Tag: Japanese literature

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What you are looking for is in the library

What you are looking for is in the library, written by Michiko Aoyama and translated by Alison Watts

I love the idea that a wise librarian could point you in a direction you had not thought of, which would turn out to be the perfect answer to what you were struggling with. In this book, we meet five different people, each of whom is unhappy with their life in some way:

  • Tomoka, 21 womenswear sales assistant
  • Ryo, 35, accounts department of a furniture manufacturer
  • Natsumi, 40, former magazine editor
  • Hiroya, 30, NEET (not in employment, education or training)
  • Masao, 65, retired

Somehow, each of them ends up at the community library and meets Sayuri Komachi, a librarian who asks them what they are looking for and gives them a list of books that includes one unrelated book as well as a bonus gift, a small felted object. The seemingly unrelated book ends up leading them to the answer they need to find happiness in their lives.

One thing that I found jarring was the reaction each of the characters had to the librarian when they first saw her. She is a large woman, and the descriptions of her appearance are quite derogatory. They each assume that she is an angry, unapproachable person and are surprised when she is friendly and helpful.

Putting that aside, I found the conclusions that each person reached to be very satisfying and thought-provoking. I am glad that I read this book.

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What I Read This Week – July 19th

Three books per week seems to be my sweet spot. Since I have started posting weekly updates, all but one has had three books on it.

Here’s what I finished this week:

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Happiness for Beginners by Katherine Center

I loved this book! The story centers on Helen, who signs up for a wilderness survival course in an attempt to take back her life after a divorce. Although there is a romantic plotline, this book is much more than that, and I felt challenged and inspired by her adventure and the things she learned about life through the experience and the people she met along the way. Highly recommend and now I’m going to watch the movie!

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How to Find Love in a Bookshop by Veronica Henry

This is a charming novel about a woman who tries to keep her dad’s bookshop running after his death. The story goes back and forth between the present day with Emilia and the cast of characters living nearby and the past where we learn how she came to be.

I have to admit there were almost too many characters in this one for me; I kept getting Mia and Emilia mixed up. That could be because I was switching between this physical book and another book on my Kindle app, so I wasn’t giving it my full attention. Also, I have read so many books about bookshops lately that they are starting to blur together. Those things are on me, though, so I would definitely recommend reading this one.

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More Days at the Morisaki Bookshop by Satoshi Yagisawa

This was a nice follow up to the first book. I liked hearing what was happening with the characters I had grown fond of and even found myself liking the main character’s aunt Momoko better in this one.

What is your favorite book that you have read recently?

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Days at the Morisaki Bookshop

Although Days at the Morisaki Bookshop came out in 2010, I only recently became aware of it and was drawn to the charming cover and the blurb on the back.  It is the debut novel from Japanese author Satoshi Yagisawa and was translated into English by Eric Ozawa.

I really liked this short novel. My favorite part was seeing Takako develop a love for books and for reading, but I also enjoyed seeing her settle into the community of her temporary home and make friends. I was also fond of several other characters, especially Tomo and Wada.

I wasn’t a big fan of the Aunt Momoko character, but I did come to understand her better as the story progressed.  I also found the prose to be a bit choppy at times, but I don’t know how much of that can be attributed to the translation since I can’t read it in the original language.

Have you read any Japanese literature?  What do you recommend?