Mostly Murders

‘Books teach us how to care about others.’ His voice wasn’t loud, but it still resonated.

Translated by Louise Heal Kawai. Book 1 in the The Cat Who… series.

Rintaro Natsuki is a hikikomori, a quiet, shut-in, high school student and book lover who keeps to himself. When his grandfather passes away, Rintaro finds himself alone in Natsuki Books, his grandfather’s secondhand bookshop, when a brash talking cat appears, asking Rintaro to help save books. At the back of what was until then a perfectly normal bookshop, Rintaro discovers an entrance to several fantastical, magical labyrinths, filled with books, dangers and reflections on reading, feeling, and living.

The Cat Who Saved Books isn’t a fun, light-hearted story about a talking cat hanging out in a bookshop. It is a profound, soulful examination of loss, depression, loneliness, love of literature and the way society and people misuse books and reading for status, money or well-meaning but misunderstood desires to make reading faster and easier. It also isn’t really about a cat saving books, but rather about a cat forcing a boy to save books as a way for him to try to work through his grief.

As an introverted book lover who is prone to nostalgia and semi-philosophical musings on human nature and the meaning of life, this book was a perfect fit for me. It captures the dual nature of reading, as both an escape from the difficulties of socialising and connecting with people, and a gateway to understanding other people’s hearts and minds. It can separate people into competing groups and classes, and it can allow readers to connect across time and space.

For lovers of classic literature, for shut-ins and anyone who finds life difficult and people confusing. The Cat Who Saved Books is a story about healing, reading, legacy and learning not to let the bad parts of life ruin the good parts.