I've been enjoying this series about a lonely teenager who can see spirits since I first stumbled across it, and have been picking up more volumes as I find them. I picked up this one from Barnes and Noble, and the cover-art suggests a somewhat dark plotline in this one. [The TV Tropes entry for the series can be seen here.] It tends to be a gentle series, with touches of humor, creepiness, and poignancy, and I like it very much. And as most of the stories stand alone, you can dip into the series in the middle without being lost - though a few arcs do carry over several volumes.

This volume has more suspense than usual: the rather nasty exorcist Matoba, who wants Natsume to join his clan, blackmails him into attending a meeting - and it takes the combined efforts of Natsume himself, his cat-spirit Nyanko-sensei, and actor/exorcist Natori (yes, he's an exorcist too, but he's a very nice guy) to get through it. We do learn a lot about different yokai - and about different attitudes towards them - but I prefer the gentler tales.

And I got them! There are two bonus stories in which Natsume meets the two students who will become his friends, Nishimura and Kitamoto. The stories are sweet and funny, and it's nice to see some of Natsume's world from the viewpoints of his "muggle" friends.

[There's an anime adaptation; I've watched some of it online (in Japanese, with English subtitles), and found it just as charming as the manga. Recommended!]

I left this book in one of the eight new Little Free Libraries in town (making the total 15!) Hope the finder enjoys the book!

[See other recent releases in NH here.]

*** Released for the 2018 TV Series release challenge. ***