Two weeks in a row with this! Happy Friday everyone!
First Line Fridays is a weekly feature for book lovers (formerly) hosted by Wandering Words, but I saw it over at One Book More.
What if instead of judging a book by the cover, author or most everything else, we judged it by its content? Its first lines?
If you want to join in, all you gotta do is:
📚 Take a book off your shelf (it could be your current read or on your TBR) and open it to the first page 📝 Copy the first few lines, but don’t give anything else about the book away just yet – you need to hook the reader first 📙 Finally… reveal the book!
Here are the first lines:
He sang along with the radio.
Something about taking a sad song and making it better.
After, he laughed until he could barely breathe.
Know the book? If not, here’s another hint or two…
Still not know? Here are some wonderful photos of books to look at while you consider it a bit longer…
Annnd the book is… 🥁🥁 The Bones Beneath My Skin by TJ Klune!
RELEASE DATE: 26 October 2018 (e-book only) / re-released 4 February 2025 (for print)
BOOK DESCRIPTION:
A spine-tingling standalone novel by bestselling author TJ Klune – a supernatural road-trip thriller featuring an extraordinary young girl and her two unlikely protectors on the run from cultists and the government.
There’s nothing more human than a broken heart.
In the spring of 1995, Nate Cartwright has lost everything: his parents are dead, his only brother wants nothing to do with him, and he’s been fired from his job as a journalist in Washington, DC.
With nothing left to lose, he returns to his family’s summer cabin outside the small mountain town of Roseland, Oregon, to try and find some sense of direction. The cabin should be empty. It’s not.
Inside is a man named Alex. And with him is an extraordinary ten-year-old girl who calls herself Artemis Darth Vader. Artemis, who isn’t exactly as she appears.
Soon it becomes clear that Nate must make a choice: let himself drown in the memories of his past, or fight for a future he never thought possible. Because the girl is special. And forces are descending upon them who want nothing more than to control her.
What books have you been reading lately? What’s on your TBR that you’re currently the most excited about?
As always, thank you for reading, and I hope you have an awesome day/night!
Hey everyone, and Happy Wednesday! It’s time to participate in one of my favorite Wednesday posts!
Can’t-Wait Wednesday is a weekly meme hosted by Tressa @ Wishful Endings (and was previously hosted by Jill @ Breaking the Spine where it was known as Waiting on Wednesday) to spotlight and discuss the books we’re excited about that we have yet to read. They’re usually books that have not yet been released.
This week’s book is:
Queen of Faces by Petra Lord! 🎭🗡️
Can’t-Wait Wednesday this week was so difficult! I was so torn between this and Stolen Midnights by Katherine Quinn. Honorable mention to that one, especially since I personally haven’t seen as much buzz for it. Ugh. This is what I get for deciding to skip this post last week, I guess. Stolen Midnights also looks amazing, and will definitely be on my list of interesting new books of February 2026, though.
A desperate girl at a cutthroat magical academy faces a choice between life and death: become an assassin for the enchanted elite or watch her decaying body draw its last breath. For fans of Leigh Bardugo, Brandon Sanderson, Lev Grossman, and R.F. Kuang.
Anabelle Gage is trapped in a male body, and it’s rotting from the inside out. In Caimor, where the magical elite buy and swap designer bodies like clothes, Ana can’t afford to escape her tattered form. When she fails the entrance exam to the prestigious Paragon Academy, her last hope of earning a new body implodes. As the clock ticks down to her last breath, she’s forced to use her illusion magic to steal a healthy chassis – before her own kills her.
But Ana is caught by none other than the headmaster of Paragon Academy, who poses a brutal ultimatum: face execution for her crime or become a mercenary at his command. Revolt brews in Caimor’s smog-choked underworld, and the wealthy and powerful will stop at nothing to take down the rebels and the infamous dark witch at their helm, the Black Wraith.
