Due to a sudden, unexpected passing in the family a few years ago and another more recently and my subsequent (mental) health issues stemming from that, I was unable to download this book in time to review it before it was archived as I did not visit this site for several years after the bereavements. This meant I didn't read or venture onto netgalley for years as not only did it remind me of that person as they shared my passion for reading, but I also struggled to maintain interest in anything due to overwhelming depression. I was therefore unable to download this title in time and so I couldn't give a review as it wasn't successfully acquired before it was archived. The second issue that has happened with some of my other books is that I had them downloaded to one particular device and said device is now defunct, so I have no access to those books anymore, sadly.

This means I can't leave an accurate reflection of my feelings towards the book as I am unable to read it now and so I am leaving a message of explanation instead. I am now back to reading and reviewing full time as once considerable time had passed I have found that books have been helping me significantly in terms of my mindset and mental health - this was after having no interest in anything for quite a number of years after the passings. Anything requested and approved will be read and a review written and posted to Amazon (where I am a Hall of Famer & Top Reviewer), Goodreads (where I have several thousand friends and the same amount who follow my reviews) and Waterstones (or Barnes & Noble if the publisher is American based). Thank you for the opportunity and apologies for the inconvenience.

The Illustrated Encyclopedia of Cats by Angela Rixon is a lovely compilation of cat facts paired with gorgeous pictures. There are sections that look at the history and the biology of cats, followed by the cat breeds divided into short, medium, and long hair, Oriental, and unusual breeds. Each cat breed has basic breed standards, and care considerations. Little boxes provide extra 'at-a-glance' tips and tidbits. Great gift for the cat enthusiast in your life!

***Many thanks to the Netgalley & Quarto Publishing for providing an egalley in exchange for a fair and honest review.

Illustrated Encyclopedia of Cats is a beautifully illustrated and photographed encyclopedia of all things feline. Due out 2nd June 2020 from Quarto on their Chartwell imprint, it's 256 pages and will be available in hardcover format.

The book has an logical and accessible layout which will appeal to all ages. The introductory chapters cover physiology, biology, behavior, a general overview over breeding, showing, and care and husbandry. The following chapters split most of the recognized breeds of cats into longhair, semi-longhair, and shorthair. Each of the breed pages provides a description of the breed standard, short bio of the development of the breed, and interesting tidbits of behavior or trivia info. The breed pages also provide gorgeous color photos of many of the different color variations for each cat.There's a cross referenced index at the back of the book for finding info quickly.

This is a beautifully made book, full of lovely full color photos of gorgeous kitties.

Four stars.

Disclosure: I received an ARC at no cost from the author/publisher for review purposes.

Thank you to Netgalley for giving me the chance to read and review, "The Illustrated Encyclopedia of Cats" by Angela Rixon. As a lover of cats, this book was was purrfection! I loved the details about each cat as well as the pictures. This book is a cat lady's dream come true!

AUTHOR

Angela Rixon ARPS is President of the Cat Association of Great Britain. She is an ex-show judge, and cat breeder. She is a prolific author with more than 30 publications on cats, horses and canines.

WHO IS THE TARGET AUDIENCE

Principally, the target audience is the world of cat lovers, but anyone who loves animals will appreciate the beauty of this encyclopedia.

SYNOPSIS

The Illustrated Encyclopedia of Cats is the essential guide for every feline fanatic. Resplendent with full color images across the 256 page conspectus. This encyclopedic knowledge of cats is packed with practical information, advice and original ideas for the serious ailurophile.

Whilst it is not an all-embracing examination of every cat breed it is comprehensive enough to satisfy the serious cat lover. The publication covers a brief history of the cat, body types, behaviors, breeding, showing and care.

Even though I do not own a cat, I found the book to be extremely interesting. It offered me a unique insight into the life of cats through the eyes of a devoted professional cat breeder. In addition to the plethora of photographs, there are multiple color illustrations, anatomical drawings and plates. Additionally included within the pages are charts, maps, and a table of feline diseases.

CONCLUSION

You have to see The Illustrated Encyclopedia of Cats to believe just how aesthetically pleasing this manual is. It has been a while since I had so much fun reading a reference work. I can highly recommend this text for the exceptional quality of the visuals and the invaluable information contained within.

In my opinion The Illustrated Encyclopedia of Cats is a wonderful reference work for anyone who owns cat.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

I would like to thank Angela Rixon, NetGalley, and Chartwell Books for affording me the opportunity to review The Illustrated Encyclopedia of Cats.

A good read if you are interested in the different breed of cats. It's full of facts and information.
The pictures are lovely.
Recommended.
Many thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for this ARC, all opinions are mine.

