My first review of this year is a book I actually read towards the end of last year – Michiko Aoyama’s ‘What you are looking for is in the library’. This was a birthday present from my sister as she knows I love Japanese arts and culture and when I got round to reading it I really appreciated her choice.
The book is part of a trend I’ve seen – cosy ‘mystical realism’ books featuring a place such as a cafe or store where visitors get more than they came for. The staff or owner seems to have a magical ability not to just give them what they ask for but instead gives them something they really need that helps change their life. This book is centred around a community library in Tokyo where visitors meet the enigmatic librarian Sayuri Komachi who steers them to books that seem unrelated to their initial request as well as giving them a small needle-felted object that ends up having emotional significance. For all these visitors the act of reading the book and the association of the object changes the way they look at their life and leads to them changing for the better.
The book is made up of 5 stories – each of which can be read independently but characters intertwine to have impact on each other’s lives in unexpected ways. They feature people who feel unfulfilled in their current job (or lack of job) and find a way to develop a new skill or the incentive to push for a new role – including the young man who couldn’t find a job because he didn’t fit in and discovered a role for his art skills at the library, to the woman seeking more after returning to work with a young child.
I read this book on train journeys and found it moving. A friend I loaned it to found resonance in the story of the working mother who struggled to balance seeking fulfilment at work with raising her child. There’s something simple and lyrical in how this story works – and credit to the translator Alison Watts for making it work in English. I’d recommend this to anyone looking for an uplifting read to start the year and I’m now picking up some similar books to try out.
