Welcome to Litsy!

This reads more like essays than a novel, so it‘s a so-so for me, but if you like essays you‘d like this.
A couple in Japan has a guest cat whom they come to love and the book is a meditation on a changing Japan and the ways we try to hold onto things, people, and pets. 2/5 for me. Read this if you like poetry and want a series of essays about Japan‘s economic boom and bust.

My guest cat seems to have a different world view. His humans are scattered in different houses around his patch. And he bestows his time generously among his people. I completely understand the disproportinate effect the guest cat had on the lives of the protagonists. Gentle and slow, this simple story rang true for me.

Next up!

@thearomaofbooks I'd love to join #bookspin for May if it's not too late in the year! Love the idea of getting through some of these books in May.

1. Cats!
2. Cats are obligate carnivores. That‘s why they sleep so much. 😴
3. Tagged and stacked!
#sundayfunday

Really liked it. Simple but good.

Just a little resemblance :,)

Enjoyed this one… it‘s more of an image of a changing Tokyo, a transition period in the life of a young couple, and a meditation on loss and remembrance than a heart-warming pet story (you‘ve been warned!) Very soothing and relaxing; I felt like I was in the light greenery of Japan with the author and his wife. Reminded me of past memories with other cats my family has loved. A nostalgic and thoughtful book!

Soothing is the best way to describe this book. The chapters are gently philosophical reflections on the life of a young, childless couple. The book is about the cat that visits them, true, but the story is more a memorial of that time in the couples‘ lives, observing their aging landlady, the gentrification of their neighborhood, how nextdoor neighbors can be strangers even after years. Prose writing from a poet.

Ultimately, I just did not like this book. Perhaps I lost something in the translation or maybe there was just a cultural disconnect. The writing style was lovely, really descriptive and poetic. I adore cats, but there simply wasn't enough mention of them for a book supposedly written about a cat! I don't see myself reading this again, but I don't see myself forgetting it either.

Full review here - https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/4086488442

Short and gentle book, closer to a collection of essays.

Having a quiet morning with a couple of cats.

Such a sweet and touching story of a cat who befriends a young couple.

I feel like this book had so many layers to it, even though it‘s really short, it touched on many sensitive subjects such as love, grief, resentment, and death.

I really enjoy these kinds of books, I find them thought-provoking, they always stay with me for a while after I‘ve finished them 🐈‍⬛

So I‘ve gone from Books of Blood by Clive Barker, (read the first volume and decided to take a break)

To the Guest Cat by Takashi Hiraide

Variety is the spice of life I suppose 😂🤷🏻‍♀️

#variety #whynot #guestcat #booksofblood

A delicate and charming story on longing and the pain triggered by the absence of the loved one, set in Japan at the end of the Showa era, during a time of turmoil caused by the end of the real estate market bubble, which accelerated urbanization and social changes

A bit of reading as a short break from work always feels like a breath of fresh air 📖☕

Sweet and heart warming whilst also offering interesting insight into Japanese residential areas!

Teeny novel, about a cat who goes visiting in a Japanese house.

I typed #Mellow books into Google and this one turned up on a Goodreads “Popular Mellow Books” list. I read this some years ago, and have forgotten the finer details, but I remember thinking it was absolutely delightful

#BoundTogetherJune
@Alwaysbeenaloverofbooks
@OriginalCyn620

Perhaps the main reason for her anger was the fact that we had been affectionate with Chibi and had become close to the cat without her knowledge and without her permission. But on the other hand, would the mere fact of shared affection lead directly to resentment? If the issue involved permission, then would things have been different if permission had been given?

“The noble-minded do not thrust others aside in order to make their way in the world. But then they themselves are ultimately thrust aside by the advancing tide.”

“I wonder where it all comes from - this need to go to the place where the body has been laid to rest. It's the need to reconfirm how precious someone was and how irreplaceable, and the desire to reconnect with them on a different plane.”

A lovely story about the bond that can form between humans and other animals. Doubtless anthropomorphicising, but treating other living things as people seems both ethical and moral to me, not to mention enriching and life affirming.

"Cat lovers always believe their own cat is better looking than anyone else's."

??❤ Naturally!
#catsoflitsy

I just finished my 2018-19 tax return with an unusually comfortable three days in hand, on top of which I'm owed a rebate of £180! I've got work tomorrow (today, actually: local time is 02:30), but I'm determined to celebrate by getting at least a few pages into this lovely 📖🐱😊

Still working on #24B42020 readathon pretty sure this will be my last book finished this year.A beautiful little novella about a shared cat,a beautiful garden, the circles of life and of nature.Like a little meditation.
My Goodreads total was 95 , made it!

#bookreport #adaylate 🤦‍♀️

Another December week with very little reading....