A good, general reference book for information on cat breeds and behaviors. Good amount of illustrations and simple language.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for providing this book in exchange for an honest review.
This book definitely has a lot of information, from evolution, to behavior, to care, and descriptions of various breeds. This is a fun encyclopedia with good pictures.

An absolute must for any ailurophile (cat lover)! This book tells everything, from coat colors to health t0 profiles of various breeds. It also includes information about showing cats, including how each breed is judged. Lots of illustrations provided for each breed, as well as diagrams, make it a useful guide to the breed.

***Thank you to NetGalley and Chartwell Books for an advance copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. Expected release date April 28, 2020.***


Being a typical cat lady, hoping for an advance copy of this book was a no-brainer for me. There was a lot of information provided, both on cat type and breed. Also, the wealth of pictures was very enjoyable.

This is a most informative book on cats, especially if you are serious about showing. The book stats of with chapters on History, Origin, Body Shape/Fur, Behavior, Reproductive /Breeding, Showing and Cat Care.
This is all followed by beautifully illustrated and explained requirements and characteristic of the various breeds of cats. Broken down into sections of Long Haired, Semi Long Haired, Short Haired, Foreign Short Haired and Orientals. I did not know there where so many bred, all beautiful and very well detailed. a must book for anyone who enjoys cats and/or shows them at any level.

I love cats. I'm pretty sure I'm a crazy cat lady, so this book is absolutely perfect for me to read! I've had many cats and absolutely love learning more about them (especially since sometimes I wonder if mine are little alien babies hiding in cat bodies).

Things I appreciated:
1. Actual, real pictures of cats. The focus is not on cartoon cats like most cat encyclopedias I remember from my youth.

2. The book is very informative and professional in nature. Evolution, history and breeding are just some of the topics discussed within just the first few pages. There is a LOT of information available at the beginning of the book for everything you'd want to know about the cat as a species.

3. The body types of cats really interested me since the cats I've had all varied in size, so it was cool to see the variations.

Things to be worked on:
1. This is a basic introduction to the breeds. It's not exhaustive nor is it full of all of the information you could want on every breed. If you go in looking for just some fun, useful information, then this is the book for you! There is a lot of initial background information on cats as a whole, but you won't learn every piece of information about every cat breed.

2. "Cats are considered less intelligent than dogs." This is totally not a hit against the book, but who are you talking to? All of the cats I've known (minus one) have been way smarter than all of the dogs I've known. Except when my dog knew how to hunt a mouse but my cats didn't, but that's the exception.

Overall, this book is super informative and very helpful! I think this is a great way to start out learning about cats. I'd highly recommend it!

Four out of five stars.

Thank you NetGalley and Chartwell Books for an opportunity to pick up and review this book!

In this book, we learn about the make up of cats from body, facial and marking types, habits, growth, origin, habits, care and illnesses etc.



It also shows us in depth looks at each breed of cat and what intrigued me to pick this book up is the fact that I only know of and love the ragdoll breed. That hasn't changed but now I do have more knowledge of other breeds at least and broadens our knowledge of cats in general and is a great starting point to learn from!



Many thanks to the publishers for allowing me to review this book for them!

Requested this because I wanted to find out more about the cats that live in our garage, and I have to say no regrets! From evolution and feline behavior to breed traits and cat care, it was a pretty comprehensive, um, catpilation. Fun and educational to read for cat n00bs like me, and likely more special for the truly cat loving hoomans. Would be happy to own a physical copy—the photos are so purrcious!

I loved this book! It reminds me of the over sized picture books on cat breeds. A great table top photo book of breeds. There is a great variety of information included as well as beautiful photographs. I would still prefer to own and view this book in a print version.

This book is beautifully done, with detailed photos and information about how to identify different cat breeds as well as a lot of reference information on cat health and care. A great reference about all things cat.

Seeing just a few pages of this future book, It looks like the perfect reference book to be enjoyed by cat lovers and breeders. Beautiful illustrations accompany the history of the various breeds alond with detail as to how a cat is awarded points at a breeding show. Cat owners will enjoy this book just to learn about the care and character of the different breeds.

My review is based a brief amount of information (four cat breeds information included in the book) given in the temporary PDF downloaded for review purposes. The temporary book contained breed information such as characteristics and profile information. The information presented was well-written and informative.

Recommend based on the caveats given.

Review written after downloading a temporary book from NetGalley.

It's really hard to review a book when you're only given 4 pages. I'd love to review when there is more, but for now I feel like I have to give a low score just because I have no way to judge the rest of the book.