The Cat Who Saved the Library

Finished May 25

The Cat Who Saved the Library by Sosuke Natsukawa, translated by Louise Heal Kawai

This thoughtful novel follows thirteen-year-old Nanami Kosaki, a girl who loves to read. Her mother died when Nanami was young and she and her father live a quiet life. She suffers from asthma, which means that physical activity is often tiring. She spends a lot of time at the library and lately she's observed that there are some blank spots on the shelves. She knows that books get taken out and returned, but this seems different. One day she sees a strange gray man near a section of books and goes there after he's moved on, only to discover the first ten books of a favourite series gone. After talking with Tiger, a nearby cat, she and Tiger follow the man. The hallway begins to glow and extends into another world, where she finds herself following him to a castle  As they follow past armies of gray blank-faced soldiers, they see evidence of book burning and book theft. When faced with danger, they find an unexpected exit manned by Rintaro that takes them into Rintaro's bookstore, Natsuki Books. 

With mentions of classic titles from east and west, this book offers lots of ideas for future reading. It also takes us into the benefits of reading from learning to empathy and connection. Issues we face now, such as censorship, authoritarianism, lack of respect for learning, and self-interest as a guiding force for those in power all come into the story in a thoughtful and meaningful war. 

The War Librarian

Finished April 17

The War Librarian by Addison Armstrong

This historical fiction novel has two timelines. One is in France towards the end of World War I in the fall of 1918, and the other is in the United States in 1976.

In 1918, Emmaline Balakin was working at the Dead Letter Office in Washington, D.C. and came across a letter that was from someone she used to know. The letter had been sent back unopened by its addressee and Emmaline had opened it to determine who it should be returned to. She ended up doing the unthinkable and answering the letter, but it also inspired her to enter the field of war librarianship, and she ended up being sent to France to look after one of the small embedded libraries at a war hospital. 

In 1976 Kathleen Carre has been accepted as one of the first women to enter the United States Naval Academy. She has dreamed of this and trained physically for it. Kathleen was brought up by her grandmother, who served as a driver in World War I, and who has cautioned her about how the military may not meet all her expectations.

As we follow both women, we see how the reality of their situations is different from what they expected. Emmaline discovers the horrors of war, as the hospital she is at specializes in facial damage and gas victims. She also discovers the realities of racism as she sees the black soldiers treated differently than the white ones, with less access to amenities and less care for their health issues. When she finds that the War Department and the ALA who have co-sponsored the libraries have also censored some materials, she is determined to speak up about the wrongs she sees.

Kathleen finds that there are some men in her class, as well as men higher up in the hierarchy who aren't happy about women being at the academy and take every chance to make their lives miserable. She also discovers that the black members of her class, whether male or female, are also prejudiced against. Without her closest confidante, her grandmother, she must try to determine who she can trust, and who she can't as she realizes that she can't face up to the challenges by herself. 

As we gradually learn of the threads connecting these two women, it was interesting to see how the same issues came up in both time periods, as they still do today. 

I read this book quickly, not wanting to put it down, and I needed to see what happened to the women involved in this story, as well as the men who touched their lives. It was both inspiring and depressing as I saw how little progress has been made on relevant issues over the years. 

Killed: Great Journalism Too Hot to Print

Finished June 14
Killed: Great Journalism Too Hot to Print, edited by David Wallis
This is a book that has been on my shelf for a while and I finally pulled it down to read.
Wallis has gathered a number of articles commissioned from 1942 to 2003 by a variety of newspapers and magazines, but cancelled before making it to print. They vary widely in subject and were pulled for a number of reasons. Many of the would-be publications didn't give clear and honest reasons for the cancellation of the articles, and some were published later either in other publications, or in books.
It was very interesting to read, and I learned a lot about a variety of issues and people. Politics keeps coming up here, whether it is government politics, business politics, or gender politics. It is interesting to see how fear limited the sharing of information, and see how the editorial process works. Self-censorship is one of the worst forms of censorship, based on fear of risk, whether it be of reader reaction, offended advertisers, or future access to those of importance.
I'm glad I read it.