This is another book club pick and one that I was excited about because I love Japanese literature! Adn I love books and this sounds like a good combination of the two.
What You Are Looking For Is In The Library is a collection of five stories about people who go to their local community library and receive a book recommendation that speaks to their situation. We meet:
- Tomoka, a young woman working as a sales assistant
- Ryo, a thirty-five year old man working in the accounts department of a furniture manufacturer
- Natsumi, a mother who lost her dream job and was reassigned to a different department after giving birth
- Hiroya, a NEET who dreamt of being an illustrator
- Masao, a retired salaryman
All five live in the same ward, or at least know someone who live in the same ward and they all make their way to the library at the Community House, where they meet the librarian Sayuri Komachi and receive book recommendations. This is, essentially, a story about the magic of books, of how reading can impact our lives and drive us to make changes. The right book might not be the one we think we want nor the one that addresses our situations head-on but one that gets us to think about things in a different way.
Honestly, this was such a cozy and uplifting book! I loved reading about how books changed the lives of these five people, and I wanted to know more about Sayuri Komachi (though we never really get her full backstory). The nice thing about putting this story in the library of a community ward means that the lives of all five characters intersect, even though they may not realise it. This gradually overlapping of stories reminded me both of Higashino Keigo’s Newcomer and Kikuko Tsumura’s There’s No Such Thing As An Easy Job. You may think the stories are unconnected but actually, they are all linked, just like we are all linked.
This was a wonderful book about the magic of books. It made me wish that such a library existed in my neighbourhood – Singapore has a great library system but we seem to be automating more and more things (I can’t even find the librarian’s desk in some branches!) and that may leave less opportunity to receive recommendations from another person instead of an algorithm.
I got the Kinokuniya edition, which is really pretty! XD
Ahhh I went to look up that cover and it really is very pretty!
If it is the cover with the cat looking out a window, I think it’s a riff on one of my favorite Japanese prints -“Asakusa Ricefields and Torinomachi Festival,” from “One Hundred Views of Edo” by Utagawa Hiroshige. The original cat-looking-out-beautiful-window composition! I look forward to reading the book.
See a good reproduction at: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Hiroshige,_Asakusa_ricefields_and_torinomachi_festival,_1857.jpg
Thanks for sharing that link! It is very pretty and I think you’re right that the cover is a riff on the OG painting!
This sounds amazing. We have only one local library in whole city and there is a librarian but books are not placed properly and they are not ready to help. If I ask about particular book they will just point the direction and if it’s not there, they wouldn’t help to check if the book is available or not. They are librarians just in name. I would rather have preferred automated system.
That is a pity, sounds like these librarians could be replaced with an online catalogue!
This sounds delightful! I almost bought a copy at the bookstore the other day, but decided not to. I wish now I had. It’s definitely on my wish list though.
It’s a great book, I hope you manage to get your hands on a copy soon!