The Cat Who Saved Books by Sōsuke Natsukawa: Book Review & Thoughts

🚨SPOILER ALERT 🚨

The Cat Who Saved Books by Sōsuke Natsukawa, translated by Louise Heal Kawai

"Books have tremendous power."

Well, indeed they do. ❤️

The story follows Rintaro, a young book lover who has just lost his grandfather, the owner of a secondhand bookshop. While Rintaro is grieving, a talking tabby cat named Tiger suddenly appears and takes him on a series of strange journeys through four magical labyrinths.

In each labyrinth, Rintaro has to save books from people who have very different ideas about what books are for.

It sounds like a whimsical fantasy, but underneath the talking cat and magical labyrinths, I think the book is actually commenting on some very real problems with reading today.

The first labyrinth is about books being imprisoned. A man owns an enormous collection of books but treats them more like trophies than something to actually read.

The first labyrinth is about books being imprisoned. A man has an enormous collection of books, but he treats them more like possessions than something meant to be read.

I especially liked this one because it reminded me of myself. 😂

I buy lots of books, proudly put them on my shelves… and then sometimes don't actually read them.

Yet. 😂

It made me think about whether owning books is the same as actually appreciating them.

In the second labyrinth, Rintaro encounters a professor who cuts books into pieces and simplifies them so people can read them more quickly.

And honestly, I could kind of relate to this one too. 😂

There are definitely times when I look at a really thick book and think, “Is there a shorter version?”

But the story makes an interesting point: sometimes the effort of reading is part of the experience. If we remove all the difficult or challenging parts, we might also lose something important along the way.

The third labyrinth focuses on a publisher who sees books mainly as products.

Books that don't sell are considered worthless and are thrown away.

This one made me think about how easily books can become just another commercial product. We talk about bestsellers, sales figures and what everyone else is reading.

But does a book's value really depend on how many copies it sells?

Sometimes a book that sells very little might still have a huge impact on one particular reader.

And then comes the fourth and final labyrinth, which is probably the most personal one.

Rintaro has to rescue Sayo, and this time the challenge goes beyond simply saving books. He begins to understand that the real power of books isn't just in the physical books themselves.

It's in what they can do for people.

They can challenge us, change how we see the world and, most importantly, help us understand other people.

I think that's probably what stayed with me most.

This book also made me think a little more about why I read. Books aren't just something to collect, finish or tick off a reading list. They can make us think, make us feel, and sometimes help us understand people who are completely different from us.

At the same time, I have to admit that some parts felt a little too preachy for me. The message about the importance of books is quite clear, and sometimes I felt the book was trying a little too hard to make sure I understood the lesson.

And perhaps the biggest takeaway for me is that reading isn't really about how many books we read.

It's about what those books do to us.

If you love books about books, reading and the power of stories, this is definitely worth picking up. ❤️

May xx

I Have Too Many Books

I think I may have a small problem.

I have too many books. 😂

And somehow, despite having several apps to track my reading, I still managed to buy duplicate books.

Yes. Duplicate books.

Apparently, knowing what I've already bought is harder than actually buying another book.

So today, I decided it was time to do something about it.

I've been using a few different reading apps to keep track of what I'm reading, what I've read and what I want to read. But somewhere along the way, I realised that what I really need isn't just a reading tracker.

I need a proper catalogue of the books I actually own.

Because there is a difference between knowing what you've read and knowing what is sitting on your bookshelf.

And clearly, I need the latter.

Time to become my own librarian

So today, I found myself sitting in one corner next to my bookshelf, surrounded by books, trying to figure out exactly what I have.

The goal is pretty simple:

Know what I own.

I want to be able to check whether I already have a book before buying it. I want to know which books I've read, which ones are still waiting for me, and, most importantly, avoid buying the same book twice.

You would think this would be easy.

It probably would be if I had started doing this years ago.

Instead, I'm now looking at shelves of books and thinking, When did I buy this one? and Wait… don't I already have this? 😂

And that's exactly how this little project started.

The search for the right app

I've been looking into different apps that can help catalogue a personal library. There are quite a few options out there, and each seems to have its own strengths and limitations.

Some are more focused on reading and reviews. Others are better for cataloguing an actual collection. Some are simple and user-friendly, while others seem to have a lot more features than I probably need.

I'm still figuring out which one works best for me.

For now, though, the most important thing is getting everything into one place.

So today is less about finding the perfect app and more about finally getting organised.

Let's see how many books I actually own

This is probably the part I'm both looking forward to and slightly afraid of.

I have a feeling the final number is going to be higher than I expect.

And I'm almost certain I'll find more duplicates along the way.

But at least once everything is catalogued, I'll have a much better idea of what is actually sitting on my shelves.

Maybe I'll even discover books I've completely forgotten about.

And perhaps — just perhaps — this will stop me from buying another copy of a book I already own.

No promises, though. 😂

For now, I'm officially on librarian duty.

Wish me luck. 

May xx