The Delight of Being Ordinary

The Delight of Being Ordinary: A Road Trip with the Pope and Dalai Lama by Roland Merullo  367 pp.

When the Dalai Lama makes an official visit to the Vatican, Pope Francis comes up with the idea of a secret, unsanctioned road trip around Italy, the vacation that he is not allowed. He saddles his personal assistant and cousin Paolo with making the arrangements in less than 24 hours. Paolo helps the two holy men escape from the Vatican without their bodyguards. Rosa arranges for them to get them professional, movie quality disguises and borrows a friend's Maserati SUV for the journey. There is no real itinerary for the trip other than some vague and similar dreams the Pope and Dalai Lama have been having. They dodge the authorities and media who believe Paolo has kidnapped the holy men against their will and there is a reward on their heads. Paolo is increasingly neurotic and upset about some of the situations they find themselves in and neither the holy men nor his wife can calm his worries. The Pope and Dalai Lama are having a great time on their illicit vacation. The end of the journey is handled in a satisfactory way although I still wish I could to shake some sense into Paolo for some of his idiotic attitudes. 

The Dalai Lama's Cat and the Art of Purring

The Dalai Lama's Cat and the Art of Purring by David Michie  232 pp.

The sequel to The Dalai Lama's Cat finds HHC (His Holiness' Cat) a bit out of sorts. The kittens she was expecting at the end of the first book have all been given away to special friends and she is now at loose ends. To make matters worse, His Holiness is going away for several months. Before he leaves the Dalai Lama tells his "Little Snow Lion" to discover, "What makes you purr?" While he is away Rinpoche (another of her nicknames) is left in the capable hands of the monks and her friends at the small cafe/bookshop in McLeod Ganj, the town outside the temple. Through her encounters with angry dogs, strangers, friends, a professor, and a very wise Yogi she learns more about herself than she ever imagined. The side plot about the cafe and the people running it fleshes out the story. This is a sweet book and I hope there will be a third in the series.

The Dalai Lama's Cat

The Dalai Lama's Cat by David Michie  240 pp.

This charming little book is written from the point of view of a Himalayan kitty who, as a small kitten, was rescued from certain death by the Dalai Lama's staff. She becomes affectionately known as HHC (His Holiness' Cat) and spends most of her time around His Holiness, his staff, and a string of prominent and not so prominent visitors. She also earns a place of respect in the town near the monastery where she frequents a cafe run by an American.
As the "bodhicatva" she sits in on many spiritual conversations and relates many of the most important bits of Buddhist thought. She also strives to live up to her title of HHC by applying them to her own life. There is a sequel The Dalai Lama's Cat and the Art of Purring.