With no choice but to accept, Ana will steal, fight, and kill her way to salvation. But her survival depends on a dangerous band of renegades: an impulsive assassin, a brooding bombmaker, and an alluring exile who might just spell her ruin. As Ana is drawn into a tangled web of secrets, the line between villain and hero shatters – and Ana must decide which side is worth dying for.
Are you looking forward to Queen of Faces? What other books are coming out in the next few weeks that you’re looking forward to?
As always, thank you all so much for reading and have a fantastic day/night!
Jeez, I can’t believe it’s been another week already. Oh well, time flies when you’re being relatively productive, I guess.
Last week wasn’t too bad, in regards to both my reading and my blog activity. I finished a book and reviewed it – and it was my first of both for the year too! I also managed to post a few times, and am happy with the amount of blog posts I was able to do. So yeah, a pretty good week overall.
Anyway, without further ado, let’s get on with the Weekly Wrap-Up!
Wednesday 1/21: The Ashfire King Review
Last Wednesday, I finally posted my review for The Ashfire King by Chelsea Abdullah. It’s the sequel to The Stardust Thief, as well as the second book in the Sandsea Trilogy. This one was a long time coming – but I finally read and reviewed it!
The book ended up being slower than I expected for a good portion of it, but I liked it overall. The plot and characters are still great, and the writing is as engaging as ever. I gave it ★★★★☆.
On Thursday, I participated in Birthstone Book Covers at a more reasonable time for the first time in months. Birthstone Book Covers is a fun little post created and hosted by Leslie @ Books Are the New Black.
Each month, for the post, you feature book covers that are either the same color of the month’s birthstone or include the color in the title. This month was January, and its birthstone is garnet. So the colors to pick from are shades of red.
Last Friday, I participated in First Line Friday for the first time in a few weeks. First Line Fridays is a weekly feature for book lovers (formerly) hosted by Wandering Words. It’s where you guess what book the post is highlighting based on the book’s first words.
So yeah, my reading and blogging this past week was pretty good. I’m pretty happy with all that I did. I hope this week is just as good.
Concerning the blog this coming week, I want to participate in at least a couple of the usual weekly posts that I participate in as well as do a book review. So hopefully I’ll finish the book I’m about to start reading before the end of the week so that I can review it.
Speaking of what I’m planning to read next, I’m pretty sure it’s going to be The Bones Beneath My Skin by TJ Klune. I already have it checked out from the library. I haven’t read any of his works in a couple of years, so I’m looking forward to it. This has actually been nebulously on my TBR for about a year, lol. I was going to read Water Moon and The Elsewhere Express by Samantha Sotto Yambao, but I ended up not feeling either of them at the last second.
Being in late January, we’re now in the midst of winter, and it really displayed that in my area late last week. It snowed quite a bit, and said snow is still piled on the ground even now. It’s also been freezing cold and will continue to be for at least the next several days. Brrr. In other news, my spouse and I are still trying to be healthier.
Anyway, as always thank you for reading, and I hope you have a wonderful day/night!
Hey there. It’s been a bit since I last participated in First Line Fridays – about a month, actually.
First Line Fridays is a weekly feature for book lovers (formerly) hosted by Wandering Words, but I saw it over at One Book More.
What if instead of judging a book by the cover, author or most everything else, we judged it by its content? Its first lines?
If you want to join in, all you gotta do is:
📚 Take a book off your shelf (it could be your current read or on your TBR) and open it to the first page 📝 Copy the first few lines, but don’t give anything else about the book away just yet – you need to hook the reader first 📙 Finally… reveal the book!
Here are the first lines:
Time has no borders except those people make. On this particu-larly cold autumn day, Ishikawa Hana fashioned that border out of the thinnest layer of skin.
Do you know what the book is? If you don’t, here are another couple of hints…
Still have no idea? Here are some lovely and cozy pictures of books to admire while you think about it a little longer…
Annnd the book is… 🥁🥁 Water Moon by Samantha Sotto Yambao!
