No sé si ha influido mucho o poco el hecho de que llevaba una racha malísima en lecturas y, prácticamente las cuatro últimas lecturas me han parecidos un tostón, pero el caso es que “El gato que amaba los libros” ha llegado a mis manos justo en el momento que más lo necesitaba. Me ha sacado de esta racha, ¡y de qué manera! Si tuviera que definirlo diría que es como si metemos en una cazuela una pizquita de “El principito”, unos granitos de “El castillo ambulante" y unas gotitas de “Alicia en el país de las maravillas”, sumándole a todo esto un toque tierno a lo Kazumi Yumoto, con una narración cómoda y relajada, pero preciosa como solo los japoneses saben hacer, y añadiéndole, además, gatos que hablan y un amor por los libros que se palpa en cada página. Si mezclamos todo esto y lo calentamos a fuego lento nos encontramos con “El gato que amaba los libros”. Have you observed someone use a book as a weapon, to insult or silence someone else? Even people who love books can abuse them in this way. Tiger warns Rintaro that “A book with a soul is not always an ally.” A book begging to be read on the beach, with the sun warming the sand and salt in the air: pure escapism. Books can’t live your life for you. The reader who forgets to walk on his own two feet is like an old encyclopaedia, his head stuffed with out-to-date information. Unless someone else opens it up, it is nothing but a useless antique. Sosuke Natsukawa

Books can't live your life for you. The reader who forgets to walk on his own two feet is like an old encyclopaedia, his head stuffed with out-of-date information. Unless someone else opens it up, it's nothing but a useless antique.” Rintaro's (now deceased) grandfather's wise words about the trials and rewards of reading were heartfelt and thought-provoking. It is also a heart-warming story. Don’t be surprised if you end up shedding a tear or two when Rintaro shares his love for books. This love stems from his late Grandfather who owns a bookstore called Natsuki Books. There were some wonderful quotes about books teaching us compassion and empathy and how through books we can learn about other people and other places. Polly unexpectedly takes a library job in Paris, leaving without even saying goodbye to Qwill, and a gardener's so-called accidental death does not seem so accidental.An enthralling tale of books, first love, fantasy, and an unusual friendship with a talking cat, The Cat Who Saved Books is a story for those for whom books are so much more than words on paper. After the death of his grandfather, Rintaro is devastated and alone. It seems he will have to close the shop. Then, a talking tabby cat called Tiger appears and asks Rintaro for help. The cat needs a book lover to join him on a mission. This odd couple will go on three magical adventures to save books from people have imprisoned, mistreated and betrayed them. Finally, there is one last rescue that Rintaro must attempt alone...

In the same way that music is made up of more than notes, books are more than just words. Sosuke Natsukawa Una especie de fábula sencilla y bonita que nos hace replantearnos nuestra manera de entender los libros y la lectura.What could be little more than a saccharine “cat novel” is also a witty satire on the state of the publishing industry, academia, and the capitalist market of ideas. The Cat Who Saved Books, Sosuke Natsukawa, Louise Heal Kawai (trans) (HarperVia, December 2021; Picador, September 2021) So Sosuke Natsukawa’s The Cat Who Saved Books, now in translation by Louise Heal Kawai, is in good company. Not too get lost into books, or see them just as a means to status (books as decoration) and knowledge of others. To see and live in the world, instead of isolate oneself. Too not use ultra speedreading of summaries but see the value of reading difficult books. The risk of atomizing of research of texts

Though perhaps the biggest power of books is the way it helps us see outside ourselves, to learn and understand not just about the world but each other. There are many studies showing that reading helps grow empathy, part of the reason it is important to read to children to foster empathy and grow emotional intelligence. ‘ I think the power of books is that - that they teach us to care about others,’ Rinato discovered, ‘ it's a power that gives people courage and also supports them in turn…Empathy - that's the power of books.’ Which is a beautiful sentiment, one that I’d like to just let sit there and flourish. ‘ A cherished book will always have a soul. It will come to its reader’s aid in times of crisis,’ Tiger says, and I like to believe this is true. Books are filled with human thoughts and feelings. People suffering, people who are sad or happy, laughing with joy. By reading their words and their stories, by experiencing them together, we learn about the hearts and minds of other people besides ourselves. Thanks to books, it’s possible to learn not only about the people around us every day, but people living in totally different worlds.” Overall, I enjoyed the bookish talk and discussions as well as the unexpected characters and events that were happening in the entire story. Enter Tiger ,the talking tabby, a “ginger tabby; a rather large, plump cat with an orange and yellow striped coat”, who takes him into a mystical world of labyrinths on a mission to rescue books from entities who mistreat them . Rintaro’s love for books and the wisdom shared by his late grandfather play a huge role in not only saving books from the hands of those who would distort their meaning and threaten their very existence but also in bringing about a change in the attitude and perceptions that were at the very root of the problem . Rintoru’s journey is not just about rescuing books but also coming to terms with his own situation and the loss of his grandfather , in the process opening up to the people and the world around him.It reads like a middle-grade novel, in which the lessons to be learned are crystal clear, even though Rintaro is a teenager, as is his co-adventurer, a girl named Sayo. In the U.S., the age of the characters would make this a YA novel, and there would be more nuance. But this is a Japanese novel. So just as we roll with a snarky talking cat, we roll with different publishing expectations. It’s not true that the more you read, the more you see of the world. No matter how much knowledge you cram into your head, unless you think with your own mind, walk with your own feet, the knowledge you acquire will never be anything more than empty and borrowed.’ Creo que tiene muchas reflexiones super interesantes, expresadas de una manera muy sencilla, pero que transmiten mensajes muy directos. Por ejemplo, habla de esta época en la parece que hay como una capa de postureo en relación a todo lo que tenga que ver con los libros, donde prima más los adornos bonitos que se le añaden a estos o la cantidad de lecturas, más que la calidad de estas (calidad para cada gusto personal, nunca verdades absolutas, nunca pedantería). Todo lo que se le añada a un libro está estupendo, pero lo principal, lo esencial, es el contenido del libro en sí mismo, lo que te transmite, lo que te hace sentir. And before I go, I should admit I also lied about Chloe sitting on my lap. She never has, probably never will, not to read nor to cuddle. It's only in my imagination that she's a lap cat.