MrsK Books: 01/01/2024

Friday, January 12, 2024

Seasoned Readers Late Summer Nights

Sosuke Natsukawa

9780063095731

Publisher's Synopsis:

The Cat Who Saved Books is a heart-warming story about finding courage, caring for others – and the tremendous power of books.

Grandpa used to say it all the time: 'Books have tremendous power'. But what is that power really?

Natsuki Books was a tiny second-hand bookshop on the edge of town. Inside, towering shelves reached the ceiling, and everyone was crammed full of wonderful books. Rintaro Natsuki loved this space that his grandfather had created. He spent many happy hours there, reading whatever he liked. It was the perfect refuge for a boy who tended to be something of a recluse.

After the death of his grandfather, Rintaro is devastated and alone. It seems he will have to close the shop. Then, a talking tabby cat called Tiger appears and asks Rintaro for help. The cat needs a book lover to join him on a mission. This odd couple will go on three magical adventures to save books from people who have imprisoned, mistreated, and betrayed them. Finally, there is one last rescue that Rintaro must attempt alone . . .

Sosuke Natsukawa's international bestseller, translated from Japanese by Louise Heal Kawai, is a story for those for whom books are so much more than words on paper.

"Books have tremendous power."

MrsK's Review: Reality/Sci-Fi Fantasy

Meet Rintaro a high school student whose grandfather has just passed. I don't know if you have experienced the death of the one person whose life touched you in such a way that your entire world seems out of focus once they are gone, yet, Rintaro is about to experience a very real "altered reality" in his grandfather's "seasoned secondhand" book shop.

Meet Akiba, a concerned high school student. Since Rintaro will be moving, she begins stopping by the bookshop in hopes that Rintaro will return to school before he leaves.

Meet Tiger the Tabby, an unusual tabby cat with a "to-the-point" attitude. It seems that the cat is in need of Rintaro's help. Do not assume you know what the cat might need... just understand that the cat is quite outspoken, sometimes there, sometimes mysteriously missing, and very determined to drag Rintaro into other dwellings in which valuable books of knowledge are being mistreated.

Will Rintaro step up to the challenge, a challenge that will rescue books from disappearing... or will he remain locked away in his sorrow and just leave his grandfather's bookshop behind? Could Rintaro get stuck forever in a labyrinth? What might you say to someone who reads 100 books a month? Is it realistic to "abridge" a book so that everyone can experience great literature as quickly as listening to a song? But of course..."Logic and reason are never the best weapons in an irrational world."

Amazing insights, wondrously crafted, a page-turner of a different kind...

Enjoy, MrsK

"... books become imbued with a tremendous power, whether it be good or evil.

And when the soul of such a book becomes distorted..."

Meet the Author:

Born in Osaka, Japan. “Books can't live your life for you. The reader who forgets to walk on his own two feet is like an old encyclopedia, his head stuffed with out-of-date information. Unless someone else opens it up, it's nothing but a useless antique.”

Sosuke Natsukawa is a doctor in Nagano, Japan. His first book Kamisama No Karute (God's Medical Records) won the Shogakukan Fiction Prize and received 2nd Place at the Japan Bookseller Awards. It sold over 1.5 million copies and was adapted into a film in Japan.

Louise Heal Kawai Japanese translator. I most wanted to convey the visuals that are so important in the original. My goal was to have the reader caught up in the quests as if they were there themselves. Whirling paper, booming music, and falling books, the visuals were essential to capture. (I hope I was successful.)

Another important aspect of the novel is the author’s thoughts on books and reading. Rintaro, the cat, and particularly Rintaro’s grandfather all express ideas on the topic of reading which I guessed (correctly) would be quoted in numerous reviews. The original Japanese was beautifully stated so I had to be sure that I translated these phrases in a way that would appeal to the English language reader, hopefully sticking in their mind. I tried to take extra care with the wording. Again, I hope I was successful.