On a backstreet in Tokyo lies a pawnshop, but not everyone can find it. Most will see only a cosy ramen restaurant. And just the chosen ones – those who are lost – will find a place to pawn their life choices and deepest regrets.
Hana Ishikawa wakes on her first morning as its new owner to find the pawnshop ransacked, the shop’s most precious acquisition stolen and her father missing. And then into the shop stumbles a charming stranger, quite unlike other customers. For he offers help, instead of seeking it.
Together, they must journey through a mystical world to find Hana’s father and the stolen choice – through rain puddles, hitching rides on paper cranes, across the bridge between midnight and morning and through a night market in the clouds.
But as they get closer to the truth, Hana must reveal a secret of her own – and risk making a choice she will never be able to take back.
What books have you been reading lately? What’s on your TBR that you’re currently the most excited about?
As always, thank you for reading, and I hope you have an awesome day/night!
Another month, another bunch of birthstone colored book covers to showcase! It’s time for Birthstone Book Covers, this time posted at a reasonable time in the month.
Birthstone Book Covers is a fun monthly post created by Leslie @Books Are the New Black. Each month, she features book covers that are either the same color of that month’s birthstone or include the color in the title.
January has one birthstone – Garnet. So shades of red for this month’s books!
Rules:
📚 Mention the creator (Leslie @ Books Are The New Black) and link back to her so she can check out your post. 📚 Pick 5+ book covers that match the current month’s Birthstone. 📚 HAVE FUN! 📚 Nominate people if you want!
Wool by Hugh Howey
Our Violent Ends by Chloe Gong
Forever by Maggie Stiefvater
A New Darkness by Joseph Delaney
The Bronze Beasts by Roshani Chokshi
Bridge of Souls by Victoria Schwab
What are your favorite books with red covers? If you participated in Birthstone Book Covers, which books did you choose this January?
Thanks for reading, and I hope you have the most amazing day/night!
Every story is a memory. A tale that happened neither here nor there, but in another time and place. Our job as story-tellers is to describe that reality as we understand it. It is the listener who must determine what is and is not.
A thief and a prince trapped in the crumbling, magical realm of the jinn must figure out how to save one world in order to return to their own in The Ashfire King, the second book in this epic series of myth and magic, perfect for fans of The City of Brass and The Bone Shard Daughter.
Neither here nor there, but long ago… After fleeing a patricidal prince, legendary merchant Loulie al-Nazari and banished prince Mazen bin Malik find themselves in the realm of jinn. But instead of sanctuary, they find a world on the cusp of collapse.
The jinn cities, long sheltered beneath the Sandsea by the magic of its kings, are sinking. And amid the turmoil, political alliances are forming, and rebellion in the jinn’s capital city is on the rise. When Loulie saves the life of a dissenter – one of her bodyguard’s old comrades – she puts herself in the center of a centuries-old war.
Trapped in a world that isn’t her own and wielding magic that belongs to a fallen king, Loulie must decide: Will she carry on someone else’s legacy or carve out her own?
My Review
There is no such thing as a single truth. There are just the stories we tell others, and the ones we tell ourselves.
It’s been quite some time since the first book in the Sandsea Trilogy. This is true for me as well even though I read and reviewed The Stardust Thief about a year after it came out, I’m also reading and reviewing its sequel nine months after it first released. So it’s been almost as long for me as it had been for everyone else last April.
I don’t know why it took me so long to read The Ashfire King. I got the book the day it came out and I was so excited about it (it was one of – if not my most – anticipated new book of last year), but then I just… didn’t read it. Part of it is because I was currently in the middle of another series and I wanted to wait to read anything else, I think. I’m disappointed it took me this long to read it, though.
Anyway, to the review!
General Thoughts
“So long as I breathe, I will not falter. To live is to persevere. For the world, and in spite of it.”
I did enjoy this book a lot, though not as much as its predecessor – that one I loved. I think it might be because it was a little slower, plus I didn’t vibe nearly as strongly with it as I did the first book. Oh well, I still liked it, though.
