Loved this book. A very gentle way of writing. unocers the stories bit by bit. Totally absorbed throughout. Not a long book and would suit a range of ages including youg adults and adults.

What a wonderful book! I loved it especially as I love cats…..and books! A delightful tale of how courage and perseverance and friendship can win the day. I will definitely be buying this book.

Thanks to netgalley for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

‘“‘Books have tremendous power.’ That was his grandfather’s mantra.”

My thanks to Pan Macmillan Picador for an eARC via NetGalley of ‘The Cat Who Saved Books’ by Sosuke Natsukawa. It was originally published in Japan in 2017 and translated from the Japanese by Louise Heal Kawai. I combined reading with listening to its unabridged audiobook edition for an immersive experience.

A tabby cat, a bookshop and many books: elements that add up to what I consider a perfect novel. It is both wise and whimsical, beautifully written and thought provoking.

Rintaro Natsuki has always considered Natsuki Books, his grandfather’s tiny, second-hand bookshop, a place of wonder and the perfect refuge for a reclusive boy. He has spent many happy hours there reading.

Then his grandfather dies leaving Rintaro grieving and alone. It seems that the shop will have to close. Then a tabby cat named Tiger wanders in, apparently from the rear of the shop, and asks Rintaro for help. Tiger explains that he is able to be understood by certain people and that he needs a book lover to accompany him on a mission to save books from people who have imprisoned, mistreated and betrayed them. Tiger leads him through a number of labyrinths and subsequent book themed adventures.

Sayo Yuzuki, a strong, no nonsense girl that Rintaro has known since primary school, also drops by Natsuki Books; mainly to bring him homework but also because she is quite concerned about his increased reclusiveness. According to the Translator’s Note, Rintaro is a ‘hikikonori’, a Japanese term that indicates someone who has consciously separated themselves from society.

In the course of the narrative there are discussions about various books and the power of books throughout the centuries. I appreciated Rintaro response to Sayo when she finds a certain novel challenging: “If you find it difficult it’s because it contains something that is new to you. Every difficult book offers us a brand-new challenge.’

This was a wonderful novel and given its themes of the relevance and power of books I feel that it will be a great choice for reading groups. I have already put it forward to members of my own group as an upcoming selection.

Very highly recommended.

I requested this book on a whim as the cat on the cover looked cute (I love cats) and I enjoy translated novels. I’m so glad I did! Such a cute story, which also deals with grief and grown up decisions in a subtle way. Rin taro is a shy, quiet teenager but is brought out of his shell by his cat friend and Sayo, his neighbour and classmate. Together they save books! Really well written and translated. 4 stars from me.

A charming story about a teenage boy who, after losing his grandfather, tries to take care of the bookshop he left behind, and instead finds himself into dangerous situations when a talking tabby tells him he has to save books.

The writing can feel a bit disjointed, and I think this probably has to do with the fact that it's a translation. It also feels quite young, and nothing is left to the reader's own intuition because everything is explained in great detail. There are quite a few grand speeches about the importance and value of books, most of which are quite on the nose, but this also feels quite true to the Japanese style of writing. Depending on whether you enjoy that or not, this can be a miss. This was an easy and relaxing read, and I enjoyed it for what it was.

A lovely, heartwarming book with some important messages delivered in a great way for children to understand.

I voluntarily read and reviewed this book, all thoughts and opinions are my own.

A small book with a big message. Friendship and loneliness can be reduced by losing yourself in a lovely book. Very endearing tale.

I was sent a copy of The Cat Who Saved Books by Sosuke Natsukawa to read and review by NetGalley. This is an enjoyable little book with a big message! I wouldn’t necessarily say that it lives up to the hype but it’s a good little read and I think it would make a great film or TV programme.

The Cat Who Saved Books is a captivating, heartwarming and whimsical modern fable about the power of books to heal and replenish and the ability to travel around the globe through the power of only one’s imagination. Bookish and introverted high school student Rintaro Natsuki is about to close the secondhand bookshop he inherited from his beloved grandfather. Then, a talking cat named Tiger appears with an unusual request. The cat needs Rintaro’s help to save books that have been imprisoned, destroyed and unloved. The Natsuki bookshop is a special place: a dusty and lonely shop, where reading lovers can find, among the pages of great masterpieces from around the world, an oasis of peace, a refuge away from the noise of everyday life. When the owner, a cultured and passionate man, suddenly dies, his nephew Rintaro, a shy and introverted boy, takes over the shop.

