Synopsis:

Nanami sees nothing wrong with a library and cat combination. But a talking cat is a whole other story.

Thirteen-year-old Nanami Kosaki loves reading. The local library is a home from home and books have become her best friends. When Nanami notices books disappearing from the library shelves, she’s particularly curious about a suspicious man in a grey suit whose furtive behaviour doesn’t feel right. Should she follow him to see what he’s up to?

When a talking tabby cat called Tiger appears to warn her about how dangerous that would be, together they’re brave enough to follow the frightening trail to find out where all the books have gone. Will Nanami and Tiger overcome the challenges of the adventure ahead?

Warm, wonderful and wise, The Cat Who Saved the Library is also a powerful lesson never to underestimate the value of great literature, and a reminder always to think for ourselves, no matter what our charismatic leaders might say.

Genre: Japanese Magical Realism
Publisher: Picador Books
Pub Date: 10 April 2025

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Review:

A wonderful sequel to The Cat Who Saved Books. This time we are following Nanami, a thirteen year old girl who loves nothing more than books and her local library. She notices books disappearing from the shelves one day, and who should appear and confirm her suspicions but Tiger the Tabby cat! Together the pair set out to rescue the missing books from the mysterious Grey Man.

If you have read the first book, you will find that this story follows very similar beats, but the messaging beneath is a little different. Here we explore themes of the power of stories and information, and we learn that it is perfectly okay to ask for and receive help from those around us. Books are being stolen for power – Nanami is told that success and the holding of power is more important than letting people have feelings and empathise with others, things that the Grey Man sees as weaknesses from reading books.

Nanami disagrees – because books mean more to her than anything else. She is filled with kindness and empathy. It is this that helps her succeed in her mission, finding she has more friends than she realised who would willingly leap to her aid. I felt that this messaging was incredibly apt for the world today, despite the original Japanese version being released over a year ago.

I love Nanami as a character and the journey she goes on in the short time we spend with her is lovely. She is brave and loyal, and in the end, she helps herself as well as other people. I love that she realises she doesn’t have to stay in the little bubble of life she has made for herself and that she is capable of so much more than she thought.

Overall this was a thoughtful and cosy read, and I highly recommend this and the previous book. They’re short and sweet but packed with important messages that I think we can all learn from in a world that is getting harsher.

(Disclosure: I received an ARC of this book from the publisher.)