The Cat Who Saved Books by Sosuke Natsukawa

Reviewed by Jeanne

Rintaro Natsuki is a shy, introverted high school student who lives with his grandfather. Now, however, his grandfather has died, leaving Rintaro his shop, Natsuki Books. As Rintaro notes, it isn’t much of an inheritance: the shop doesn’t make much money.  It seems the only thing to do is to sell the shop and move in with his aunt.

Rintaro’s plans are sidetracked by the appearance of a talking cat.  More specifically, an orange cat who says his name is Tiger the Tabby and who also informs Rintaro that he needs the boy to rescue books.  This all seems too odd for Rintaro—or “Mr. Proprietor” as the cat insists on calling him, as if he is going to take over the bookshop. He asks the cat if he can refuse to help and the cat says that he can, but the cat will be bitterly disappointed.

So Rintaro agrees to follow the cat. Rintaro embarks on a series of quests that will help define what it really means to love books and to be a reader.  He encounters a series of folk who claim to love books and present arguments for what they do, and it’s up to Rintaro to see if there is a flaw in their logic.

This may not sound very exciting but as a reader, I loved it.  It made me stop and think about why I read and how I read.  The arguments all sound quite good—for example, one man wants to encourage people to read classic literature so he is trying to make books more accessible and easier to read.  Sounds good, right?  What’s wrong with that?  It’s up to Rintaro to see if there’s a problem.

Rintaro is a sweet protagonist, if a bit defeatist at the start.  He doesn’t really feel connected to anyone but his grandfather.  In finding who he is as a reader, he’ll also find that he has people he cares about and who care about him. I found the book to be inventive and playful, with well-described fantasy scenes and a sense of playfulness along with the serious topics under discussion.

Of course, I loved all the literature references, most of which were to Western books like The Three Musketeers and Chronicles of Narnia.  I found the book to be most inspiring; sometimes I do get in a reading rut and this was the perfect tonic. Now I really want to pick up one of those classics I’ve put off reading and give it my full attention. Mansfield Park, you may be next!

Note:  I recommend reading the translator’s message at the end of the book before reading the book.  I found it most helpful.  For example, Rintaro is described several times as a hikikomori, a term I didn’t know. Translator Louise Heal Kawai explains that it is a Japanese term that means people who “have consciously decided to shut themselves away from society” and who rarely go out.  She goes on to say the term appeared in the Oxford English Dictionary in 2010 so she thought it was in wide enough usage in English that it didn’t need translation.  Gee, I must have missed that update!  Still, I was able to gather some of the meaning.  I mention it here because I think it would have helped as I read if I had known more about the term.  You’re welcome. 

Actually, I found all of the translator’s notes very interesting. I felt it explained the sometimes stilted feel to some of the other translated books I’ve read.  

The Bromance Book Club by Lyssa Kay Adams

 

 

Reviewed by Ambrea

Gavin Scott is second baseman for the Nashville Legends.  His career is at an all-time high, he has a beautiful wife and two wonderful daughters, and he couldn’t be happier – except it turns out things aren’t so great in paradise.  After a devastating argument, Gavin’s wife, Thea, asks for a divorce.  She’s done with lying to keep him happy and she’s finished putting herself last in their relationship.  Suddenly, Gavin is desperate to try anything to win back his wife’s heart – even if it means joining the Bromance Book Club.

I enjoyed The Bromance Book Club.  It’s a fun and funny romantic comedy with a twist, and it introduces such an interesting – and adorable – cast of characters.  I really liked the idea of a “bromance book club,” wherein the guys read (and, yes, enjoy) romance novels and, you know, learn to engage with other people and their significant others in healthy ways.  It was a novel concept to meet male characters in a book, who were willing to admit that they’d screwed up and actually learned that “grand gestures” just weren’t going to cut it anymore.

Granted, I wasn’t much of a fan of Gavin even at the end; however, I appreciated his development as a character and his willingness to try to be better for Thea and his daughters.  He wasn’t the quintessential alpha male jerk; instead, he was just a very flawed man with a little too much pride, who learned how to fix the relationship he helped break.

Overall, it was an enjoyable read with fun characters and a sweet ending.

1,000 Books to Read Before You Die: A Life-Changing List by James Mustich

Note:  Since the New Year is traditionally the time to make resolutions, we offer our favorite, the one we'd put at the top of all our lists:  to read more books.  Here is a review of a book that might just get you started.

Reviewed by Kristin

A hefty volume to challenge you, 1,000 Books to Read Before You Die:  A Life-Changing List by James Mustich suggests a wide variety of literature with inherent cultural value.  The book is much more than a checklist; each recommended title is described in about one page.  Other well-known works by the author are also mentioned, as well as supplemental photographs and supporting images.

In other words, it’s a beautifully illustrated menu for the book-hungry reader.

I paged through the book just to see how many of the 1,000 books I had already read.  I’m not sure whether my total is below or above average, but it was about 100.  I was pleased to see the breadth of works included.  Children’s literature is well-represented as well as classical works by Homer and Euripides.  Modern works such as Between the World and Me by Ta-Nehisi Coates take their place in history alongside The Secret of the Old Clock, the first Nancy Drew mystery by Carolyn Keene.  I was delighted to see Rebecca by Daphne du Maurier, one of the bedrocks of modern romantic suspense.

