From late summer to early spring the next year, I lived at the Morisaki Bookshop. I spent that period of my life in the spare room on the second floor of the store, trying to bury myself in books. The cramped room barely got any light, and everything felt damp. It smelled constantly of musty old books...
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The Japanese bestseller: a tale of love, new beginnings, and the comfort that can be found between the pages of a good book.
When twenty-five-year-old Takako's boyfriend reveals he's marrying someone else, she reluctantly accepts her eccentric uncle Satoru's offer to live rent-free in the tiny room above his shop.
Hidden in Jimbocho, Tokyo, the Morisaki Bookshop is a booklover's paradise. On a quiet corner in an old wooden building, the shop is filled with hundreds of second-hand books. It is Satoru's pride and joy, and he has devoted his life to the bookshop since his wife left him five years earlier.
Hoping to nurse her broken heart in peace, Takako is surprised to encounter new worlds within the stacks of books lining the shop.
And as summer fades to autumn, Satoru and Takako discover they have more in common than they first thought. The Morisaki bookshop has something to teach them both about life, love, and the healing power of books.
Quirky, beautifully written, and movingly profound, Days at the Morisaki Bookshop will appeal to readers of Before The Coffee Gets Cold, The Cat Who Saved Books, and anyone who has had to recover from a broken heart.
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I read this book as it was the selection of the month at my Book Group. In fact, it was me who selected it as I have been wanting to read this for sometime. Also, my son and I both enjoy Japanese literature and pass our books back and forth to one another. This one will be winging its way to his house very soon as it was a lovely novel and one that I think he will enjoy. I also cannot wait to hear what my book group thought of it but I shall have to be patient for a few more days.
I also cannot resist books about books. This one is set in a bookshop in Tokyo's Jimbocho's district, and I enjoyed following Takako's journey as she fell in love with books and reading.
The book is divided into two parts; the first is about Takako's move to the bookshop, and the second is based around the sudden return of her aunt Momoko although Takako features in this part too.
It is an uncomplicated narrative, short and therefore, easy to read. With only 160 pages I completed it in a couple of sittings and found it engaging and enjoyable. It reads as a balm to the soul as it has a calmness running through the prose. It is the sort of book that made me sigh with satisfaction as I was reading it.
It contains themes of love, friendship, loss and discovery. It is about new beginnings and how we can find a way to move forward. Charming and beautiful to read I enjoyed it very much and highly recommend it.
ISBN: 978 1786583239
Publisher: Manilla Press
Formats: e-book, audio and paperback
No. of Pages: 160 (paperback)
About the Author:
Satoshi Yagisawa was born in Chiba, Japan, in 1977. Days at the Morisaki Bookshop, his debut novel, was originally published in 2009 and won the Chiyoda Literature Prize.
(book and author media courtesy of the publisher)
(all opinions are my own)
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