The Cat Who Saved Books by Sosuke Natsukawa

BATB score: 6/10 😽

BATB read level: 1 easy peesy

Best to: a Japanese whimsical modern fable - literally "modern" as it has just been published in Dec 2021; it's about how the act of and the business for reading books has changed

Best for: if you like a talking cat 😸 , books 📚, and Japanese fables 🇯🇵, this book is made for you

Best as: great as a children's book (a lot of action and fantasies) and great as an adult overthinking fable (so what's the underlying meaning of everything?)

BATB nerd moment: 'hikikomori' refers to people (often young men) who have consciously decided to shut themselves away from society; data in 2019 said that there are over 1 million 'hikikomori' in Japan (that's around 0.8% of Japan population), the number is believed to have increased due covid pandemic

Best quote: "I think the power of books is that - that they teach us to care about others. It's a power that gives people courage and also supports them in turn. [. . .] Empathy - that's the power of books.”

“Books can't live your life for you."