I LOVE IT I FINISHED IT IN ONE DAY!!!
I didn't realise I would enjoy it as much as I felt right now. The story telling flew effortlessly and it was very heartwarming 🥺🥺🥺 there are lessons on everyone's journey.

So, this book has 5 chapter. Each chapter has different pov BUT they connect one way or another. As an acquittance, friends, ex co workers, etc. What makes it more beautiful is that ALL OF THEM WENT TO THE LIBRARY AND THE SUBTLE LIFE CHANGING THEY EXPERIENCE IS PRICELESS.

I adore how the author manage to get me hooked from the 5 diff povs. We're seeing from the first person pov on every chapter. The distinctive characterization was clear. They all have solid personality. It got me care for them and happy once they get a betterment in any form.

As a 25+ reader, this slice of life book hits too close to home. I reflect soooo many things from these characters. It talked about works and dreams, and it opened a vast hopeful opportunity to still "live" your life as you grow older. Do not let age limit what you want and can do.

I'm not even 30, but I feel old already. I get anxious easily about the future and what if I can settle down the way other people are able to achieve. What if my work is not enough for me to live the old age. Not to mention the age limit to apply for a new job in my country in very very young (mostly 27yo). When I say this book is an eye opening, I'm not exaggerating. It warms me to be able to reflect that life goes on, and the playground is big. When you're forty, it could be you're about to start 💞🫶🏽

I love it so much!!!
I love the English translation, too. Turn out the translator is the same of Sweet Bean Paste (which I also happen to like)!!!

I work within Penguin Random House and received this book as part of Penguin Reads, meaning I am not expected to review in exchange for my free digital copy.

What You Are Looking For Is In The Library is a novel by best-selling Japanese author, Michiko Aoyama. It is translated from Japanese by Alison Watts. Each of the five chapters focuses on a resident of Tokyo who has some dissatisfaction with their life. Through various means, they find themselves at the Hatori Community House, visiting its library. Nozomi Morinaga, the young trainee librarian points them in the direction of the librarian.

Despite her forbidding demeanour, when Sayuri Komachi asks “What are you looking for?” they feel like gently enfolding words. She is a large lady who, between making recommendations for books, often sits behind her counter pulling wool and needle from her Kuremiyado Honeydome soft cookie box to indulge in the calming pastime of felting, creating mascots she gives away with those enigmatic recommendations: “This one’s for you. Please take it. It’s a bonus gift with the book.”

At twenty-one, Tomoka Fujiki is unhappy with her achievements and lack of ambition: advancement in the women’s wear section of the Eden department store doesn’t exactly appeal. Kiriyama, her colleague in the ZAZ eyewear department, whom she later learns gave up an enviable career with a publisher, suggests updating her IT skills at the Hatori CH.

Among several IT manuals, Sayuri’s puzzling pick for Tomoka is a popular classic children’s book, “Guri and Gura”, from which everyone she meets draws a different message. A change in perspective means that Tomoka comes to see her older, experienced part-time colleague in a different light, while Kiriyama’s attitude, “‘In a world where you don’t know what will happen next, I just do what I can right now” has merit.

An accountant for Kishimoto, a furniture business, thirty-five-year-old Ryo Urase wonders if he will ever realise his dream of owning an antique store. It was his happy place as a teen, but while his younger girlfriend runs a successful online business selling sea glass jewellery, Ryo can’t see himself saving enough to start up, let alone succeed. Among business start-up guides, Sayuri also suggests for Ryo “How Do Worms Work” which, in a roundabout way, leads him to considering the possibility of parallel careers, with unexpected support from his girlfriend.

After thirteen successful years with magazine publisher Banyusha as editor for their young women’s magazine, Mila, thirty-eight-year-old Natsumi Sakitani is disappointed to be relegated to Information Resources when she returns from maternity leave. Her birthing of a serial novel by the famous Mizue Kanata, later published as a book, apparently counts for little. At forty, she feels she is finding little satisfaction with either motherhood or her career.

Sayuri tells her: “Life is one revelation after another. Things don’t always go to plan, no matter what your circumstances. But the flip side is all the unexpected, wonderful things that you could never have imagined happening. Ultimately it’s all for the best that many things don’t turn out the way we hoped” and recommends a novel “Door To The Moon”. Eventually, Natsumi realises she has been seeing herself as a victim. A suggestion from Kiriyama, a former colleague, finds her in a very satisfactory new career.