Lemony Snicket

ISBN: 9781324090625

Publisher's Synopsis:

For more than twenty years, Lemony Snicket has led millions of young readers through a mysterious world of bewildering questions and unfortunate events. With this latest book—a love letter to readers young and old about the vagaries of real life—longtime fans and new readers alike will experience Snicket’s distinctive voice in a new way.

This true story—as true as Lemony Snicket himself—begins with a puzzling note under his door: You had poison for breakfast. Following a winding trail of clues to solve the mystery of his own demise, Snicket takes us on a thought-provoking tour of his predilections: the proper way to prepare an egg, a perplexing idea called “tzimtzum,” the sublime pleasure of swimming in open water, and much else.

"This morning I had poison for breakfast."

MrsK's Review: Mystery

Lemony Snicket tells us... right up front... "that everything that happens in this book is true..." Well, I don't know about you, but for me, that's an intriguing hook!

Have you ever written things down in your mind or on slips of paper? Once you enter the later seasons of life... let me tell you... I can relate to writing all things down. The trouble is sometimes those slips that are meant "to be" reminders get shuffled into a void of no return. As for Mr. Lemony Snicket, who has just eaten his breakfast and the realization that he, in fact, does not have much time before the poison will finish his life.

While you ponder what the first thing you would be doing, consider Mr. Snicket's choice of retracing his steps from yesterday's outing. A day spent purchasing all of the ingredients that he had just eaten.

Seriously, who wouldn't want to retrace what was purchased that might have had poison in it?

This in fact... an incomparable read... a treasured moment in time... a mystery that has elusive threads that unravel... and a moment-by-moment sense of intriguing discoveries...

Enjoy, MrsK

Meet the Author:

Lemony Snicket had an unusual education and a perplexing youth and now endures a despondent adulthood. His previous published works include the thirteen volumes in A Series of Unfortunate Events, The Composer is Dead, and 13 Words. His new series is All The Wrong Questions.

Marta Perry

ISBN: 9780425232361

Publisher's Synopsis:

It has been almost a year since the Amish community of Pleasant Valley lost Ezra Brand to a tragic accident. Since then, his wife Rachel has struggled to raise their three children and run their dairy farm...

Rachel's friends and family have come forward to help. But all of their constant advice, however well-intentioned, puts undue pressure on Rachel. And when Ezra's best friend, Gideon Zook, asks her permission to build the greenhouse that Ezra had always promised her, she finds his presence too painful a reminder of the past.

As spring turns to summer, and Rachel puts her heart into growing the plants that have always brought her joy, can she discover the courage to embrace new beginnings?

"It wouldn't do to let her young ones suspect that their mamm had been crying."

MrsK's Review: Romance

Rachel has one desire, to remain on the land that her husband wanted to farm. So much has changed since his accident. Now it seems her family and the Amish community support her moving back home with her parents. But, is that really the best for her and their children? What about the dreams Ezra and her had shared? Why couldn't she remain on the farm and sell her beautiful plants at the market? Are there other possibilities that would keep her on their farm?

Gideon had been Ezra's childhood friend. Gideon had been the one who was with Ezra when the fatal accident occurred. Even though he was the carpenter who built their windmill, why would he want to be the one to build the present Ezra had planned for her? Would Rachel even let him be on Ezra's farm after what he wasn't able to stop? What isn't boding well... is the persistent pressure Isaac was putting on Rachel to sell the farm to him. Even if Isaac is her brother-in-law, what could Ezra do?

When an Amish novel finds its way into your home... the beautifully inspiring "wholeness" of family life, community, and hope becomes an inspiration that lifts the darkness of your own troubles while it promises moments of comforting page-turning...

MrsK

"Forgiveness is only right..."

"We forgive as God forgives us. But God is God. We are not so gut at it as He is."

Meet the Author:

Marta Perry is a Pennsylvania-based author of over 35 novels, many of them inspirational romances. She uses her rural Pennsylvania life and her Pennsylvania Dutch heritage in writing her books, especially in her Pleasant Valley Amish series for Berkley Books and her new Amish-set suspense series for HQN Books.

