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.

I liked the concept of this book however I did feel like I was missing parts of the story. This could be because if the translation.
This book would be great for fans of before the coffee got cold as they both have the same cozy feeling.
I loved how this mentioned the love of books and how the character got through a difficult time by reading books. I could relate to this quite a lot.
Overall I think the writing was a bit simple but I did enjoy it. Thank you Netgalley

Days at the Morisaki Bookshop is a short, slice of life fiction book by Satoshi Yagisawa, which has been translated into English by Eric Ozawa.
I absolutely love books about books. This was such an easy and enjoyable read, it is definitely not plot-driven by any means but getting to know these characters was a true delight. There is strong themes of family and love, and whilst there is romance, this is not the focus of the storyline. The characters are charming, I really enjoyed the main character Takako and seeing her fall in love with reading and books. Momoki was an interesting character and I thought the book was going to take a darker turn but it was clear after all she had been affected by how her personality had evolved. I thought that the Tokyo setting was very immersive too.
There is a second book in this series which I'm hoping will get the chance for an English translation so I will keep an eye out. I would have probably rated this 3.5 stars if Goodreads allowed half stars but it is definitely deserving of being rounded up to 4 stars overall. I think the book would have benefited from some stronger plot lines and I'm hoping we get this in book #2.
⭐⭐⭐⭐ 4/5

Thank you to NetGalley, Bonnier Books UK and Satoshi Yagisawa for allowing me to read this book in exchange for an honest review.

Review posted to Goodreads and Amazon.

This book is exactly what I needed! This is sunshine and a big old hug in a book.
It’s a warm jumper on a chilly day.

Everyone who knows me will know that if a book has been translated from Japanese and is about heartbreak and love I’m in, if it’s about books or cats then bonus points.
I have been wanting to read this book for what feels like an eternity (bloody book buying bans 😭) so thank goodness I finally gave in and bought it.

After takakos boyfriend breaks up with her in the most devastating way and her life gets thrown into turmoil she gets offered the chance of a lifetime by her uncle and decides to move above the family bookshop rent-free to work out what she wants to do next in life. (Why was I never given this option 🤣)
Whilst staying there she discovers the worlds that books can transport her to and falls in love with reading along with discovering the world that her little bookshop inhabits.
If you’re feeling those winter blues then pick up this little joyous book today.

This is one of those easy to read books which is so beautifully told and with so many layers built into it that you can keep going back to it year after year.

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

“Little by little, I felt something wash over me, a feeling of peace that words can’t express. If I had to explain it, I’d say it could only have come from the writer’s fervent love for life.”

This brilliant story is eloquent in its description of how it feels to love books. It has the special kind of comfort that you can only find in a book shop. Takako discovers her love of reading through one novel that kickstarts her joy, I know this experience so it resonated with. Hugely recommend.

Days at the Morisaki Bookshop is a heartwarming and comforting story about the possibility of starting anew at any time, with a delightful emphasis on finding solace in books. An absolute must for the lovers of the many Japanese tales that have been circulating this year. 📚

Devoured in on sitting. A beautiful story interwoven with love, family, friendship and honour. The description of the bookstore felt so real, I felt I was there, I wished I could be there. Loved the characters, loved the story, I didn’t want it to end.

Days at the Morisaki Bookshop - Satoshi Yagisawa

After a disastrous end to a relationship and subsequently quitting her job Takako reluctantly moves into a small room over her uncle’s bookshop. For someone (Takako) who does not read literature she finds solace in reading and gets to know people in the nearby community at the local coffee shop. The story is written in two halves the first focuses very much on Takako moving on from her relationship and the second after her uncle is reunited with his long-lost wife Momoko, after her mysterious disappearance some years previously.

This was a quiet pleasant unassuming read which was simply written. The fact that the literary references were not known did not really matter. However it could have done with a little more meat on the bones of the characters for me.

A quaint story. Gets a bit dull in Part II, but overall an enjoyable read. The story and characters are simple, and the themes are a bit of a mixed bag that never fully get you anywhere.

Takako comes to live at her uncle Satoru’s bookshop after a breakup with her boyfriend and resignation from her job. She comes to lick her wounds in peace but finds herself exploring books, making new friends and building an adult relationship with her uncle. She finds herself taking joy, inspiration and hope through her reading.

This time in the bookshop allows her to find a new focus, a new home and a new job.

The second half of the book tells the story of Satoru’s marriage to Momoko who returns after 5 years leaving Satoru wanting answers as to why she left. He hopes Takako can build a relationship with her and find out his answers.

A story of books, relationships, family and community.

An enjoyable, charming read.

This is a translation of a Japanese novel so I was looking forward to reading it as I expected it would be quite a bit different from my usual books.  I've only read one Japanese novel before, Before the Coffee Goes Cold by Toshikazu Kawaguchi, so I wasn't entirely sure what to expect from this one. 

It was quite an easy read with a gentle tone although it also seemed to be all on one level emotionally.  It's hard to say how much of that is down to the translation. It was interesting to see the different culture represented in it, lots of mentions of bowing and other etiquette.  The first part was good and focused more on Takako discovering a love of reading.  The second part was very different and focused more on Satako and his wife Momoko.  I enjoyed the part where Takako and Momoko took a trip - the description of the journey, the hotel, and what they did were interesting because of the cultural aspect.  I wasn't sure how to feel about Momoko.  She did seem a bit odd but when her backstory was revealed, it felt as though that was supposed to be an explanation for her character as well as her actions but I wasn't sure it did.  Saturo was an interesting character although I don't think I saw him as quite as odd as a Japanese reader would.  Overall, an interesting and enjoyable read.

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for giving me an advance copy to review.

A wonderful, gentle, life affirming little book. I want to visit Jimbocho, the bookshop district of Tokyo. This book was a real pleasure to read. Easy to read and left me wanting more.

Thank you to the publisher and Netgalley UK for providing me with an advanced copy. All opinions are my own.

I loved this book. A great cast of characters and a gentle storyline of love, heartbreak, betrayal and finding yourself.. Right at the beginning we meet 25 year old Takako as she is breaking up with her boyfriend of 12 months who casually informs her that is getting married next year. And not to her. Suffering from abject heartbreak, she leaves her job, because he works for the same firm, and her flat. Takako moves in with her uncle who owns a second hand book shop. In exchange for helping out in the shop, she gets to stay in the tiny flat above the shop. At first she hates the smell of the musty old books and when not working sleeps and sleeps her way through the weeks. Eventually her Uncle Saturo gets her to leave her bed and join him his local coffee shop. And here we meet a gorgeous cast of characters. We see Takako learn to love both the books and reading, making friends with the locals and slowly come back to life.

This is a lovely gentle book that I will return to over and over again. A thoroughly enjoyable book set in the Morisaki Bookshop in Jimboku district of Tokyo. An area full of bookshops.

A simple tale of relationships and connections, all-encompassing building a love of books and reading.
Takako is a young woman floundering after discovering her boyfriend is marrying someone else.
She responds to a request from her uncle to come to his second-hand bookshop to stay and help out for a while as she gets to grips with her life again.
Translated fiction is always a chance you take. This was an interesting story, but I felt it was sometimes a little disjointed. Still, a short, entertaining read.
Many thanks to NetGalley and Bonnier Books for an ARC.

I always jump at the chance to read books by Japanese authors. I generally love the touch of magical realism that can often been found in the storylines. Unfortunately this novel didn’t live up to my expectations. I still quite enjoyed it but I felt that something was maybe lost in the translation.