At some point in the past, someone reading this book had felt moved to take a pen and draw a line under these words. It made me happy to think that because I had been moved by that same passage too, I was now connected to that stranger.

Mis días en la librería Morisaki hará las delicias del público japonófilo. Entre sus páginas se nos narra el día a día de un rincón oculto de esa inabarcable urbe, pero también se nos desmenuzan distintas formas de vivir y sentir en el Tokio de hoy en día. Cada uno de los curiosos personajes con los que confraterniza la tímida Tatako representa una forma de ser distinta que encapsula al propio Japón: su melancólico tío, su extravagante tía, los chismosos chicos del café, el hierático cliente habitual… constituyen un mosaico que nos habla de una sociedad compleja, contradictoria, en constante evolución.Taken in isolation Saturo’s words of wisdom about life and love can come across as trite; a bit too much like those awful slogans found on motivational posters; but they do play an important role in the novel. It’s through those conversations that Takoko learns how to trust people again, so she can make friends and build relationships. I liked the way the author, and translator, used language to paint a picture for the reader. One particular example shows how you can use words to create two very different contrasting images: Since this is a book about books, I have to share a quote I loved about the magic of secondhand books. Takako ponders, “I happened to find a pressed flower someone had left as a bookmark. As I inhaled the scent of the long-ago-faded flower, I wondered about the person who had put it there. Who in the world was she? When did she live? What was she feeling? It’s only in secondhand books that you can savor encounters like this, connections that transcend time” (pg. 37). I couldn’t agree more! The book is separated into 2 parts. The first part focuses on the main character, Takako, and her life working at the bookshop, which I found very charming and cute. If you’re a bookworm and a bibliophile, this part will definitely resonate with you! The second part focuses on the Takako’s relationships with others. This part was more emotional. I enjoyed both parts because they each offered something different. Mis días en la librería Morisaki’ es uno de esos libros sencillos agradables de leer. No sé si marcará la vida de alguien, pero te acompaña durante un rato, como un paseo bonito en un día despejado.

When Takako's boyfriend announces that he's getting married, but not to her, she takes refuge in her uncle's secondhand bookshop. Not a reader to begin with, she gradually comes to love both the books and the neighbourhood, and her heart slowly heals under their influence as well as her uncle's care.Eso no es todo: aquí no hay literatura, ni cultura japonesa, ni librerías, ni largas charlas emocionantes, ni puesta en situación… La novela bien podría estar ambientada en una heladería de un centro comercial en Estados Unidos y no notaríamos la diferencia. La narración, los diálogos y cómo se desarrollan los hechos, denota que estamos ante un relato banal, por su sencillez y por la escasa profundidad general. Another time, I happened to find a pressed flower someone had left as a bookmark. As I inhaled the scent of the long-ago-faded flower, I wondered about the person who had put it there. Who in the world was she? When did she live? What was she feeling? Off she goes, except she's not much of a reader and at first feels oppressed by the books all around her, not to mention the somewhat peculiar customers. But the place grows on her, her uncle is a steady and supportive presence, where once she thought him odd and eccentric, even though his wife walked out on him a few years ago. Twenty-five-year-old Takako has never liked reading, although the Morisaki bookshop has been in her family for three generations. It is the pride and joy of her uncle Satoru, who has devoted his life to the bookshop since his wife Momoko left him five years earlier. Leí este libro con una amiga y desde que lo conocimos con su edición en italiano, sabíamos que era el tipo de lectura que disfrutaríamos. De entrada se nos antojaba que “Mis días en la librería Morisaki” iba a ser este tipo de libro confortable, que a mí me gusta comparar con dar un paseo por un lugar agradable, del que siempre sales reconfortado, y aunque es totalmente ese tipo de libro, ambos tuvimos la misma sensación sobre él: libro bonito y tierno muy disfrutable, pero que nos hubiese gustado que fuera más largo, para que fuera más reposado y poder indagar algo más en algunos momentos y personajes. Se nos hizo demasiado breve y alguna trama se queda poco explorada.

I recommend this book if you enjoy Japanese literature and have liked any of the novels I mentioned at the beginning. I'll keep an eye out for this author in the future. 4.5 stars.

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To her uncle's delight, Takako, a nonreader, is gradually pulled into the modern classic Japanese novels piled everywhere in his shop — Junijiro Tanizaki, Osamu Dazai. Her perspective expands. Satoru introduces her to his favorite coffee shop, where she befriends other bibliophiles. Takako tries to help her uncle figure out why his wife Momoko left him without a word of explanation years earlier, and what Satoru — and she herself — might do differently in their relationships. 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. There is something monumentally genle and elegant about this book. It is touching, gentle, humane, and endearing. It stops just short of being a tear jerker. Essentially, it is a book about kindness and the food that life has to offer to anyone with the courage to look for it. No ahondaré más en la trama porque como decía al inicio, es simple y relativamente predecible. Pero de alguna forma, da igual. Me da la sensación que lo que el libro busca es crear un ambiente acogedor y agradable para el lector, hacerle sonreír y si ha tenido un mal día, ayudarle a despejarse. Y sin ser mi tipo de libro predilecto, diré que creo que da lo que promete.