When we left our characters at the end of The Stardust Thief, the party was split. Qadir was captured by Omar, Loulie and Mazen were hurtling down into the jinn realm with the ifrit Rijah, and Aisha was fleeing into the desert.
And The Ashfire King pretty much continues from where the first one left off. It should be noted that the book starts off with one of the trilogy’s ‘story sections’ and this one kind of gave a little summary of what happened in the first book, which was very nice after the gap. It was integrated well into the story itself, as well, since there was a new character introduced that needed to be caught up on the events of book one. Not to mention it was in-character, what with Mazen being a storyteller and all.
The Characters and Story
She gasped at the sight of the compass in his hands.
Her compass.
Loulie stifled a cry as she grabbed it from him. The moment she felt its magic humming beneath her fingers, she grinned. Even had she wanted to, she could not have smothered that smile.”You went back for the compass?”
“You came back for me. It was the least I could do.”
Speaking of the main characters, they each continue to have their own little arcs here.Loulie is desperate and determined to get back to the surface and find Qadir, and she’ll do whatever it takes. Mazen is struggling with Omar murdering their father the sultan, his uncertainty of Hakim’s whereabouts, and his fear of returning home. Aisha has sworn revenge on Omar for lying and betraying her, whilst she deals with sharing a body with the Resurrectionist after their bargain in the first novel. And Qadir and what happened to him is unknown, though it is strongly implied he’s been captured by Omar. And everyone’s character development was extremely compelling here – I ultimately really enjoyed where they all ended up at the end of the book.
The plot was pretty slow, as I mentioned earlier. There were a lot of big moments throughout, but the book didn’t really ‘pick up’ so to say until almost two thirds of the way through. I’m not sure if this is a case of middle book syndrome, or if this book is just kind of slower just because it is, but I don’t recall the first book being as much of a slow-burn. I remember being pretty invested in that one for almost the whole time. Don’t get me wrong, the plot here was interesting and I enjoyed all the character moments. But parts of it did feel slow.
The Romance and Writing
Remembering the last time they had flown-the last time he had convinced Loulie to fly – he smiled and said, “Are you scared, Loulie?”
She cast a sharp look back at him. Just as they had been then, her eyes were filled with defiance. She gave him the same answer.
“Never.”
The climax was great though, and I generally liked the ending (except for the cliffhanger – ugh). The romance and relationship development is also a very slow-burn, but that was fine as it works for this story and makes sense with the characters. (I will confess to being unsure of its existence occasionally, however, with how slow it is, lol.)
The novel’s writing is also just as strong as its predecessor. I again also really enjoyed the way the little story sections were written and stylized. It’s probably one of my favorite things about this series.
Final Thoughts
His dedication flummoxed her. But then she realized she felt the same way. She did not know when it was she had come to rely on Mazen bin Malik, but at some point, the thought of losing him had become unbearable.But he was safe. They were safe.
But he was safe. They were safe.
For a moment, Loulie let herself believe it. She leaned her cheek into Mazen’s chest and thought, I refuse to lose anyone again.
Somehow, she would make certain of it.
The Ashfire King is a pretty good sequel to The Stardust Thief, and it clearly sets up the third book in the trilogy well. I definitely recommend it to fans of the first book – I think they’ll probably enjoy it. I also think it’s a good read anytime of the year, though you should definitely only read it if you’ve read the book one.
As always, thank you to everyone so much for reading, and I hope you have an awesome day/night!
Right on time this week! Whew! Last week went by pretty quickly! I can’t believe it!
The blog activity was not as strong last week, especially compared to the week prior. But because of how many posts I got in the week before last, (Six!) I’m actually okay with my more lackluster posting from last week. For once. My reading on the other hand was much better.
Anyway, without further ado, let’s get on with the Weekly Wrap-Up!
