Author: Sôsuke Natsukawa
Title: The Cat Who Saved Books
Narrator: Kevin Shen
Translator: The Cat Who Saved Books
Publication Info: HarperAudio (2021)
Summary/Review:
High school student Rintaro Natsuki is orphaned after the death of his bookseller grandfather. Already shy and nerdy, Rintaro stops going to school and isolates himself from the world as he prepares to close up his grandfather’s bookshop and move in with an aunt. He is surprised by Tiger, a sarcastic talking tabby cat, who tells him that he is needed to save books and leads him into a magical labyrinth within the bookshop.
On three adventures, Rintaro engages in metaphorical confrontations with a collector who keeps books behind glass, a scholar who disfigures books with notations, and an Amazon-style corporate president who treats books as a commodity. Rintaro also starts forming a connection with a girl from his high school named Sayo. It’s a sweet narrative that anyone who enjoys books, cats, and coming of age stories should enjoy.
Recommended books:
- Mr Penumbra’s 24-hour Bookstore by Robin Sloan
- The Shadow of the Wind by Carlos Ruiz Zafón
- The Eyre Affair by Jasper Fforde
- The Library of the Unwritten by A. J. Hackwith
- The Ten Thousand Doors of January by Alix E. Harrow
- The Librarian (Book One: Little Boy Lost) by Eric Hobbs
Rating: ***1/2