It has been an ongoing goal for me to diversify my reading as much as possible. So, when I found out the Dutch version of Days at the Morisaki Bookshop by Satoshi Yagisawa was the book of the month on a Dutch bookish platform, I instantly checked it out. However, I wasn’t that sure about the version of the book I wanted to read. Finally, I decided to go for the English one and today I tell you my thoughts in this book review.

About the book

Days at the Morisaki Bookshop by Satoshi Yagisawa
Series: Morisaki Bookshop #1
Published by Harper Perenial on September 7, 2010
Pages: 150
ISBN: 9780063278677
Genres: Adult, Contemporary, General fiction

The moving international sensation about new beginnings, human connection, and the joy of reading.

Hidden in Jimbocho, Tokyo, is a booklover’s paradise. On a quiet corner in an old wooden building lies a shop filled with hundreds of second-hand books.

Twenty-five-year-old Takako has never liked reading, although the Morisaki bookshop has been in her family for three generations. It is the pride and joy of her uncle Satoru, who has devoted his life to the bookshop since his wife Momoko left him five years earlier.

When Takako’s boyfriend reveals he’s marrying someone else, she reluctantly accepts her eccentric uncle’s offer to live rent-free in the tiny room above the shop. Hoping to nurse her broken heart in peace, Takako is surprised to encounter new worlds within the stacks of books lining the Morisaki bookshop.

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.

My review

Expectations

I am quite ashamed to admit that this is the first book i’ve read by an Asian author. Yes, I’ve read books by American authors with an Asian background or that are from the Asian diaspora. However, I never picked up a book by an author who actually still lives in Asia. Satoshi yagisawa is a Japanese author and many Japanese books are succesful in the western literature. This one apparently not, because this was the first time I learnt about this books’existence. Because I am unexperienced in reading Asian literature, I really didn’t know what to expect and therefore I went into this book blankly.

Characters

This book follows Takako, who had everything and lost everything at once. Her boyfriend apparently wasn’t as faithful as she thought and she therefore quit her job. This took a toll on her mental health and Takako became depressed. When her uncle offers her a job and board and his bookshop, she reluctantly agrees. Takako wasn’t a reader after all. However, the time at the bookshop did her well and she learnt to embrace live again. Because of the length of this novel, it was hard to really feel connected to any of the characters. They often made a short appearance and the characters who appeared more often stayed flat. No one was elaborated in depth. therefore, they were just fine and nothing more or less.

Writing

The writing was again fine. It’s not that perculiar. To me it felt really straight forward. The book is divided into two parts and it’s clear which part you’re reading. I have been reading so many multiple POV narrations lately that I really had to get used to single POV narration again. I therefore found this book also falling flat.

Plot

It’s becoming quite repetitive, but the plot was fine as well. It’s just very simple and straight forward. However, I sometimes struggled a bit with the interactions, but maybe that’s more of a cultural thing. I wwas able to finish this 160 pages book very quickly though. The plot didn’t really stand out to me, it was all quite unspectacular and relaxed. Maybe that’s the strong point of this novel, but it wasn’t really for me. I wasn’t fully invested in this story. It was just a quick in-betweener for me.

Final thoughts

Days at the Morisaki Bookshop by Satoshi Yagisawa is just fine, nothing more or less. It’s an easy read, but it doesn’t have a lot of depth in terms to character growth or plot. It’s really straight forward. There is a sequel, but I’m not sure whether I will pick that one up.