The soft layers of
New leaves shadow
pink blossoms
quiet over tea

This is the kind of book to either read on a rattle-ly noisy bus as you stand next to jostled groceries; or in an isolated park with no bench and some struggling ferns.

Really. This is a simple introduction to horoscope and astrology contained in a fine porcelain contemporary story set in a wander about Osaka, Kyoto and Tokyo. Various people are treated to the sudden but unobtrusive appearance of the little Full Moon Cafe run by three regal self-contained cats (really, are there any other kind?). The cafe just appears in a quiet nook of some district and one of the cats, the Master, makes an introduction then offers a unique drink of his making which changes for each customer. Somehow just the perfect thing to go with their conversation like Lunar Chocolate Fondant.

The humans are mildly confused by the sudden appearance of the cafe but the attentive warmth of the cats puts them at their ease. In this congenial atmosphere tangled situations and personal problems are brought out into the open as the cats discuss the celestial implications and the phases of Mars and the House of Venus, for example. There are even diagrams.

I really enjoyed the peace of this book, the light nostalgia, the patina spread off the slick contemporary Japanese life on old wisdom.

A really charming read. ~~ Sue Martin