The Cat Who Saved the Books

Loss is omnipresent in Rintaró's life. His mother died, before he started school, and my grandfather, who replaced her, is coming, when he's still in high school. And now he is in danger of losing his grandfather's bookshop - the only place where the reclusive Rintaró feels comfortable and safe. However, at the moment when he himself would need help, he is asked for it. And a talking cat to boot! An animal named Tiger sovereignly declares that Rintaró is the only hope for the lonely books left unread and despised in the world, and must free them from owners who neglect them. An unlikely pair embark on a fascinating rescue expedition, where he encounters a man who lets his books languish locked away from his readers, with another, that cuts out the "most important", or with the publisher, who intends to publish only bestsellers. This charming and touching story about the power of literature has a strong poetic tone and an unmistakable philosophical overlap. The Japanese bestseller celebrates books, cats and those who love them. Recommended for readers of all ages!

Japanese doctor, writer and screenwriter Sosuke Natsukawa (1978) works in a hospital in Nagano Prefecture. His debut novel Kamisama no Karute (Heavenly Cardboard Box, 2009) won the Shogakukan Fiction Prize and second place in the Japan Bookseller Awards. It sold more than three million copies and was adapted into a film. The author's latest novel The Cat Who Saved the Books (2017) has become a worldwide bestseller and has been translated into more than thirty languages.