Monterey Bay Mystery

 

Blurb

Amanda Warren is looking for a second chance in the cozy coastal town of Ocean Wood, but what she finds is a psychic cat and a purrfectly puzzling mystery! Out of luck and out of money, Amanda’s pink dog grooming van is running on fumes when she rolls into the foggy town of Ocean Wood. Seeking a new beginning and a reunion with her twin sister, she finds her sister missing and a dead body in her house. Amanda is determined to clear her sister’s name, but all the quirky, charming neighbors of this Monterey Bay town seem to have a motive. Which one of them is a killer? With time running out, Amanda teams up with her sister’s psychic, amnesiac cat to untangle this fur-midable mystery and sniff out the killer before Amanda’s second chance becomes her last.

Thoughts

The main attraction of this Seren Star Goode book for me was the giant talking cat named Grok. He is sentient but suffers from amnesia. Grok’s human Alexandra is missing from her home when her twin sister Amanda visits her. So, (a confused) Grok refers to Amanda as the clone!

Amanda, mistaken for Alexandra by a hilarious bunch of neighbors, struggles to get answers to her questions. Add a grumpy police chief to the mix. All these funny elements make this enjoyable.

However, the plot seems oddly put together. The switch between Grok’s and Amanda’s points of view is slightly disorienting. The conclusion is interesting but seems rather sudden.

Note: I received a free copy of this book from BookSirens in exchange for an honest review.

The Cat Who Saved Books

 

Blurb:

A celebration of books, cats, and the people who love them, infused with the heart-warming spirit of The Guest Cat and The Travelling Cat Chronicles.
Bookish high school student Rintaro Natsuki is about to close the second-hand 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...

Thoughts:

Rintaro Natsuki, the 17-year-old protagonist of The Cat Who Saved Books, inherits a bookshop when his grandfather dies. He is preparing to close it up and go live with an aunt when Tiger, a talking ginger tabby cat, appears in the shop and demands that he help it save books.

Tiger takes him inside four labyrinths filled with books. Sayo, Rintaro's classmate who visits him frequently, also accompanies them from the second trip onwards.
In the four mazes, they meet people who the author, Sōsuke Natsukawa, represents as people who misuse, mistreat, or misunderstand books:

• The first person is only interested in the number of books he reads. He wants to read the most books possible in his lifetime; he no longer derives any pleasure from reading.
• The second one thinks that the only way to keep people interested in reading is to shorten/summarize or cut books.
• The third does not care for great books—he is interested only in popular books, meaning those that sell well.
• The fourth person, one whom Tiger calls the most dangerous, makes Rintaro question the meaning/purpose of literature and books.

If you love books and agree with the author's opinions, you may enjoy this. I did, especially because I love cats and books. However, it left me wondering about many things:

• Why are the characteristics of Rintaro, Sayo, and Tiger described repeatedly?
• Where did Tiger come from? What does it represent/symbolize?
• The title says the cat who saved books. Then why is Tiger only taking Rintaro to places where books are being mistreated and Rintaro doing the actual saving?
• Are the villains actually evil or just representatives of the changing times?
• Are classics disappearing? Aren't they more accessible these days? Does everyone who loves books need to read classics? If readers find them difficult, isn't it all right if they read condensed versions or summaries?
• Don't readers' tastes or neurodivergence count?
• The grandfather, the bookshop owner who left it to Rintaro, was a former university professor. He has supposedly imparted a lot of wisdom, especially about the 'power of books'. However, that is not clearly explained in the book.
• How will Rintaro, a high school student, manage to run the shop?

That said, the book emphasizes the general importance of books and the joy of reading. It talks about books making you aware of other people and places and helping develop compassion, tolerance, and empathy.
Rintaro tells Sayo that if you find a book difficult, it's because it contains something new to you and that it offers you a challenge. This is true not just of books but a lot of the things you encounter in life.
I can't comment on the translation by Louise Heal Kawai. I liked her note about the hows and whys of it at the end of the book. 

To summarize, a simple story with a touch of magical realism that makes you think.

A Thousand Reasons Not To Run

Blurb:

Traumatized by a childhood tragedy and her ongoing therapy no longer effective, Lexi lives a lonely life in Tribune, a small town nestled on a bayou in the southern United States. Her therapist offers an ultimatum: find friends or find another therapist.

Lexi reluctantly joins a running program that meets at the Volt, an egalitarian waterfront center that is the pride of the town. Just as she begins to develop friendships and enjoy some safety, she learns of a secret plot to close the Volt, scatter its resources, and sell the prime land to a mysterious group of investors.

As she makes the decision to put her job, her anonymity, even her life on the line to save this precious refuge, a stranger arrives from her past with a story she doesn’t want to hear.

Join Lexi and her band of reluctant runners as they uncover long hidden secrets and find the value of true friendship.

Thoughts:

In this book, Trish Taylor tells the story of how a ragtag group of people works together to achieve something, despite their insecurities and struggles. They bond well and support each other while battling powerful adversaries.

Initially, the writing style did not sit well with me as the story seemed to start in the middle, without any background. Besides, I am not a great fan of flashbacks unless they are masterfully well-written. However, the story soon won me over as it had my favourite theme of second chances/starting over.

The book also had the right amount of mystery to keep me interested. The main character Lexi had a startling past. It is revealed slowly as the story unfolds.

Enjoyable!

Note: I received a free copy of the book from BookSirens in exchange for an honest review.

The Cat with Three Passports

Blurb:

A girl struggling to fit in. A homeless kitten. An unexpected job offer in an unfamiliar country that changes everything.
C.J. Fentiman had a long history of escaping places and people she wasn't fond of. But for the sake of a silver tabby, she decided to stay in Japan for a while. This decision helped her open up her heart and mind, revisit her way of thinking, and reconnect with her estranged family.
Let this heartwarming memoir take you to the land of cats and cherry trees as you read about CJ's adventures - from the craziness of Furukawa's naked men festival, the experience of forest bathing and the significance of finding a life purpose or ikigai, to the temples of Takayama, and wonders of Cat Island - you'll see what a homeless kitten found outside a temple in Japan taught her about an old culture and new beginnings.

Thoughts:

Negatives

• I dislike people using their initials as their first names.
• The title The Cat With Three Passports was misleading: 
• The cat Gershwin with the passports does not feature in the book as much as I expected.
• He did not travel to three countries but stayed in Japan throughout the book. He was expected to leave for the UK with the author but she changed her mind and moved to Australia with him in the end.
• The author refers to her oldest friend Karina, with whom she visited Cat Island, as ‘Karen’. Was this a typo or a mistake? Why wasn’t this caught by the editor?

Positives

• The author and her partner Ryan travel to Japan to take up teaching jobs. They are entrusted with looking after two cats by their predecessors in those jobs. They also take in a stray cat and name him Gershwin.
• The book refers to some difficult times in CJ's life but it is a comfortable and easy read. The writing style is frank and upbeat.
• You get to see how the author’s experiences in Japan and her interactions with the people she meets there—both Japanese and expatriates—bring about a positive change in her outlook towards life.
• The book has a lot of interesting tidbits about living, working, and traveling in Japan. It would be of great help to anyone thinking of visiting Japan.
• Each chapter starts with a Japanese saying about cats. I loved this (I am a typical cat person). 

To summarize, a heart-warming, entertaining book despite the negatives.

Note: I received an advance review copy from BookSirens for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.