‘Days at the Morisaki Bookshop’ by Satoshi Yagisawa was a gorgeously written, tranquil sanctum of a book. It was vivid, sweet, emotional, full of authentic human connection and falling in love with books (and oneself). I loved MC Takako, and the atmosphere of the bookshop was just the best thing. Highly recommend!

This book touch on subjects like family, new beginnings, and friendships. I wasn't sure about this book at first but I slowly got into it and it was a very beautiful story that I will think about for some time.

I was drawn to this story initially because of the bookish premise. After twenty five year old Takako loses her boyfriend and her job in the span of a day, she has nowhere else to turn — so when her uncle Satoru invites her to stay in a room above his Morisaki bookshop in exchange for helping him watch the shop several hours a day, Takako agrees, even though she has never been a reader and has no interest in books. When she arrives at the location of her family’s bookshop in Jimbocho, she finds that the area is actually a book lover’s paradise where “everywhere you turned, there was another bookshop.” At the Morisaki bookshop, Takako is (literally) surrounded by books day and night — not surprisingly, she also encounters various people who love to read. Pretty soon, Takako experiences for herself the healing power of books, but more significantly, her stay at the bookshop ends up changing her life in ways she never thought possible.

This was a simple, quiet story filled with eccentric yet endearing characters that you couldn’t help but love — for me, these were the main strengths of the book. Unfortunately, the execution didn’t quite work for me, as the writing felt choppy and stilted, with some sections sounding really awkward to read. The pacing also felt off, with the two parts that the story was divided into feeling like two different books, which kind of threw me off a bit. I’m not sure if something was lost in translation or the original work was written this way, but I just felt like there was more potential to the story than was tapped into. And I must admit that I was a tad disappointed with the second half of the story veering away from the bookish aspects that played such a huge role in the first half.

Overall, this was an “okay” read. I enjoyed some aspects over others and definitely felt the first half of the story was much stronger. This is an instance where I wish I knew Japanese so I could check out the original work and see if the experience would be different. Ah well, that’s how things go, I guess.

Received ARC from Harper Perennial via NetGalley.

Thank you to Net Galley and Harper Perennial for the ARC in exchange for my honest review. The story centers on an area in Tokyo called Jimbocho which is filled with second hand bookshops. Takako, who recently learned that her boyfriend is marrying someone else, she's a bit a lost and agrees to live at her uncle's bookshop rent free in return for working and helping at the bookshop. She meets people and the neighborhood and regular customers and learns more about her aunt who up and left her uncle suddenly. This is a story about people and relationships and learning from each other about life, love and joys of books.

This book was so easy for me to love. It is short (under 200 pages) and a paean to what books, bookshops and reading can mean to people.

Two of the main characters are a twenty-something young woman who has been hurt in a relationship and has, as a result, left her job. She goes to stay with an uncle who has taken over the family used bookstore.

When Takako first arrives, she has no interest in reading but one night all that changes. Through her, readers discover the excitement and sweetness that happens when the world of books opens to a person.

The neighborhood where the bookshop is located is a real one. I would love to go there.

This book is filled with quotable moments. For example:

It was as if, without realizing it, I had opened a door I had never known existed…It was as if a love of reading had been sleeping somewhere deep inside me all this time, an then it suddenly sprang to life. ..And there was no danger Id run out of books…It made me feel like I had been wasting my life…

Anyone who loves books and/or books about books, read this one. You won’t be sorry.

Many thanks to NetGalley and Harper Perennial for this title. All opinions are my own.

I read in another review that the reviewer always feels calmer when reading translated Japanese books and I have to say that I completely agree with her [and didn't realize that was what keeps drawing me to all the books I have read in recent years and loved so much]; even in the midst of a tense scene, there is just so much calmness and peace and I find my whole body relaxing, which is a glorious thing when reading.

This is a lovely little novel about a girl who needs a change, a bookstore and how being there changes her in ways she never thought possible and just how important family [even the ones we think are odd] and friends are in times of trouble. I loved every second of this book [it made me want to go to Tokyo and just lose myself in all the bookshops there and finish up the day in a lovely little coffee shop] and am so glad that I was able to read it.

Thank you to NetGalley, Satoshi Yagisawa, Eric Ozawa - Translator, and Harper Perennial Paperbacks for providing this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I received an e-galley of Days at the Morisaki Bookshop by Satoshi Yagisawa from Harper Perennial via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

In Days at the Morisaki Bookshop, readers follow Takako after she loses her boyfriend who declares that he's getting married to another woman - and from that traumatic experience, she also loses her job and friends. A lifeline is thrown her way when her uncle offers her a place to live for helping out with the family bookshop. While she hasn't seen her uncle in a decade. Takako takes the offer as she does not want to return to her hometown. At the Morisaki Bookshop, Takako begins to heal as she reacquaints with her uncle, and begins to read books at the bookshop. Through the interactions she has with those around her, she begins to discover more of what she may want out of life and who she wants to be.

