Days at the Morisaki Bookshop by Satoshi Yaisawa (★★★☆☆)
Print • Owned (Barnes & Noble) • Contemporary Fiction • 2010
Short synopsis: After her boyfriend leaves her for another woman, a reluctant reader moves into her uncle’s tiny Tokyo bookshop, where the books, eccentric family, and unexpected connections help her heal and rediscover herself.
I’m going to be honest with you guys: I finished this book almost a month ago and didn’t take any notes on what I thought, so I’m trying to remember exactly why it wasn’t a hit for me. I think I didn’t love this book because the bookshop didn’t play as big a part as I expected. The first half follows Takako, who, after a major life upheaval, ends up living in the apartment above her uncle’s bookstore. She’s not a reader, spends more time sleeping than awake, and isn’t particularly close to her uncle, whom she hasn’t seen in years. This part of the book was great because the bookstore was the setting, and I sympathized with Takako and all the ways she felt her life had imploded. The second half of the book is where it lost me. Now, Takako is living somewhere else, she has a new job, and she barely sees her uncle. And then her uncle’s estranged wife comes back into his life… and chaos ensues? Somewhat? I don’t know, guys. It was just kinda boring, and I found myself liking Takako less and less. At least it was only 150 pages!
The Unselected Journals of Emma M. Lion, Vol. 8 by Beth Brower (★★★★★)
Audiobook • Hoopla • Historical Fiction • 2025
Short synopsis: The Year is 1884 and Emma M. Lion has, at long last, gained her majority. Entering a golden age of friendship with Pierce, Islington, and Hawkes, Emma is confident she will manage whatever comes her way.
I AM NOT OKAY. I finished Volume 8 of Emma M. Lion at the end of August, and now I have to wait until FEBRUARY 2027 for Volume 9. I don’t know if I can handle such a long wait between books, but I must persist. Somehow. (I will do it by buying the physical version of each volume and rereading the whole series before February.) In this book, Emma spends a few weeks at Islington’s estate, where she meets his sister, frolics in nature, and learns more secrets about her tenant, Pierce. You guys cannot talk me out of being Team Hawkes, especially after this book. The boxing scene! The scene of Emma in his room! The laid-back Hawkes at the estate! OMG, Hawkes 4ever.
The Unseen World by Liz Moore (★★☆☆☆ 1/2)
E-book • Libby • Fiction • 2017
Short synopsis: Raised by her brilliant but eccentric computer scientist father in 1980s Boston, Ada Sibelius sets out to uncover the secrets of his mysterious past as his mind begins to fail.
I read The Unseen World like ten years ago, so I actually don’t remember much about it. I even own it! I think it must have been a Christmas gift. It’s one of the few books I own that I haven’t reread, so maybe I should. I’m currently rereading Big Little Lies in preparation for Big Little Truths, and it’s really taking me back in time to when my kids were in elementary.
Ooh, I need to do a Big Little Lies reread! Although things are pretty fresh since I watched the HBO show not too long ago. I’m waiting to see the perception of Big Little Truths before I decide if I want to read it!
The Morisaki Bookshop basically made me want to go to that neighborhood in Japan with all the bookstores! IMAGINE a whole neighborhood of bookstores. I don’t even know if that’s a real thing. Fine, I just looked it up. It is real! The district of Kanda-Jinbōchō in Chiyoda, Tokyo, Japan is known for its high volume and concentration of used bookstores. Let’s plan a trip to Japan!
I thought the beginning of The Unseen World was slow and the epilogue was dumb, but the parts in between were amazing. I sobbed a lot when reading it. I just don’t know if reading about parents getting older is a great genre for me…
The neighborhood sounded SO cute and yes, let’s plan a trip to Japan for the used bookstores!
I was so sad reading The Unseen World. It probably didn’t help that I read it when I was already not feeling my best, so it just made me feel even WORSE.
Well I liked that first book even less as I gave it 2 stars! I should have abandoned it clearly! I am tempted to read The Unseen World but your review is giving me pause… But if I do read it, it will be quite a while from now because I have so many other compelling books to read.
Last week I DNF’d John of John at the 40% mark. I think it’s a 500+ page book so I got quite far! But I did not feel pulled to read the book and I felt like I was being held at arms length/didn’t feel anything for the characters. Next I read “Pearce Oysters” which was just ok (3 stars) and now I’m reading “All the World Can Hold” which is about a group of people who go on a cruise about a week after 9/11 happened. I just started it but love the writing style so far!
I saw your rating for Morisaki on Goodreads and I was surprised… until I got about halfway through. And then I got it. Ha!
Ah, John of John. I was thinking about picking up that book. But something I’m realizing is that if it’s a book Rebecca Shinsky is recommending wholeheartedly… then it’s probably not the book for me, lol. Our reading tastes are WILDLY different!
Hmm. I read The Unseen World, and I liked it but didn’t LOVE it. Honestly I couldn’t remember a lot about it until I read your review, and I think I know what you mean when you say it tried to do too much. It’s also frustrating when you think a book is going to be about one thing, and it turns out to be something else.
Emma M Lion… someday I WILL get there.
There was so much going on in The Unseen World, and I think the most compelling plot was the dad and everything he did leading up to being diagnosed with Alzheimer’s. I wanted more from him!
Stephany, I have just started Volume 8 of Emma M. Lion! What am I going to do when I finish it? I’m dreading it!! It never occurred to me to choose a team! Team Hawkes? Interesting. I will let you know who I’m rooting for when I finish book 8.
I am here for you in your Emma M. Lion drought. We are in this together!
You’ll have to let me know if you have chosen a team!
I have only read the Morisaki Bookshop one and I wasn’t too excited about it either. It was all over the place and didnt really have a story. I heard there is a follow up but I won’t be reading that.
I heard the follow-up for Morisaki was better, but ugh, I just don’t have it in me to try!
I’ve started and not finished a few Japanese translated books with book themes and cats on the cover because they are boring/not memorable to me. I wonder if in another part of my reading life I will absolutely love that style!
No! Feb 2027! That’s too far away! I wonder how many volumes there will be.
I think Beth Brower said she is playing 20-something volumes! And I am HERE FOR THAT. Give me all of the Emma M. Lion, please and thank you!