Synopsis:

From the beginning of summer to early spring, I lived at the Morisaki Bookshop. I spent that period of my life in the spare room on the second floor of the store, trying to bury myself in books. The cramped room barely got any light, and everything felt damp. It smelled constantly of musty old books.

But I will always remember the days I spent there. Because that’s where my real life began. And I know, without a doubt, that if not for those days the rest of my life would have been bland, monotonous, and lonely.

The Morisaki Bookshop is precious to me. It’s a place I know I’ll never forget.

About The Author:

Satoshi Yagisawa was born in Chiba, Japan in 1977. Days at the Morisaki Bookshop is his debut novel, and it won the Chiyoda Literature Prize. It was first published in Japan in 2010, the sequel More days at the Morisaki Bookshop the following year. Morisaki shoten no hibi, a hit Japanese movie based on the book Days at the Morisaki Bookshop, was released in 2010 received a great acclaim. His books are widely loved by readers across the world for their warmth, hope and their gentle bookish charm of everyday life.

My Review:

Ever felt the feeling of laying our head in the lap of our grandma or grandpa recently? That’s what I felt when I was reading this book. Like a lullaby (not at all feeling guilty of falling asleep), I felt the warmth in this cold winter breeze. I love how Satoshi reminded us the feel of holding an old book. Isn’t it quite an obvious (lovely maybe?!) metaphor to compare the old books with our grandparents. Both gives us that similar warmth feeling when we are near them. Their old and musty smell is what reminds us of the feel “finally home!” and so does an old book. Imagine yourself filled with those old books around and with an abundant time for yourself, I definitely would say how blessed you are! While reading the book, I sometimes wished and felt envy towards Takako to get to live in that small and cozy secondhand bookshop. It’s always a dream of mine to have a such a cozy bookshop and when you enter, that warm sweet smells of cinnamon buns and coffee with classical piano repertoire playing in the background, welcoming you to my store, which reminded me of one of the sentences from this book –

I wanted to know what it would mean to live life on my own terms – A slice from Satoru Morisaki’s life

This book also reminded me of another thing about relations. In this busy, bitching era of artificial smiles, masked faces around us, humans in their contemporary stereotypical lives, are getting lost in grabbing attention through content rather than waving at the hearts with their simple innocent smiles, poking in the back with their harsh words rather than standing next to each other holding hands and giving the hope of “I’m here for you.” This book is like an alternative universe of the one that I am currently in, I feel. Having a community or a group who truly listens to what we feel, having those evening cozy coffees together blabbering about little things. It clearly shows that the art of being there for each other is one of the important things in life. Satoshi successfully achieved in portraying the slice of life moments with love and emotion.

I definitely recommend this book to the ones who are in need of a warmth in their bustling lives. It’s okay to slow down and take a breath (yes! truly a real big breath) of the fresh air around us is what everyone should do every now and then. Just to remind ourselves that ‘life is very simple if we look at it without the outside and our inner noises.’ I will let you guys enjoy this cozy read by yourself now 😉

Maybe it’s high time for me to travel around my city to find some treasures from the old bookshops. Have a wonderful year with a bunch of adventures ahead. A Bientot!