Although Hiroya Suda went to design school with the intention of realising his dream to be a famous graphic artist, at thirty, he is still unemployed and living at home with his mother. When he finds himself in the library at Hatori CH during a shopping chore, the attractive young assistant librarian points him to Sayuri as the source of a cute Manga mascot. The frustrated artist draws inspiration from her recommendation, “Evolution- a visual record”, and begins drawing again. Regular visits to the library result in paid work and exposure of his talent.

Masao Gonno has retired after forty-two years with Kuremiyado, and “now that I no longer work for a company I am no longer acknowledged by society at large.” He realises he was mistaken in thinking that he had a wide personal network when it was all business associates, and he has a worrying lack of hobbies.

The man who gives him a Go lesson warns him about getting underfoot with his wife, Yoriko, who teaches IT at Hatori CH. Sayuri recommends a book of poetry, “Genge and Frogs” that surprisingly helps him reconnect with his somewhat estranged daughter, and he begins to see the remainder of his life from a different perspective.

What initially seem like separate vignettes begin to connect when characters start appearing in each other’s stories, which allows further resolution and provides some back story. Aoyama gives her characters wise words and insightful observations, and her love of, and respect for, books and libraries is apparent at every turn, as “People working in the book industry are not the only ones who make the publishing world go round; most of all it depends on the readers. Books belong to everybody: the creators, the sellers and the readers. That’s what society is all about” and “Readers make their own personal connections to words, irrespective of the writer’s intentions, and each reader gains something unique” illustrate. Utterly delightful!
This unbiased review is from an uncorrected proof copy provided by NetGalley and Random House UK Transworld.

In a community centre sits an inconspicuous library. In the library works the quite conspicuous Sayuri Komachi. She seems to just know what book you should read, even if it doesn't make any sense to you why she should recommend it.

That book will change your life.

Fans of the 'Before the Coffee' series, or 'Days at the Morisaki Bookshop', will love this. It's a love story for books, the power of reading and the freedom and future possibilities that books bring. Just wonderful.

(With thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for an ARC of this title.)

A charming and fantastic read. It enchanted me from the first page, and was overall incredibly enjoyable. I'd definitely recommend picking up this book, even if you've not really delved into translated fiction before. It is a magical read.

I loved this book, such a gorgeous and comforting read. Our characters go to the library and ask Ms Kumuchi for a book recommendation and get so much more, changing in themselves and therefore experience positive changes in their lives, I enjoyed following all their individual stories and how they interlinked.

A really fabulous read. I love Japanese translated fiction and this is definitely one of them. Hopeful and fun and emotional, and just really pretty great.

This was a lovely novel full of heartwarming happy endings and loveable protagonists. A story about a librarian, told by the narration of the events of five different characters' lives which lead them to the library in search of book recommendations and possibly something more, though they aren't sure what.

In the books that she recommends and the tiny felted toy that she gifts them with each list, each character finds deeper meaning and eventually, are inspired to take a new direction in life and come to understand what they truly desire. This is a lovely wholesome read and I can see why it has been so successful in Japan! I am very grateful for the opportunity to read this and will be highly recommending it!

This book is an absolute gem! A really warm, cosy read.

The book is essentially five shorter stories of individuals struggling with finding their place on life. Each has something they aren’t quite happy with and a trip to the library in a local community centre sets them on the right path.

The stories are intertwined and it’s nice to see the small impacts and interactions that the characters we have already met have on those we are just getting to know.

This was just a pleasure to read and I would recommend it to anyone who is looking for an uplifting, charming, cosy little book to read on these dark nights.

I’m that brand of librarian that is instantly drawn to books with “library” or “librarian” in the title. While most of the stories were cosy and heartwarming, I’m slightly disappointed that the librarian was a caricatured side character,

What You Are Looking for is in the Library is a beautiful and hopeful book about not being where you want to be in life and learning to make what you want more of a reality but in a realistic way. It is very down to earth and relatable, the stories are about real people with realistics dreams and goals that we can see ourselves in. It points out the fact that we may not actually be unhappy with our lives and where we are at but we might want a bit more to feel truly satisfied.

This book contains multiple stories from different characters persepctives but as they all live in the same area and go to the same library they do interlink a little bit which was nice to see! Each character was very different and at a different stage in life, I really enjoyed each of their stories and rooted for them all. I liked the library aspect of the book as it shows how important libraries are and the different things they can do for people other than just borrowing books.

