Days at the Morisaki Bookshop

Tuesday I finished reading one amazing book Days at The Morisaki Bookshop by Satoshi Yagisawa. Twenty five year old Takako is going through a lot in her life. Takako discovers her boyfriend Hideaki is marrying someone else and has been stringing her and the fiancé along. This causes Takako to quit her job so she wouldn’t have to breathe the same air as him. One night after feeling down in the dumps, Takako receives a call from her Uncle Satoru. Satoru offers Takako a room to stay in a rent free room above the bookshop Satoru owns in exchange for Takako helping her uncle there. What’s really neat is this bookshop is in the town of Jimbocho Tokyo’s Book district. Takako begrudgingly accepts not having many options. While there Takako discovers a love of books and makes wonderful new friends along the way and becomes closer to her Uncle who she discovers there’s more to him than meets the eye.

The Setting & Characters

The fact that this book takes place in another country, especially Tokyo and that it takes place at a bookshop in a town where there’s a book district won me over. I love most of the characters because you feel as though you can either relate to them or know someone who is similar to them. Even if you don’t, you sure would like to meet them. Takako, Uncle Satoru & Akira Wada are my favorite characters. I love how Takako’s love for reading grows and she gets to know her uncle and that he’s not just a silly man. Takako does the most growth as a character and I love how Satoru helps her and is patient with her despite her resistance. I also like Akira Wada and I’m rooting for him to get with Takako.

The Writing

I love how descriptive the writing is and I also enjoy that it’s Takako telling her story from the first person narrative & how it’s also translated from the original Japanese to English.  I can read any story whether its first or third person, omnipresent, & multiple point of view but my favorite is when you read the character telling their own story.

Overall

Overall if you enjoy reading books about bookshops, the magic of stories within the books, stories that take place in different parts of the world, I recommend Days at the Morisaki Bookshop by Satoshi Yagisawa. Thank you Satoshi for writing this amazing story and Eric Ozawa for translating it, I can’t wait to read the sequel More Days at the Morisaki Bookshop to find out what happens next!