Louise Reinoehl Max

One of the Better Albums Out There

"Nine Lives" is a photo album for cats. The pages feature different themes (for instance, "Cant' Catch Me", "Mother Nature", and "The Discriminating Palate"), each with corresponding graphics (e.g., the "'Fraidy Cat!" section has pictures of cats with their fur on end). Each page is covered with graphics and a colorful background; while this makes the album attractive to look at, it also leaves a little less room for pictures. My solution was to place photos over the graphics that I wasn't too fond of.

The album is meant mostly for photos; there are very few places that are designated specifically for writing - though I suppose you could still write on them if you'd prefer. None of the pages are lined for script.

The pages are sturdy and durable. The book is spiral-bound, which makes it easier to attach photos to the pages (i.e., you don't have a crease where pages are bound together at the spine). However, the wire spiral is designed so that some of the back pages come undone if you're not careful. I've tried to tighten the spirals, to no avail.

"Nine Lives" is about as big as a medium-sized book; the largest photos it will fit are approximately 5.5"x8.5". It has a hard cover that wraps around the spiral binding so that it isn't visible.

I've found that the best way to stick photos to the pages are by using mounting stickers on the backs of the photos along with one-sided corners for reinforcement.

I've bought a number of companion animal albums, and "Nine Lives" is by far the best I've found as of yet, despite its flaws. The canine version is "Dog Days: A Scrapbook for My Best Friend", by Kate Madsen.

http://www.amazon.com/review/RVYSZGYQ0SBDO/… (mere)