This was a quick and easy read but it really is a feel good book with lots of heartwarming moments that also makes you think about what it means to be happy and fulfilled in life. I'd definitely reccommend reading this book!

A delight
A gentle,engaging and uplifting read.
A librarian at a community college assists people in finding what they are really seeking. Five people some of whom are vaguely connected visit the library for different reasons, they are helped by the library assistant then by the librarian. The enquires all receive a felted toy as well as a list of books to help them.
Thank you NetGalley and Michiko for this lovely book

Heartwarming and inspiring tales of people who find purpose or meaning from an encounter with their librarian, the books she recommends, and there experiences they have walking to people and finding out about themselves and how they can find their place in the world.

I love that all the books are real, and listed at the end - I’ll see if my own library stocks them!

My love for Japanese translated fiction continues with this quiet, simply beautiful book that will totally pull on your heart strings.

“What you are looking for is in the library” is a book of short stories loosely connected by their location and the character of Ms Komachi, a librarian in a small library in a community centre in one of Tokyo's districts. In each chapter we meet a different person who’s looking for something in their life. They always end up in the library as a coincidence, and when talking to the Librarian, they are always offered the title of one special book and a little felted toy.
Reading the stories felt to me like one warm hug, a little glimpse into someone else's life, stopping just long enough to get to know someone a bit. You come to care about the characters as you realise that they flounder, cannot make decisions, and often are at a pivotal moment in their lives. A young mother is struggling to balance the needs of her career and her family. A man is finding a space for himself. Other people come and leave, connecting with each other and with all the stories.
This is a story about the importance of books and communities – books that nourish not only our brains, but also our hearts, communities that, like the library, draw in young and old, people looking for answers, for inspiration, hope and safe space. But is Ms Komachi a magician? A benign being granting people a wish? How does she know what people rely need? Whatever the case, I think that libraries and librarians are always a bit magical.

I’m becoming a huge fan of books about Japanese library as they’re both heartwarming and multi-layered. You read a story that will make you smile but there’s also an evolution and a change.
The books, the libraries are a portal to discover who you are and what you need to change and be happy.
This is a celebration of community library as a place where you can find knowledge and librarians that act as interface.
This is a fast read and it celebrates life and the possibility of changing and getting a better life using books as tools for magic spells.
Loved it and want to read other books by this author.
Highly recommended.
Many thanks to the publisher for this ARC, all opinions are mine

"Life is one revelation after another. Things don't always go to plan, no matter what your circumstances. But the flip side is all the unexpected, wonderful things that you could never have imagined happening. Ultimately it's all for the best that many things don't turn out the way we hoped."

This lovely, gentle book from Japan features five individual stories of people who are connected by one thing: a community library. Some are unhappy in their jobs. Some feel like they have no purpose in life. Others don't know how to connect with people around them.

All of them find their way to the library, where the expert librarian recommends books on topics that interest them, but also books that have nothing to do with what they requested. These books, however, will help them discover truths about their lives, helping them make decisions that will enrich them.

At its heart, the book shows how the library is the pillar of a community, how it enhances people's lives, and how it can help us find answers not just to practical questions but metaphysical ones such as how our lives are given meaning.

A charming comforting read! A selection of 5 integrating short stories all brought together by a library and a librarian. This gave me 'Before The Coffee Gets Cold' feel but I actually preferred reading this as it just felt abit more lighthearted and enjoyable. I will definitely be adding the paperback to my collection when it comes out.

Thank you Netgalley and the publishers for this ARC.

4/5 stars

Beautiful stories told from the perspective of five different people who visit their local library and the valuable lessons they learn Sayuri Komachu, the Librarian and the books recommended for them.
They’re all at different crossroads in their lives.
It’s about the magic of community libraries and the discovery of connection.
A homage to books and reading - how a book opens up a new world of possibilities.
How the perfect book recommendation can change a reader’s life.
It’s cosy, heartwarming, feel good book, with charming characters, so relatable, showing how we’re never too old to start over.
However I did find the over use of metaphors a bit too twee.
Perfect for fans of The Midnight Library
Thanks @michikoaoyama @doubledayuk & @netgalley for the eARC

A delightfully poignant little book about refinding purpose in your life and how the smallest actions or smallest moments can have a momentous impact on our everyday lives and the way we think about our daily existence. This gave me strong "When the coffee gets cold" vibes and I would strongly recommend to anyone who is at a point in their life where they are not sure what their next step should be.