Tuesday 1/13: Top Ten Tuesday
Last Tuesday, I participated in Top Ten Tuesday for the first time in a couple of weeks. Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly post currently hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl. It celebrates lovely lists, wonderful books and the bookish community. The prompt for last week was Most Anticipated Books Releasing in the First Half of 2026.
On Wednesday, I participated in Can’t-Wait Wednesday for the second week in a row. Can’t-Wait Wednesday is a weekly meme currently hosted by Tressa @ Wishful Endings. It focuses on books you’re looking forward to reading, usually new releases.
So yeah, not the greatest week in terms of blogging, but my novel reading was good. I wish both could’ve been good, but alas. Hopefully both books and blogging end up being up to par this coming week. 🍀🤞
In regards to blog posts this week, I want to do a book review (or two), participate in a couple of my weekly posts, and also join in on my favorite monthly post. For reading, I just finished up with The Ashfire King by Chelsea Abdullah finally (you’ll hear my thoughts about it soon when I do a review), and I’m pretty sure I want to read the first volume of Love Me to Death by Toonimated next. After that, I want to read Water Moon and The Elsewhere Express by Samantha Sotto Yambao, though I might not get to those two until this weekend or early next week. We’ll see.
Outside of books and blogging, my spouse and I started the new season of Frieren: Beyond Journey’s End. It’s a high fantasy anime that focuses on an elf with a long lifespan who seeks to learn to understand humans and connect with others, decades after defeating the Demon King with the group she journeyed with at the time. It’s a great story so far, if a bit of a slow-burn, and season two just started releasing weekly this past Saturday.
We also started watching The Invisible Man and His Soon-to-Be Wife. It’s really cute and we’re really enjoying it. The world and characters are vibrant and interesting. It’s more episodic, but it’s still a lot of fun.
My spouse and I are also still trying to be healthier. I think it’s going okay so far, but I hope for us to improve even further with it.
Anyway, as always thank you for reading, and I hope you have a wonderful day/night!
Can’t-Wait Wednesday is a weekly meme hosted by Tressa @ Wishful Endings (and was previously hosted by Jill @ Breaking the Spine where it was known as Waiting on Wednesday) to spotlight and discuss the books we’re excited about that we have yet to read. They’re usually books that have not yet been released.
This week’s book is:
The Elsewhere Express by Samantha Sotto Yambao! 🚂✨
When you lose your way in life, the Elsewhere Express just might find you. Step aboard the train that can take you to your life’s purpose, in this cozy and inspiring fantasy from the author of Water Moon.
You can’t buy a ticket for the Elsewhere Express. Appearing only to those whose lives are adrift, it’s a magical train carrying very rare and special cargo: a sense of purpose, peace, and belonging.
Raya is one of those lost souls. She had dreamed of being a songwriter, but when her brother died, she gave up on her dream and started living his instead.
One day on the subway, as her thoughts wander, she’s swept off to the Elsewhere Express. There she meets Q, a charming, handsome artist who, like her, has lost his place in the world.
Together they find a train full of wonders, from a boarding car that’s also a meadow to a dining car where passengers can picnic on lily pads to a bar where jellyfish and whales swim through pink clouds.
But they also discover that the train harbors secrets – and danger: A mysterious stranger has stowed away and brought with him a dark, malignant magic that threatens to destroy the train.
But in investigating the stowaway’s identity, Raya also finds herself drawing closer to the ultimate question: What is her life’s true purpose – and might Q be connected to it?
Are you looking forward to The Elsewhere Express? What other books are coming out in the next few weeks that you’re looking forward to?
As always, thank you all so much for reading and have a fantastic day/night!
I’m a little later than I’d like to be with this wrap-up, but it isn’t as bad as the last two months, so I’m fine with it. But yeah, here’s my reading wrap-up for December 2025! I still can’t believe that 2025 is over and a new year has started!
December was pretty decent. It’s not my best month of 2025, but I read two books, which is better than most of the months last year, not to mention some of the Decembers of the past. So I’ll take it as a win.
