If you need an extra short but sweet reminder to appreciate the small stuff in life, then may I recommend you If Cats Disappeared from the World! The premise of this book is fairly straightforward if somewhat fantastical - our narrator has just found out he's going to die. Imminently. The devil, clad in a garish Hawaiian shirt, shows up in his home and tells him he can gain another day to live if he chooses something to make disappear from the world forever. Simple.

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Initially the narrator is on board, but soon he realises that even the small stuff exists for a reason. As someone whose life is already made up of small, simple joys at the minute (a cup of coffee, a phone call, a cheesy movie) I feel like I didn't benefit as much from the moral as the tale as I might have. But it was still a charming read - especially Cabbage, the talking kitty with a British accent he picked up from watching period dramas. It was maybe cute verging on twee at times, but honestly it serves as a good reminder of what's important in life!

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This has been translated from Japanese by Eric Selland, the same guy who translated The Guest Cat - I guess he has the monopoly on Japanese lit featuring cats? The writing was fine, but I wasn't a huge fan of the narrator on audio. He was very into doing different voices for all the characters that occasionally swerved into caricatures. I prefer my narrators to just use their normal speaking voice, rather than put on an over-the-top show!

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It's definitely not a life-changing read, but if you need a reminder to slow down and stop taking things for granted, then give this one a go!