I find myself inspired to read some of the recommended titles.  Yesterday I picked up Lincoln in the Bardo by George Saunders, but I will admit that I found the multiple ghostly characters difficult to follow.  That’s okay—I think it’s important to acknowledge that not every book is for every reader, and sometimes it’s okay to put the book down in favor of another.  Next I plan to seek out The Heart is a Lonely Hunter by Carson McCullers.  I never realized that McCullers was a woman, and that she wrote her most well-known novel at only age twenty-three.

The authors are arranged alphabetically, with certain multi-author works listed by title.  This ordering makes the mixing of genres interesting.  Science fiction, classical works, poetry, mysteries, history, art—this book has something for everyone.  Pick it up and you may find some of your dearest memories, or you may find your new favorite book.  As Mustich claims, this could be a life-changing list.

Dear Fahrenheit 451: Love and Heartbreak in the Stacks by Annie Spence

Reviewed by Jeanne

Are you a reader who really connects with your books?  Do they feel as if they have personalities of their own? Then try Annie Spence’s collection of essays, Dear Fahrenheit 451 in which she writes letters to the books in her life.  Note that these are not all love letters; she’s pretty sure that Sparks’ Dear John has already had enough heartache, so she tries to reject him gently.  She can get gritty and not just with books she truly dislikes. And poor Anna Karenina.  Annie has really tried to read you—sort of—but as she says, “There will come a day, probably, when I get a hankering for a bleak 864-page novel translated from Russian.  But until that day, back to the shelves you go.”  She wanted to say “goodbye” in Russian, but it turns out that is really hard to spell.

 Then there are the breakups, books she originally loved but now—not so much.  The Giving Tree, for example, or The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People.  And sometimes, because she’s a librarian, she has to break the news to the book about fun and games with your calculator that it’s just a teeny bit behind with the times and not too many people spend time typing 07734 on a calculator to turn it upside down as a clever message to a friend.  There are rapturous essays to The Time Traveler’s Wife and Matilda, and an appreciation to Agatha Christie for writing the sort of book that almost everyone likes.

Spence also offers tips on the kind of excuses to use to friends when you’d rather stay home and read or suggestions for paired book readings. In other words, it’s a good browsing book, whether or not you agree with her choices—how can she not love The Hobbit?-- and the writing is lively and fun, with occasional bursts of profanity (usually reflecting the content of the book in question).

If you're looking for a nice stocking stuffer for one of the readers in your life, this could be just the thing!

How to Be a Heroine; Or, What I Learned from Reading Too Much

Reviewed by Ambrea

After having a conversation about some of literature’s greatest heroines with her best friend, Samantha Ellis, a playwright based in Lond, suddenly has a revelation:  her entire life, she’s wanted to be Cathy Earnshaw of Wuthering Heights fame—and, really, she should have been trying to model her life after Charlotte Brontë’s Jane Eyre.  Wielding this new insight into her life and her reading habits, she embarks on a journey to reread and reevaluate the literary ladies, both the characters and writes, that she’s loved.  And, along the way, she delves into her childhood within her Iraqi Jewish neighborhood, how it and her favorite heroines helped shape her life.

As an English major and lover of literature, I thoroughly enjoyed Samantha Ellis’ fun and quirky memoir.  Clever, clear, and comical, How to be a Heroine:  Or, What I Learned from Reading Too Much was an absolute gem, and I’m glad I discovered it.  It’s perfect for the reader who simply loves to read—or loves the idea of a strong, female protagonist who can hold her own in a story.

I especially loved the insights that Ellis offered about her favorite heroines, her hopes and her fears in taking to heart the lessons of these amazing ladies in literature.  She’s candid about her reservations, insightful in her exploration of literature, vivid in her descriptions and her examinations of both author and characters, and she’s just plain fun.  Ellis is a wonderful writer, an excellent storyteller, and a fantastic scholar.

I mean, even if you aren’t an ardent fan of classical literature, Ellis makes her book—and, subsequently, the books she reads—accessible to a larger audience.  She succeeds in making literature, even the dry and boring parts, truly fun.  And, while I might not have always had experience with the novels she read (such as Wuthering Heights by Emily Brontë), I found I was able to clearly understand the story and appreciate the opinions Ellis formed.

I only have one complaint about Ellis’ memoir:  spoilers.

If I were ever going to read Wuthering Heights or Anne of Green Gables or The Bell Jar, I found my perception of each novel irreversibly altered.  Ellis takes a long, hard look at some of the most important and dynamic pieces of literature and, in her exploration, she examines everything from character, plot, writing devices, and more, which I certainly appreciated and even enjoyed.  However, she also told me how each would end—which I didn’t appreciate quite so much.

I won’t say Ellis ruined the ending of several books in my To-Be-Read Pile, but I will say I’m just a little less motivated to read Margaret Mitchell’s Gone with the Wind.