Anyway, let’s just start talking about my StoryGraph statistics from last month!
December Reading 2025
I read 2 books and 438 pages
😶 MOODS: I had three Moods in December, which is one more than the month before. The Moods from this past month were: Adventurous, Hopeful, and Reflective.
👢 PACE: The books I read last month were both medium-paced.
🔢 PAGE NUMBER: The novels I read were between 198 and 240 pages.
📖 FICTION/NONFICTION: It was once again all fiction. As usual.
🎭 GENRES: There were a bunch of Genres on the graph this month, and I’m really happy about it. They were: Fantasy, Science Fiction, Magical Realism, Young Adult, LGBT+, and Graphic Novel.
📄 FORMAT: This pie chart was correct again this time. Both books I read were physical copies.
⭐ RATING: My median star rating for last month was 4.5
📉 PAGES READ DAILY: My reading was pretty divided in December. I read a lot during the first week, didn’t read anything at all for the next couple of weeks, and then I read some during the last couple of days of the month.
So yeah, my reading in December wasn’t too bad. I managed to keep up the same pace of the two months preceding it, and end the year in a decent way in regards to reading. I’m also happy that I enjoyed the last couple of books that I read last year. It felt like leaving on a high note.
Regarding what I want to read next, I’m in between The Ashfire King by Chelsea Abdullah and waiting for a book to be released in the next few days and reading that. I also would like to read Water Moon by Samantha Sotto Yambao, as well as her new book also coming out this month. I’m not sure what I’m going to end up choosing next, though. We’ll see.
Anyway, as always, thank you for joining me in checking out my StoryGraph stats for my December reading in 2025. Thank you also for reading, and I hope you have a great day/night!
Books have tremendous power. There are timeless stories, powerful enough to have survived through the ages. Read lots of books like these – they’ll be like friends to you. They’ll inspire and support you.
RELEASE DATE: 29 October 2024 (originally released 5 February 2017)
BOOK DESCRIPTION:
Bookish high school student Rintaro Natsuki is about to close the secondhand bookstore he inherited from his beloved bookworm grandfather. Then, a talking cat named Tiger appears with an unusual request. The feline asks for – or rather, demands – the teenager’s help in saving books with him. The world is full of lonely books left unread and unloved, and Tiger and Rintaro must liberate them from their neglectful owners.
Their mission sends this odd couple on an amazing journey, where they enter different mazes to set books free. Through their travels, Tiger and Rintaro meet a man who leaves his books to perish on a bookshelf, an unwitting book torturer who cuts the pages of books into snippets to help people speed read, and a publishing drone who only wants to create bestsellers. Their adventures culminate in one final, unforgettable challenge – the last maze that awaits leads Rintaro down a realm only the bravest dare enter…
My Review
“Reading a book is a lot like climbing a mountain.”
“What do you mean?”
His curiosity piqued, Rintaro had finally looked up from his book. His grandfather wafted his teacup slowly under his nose as if savoring the aroma of the tea.
“Reading isn’t only for pleasure or entertainment. Some-times you need to examine the same lines deeply, read the same sentences over again. Sometimes you sit there, head in hands, only progressing at a painstakingly slow pace. And the result of all this hard work and careful study is that suddenly you’re there and your field of vision expands. It’s like finding a great view at the end of a long climbing trail.”
I haven’t read a translated book for over a year and I’ve only ever read and reviewed two so far on this blog – one in 2023 and then one in 2024 (not counting One Piece, as that’s a little bit different) – and I’ve wanted to get into another novel like that again for a while. So when I received The Cat Who Saved Books as a gift a couple of months ago, I was excited. And not only is it a foreign novel, but it features the perfect duo – a cat and books. So I knew I had to read it. And I’m glad I’m finally reviewing it.
This book isn’t quite what I expected. Admittedly, this may be because it’s been a couple of months since I looked at the synopsis and I skimmed it when I read it, but I was surprised a little bit by the novel. I’m honestly glad that I forgot what it was about though, as I believe that I enjoyed it more because of it.
