The Cat Who Saved the Library by Sosuke Natsukawa is the sequel to The Cat Who Saved Books and continues the adventures of Tiger the tabby. This time he is joined by Nanami, a thirteen-year-old who has chronic asthma and tends to spend her time in libraries instead of outdoors. While browsing one day she notices there are unusual gaps in the shelves in the Library, gaps that only she seems to notice. Things get weirder when she sees a grey man taking the books from the shelves. Following the grey man she sees a mysterious passage in a back section of the library. When a cat starts warning her from going further she becomes determined to follow the man into the passage and rescue the books, despite the danger. Joined by the cat she is faced with a large grey castle where troops led by the grey general are burning books. Now Nanami must convince the general to stop burning books and to return the sunburned books. As things get more perilous Nanami must rescue the books she can and try to escape, where she ends up aided by Rintaro.
Much like the previous book this one focuses on the perils of a non-literate society. Yet at the same time it again interleaved the peril of losing oneself in a world of books and ignoring the world around you. This creates an odd dichotomy as it emphasizes the need for people to read but it also suggests that there is more to life than reading and we need to not ignore the people around us. In structure the two books are extremely similar with a beginning and ending with the same number of sections in between. Each inner section or chapter is structured around a different labyrinth that Nanami and Tiger must navigate. By utilizing a parallel structure it helps emphasize any differences. In this case it focuses on different threats to literature. It discusses the rising threat of book burning and book banning through the literal disappearance of books from the library followed by actually burning those same books. In a round about way it connects back to the theme of book censorship that was touched on in the first book. What it is really discussing though is the idea of the public and people in general having the ability to make the choice of what to read. By removing the books you are removing their ability to choose which is a scary thing to do. This book also touches on more related topics as well with its depictions of the grey men. I think that is meant to represent the general apathy of modern society and how it wears people down just through surviving that they end up not having the energy to care about anything. Though this book may be about books it is also in many ways a very interesting piece of social commentary for those willing to pay attention to what it is actually saying. It ended up being a book I very much enjoyed reading and am happy to give 4.5 out of 5 stars.
A great example of a good fantasy though also one that happens to want to really make you think about the world around you. While it would hold the most appeal for readers who prefer fantasy I would actually recommend it for anyone who genuinely loves books. It is also aimed primarily at adult readers but I have no problem also recommending it to teen readers as well. The themes and topics it discusses are things all readers need to consider and there is nothing that would make it inappropriate for younger readers. Overall a pretty good and interesting book that I hope you will consider trying. If you do consider sharing your thoughts in the comments.