3.5 stars rounded up to 4. Thank you to NetGalley and Manilla Press for the ARC. This is a really sweet little book. Originally published in 2009, it’s a shame that it has taken so long to be translated and published in English. Similar in tone to Welcome to the Hyunam-Dong Bookshop, this is a feel-good story of how family, coffee and an extensive supply of good reading material can go a long way to healing a broken heart. Short and sweet.

'Days at the Morisaki Bookshop' is a short novel that isn't quite a coming of age story but is about finding yourself and finding connections through literature. It would make a great gift for any book-loving friends you have out there who are looking for a cosy story about growing as a young adult.

I would love to visit this magical little bookshop in Jimbocho! What a beautifully written simple love story told with such empathy and gentleness! Takako is recovering from a broken heart and is invited to stay with her Uncle Satoru at his bookshop! It is here that she discovers the joy of reading! Unbeknown to her, her Uncle is also suffering with his love life and so as the relationship between Uncle and Niece grows they are able to help each other recover what they have lost! I absolutely loved it!

I enjoyed this book - it was gentle, quiet and understated in the best kinds of ways. Like a lot of Japanese fiction I have read lately it focussed on everyday characters, living everyday lives, overcoming everyday problems. However, despite being firmly rooted in the real world, I found it marvellously escapist - an entire neighbourhood of second-hand bookshops, with a lovely coffee shop in the middle of it, is exactly the sort of fantasy life I would want to run away to! I thought the characters (even the minor ones) all felt like real believable people and I enjoyed being in their company. The story itself was largely driven by the characters, and the choices they made, which I appreciated and it had enough just enough drama to keep me interested all the way to the end.

If I have one minor criticism it’s that some of the writing felt a bit basic in places. I know simplicity can be a stylistic choice and although it largely fitted the story here, there were occasions where it did sometimes feel just a bit clumsy.

All in all I thought this was a nice cosy read and one that I’d recommend if, like me, you love bookshops and you enjoy modern Japanese literature.

Although I haven't read a huge amount of Japanese fiction, one thing I always love, is Japanese authors' somewhat unique ability to convey extremely deep feelings in a very low key and unassuming writing style, without the need to throw in expletives or to make a big fuss. This often hits so deeply, that few things have broken me in the same way as Japanese works have.
This book isn't quite as devastating as some others out there, but that beautiful way of whispering things that have the ability to cut deep is definitely present here.
Even readers like myself, who have never been to Japan and who are not familiar with the settings, will be able to visualise these, as they are incredibly well described, in a writing style that manages to convey images in an uncluttered and effective manner.
This also applies to the characters and the relationships that exist or develops between them. Although some of the writing feels a bit stunted at times, and I am sure that something is lost in translation, these are a unfortunate but sometimes inevitable negative points of reading a translated book. I didn't however feel that the translation took too much away. There is sufficient context given by the author to make characters and interactions clear. I was by no means left confused by how I should feel about someone or about something that is going on in the story.
Days at the Morisaki Bookshop is a sweet short novel that is very moving in parts. It carries revelations about relationships and past events of Momoko and Satoru's life that explain both her actions and his attitude to life and by doing so, it quietly provides a life lesson about getting to know someone properly before judging them for their actions or even their personalities.
The setting of Satoru's second hand bookshop is of course what attracted me to this story in the first place and the picturesque rendition of the Japanese countryside seen through Takako's eyes, as well as the streets of Jimbocho, completely won me over. I now need to go to Jimbocho, so so badly.
I really loved spending time at the Morisaki Bookshop. It's quietly as full of feelings as it's full of books and beautiful images of places I would really love to find out more about.

Every now and again I read some Japanese literature in translation and I always enjoy it but often find it slightly more melancholic than I want it to be. This is one of those. The central character is Takako who goes to stay in the flat above her uncle Satoru's bookshop after her boyfriend tells her he is marrying someone else. What happens then is a discovery of shared community, making of new friends, a new found love of reading and a greater understanding of love. It's short but it's very readable, although I preferred the first section that is about Takako, her uncle and the community around the bookshop to the second part which has the return of Satoru's long disappeared wife.

Loved this premise, I am, quite frankly a sucker for books about books and the first part of this book at least partly delivers. We follow Takako as she finds solace in Uncle Satori’s second hand bookshop after a messy breakup and see her love for books and reading come to fruition.

The second part of the book hinges on the story between Uncle Satoru and his wife who returns after walking out 5years earlier. Their story is full of heartache but I found the writing a bit stilted. This I put down to the translation, even so it meant I found it difficult to engage with the characters. With a simple narrative and meandering story (which the Days at the Morisaki Bookshop is) that connection with the characters is all important and without it, well it left me wanting more.

Thanks to Netgalley for providing an advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.

Read in October 2023
Thoughtful, charming book about the healing power of love in all its forms. Also beautifully written - short, elegant and knows when to leave things unsaid. I would recommend.

Thanks to the author, publisher and NetGalley for a copy in return for an honest review.

https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/5936421828

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for a copy of this book with no obligation to review.