The Characters
“You seem strangely unperturbed to see me, Mr. Proprietor,” said the cat in its distinctive deep voice. Its jade eyes had that knowing gleam. “It’d be helpful if you reacted with a little more amazement. I would be much more amused.”
“I’ve been thinking about how you called where we went ‘the first labyrinth.’ That means there’s going to be a second one, right?”
“Such amazing powers of wisdom. Such penetrating in-sight! Guess that’ll save me the trouble of explaining.”
The book follows 👓 Rintaro Natsuki, 📖 a hikikomori (“shut-in”) bookworm that recently lost his grandfather, and is struggling with moving forward. He doesn’t have much time to grieve, however, as very soon after a talking tabby cat named 📚 Tiger 🐾 shows up and demands he go on a quest with him to save books.
I liked Rintaro, and felt he was pretty relatable, as someone who’s always been an introvert who loves books, as well as someone who lost an individual very dear to me quite recently. It was also wonderful to see him gradually come out of his shell and create bonds with others as the novel went on. His interactions with Tiger and his new friend Sayo were particularly fun. 🖋️ Sayo Yuzuki 🗒️ complemented him pretty well, too, and their budding romance was cute.
The ✨ magical realism 🌀 aspect of the book was also fantastic. I haven’t read too much of that kind of thing, so I always forget how whimsical stories with it can feel. This is also definitely a fantasy book, but the magical realism was definitely stronger.
The Story
“A book that sits on a shelf is nothing but a bundle of paper. Unless it is opened, a book possessing great power or an epic story is mere scraps of paper. But a book that has been cherished and loved, filled with human thoughts, has been endowed with a soul.”
I really enjoyed the meta commentary on the modern day relationship between people and books. So many people nowadays frequently do the things featured in the labyrinths here. In the book community, there are tons of individuals who point out and complain about how people don’t really read books like they used to. And how some will just get books that they’ll never read to fill up a bookshelf so they’ll look smart. Or how people will frequently just look up summaries or exclusively use Spark Notes and [Insert Book Title] for Dummies instead of reading. Or how publishers will basically always publish the most popular thing and it’s hundreds of copycats (though this is something that’s kind of always been a thing).
But yeah, it was nice to see a book point this out, particularly one that actually came out before these topics started being big discussions in the book community. I also loved the 🍀 hopeful and optimistic tone 🤞 that The Cat Who Saved Books had concerning books and how humans are changed and inspired by them. Because books are powerful.
I also liked how there weren’t really any antagonists or villains here, not truly. Just misguided individuals who loved books, but who lost their way at some point. The book also comes together and ends nicely.
Final Thoughts
“Books have souls,” repeated the cat softly. “A cherished book will always have a soul. It will come to its reader’s aid in times of crisis.”
The calm, measured voice warmed Rintaro’s heart. He looked over and saw the cat faintly smiling.
“I told you that you weren’t alone.”
The thing that I thought was probably the weakest – or at least the most awkward part of the novel – was the translation. But that’s usually one of my biggest issues whenever I read a book that was originally in a different language. This translation was one of the better ones, but it did take me a couple of chapters to get into it, as the text felt pretty clunky at first. But, I did get used to it after a while, and it was definitely a pretty decent translation.
The 🖌️ novel’s artwork 🎨 was also beautiful. I love the cover, as well as the cloud motif, that’s present both inside of the outside of the novel. The main colors chosen are also gorgeous and complement and contrast one another wonderfully.
I definitely recommend The Cat Who Saved Books to those who enjoy magical realism, like to read translated fiction, and are huge book nerds. I know books that were originally in another language aren’t everyone’s cup of tea, which is why I mention it. But this is also a good book. I definitely enjoyed and am glad that I ended last year finishing a book I liked.
As always, thank you to everyone so much for reading, and I hope you have an awesome day/night!