I've always seen bookshops as a place of healing and peace. And in Days at the Morisaki Bookshop, that sentiment seems to run deep as that is where Takako heals after all that she goes through. It is, of course, more than the bookshop itself that heals her - it's the relationships she builds with those in the community as well as her journey of growth and self-discovery. I found the read to be serene and healing as I followed along Takako's journey with her. This book is slow and steady - definitely. no wild adventures or super climactic plot twist here - but Days at the Morisaki Bookshop is like a little slice of life.

Days at the Morisaki Bookshop
By Satoshi Yagisawa translated by Eric Ozawa
Pub Date: July 4th, 2023

This short novel follows the life of Takako, who after ending a relationship and quitting her job at the age of 25, she moves to the bookstore run by her uncle Satoru. It’s a 30-year-old secondhand bookstore concentrated on modern Japanese authors.
Living around books, she learns from her experiences and from the people around the bookshop.

It is a very short book that it could be read in one sitting. The narrative is very simple and shows everyday life and choices. I enjoyed so much the first part of the novel, the setting is perfect, a bookshop located in a neighborhood full of bookshops which sounds like paradise for a bookworm. Then in a way, the second part is connected to the first but there were moments when I lost interest.
Despite that, it was entertaining and another thing that I liked was all the references to Japanese literature, there were some authors that I have already read and so many others that I would love to explore.

Morisaki shoten no hibi is the film adaptation.
If someday I go to Tokyo, I definitely will visit this paradise of streets full of books at Jimbocho.
It was so nice to learn about this place thanks to the book.

Thank you Harper Perennial and Netgalley for this electronic ARC.

This is a rather short story about a young woman named Takako who's life seems to fall apart all at once when her boyfriend tells her he's getting married!! She leaves the job she works at with him and his fiancé' and now has to figure out what to do. She receives a call from an uncle she hasn't spoken to in many years, asking if she'd like to come work at his used bookshop. She decides to go, just to get away. While there, she discovers a love of reading, meets new friends, and reconnects with the uncle she discovers is very different than she once thought.
It's a sweet novel written originally in Japanese, about family and friends, centered around a used bookstore. If you are looking for a story with a little bit of love, little bit of heartache, and finding out what it feels like to belong, you'll like this little gem.
Thank you Harper Perennial and NetGalley for allowing me to read an advanced copy in return for my honest opinion of this book.

Beautiful & thought provoking 📚

Japanese fiction is one of my all time favorite genres and I was so excited when I saw that Days at the Morisaki Bookshop was being published in English - I knew I had to read it asap! Not only is the cover absolutely gorgeous - but the book itself is breathtaking and inspiring.

We follow Takako who has recently lost her way in life after a tumultuous end to a relationship - causing her to loose her job, friendships and motivation. Her life trajectory changes when she receives a call from her estranged uncle Satoru who offers her an apartment above his beloved bookshop in exchange for help around the store. As many of us booklovers do, she begins to find herself in the pages of books - helping her regain what she has lost in herself while also bonding her and Satoru forever.

Days at the Morisaki Bookshop is such a beautiful and thought provoking read filled with family, loss, love, growth, friendship strength and the magic of books. I cannot recommend this book more and hope we will see an English translation of book 2 soon!

Thank you so much to Harper Perennial for the advanced copy.

After a heartbreak, Takako moves in above her uncle's bookshop in Tokyo's largest book town, Jimbōchō. She has no interest in reading despite the fact that generations of her family have owned this secondhand bookstore. But as someone who suffers from insomnia, she gives in to reading as, one day, she picks up a book just to fall asleep. And this is how her whirlwind romance with literature begins.

As the story gently unfolds, we come across elements of both mystery and romance; not just hers but her uncle's as well. These elements of the story jolt you awake from the romance with reading, throwing you into the world of love and loss of these characters.

But despite everything, Days at the Morisaki Bookshop (tr. Eric Ozawa) is a love letter to books. It is nostalgic and heartwarming; a testament to the healing powers of literature. And perhaps a part of you will ache to spend a few days at the Morisaki Bookshop as well . . .

I really wanted to love this book, but there was something about the storytelling that was so awkward, especially in the dialogue, that it was difficult for me to finish this book. I don't know if it is a function of the translation or possibly a cultural difference that I can't quite articulate (although I read lots of Asian authors, including other Japanese translated fiction), but the writing just seemed overly simplistic, like it was written for a middle grade audience. I appreciated the opportunity to read this book ahead of its release and am sorry to not be able to give it a better rating.