- Finished The Guest Cat which was thoughtful, quiet and lovely...
- Made progress with The Gentleman which I‘m enjoying, lovely writing...
- Started the Lisa Jewell for Book club, which I‘m hoping to finish as my last book for 2019.
So excited to start my 2020 challenges. Been sitting on so many great books that fit challenge prompts!
#booknerdproblems 😂

A beautiful, quiet little Japanese novella that has so many gorgeously captured moments, touching on how we relate to each other, to our surroundings and to the world. This story of a young couple visited by a neighbor‘s spirited cat, was so touching and felt very intimate. I loved it.

#weeklyforecast @Cinfhen
Let‘s see if I do better this week!
But to be honest, I‘m not getting much reading time, and I‘m so exhausted after each day in retail hell that I‘m falling asleep to Midsommer Murders instead of reading! (being a bad bookworm!🤦‍♀️)
- I hope to finish The Guest Cat 🐱🤞
- I hope to start the Lisa Jewel for B&N bookclub in January 📚🤞
- I hope to make some progress with the Count 🎧🤞

#bookreport @Cinfhen

-Finished ‘Tell me Everything‘ .... really good
thriller-ish debut, but the cover has LITERALLY nothing to do with the book!
- Started ‘The Guest Cat‘ which is lovely so far, quiet and whimsical....
- A couple of hours into ‘A gentleman in Moscow‘ (which is 17 hours long!😳) and so far I‘m really enjoying the sense of place, and the main character just sparkles... 🌟

I am cycling off a Postal Book Group I participated in from 2015-2019, and The Guest Cat by Takashi Hiraide was my last read.(I need to mail it tomorrow!) It started through the Books on the Nightstand Goodreads group, and if you listened to that podcast (R.I.P.) you know that started a while ago! ⤵️

#weeklyforecast @Cinfhen
- Really enjoying Tell me Everything 😊💕
- just started Gentleman in Moscow on Audio and loving it so far 🎧👍
- hoping to start The guest cat, a little Japanese novella that looks lovely 🐱
- I may get to Lisa Jewell for January work bookclub 🤷‍♀️

But who am I kidding!? It‘s holidays and I work retail at B&N! This week will be bonkers! 🤦‍♀️

“The Guest Cat” is a short and sweet book that I‘d recommend for cat-lovers but also for fans of Japanese literature. It wasn‘t one of my favourites, but it‘s a short, quick read that‘ll warm your heart. 3 stars from me.

My full review is up on my blog now 📚

1. The Grace of Kings
2. The Guest Cat (tagged)
3. The first time the heater turns on... Going for walks while the trees are changing... The inevitable in-between days where within a few mins you will see people out in everything from t-shirts and shorts to parkas 😛

#weekendreads @rachelsbrittain

Dipping into one of my new acquisitions while dinner cooks.

So I heard some commotion in the living room, and then I saw this fella on the patio just as chill as could be. #notmycatsoflitsy

A thoughtful rumination on life, art, and cats.

"I'd say one's thirties are a cruel age."

The noble-minded do not thrust others aside in order to make their way in the world. But then they themselves are ultimately thrust aside by the advancing tide.

“Once the arrangement of objects had settled down, I felt that I was finally ready to establish myself in this place. ‘This is where I will live,‘ I thought to myself. Perhaps it was because I‘d developed a feeling for the passing of the seasons in our new abode—as if each new house, each new neighborhood contained its own unique experience of the passage of time.”

I suppose that‘s what I get for trying to sneak in those last two books to hit 100 in 2018 😋 I was hoping for something as moving as The Travelling Cat Chronicles, but this is definitely more about the author‘s journey into middle age and less about the cat. Next! #24B42019 #readathon #readin2018 #goals

Think a lot was lost in translation on this one, maybe I will read it in English in the future. It's a cute and charming book, but details in the Norwegian one was nagging me and I don't know if it's this book or just the translation

Fefe approves. #caturday #catsoflitsy

New tattoo cemented my cat lady status.

My Waterstones haul!! Unfortunately, this copy of The Guest Cat has a very large tear that I hadn‘t noticed in the store. Not sure if it happened during purchase or while being carried back to the flat. Poor kitty might lose his left ear! #waterstones

I have reinstated the End Of The Bed Bookshelf. I got rid of it a couple of years ago in a decluttering whirl. All the unread books at the time just felt like pressure so I cleaned out many and put the rest in a cupboard. I‘ve missed looking at books so back they go.

Boyf got me this book, which I'm sure I've seen on someone else's feed today, great unusual pick! He also got me the photo frame, he did well :-)

Relaxing after #24in48 with some BBC Big Cats ( my little one is in awe!) #catsoflitsy

#bookhaul
I tried to find local authors or things that I hadn‘t heard of before while at Wild Rumpus and decided on some signed Louise Erdrich (who I‘ve never actually read before) at Birchbark Books, but I got distracted by the beautiful children‘s book in the middle. #literarytourism #minneapolis #imtired