I enjoyed this book, particularly the first part. In the second part I was not that interested in Momoko who seemed unreasonable and a bit selfish/self absorbed.

Ok, so not much actually "happens" in the book but I enjoy reading about the normal lives of normal people and I loved the description of the bookshop itself, the bookshop district, the coffee shop and the various denizens and patrons.

i am also grateful to this book for introducing me to the great poems and haikus of Taneda Santoka. I love the work of the Chinese poet Wang Wei (especially In the empty hills, just after rain) and these haikus remind me of his gentle, thoughtful and somewhat melancholy work. I now also have some books by Japanese authors on my ever growing TBR list, which, as all booklovers know, I WILL get to the end of someday.

I adore this book! Takako is a beautiful and relatable character and her journey is incredible. I loved the bookstore activity and her reconnecting to herself and her uncle.
I am going to Japan next year and cannot wait to head to Jimbocho book town and explore!

This is the story of a young lady healing her heart surrounded by books and new acquaintances. It was a sweet book but I didn’t feel as attached to the characters as I hoped to, maybe something got lost in translation. I would love to go to this area full of bookshops and the best coffee shop though.

Thanks to Netgalley for the book in return for a review.

This is a relatively short book, translated from Japanese and told in two main parts. The first part centres around Takako, a woman in her twenties who, following an upsetting break-up from her partner, goes to live with her eccentric Uncle who runs a second-hand bookshop. Takako's immersion into her new community and a new-found love of reading helps her to over-come the pain of the past and offers her a different view of the world.
The second part of the book focuses on the relationship between Takako and her Auntie, who returned to the area after a period of absence following marital issues with her Uncle.
I think the book loses a little in translation as the language felt a bit dis-jointed and clunky at times. Overall an enjoyable short read especially suited to those who love books about books!
I am grateful to the publishers and Netgalley for an advanced reader copy of this book.

The story is cozy, charming and understated but gives the readers an opportunity to glimpse a life with relatable struggles and personal victories. It talks about family, relationships and self rediscovery. I enjoyed reading this book!

Thank you to Netgalley and Bonnier Books UK for the e-ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I really enjoyed reading this book. It was a great read. Thank you to the writer, publisher and NetGalley for letting me review this book

I am a huge fan of Japanese fiction and books in translation generally. "Days at the Morisaki Bookshop" does not disappoint. It is a gentle, relatively short read that languidly unfolds as the seasons change in the book district of Tokyo. After a break-up and quitting her job, Takako spends a couple of months at the Morisaki Bookshop, something she sees as a holiday 'from her real life'. During this time however, apart from the joy of books, she discovers a few gentle revelations about herself, life and her aunt and uncle. An added bonus is the inclusion of a few ideas on other Japanese books worth reading. Special thank you to Bonnier Books UK and NetGalley for a no obligation advance review copy.

I'll start by saying I loved this book and thank you to NetGalley for the ARC.

Takako's boyfriend is getting married......just not to her. Upon finding that she has been the "other woman" Takako leaves her job and goes to stay with her uncle in his small bookshop while she nurses her wounds. She doesn't get how her uncle is managing to keep this bookshop going, there are so many other bookshops and she barely sees anyone come in but over time she meets the people that have made running his business worth it and a protector in her uncle.

I won't go into too much detail. The book synapsis itself will give a gist of the story. I found this book to be charming and the perfect choice for a cosy read. I feel I will come back to it and read again and I loved the characters. I'd love a second book to revisit this world.

I'm always here for a book about bookshops and this is a lovely little story that really packs a punch! It centres around the connection that people can feel with books and the community it creates and had all the feels!!

Takako is a young girl who is shy and the only people she sees are at the office where she works. And that world comes crumbling down when her boyfriend announces he's marrying someone else.... but he can carry on seeing her as well!! She receives an offer from an Uncle to go live with him at his bookshop so she has no option but to take him up on the offer.

And what she finds is a place where everyone knows one another in the local community. She's not a reader so she doesn't get what the big pull is in this weird little shop, overfilled with books but she's about to be hit by the reading bug and it's a wonderful thing!

Spending time with her uncle brings back lovely childhood memories for her and it's so lovely to see that time well spent and also find friendships with customers and these connections bring her back to a happy life and give her that confidence to feel good about herself. To face things and not run away anymore. A great little bookish read!!

Thank you to NetGalley and Bonnier Books UK for the ebook.

This was a nice read that followed the niece of a bookstore owner and the varying things that happened around her for I would say around a year or so.

It had a slice of life feel, where you were placed into someone’s everyday life during a hard time and saw how they worked through and around it.

LOVE THIS BOOK!!! I borrowed it from a friend when it was first released and when I saw a return on NetGalley I couldn't resist reading again and having a copy to keep.

I’m in the minority here in not absolutely loving this book. I could not warm to the character Takako at all, to me she comes across as very immature and naive, despite being twenty five.
The story is very simplistic, and some of the dialogue is a bit strange, possibly due to translation. I’m sorry to say I just skimmed through it, but didn’t enjoy it on any level. It’s just not to my taste sadly.
My thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for my advance copy of this book.