I had few expectations when I picked up this novel, but oh was I not expecting it to be as comforting and cozy as it turned out to be. Takano has checked off all the boxes with her life, has done everything she was supposed to, but when her boyfriend announces he’ll be marrying another woman he was seeing while also seeing her, Takano feels her life spiral out of her control. Her uncle offers her a place to stay while she figures out what she wants to do and this is how she comes to join the cozy, quirky world of the Morisaki Bookshop.
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I think this book tackles the terror of starting over a life you thought you had sorted out very well, and also presents such an event as a chance to get to know yourself, your community, and recalibrate what you really want out of life. This book is short, but it brings a sort of reassurance to its cozy setting and to its characters who stumble, at various points in their life, but are able to get back up and find a new path. And sometimes, that’s just the kind of story you need 💚
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Hisses & Kisses 🐍
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*Thank‌ ‌you‌ Harper‌ Collins Canada and‌ ‌NetGalley‌ ‌for‌ ‌the‌ ‌eARC in exchange for my honest review*

Pros: I enjoyed reading this book in translation that is a book about books, people who love books and reading, and how a bookshop can be a healing place. I especially enjoyed the translator’s note about the many ways the author features the pleasures of reading. I also liked that this book was about the relationship between a niece and her uncle and aunt because that relationship is not featured in books as much as parent/child, sibling, or grandparent/grandchild relationships.

Cons: For me, the two parts of this book seemed a bit disjointed.

3.5 stars

Thank you to NetGalley and Harper Perennial for the opportunity to read this book.

This is a quiet, peaceful novel about a woman who needs to make a new start in life, and how she finds her joy via her uncle's used bookstore. Much is conveyed in the spare and compact sentences and chapters in this book, yet it always feels calm, never rushed or hurried. It's a lovely journey into a bookish neighborhood in Japan and the lives of this young woman and her community. Thanks to Netgalley and Harper Perennial for the advance digital copy!

A heartwarming story about the power of books to awaken and heal the soul, and how family supports one’s journey. Its books, love and living with quirky characters.

Thank you to @netgalley @harperperennial for the eArc

Thank you Harper Perennial and NetGalley for the eARC of Days at the Morisaki Bookshop! All opinions in this review are my own.

I absolutely loved Days at the Morisaki Bookshop! It reminded me of a combination between The Cat Who Saved Books and Before The Coffee Gets Cold, two of my favorites.

This quick read was able to capture what it is like when you don't know where to go next in life and I love how the main character discovers a love of books during her time at the bookshop. While I would love to be able to visit this street that is full of bookshops, I like that the focus of the novel was more on human relationships. I highly recommend if you want a heartwarming read!

“I don’t think it really matters whether you know a lot about books or not. That said, I don’t know that much myself. But I think what matters far more with a book is how it affects you.”

This was a delightfully lovely, quiet, bookish novel that was easily as reflective and thought-provoking as I was hoping for, and then some. The story follows Takako after a disastrous end to a relationship, leading her to move away from her current life and job to live on the second floor of her eccentric uncle's secondhand bookshop. What follows in the first part of the book is a 'slice of life' type of story of Takako's journey to newfound comfort and solace in her new neighborhood to ease her heartache and help her discover meaning in her own life, mostly in the form of books, coffee shops, and the local people she meets through both. The second part of the story skips ahead a few years and finds Takako together again with her uncle, now helping him to work through his own heartache after the surprise reappearance of his wife that mysteriously left him years earlier.

Takako’s story arc was really satisfying to me, as we truly got to watch her blossom and mature throughout the pages. Although there admittedly wasn't a ton of 'plot' to speak of, it was lovely to see how the power of books and reading allowed Takako to really flourish and grow immensely as a person as she navigated some rather complex emotions and issues along the way. The division of the book itself into two parts set a few years apart did make it feel a bit fragmented to me, and I enjoyed the first part much more than the second. There was one character featured prominently in part two that I had really complicated feelings for, but I'm almost wondering if perhaps that was the intent - it's a book that makes you think about a lot of things from relationships to second chances to grief and mental health.

All in all, I think this "slice of life Japanese literature" might be a new favorite sub-genre of mine. Just like Before the Coffee Gets Cold by Toshikazu Kawaguchi, which I loved earlier this year, this story features short, simple yet beautiful prose that manages to convey deep emotions and life lessons in a really accessible way.

“And yet for all I read, I found book after book that I still wanted to read.”

This was a quick, fairly sweet read with much appeal for those who love reading and who can relate to how reading helps one build community and better understand our own lives and relationships. You do not need to be familiar with Japanese literature to enjoy this book, but I imagine someone more widely read than I would get more from the references. If this were a movie or a miniseries, I would love it.

Takako is dumped by her boyfriend, who was actually seeing someone else and is now marrying that woman, and moves to her uncle's secondhand bookshop. It is here that she grows to overcome her hurt, acquire some friendships, and generally build her life back up. She re-connects with her uncle, and then again when her aunt reappears into the picture years after leaving. I had a fun time with this quirky book.

I received this from NetGalley and Harper Perennial in exchange for an honest review.