Book completed

The Cat Who Saved Books, by Sosuke Natsukawa. This book is very... light, while hoping that it's deep. Rintaro, a teenage boy, lives with his grandfather in their bookstore, then the grandfather passes away, and Rintaro prepares to sell the shop and move in with a distant relative. But a talking cat appears and asks Rintaro to accompany him on a mystical journey to save some books, and he does. This repeats several times, while Rintaro learns more about himself. I confess that what kept me going was the arrival of his "class rep," a common character in anime (and presumably in real Japanese high schools). This one's a cheerful, insightful, and stubborn girl who likes Rintaro. The book was pleasant enough to read, and brief, but also a bit pretentious. (It also reminded me rather too much of that Pagemaster movie we saw a few months ago.)