countries. That’s super interesting to me and I’ll go back to those differences later. But reading those stats about which countries protected cats more or which ones preferred cats over dogs (looking at the number of cats and dogs that people had at home) was very interesting. It’s fascinating seeing how our view of certain animals evolves throughout history.

Then there is the subject of the book which is how cats can heal us and help us see life in a better way. I’ve experienced this myself. As the authors mention, seeing my cat already makes me happy. It makes me smile. I have to tell her how pretty she is and kiss her little forehead. I look forward to getting back home because I know she’ll be there. I look forward to the colder months because I’ll wake up with my cat sleeping by my feet and isn’t that a beautiful thing to see when you first wake up in the morning? In the winter we nap together and in the summer we play a lot more. There is always something to look forward to when it comes to time spent with her.
But also, I suffer from migraines and I’ve experienced how purring can help make the migraines better. I’ll never forget that first time when I was in bed feeling awful and my cat slept next to my stomach, not my feet for once. Instead of purring and then falling asleep, she purred while she slept and my migraine started to fade. I had heard about cats doing this but it’s one thing to hear it and another to experience it. I felt our bond was so strong then. And I’ve experienced similar moments with other cats too. Getting to read about other people going through similar experiences and how that made their bond with their cats grow so much stronger is beautiful. I would recommend this book just for those chapters. But if you’re as emotional as I am, get ready to tear up.

All the facts about cats we find in the book have a purpose. How can we humans learn from the way cats act? How can we improve our lives? I say so often that I wish I was my cat because her life seems so perfect but what can I do to make my life more similar to hers?
I literally had two chapters left of this book and planned on reading them before getting some work done. My cat had other plans and decided she’d sit next to me looking beautiful and purring. So I paid attention to her instead. In my life before cats, I would have been stressed because I need to finish books more quickly and review ARCs and this week was very slow for me…not now. Not anymore. I stopped to cuddle my cat, took photos of her and posted them on social media. And then I finished the book. The world didn’t end because I waited 20 minutes to finish the book and did something relaxing instead. I thought it was very full circle that’s how I finished this book in particular.

Now, why do we dislike when someone says “Europe/Europeans” as if we’re a single unit? Because we’re not. Europe is full of different cultures and the north (where the authors are from) and the south (where I’m from) can be very different. I noticed a few of those things in this book and found that interesting. That’s the fun part about reading about people’s experiences in other countries and cultures. Where we’re born and raised does affect our world view even when it comes to very small things. What made me feel not so great was the authors being so pushy about promoting breeders. Maybe in Northern Europe this is something people don’t care much about. My view from the south is that we do. Saying you’ve purchased a pet will get judgemental looks. Celebrities have been called out for it. My world view is that for both animals and humans, it’s adopt don’t shop. I understand there are allergies and I would have understood that being the explanation for buying. But everyone was buying cats in this book. It bothered me and I feel it can bother a lot of people so it’s worth mentioning.

Personal problems aside, this book was such a good read. I’ll be quoting it to people non stop and obviously recommending it as well. The little illustrations were so sweet too and such a great addition.

This was such a fantastic read! As a "crazy cat lady" (I only have 2, but I love them dearly), I enjoyed all of the interesting facts and stories. Its funny because there was once a time where I would've considered myself both a cat and dog person equally. While I still love dogs also, I am definitely more of a cat person now. Considering the personality test results it makes a lot of sense since I definitely am more introverted and creative.


All of the stories about people and their cats were enjoyable to read. Everyone experiences life in a different way and every cat is different and lives a different life than others. So its interesting to read about other people's experiences. Hemingway is probably one of my favorite to read about! I love that his house has been turned into a museum where a bunch of cats live. Its crazy to think that his love for cats shows even after he has passed away. I think my favorite cat name from the book was Churro! I'm a sucker for food themed names as you can tell by my cats names, Miso and Wasabi. Just like Mark Twain, I too prefer cats to people. Overall, this book was a fun and unique read. Thank you to Netgalley, August Books, and Ulrica Norberg/Carina Nunstedt for an ARC of this book. This review is my own honest opinion.

Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for providing the ARC.

The Healing Power of Cats is a well-researched and engaging look at our deep connection with felines. Told through an entertaining mix of real-life stories and scientific insights, the book draws on the work of cat behaviorists to help us better understand how cats interact with humans. I especially enjoyed the sections on cats as therapy animals and the fascinating historical touches, from myths and legends to literary references by writers like Mark Twain and Ernest Hemingway. Informative and heartwarming, this is a must-read for cat lovers and anyone curious about the unique bond we share with these remarkable animals. #thehealingpowerofcats #netgalley

A perfect book for cat lovers, this was easy to read and backed with real, scientific research. I’ve had the pleasure of having cats my entire life, but I still learned new things reading this! I enjoyed the writing style and switch between information, personal anecdotes, and pop culture/history references of cats. I spent the entire time reading this curled up with my cat, I highly recommend reading this with your cat if you can. A perfect gift for cat lovers and a heartwarming read.