Marta and her husband live in a centuries-old farmhouse in a quiet central Pennsylvania valley. They have three grown children and six beautiful grandchildren, and when she's not busy writing her next book, she's usually trying to keep up with her gardening, baking for church events, or visiting those beautiful grandkids.

MrsK's Reading Bio

Reading is important! No questions asked, not even a blink of the eye from any student I grew up with. On the first day of the First grade, we were given our first books. Day two we all read aloud, round robin of course. Day three we were place in our first basal, now known as a lit circle group. Books were so important, publishers designed new curriculum so that every student was reading by the end of the first week. These early readers had images that looked like what we could see in the classroom, beyond the classroom, even on the big screen. Reading is important, throughout history every generation has believed that “Reading” opens up the world for endless possibilities.

I adore the 1950’s Dick and Jane books. Actually, most reading specialists and experienced (45+) educators believe that every student learned to read with Dick and Jane. Since these books are being re-issued, I have heard many parents, grandparents, and students claim that Dick and Jane stories of repetition does teach students to read.

Early influences from my mother influenced my desire to read. I would watch her read and we would go on “secret” excursions to the library. The library became my playground. I owned every book I could carry home, of course they needed to be taken back to their home after visiting with me for a week or two. My first book that I could pull off of the library shelf and read was, Father Bear Comes Home. I only saw my dad on Sundays for a few hours. I would pull this beginning reader off of the library shelf every week. Every week I would try to read the first chapter. Every week I got further in the story. My mom would let me check it out, only if I could read it myself (She didn’t like the illustrations therefore she didn’t want to take time to read it to me). One day, I pulled the book from the shelf and when mom came to get me from the children’s corner, I realized that I had read the whole story. I ran to the check out desk and the Librarian KERCHUNKED the checkout card. My mother, brother and neighbors read. My teachers read. We all read aloud all day long in school. The Priest read aloud every day at mass, even in Latin. Everybody in the Doctor’s office read. People on the bus read. Dad’s waiting in their cars as the Mom’s and children grocery shopped, read. In fact, once you could read and write, Sunset Magazine considered you a reader and sent you mail every day.

Reading is important; I’ve spent my life reading. I’ve traveled around the world and into space through books. My favorite genre is whichever book I have open at the time. Children’s Literature is my passion. Book clubbing is one of the best past times, especially if food is involved. In fact my friends of old are in a book club and we are about to embark on a beach trip to “read” and discuss our newest selection.

My “home-run” book story has helped every student find his or her own “home-run” reads. Every year, I have shared my, Father Bear Comes Home, and every year my students have brought in their “home-run” books. That’s the “diving board” into our Lit. Studies.

In “Growing Up Digital,” Tapscott’s insights into the new generations enthusiasm for the Net reminded me of my generation’s enthusiasm for reading, movies, TV, parties and our driving permits. The Net-Generation, as Tapscott describes, “are learning, playing, communicating, working, creating communities, and enforcing a social transformation.”
N-Geners are interactive “techies” who are always looking for a way to “work it” verses the TV Generation of “Baby Boomers” who started out looking for “how it works.” Reading development is tougher today, society moves too fast to invest their “non-working” free time into a book or even “home work.” Since I stepped into my own classroom, I have seen students being told to read, being forced to read, and threatened into reading. Homework is not any longer the vehicle for students to gain their future lifestyles or careers with. Yet, the Internet does create an enthusiasm for learning. Since I have been enrolled in these courses, I have used the computers in every subject. My students are using the newest technology in the classroom because I am giving them investigative sites to use as they learn from each other and books. I agree with Tapscott, in order to bridge the gap with this up and coming generation we must “live and learn with them.”

FTC Required Disclaimer: I receive these books from the publishers. I did not receive monetary compensation for these reviews. These reviews have been posted in compliance with the FTC requirements set forth in the Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising (available at ftc.gov/os/2009/10/091005revisedendorsementguides.pdf)