His grandfather took care of him after his mother died, and now that he's gone, Rintaro must learn to dispense with his sweet, calm wisdom. The bookshop is on the verge of failure: a heavy legacy for the boy, also because the signals from the world are quite discouraging: few people are really interested in reading anymore. One day, while Rintaro basks melancholy in the memory of his grandfather, a talking cat enters the library. Despite the boy's initial perplexities, the cat convinces him to leave on a very special mission: to save the books from their disappearance. Thus begins the story of a magical friendship and an odd but wonderful partnership for the common good: an amazing adventure that will lead them to travel through four different labyrinths to resolve as many existential questions on the importance of reading and on the infinite and inscrutable strength of love as they can.

Through their travels, Tiger and Rintaro meet a man who locks up his books, an unwitting book torturer who cuts the pages of books into snippets to help people speed read and a publisher who only wants to sell books like disposable products. Then, finally, there is a mission that Rintaro must complete alone. This is an enchanting, quirky and simply gorgeous story that highlights the importance of books, friendship and self-belief. The simplicity of the story illustrates the warmth, the love and the true power books hold, and at its heart, it is a thought-provoking philosophical novel as well as an enthralling tale of tomes, first love, fantasy and an unusual friendship with a talking cat. A delightful blend of fairy tale and magical realism, appealing to lovers of books, cats and Japanese culture, this is an elegant treat that is full of heart and soul. It's a book that will speak to all of those for whom books are so much more than mere words on paper. Highly recommended.

For anyone who loves books, this one will speak to you in a way so many books don’t. This book understands what it is to love books, and the complexity of the relationship between humans and the written word/books. While there were some wonderful moments, and beautiful musings about reading/books, I’m not sure I especially loved the book. I enjoyed it, that is true. I liked the characters, though I didn’t quite feel I experienced their full selves, or maybe they are just average people who are less interesting than the usual characters created for works of fiction. I didn’t dislike them, but like the book, I’m just not sure I especially loved any of them. I don’t regret reading this book, but I also feel it’s not necessarily changed my life in any way, like some of my favourite reads have. It’s a pleasant read.

I found the title really interesting and really wanted to read it to found out about the cat who saved books but I found it really hard to get into and lost the plot abit with story. I read about 50% of the book but still could not warm to the characters or really understand what the story was going but I am sure someone else would really like this book.
Thank you NetGalley for letting me read this book.

Firstly a thank you to #Netgalley for my e-arc copy of #thecatwhosavedbooks in exchange for my honest review.

I have to admit that I did struggle with this book. Mainly because it was translated from Japanese into English making the dialect at times difficult to get to grips with, making it difficult this review.

However I still enjoyed the story, not only being an avid reader and lover of books, I’m also a lover of cats too.

I liked how it was told in a supernatural way with a talking cat, but also dealing with real emotions such as grief and friendship alongside this.

I found it very relatable, and very much enjoyed the whole premise of the story.

With the idea of “the death of books” which is very current with books now turning electronic. It really made me think about what makes a book a book.

What I didn’t like about this book was the way it made the young boy come across as unliked and an outcast because of his live foe books.

On the whole I did enjoy the book and so am rating it three out of five stars.

I’ve read Japanese translated books before and I’ve always enjoyed them, so I settled into my bath of Japanese bubbles (wasn’t intended, just happened that way) and started reading. The book really appealed to me as it’s two of my loves in one - books and cats. The story makes you stop and think deeply about books and the power they hold. It also makes you think about slowing down and really enjoying a book rather than rushing through to get to the next one. As quoted in Labyrinth 2 - ‘Hurrying means that you miss out on many things’. You also realise the importance of books and what they mean to people. The main characters were all young and it was lovely that they shared their love of books with each other. I think this book would appeal to YA readers too as getting through each labyrinth felt like a game show contest. Thank you to NetGalley and Pan Macmillan for letting me read and review this book. 3.5 *

When Rintaro Natsuki’s Grandpa, his world changes forever. As, not only does he lose his beloved and only surviving family member, but also his home. This is the second hand bookshop where he and Grandpa lived and sold books.
A distant aunt has agreed to take him in and so Natsuki Books is holding a closing down sale. He will be going to live with her. It’s a lot to take in and he is bereft. A high school student who has stopped attending and is known as a hikikomori or ‘shut-in’. He feels completely alone and that no one would even miss him.
But two of his fellow students persist in calling at the shop to check on him and to discuss the books on the shop’s shelves. Akiba and Sayo express their concerns about him but Rintaro still shuts them out.
Until one day, the shop bell rings and the strangest visitor arrives. A large ginger tabby called Tiger. He needs Rintaro’s help in saving a library of imprisoned books and quotes from ‘The Little Prince’. And so their quest begins as they travel through 3 labyrinths in which books are being held prisoner, butchered or seen as mere commodities. But the 4th labyrinth will be the most dangerous of them all and Sayo will be in danger….
This is a novella about books and a young boy’s love for them and what they mean to him. The power of books, how they can teach us, move us, stir our emotions and also challenge us. The book is also about change and how we can grow as a result. Rintaro is changed by his experiences in the labyrintsh and he acquires the confidence and belief to keep the bookshop open and return to school.
I liked Rintaro. He accepted the presence of Tiger who took him on strange and scary adventures and then realised that he had had two good friends all the time. Rintaro’s world wasn’t as empty and lonely as he thought.
This is aimed at the YA market but also at anyone who, like me, loves books and what they represent. It has been compared to ‘The Guest Cat’ which I also loved and it has a great deal of charm. Cats and books – who can resist?
My thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for an ARC.

