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.
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