There's something about these kind of books, for how simple and yet how well a message can come across it is. Its a story of faith, hope and love; of something that is everchanging and yet, is simpler than we thought we already know. As a reader and someone who is working in the publishing industry, I loved how the author had came out with a simple and yet powerful message; on how books can change someone's lives, on how at the end of the day, its up to our own perspective and beliefs that can change our fates and mostly its about a community, and how everything that we do, does not come in isolation. We are all interconnected.

The story is a collection of five interconnected short stories, that is set in a community library in a small town in Japan. The focus of this book highlights more on working individuals and its roles in society and we get five people with different circumstances come into the library to look for something and ended up finding something that will entirely change their lives. Out of the five stories, the one that touched me most was Natsumi's story, who is a 40 years old and a former magazine editor. I think her story was what interconnected every single character in here and makes the whole book an almost 5 star read.

Aoyama's writing in here for me is simple and yet the recurring message of how your job does not define your role in society makes it such a relatable read, especially for those who are in the adulting phase and is still trying to find footing in this world. I liked how every story is relatable in its own way and at the end, Aoyama also highlighted how books plays a big role in someone's lives. Its interesting how every person takes up something different in a book and that's what the beauty of this book is as well. The other person can find a total different meaning than my takeaways from it, but at the end of the day, its how we use that information to our own benefit that makes a book worth it. Its not just the story, but its the people around you, the community and mostly, its yourself and how you plan to go on with your life after.

What I can say, its never too late to try anything in this world. At the end, a job is just a job. A job is a ticket for you to be in the society but it does not define yourself nor your personality. At the end, its what you make of the time with the ones you love, and most importantly, its the contentment that you find with your job that makes life worthwhile. You will find that in due time and nothing is set in this world and I hope that if you come across this, you will be awarded that happiness you seek in your life , as you deserve :))

Thank you so much Times Reads for this copy! I truly appreciate it.
4.5🌟 for this gem~