This was a pretty enjoyable read! I picked this up from a bookstore on vacation in Chicago because it was something I didn’t think I could find easily in my small Michigan town, and I thought reading some translated fiction would be a fun challenge. It also sounded like a nice, relaxing, slice of life type story, which it ended up being. 

At the beginning of the book, the main character, Takako, loses her boyfriend and job and goes to work at and live at her uncle’s book shop. She is (understandably) somewhat unpleasant at the beginning, but grows a lot as a character throughout the book. I liked her relationship with her uncle and the ways she grew to love reading. 

There were a few elements I wish had been developed more, like her relationship with some friends she makes at the coffee shop she frequents. (There is a sequel, so I might read that and hope the author expands on some of these parts of the story.)

There were also some parts where the dialogue was a bit repetitive, although I’m wondering if this may be due to the translation. 

This is a good book if you’re looking for something to read curled up on the couch on a rainy day with your favorite coffee or tea. It’s a pretty quick read that I think most people could finish in a few hours. 

I picked it up and put it down over the course of a month or so, because I read on my lunch break at work and in other fleeting moments sometimes. All in all, it was something fun to help me get back into reading again.

“It’s only in secondhand books that you can savour encounters like this, connections that transcend time. And that’s how I learned to love the secondhand bookstore that handled these books, our Morisaki Bookshop. I realized how precious a chance I’d been given, to be a part of that little place, where you can feel the quiet flow of time.”

- Satoshi Yagisawa

This book made me smile so many times. I am an avid reader and I love supporting our local indie new and used bookstore. Wandering the aisles and perusing the shelves for treasures brings me great joy. This book made me feel like I was transported right into the Morisaki Bookshop. 

I loved how Takako’s view of her uncle changed as she got to know him better, and I really enjoyed how Takako and her aunt bonded over cooking and eating. 

I will definitely be reading the second book. 

Enjoyed to start with, dragged my way to the end.