We'll Prescribe You A Cat

I've become a fan of the whimsical Japanese novels recently appearing on American bookshelves.  We'll Prescribe You A Cat (#1,319) by Syou Ishida (translated by E. Madison Shimoda) is a perfect example. 

 Although it's called a novel on the cover, it's really more of a series of inter-related short stories concerning people who are suffering from various societal issues: extreme job dissatisfaction, bullying, loneliness, grief.  Each person has one thing in common as they seek help from a mysterious Clinic for the Soul.  The Clinic itself is almost impossible to find in the streets of Kyoto.  Once located, the same staff of doctor and nurse deal with each new patient.  As the patients describe their problems, the solution is the same: they are each handed a cat in a carrier with different instructions.

It's so satisfying to read about how the different cat personalities suit each individual's situation and contribute to their ultimate healing.  As you read, you realize that their intertwined stories are leading to one inevitable conclusion.  As in many of these gently told Japanese tales, it is a bit "woo-woo", but none the less enjoyable for it.  Plus, the fact that one of the cats prescribed was a Scottish Fold, as two of our own beloved cats were, sealed the deal for me.

If you love cats and happy endings, this is definitely a book for you!

Swept Away

When you're not feeling well, there's nothing like a good romance to distract you, and Beth O'Leary's latest, Swept Away (#1,318) fills the bill.  When a sizzling one-night stand turns into a two-week involuntary trip on a houseboat, sparks are going to fly.  But Swept Away adds a few unexpected twists: physical, life-and-death danger in multiple ways on top of a May/December hook-up.  In this case, Lexi is the older woman and Zeke the winsome younger playboy.

Yet somehow, it all works.  The dialogue is witty enough to keep your interest, and the actual danger involved when the houseboat is swept out to sea ratchets up the tension beautifully.  They both intended to walk away after one night, but that's become impossible.  What do they even know about each other?  As time passes without sign of rescue, survival adds an edge to their blossoming romance.  Is it real, or is it merely proximity?

Since it's basically just Lexie and Zeke here, it goes without saying that the character development is key to the story.  You'll be rooting for both of them by the end of the book.  Enjoy!

The Taster

I chose V.S.  Andrews' WWII novel The Taster (#1,317) without knowing much about it.  I thought it would be grim, but I didn't quite realize just how far it would go to paint a realistic portrait of the end of the Third Reich.  I did find it hard to put down.

Magda Ritter has grown up in Berlin, more concerned with the effect the war is having on the young men available to date than any interest in politics.  When her parents decide to ship her off to her aunt and uncle in Berchtesgaden in the Alps Magda finds herself an unwanted guest, forced to search for a job to help support the household.  She soon finds herself working at the Berghof, Hitler's Alpine retreat, as one of his tasters.  Her fervently Nazi aunt and uncle are thrilled she is working there; Magda decidedly is not.

What happens to Magda over the course of the book kept me glued to the pages.  Usually WWII novels are presented from the Point of View of the Allies, not the Germans themselves.  That alone made this book different.  Recommended.

Elephant Company

A friend recommended Elephant Company (#1,316) by Vicki Constantine Croke.  I found this non-fiction account absolutely fascinating.  It describes life in a post WWI teak logging camp in Burma where the chief sources of labor were Asian elephants.  Although this way of life was already being phased out by the 1930s, the invasion of the Japanese during WWII spelled the end.  The elephants were prizes for the Japanese, but a group of elephant handlers under the leadership of a British soldier snatched the elephants and a group of struggling refugees right from under the noses of the enemy in a daring escape through the jungle and over the mountains into India.  His name was James Howard ("Bill") Williams.

Williams grew up in Cornwall, fascinated by all living creatures, roaming the countryside on his own.  He went directly into the British Army after finishing secondary school as WWI raged.  With the war finally over, Jim, as he was known to his family, could not settle down at home.  He applied for a position with a British logging company in Burma.  The adventure of an overseas post appealed to him, but the real draw was the chance to work with elephants.  He eagerly learned all he could about them and began to develop new ways of choosing and training them for work in the logging industry.

That knowledge would pay off when World War II broke out, and he was recruited by British special forces to continue working with elephants behind enemy lines, supporting the war effort, and spiriting the valuable animals away from the Japanese to the safety of India.  His daring rescue of the families of Ghurka soldiers stationed in Burma made Elephant Bill a living legend.

There was so much interesting information packed into this biographical book I don't know quite where to start: elephants, of course, but also World War II in Burma.  Ms. Croke tells this true story in such an entertaining way that it's hard to put down.  Also included are a number of photographs and watercolors done by Williams himself.  It's not a new book; it came out about ten years ago, but the story is timeless.  Look out for yourself.  I bet you'll find yourself heading for the nearest spot to observe elephants you can find!

The Big Empty

Elvis Cole takes on a missing persons case for a social media influencer in The Big Empty (#1,315) by Robert Crais in his ongoing series.  Needless to say, it does not go well.

Approaching the tenth anniversary of her father's disappearance, Traci Beller wants to re-open the case after fruitless years of searching.  Elvis finds it hard to turn down the cute girl-next-door muffin baker, so he agrees to look, despite the objections of her manager and staff.  He doesn't expect to find any trace until he does...

And people most definitely do not want him looking.  He calls in Joe Pike for assistance but too late to avoid a beating that leaves him for dead.  All that does is make the pair more determined to solve the case and protect those who might still be in danger.  But you can't unsee something, the quandry Elvis and Joe find themselves in.

I thought I had this one figured out part way through.  I did not!  And I didn't even see it coming!!

If a good mystery/thriller is your cup of tea, you can't do better than Robert Crais' Elvis Cole and Joe Pike series.

John Lewis: A Life

David Greenberg has produced a biography of "Conscience of the Congress" civil rights leader and activist John Lewis worthy of your time in John Lewis: A Life (#1,314).  Rising from a poor rural Alabama farm family through multiple arrests and beatings to a seat in Congress, where at the end of a long and fruitful life, he lay in state in the Capitol rotunda in Washington, this book covers it all.  I came away even more impressed with the man after I read it.

That is not to say that this is a hagiography; far from it.  Greenberg captures his foibles and fumbles as well as the highlights.  What he has done is humanize John Lewis and reveal some of the struggles in both his professional and personal life.

Some of the events covered in Greenberg's book occurred before I was old enough to remember, but many of them I can vividly recall.  Coming across two people in these pages whom I met and spoke with makes me realize my own life is passing into history.  It's rather daunting.  It's also excruciating to realize that many of the gains John Lewis and his co-activists worked so hard to achieve are being hacked away in the Washington, D.C. government of today.  Now that's food for thought!