I received an advanced review copy of this book for free from the publisher via NetGalley. This did not affect my opinion of the book in any way.
Publisher: Doubleday
Published: August 2023
Pages: 256
Synopsis
What are you looking for?
So asks Tokyo’s most enigmatic librarian, Sayuri Komachi. She is no ordinary librarian. Naturally, she has read every book on her shelf, but she also has the unique ability to read the souls of anyone who walks through her door. Sensing exactly what they’re looking for in life, she provides just the book recommendation they never knew they needed to help them find it.
Every borrower in her library is at a different crossroads, from the restless retail assistant – can she ever get out of a dead-end job? – to the juggling new mother who dreams of becoming a magazine editor, and the meticulous accountant who yearns to own an antique store. The surprise book Komachi lends to each will change their lives forever.
Which book will you recommend?
My Thoughts…
Every reader has at least once experienced that feeling of suddenly wanting to grab a book off the shelf (or the e-reader), diving into it with passion and barely coming up for air only when life demands it. Being a mood reader myself, I tend to do this quite regularly: sometimes a book will wait for me to pick it up for a very, very long time, but I will almost inevitably at some point feel the urge to pick up exactly that one as if it called out to me. This is exactly what happened with What You Are Looking for Is in the Library, and how apt this was!
Through five seemingly unconnected stories, this book introduces us to Sayuri Komachi, the enigmatic librarian of the Community House library who has an almost magical ability to recommend precisely the right book for every reader, the one even they didn’t know they needed. As each of our protagonists is struggling with a different challenge, through the transformative power of books they find a new and different outlook on life, rediscovering joy and meaning.
The book is framed as a series of chapters essentially reading as short stories, each focused on a different character. The stories are lightly interconnected but can be read separately, the Community House and the library being the only real points in common. I liked how varied the cast of characters was, and how they each experienced different issues connected to the specific phase of their life they were going through – from recent graduates looking for their place in the world to a recently retired man seeking a purpose beyond work. They were also very well drawn, each with their own individuality. I instantly formed a connection with them, and have been thinking about them as I would old friends since finishing the book – always a sign of some very good characters indeed!
If anything, Sayuri Komachi herself was the only character that felt slightly unexplored, save for a few peeks at her character here and there through her (brief) interactions with the library users. This was probably done to keep an air of mystique around her character, but I really would have liked to know more about her. Still, I enjoyed what we did see of her!
One of my favourite aspects about this book was its focus on community and building positive, supportive relationships through open communication, trust, and small acts of kindness. This was particularly refreshing, as I’ve been growing tired of the rampant individualism permeating all aspects of society. Seeing the characters in this book rediscover the value of meaningful connections was like a balm for the soul.
Overall, this was a delightful, heartwarming read that I was genuinely happy to curl up with every night and that left me with a smile on my face, a deep-seated feeling of peace and contentment and a strong desire to hug my loved ones tighter than usual. It’s a simple book that does what it says on the tin, but perhaps this time it was exactly what I was looking for in the library.
Rating: 4.5/5