I love reading cat centred Japanese books, infact I did a book list on bookshop.org for @rossiter_books called nyan nyan nyan inspired by this book.
After the death of his grandfather, teenager Rintaro inherits his grandfather's tiny second-hand bookshop. Feeling devastated and alone he feels he has no choice but to close the shop, that is until a talking tabby cat appears and asks Rintaro for help. They go on a number of adventures to save books together, but the last rescue is for Rintaro alone...
I loved the descriptions of the inside of the bookshop and the different magical adventures really make you think about how books influence our lives. This is a story about finding courage within ourselves but also looking outwards and caring for others.

The Cat Who Saved Books by Sosuke Natsukawa is an eccentric and heartening book.

“First things first, Grandpa’s gone. This tale that follows is pretty outrageous, but he knows that one fact is absolutely real.

It’s as real as the sun rising in the morning.”

The Cat Who Saved Books is about grief, friendship, and a reminder to readers, booksellers and publishers of the beauty of books.

Rintero Natsuki has left with his grandfather since his mother died when he was young. Rintero is an outsider at school and chose to spend his time among the books in his grandfather’s shop. Now his grandfather has died and he is facing having to live his home and the bookshop.

Then Tiger, the talking cat, shows up and asks him to help him save some books.

This magical read is a must for anyone who truly loves books, it reminds us that books are meant to be read, enjoyed and cherished.

“A book that sits on a shelf is nothing but a bundle of paper. Unless it is opened, a book possessing great power or an epic story is a mere scrap of paper. But a book that has been cherished and loved, filled with human thoughts, and loved, filled with human thoughts, has been endowed with a soul.”

An excellent read.

The cat who saved books is a very wise creature with a kind heart and a superior intelligence- which, cat like - he's very aware of.
Anyone who uses Kindle, Goodnestone etc and like me has puzzled why childish rewards such as badges are thought necessary as incentives not to enjoy a book but to get through it will wholeheartedly understand the premise of the book
If you enjoy reading wven if you aren't about yo boat how many titles you've got off your list will love this gentle fairy tale
I am completely ignorant of Japanese legends but guess there may be some reference here. In the sense that cats talk a d buildings dissolve the I suppose it is a fantasy, but not at all in a special effects way, more as a continuation of the coloured fairy tale books (The Orange Boom of Fairy Tales etc) that I loved as a kid
This is a thoroughly enjoyable romp through out present and possible our future

For the right audience - and I'd say that's children aged 10 to 12 - this is going to be a gorgeous story. The Cat Who Saved Books is a heart-warming coming of age full of adventures and books and let's not forget a talking cat. That's right folks, cats can talk and they care very much about books ;).

Rintaro has lost his Grandpa and he's about to lose his life as he knows it too. Until he meets Tiger the Tabby, who will take him on various quests to save books. His adventures will reveal to him not only why books are important, but he will find himself too, he will come out of this shell, make some friends and fall in love with Sayo. But the most important is that he will understand his Grandpa better and come to terms with his grief.

But for an adult this novella is a bore. Everything is very simplistic: from the language to the story to the quests(as one would expect from a children's book). There is nothing to attract an adult in the pages of this novella. Well I guess if as an adult you enjoy reading children books, then you will love this, but otherwise you will be very, very bored. I think the problem here is that is has not been labelled correctly. I have checked, as sometime I am not careful enough when choosing books, and this novel has been categorised as adult and young adult. I think that should definitely be children and young adult. I wouldn't have picked this up has it been properly categorised and my rating reflects that.

This was a very quirky unusual story and deeper than you could ever expect. It really does impart true wisdom regarding books and the effects that books and stories can have. Makes you look at yourself as a reader. Very interesting. Not my usual type of book and I don't think it has converted me but a light and interesting read.

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for an advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.

#The Cat Who Saved Books #Netgalley

The cat didn’t turn out to be quite the big personality protagonist I was expecting, instead Rintaro, lead me on a gentle path of his discoveries and friendships, through a tale with more than just a couple of heartwarming messages.