I love Simon's Cat! And yes, yes, he does. They're wonderful. <3

I think the idea of the story was to show people just how preposterous some material ideas/values are, but I'm still appalled at the senseless book violence.
Likewise, some really great books go out of print because they're not bestsellers. :( I'm not sure which is sadder.

Ooooh! Those are sorely lacking from my shelves as well. (Heck, I need more mythology/folklore books, period.)