A really endearing read, a tale for book lovers. The intertwined stories flow well, and the story is entertaining and makes the pages fly by.

Actual rating: 4.5/5

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.

This is a perfect book for bookworms🥰

“People find meaning in the bonus gifts for themselves. It's the same with books. Readers make their own personal connections to words, irrespective of writer's intentions, and each reader gains something unique. “

The story follows 5 people who are unsatisfied with their job or their lives. They end up in a community library and borrow a bizarre book recommended by the unique librarian without any clue that is gonna change their lives.

This book is so heartwarming and inspirational. It has messages to all the age groups of adults. The characters are utterly relatable. I love the way they face their struggleßand find something from the books. I really enjoyed the interaction between the MCs and the librarian. How the MCs describe the librarian is quite funny😂
This is such a wonderful cosy read and I felt the book gave me a gentle kick in the back.🥰

After I finished this book, I immediately searched in Japanese if there is any sequels and found none🥺Please please the Author, Michiko Aoyama, write the sequels🥺🥺

What You Are Looking For Is in the Library by Michiko Aoyama is about characters who are searching for a purpose and a new direction in life.

Such a gorgeous hopeful set of inter-related stories exploring connections and how people might come to recognise them.

What you are Looking for is in the Library is a set of 5 novellas, each featuring a central character set adrift in some way and struggling to tether themselves in a changing life. Different ages, genders, and attitudes, these people each find themselves at a community library where they are recommended books and given tokens that sets their feet on a path they had been unable to see for one reason or another, and each time this is done through the connections they find between themselves and their experiences, past and present, to the books they are given, the objects they hold, and the people they meet along the way in the days surrounding their visits to the library.

Each of the stories resonated with me in some way, some more than others, but I found the idea of connection really powerful, and that the way we experience life, literature, and other people are largely because of attitudes and experiences, points of commonality, that we bring to those experiences ourselves. I need to keep reminding myself of this, because maybe I am less susceptible to external forces than I allow myself to believe, and if my perspective of how I interact with the world and the people, places, and things within it can be shifted, then I can shift my sense of purpose and agency.

I think the second story, Ryo's story, was the one I liked best, the closest to my thought and feelings currently, though I suspect this would change over time and with future re-reads.

A quiet, thought-provoking and simultaneously soothing book, and one I actually ended up borrowing from my local library, I will be buying this and lending it to others to pass on the kindness it showed me.

If you liked this, I recommend the Kamogawa Food Detectives, very similar in structure and style, but with food and memory.

What You Are Looking For is in the Library is made up of five interconnected stories, all featuring a character who is at a crossroads in their lives; they are all searching for something but are not sure what it is. They all end up in the library at Hatori Community House, where they are directed to consult the librarian in the reference corner.
In the gaps between customers, Sayuri Komachi spends the time needle felting – something that intrigues me and I plan to try very soon. In addition to the books they ask for, the librarian recommends a totally unrelated book that seems to have no relevance whatsoever, but somehow has life-altering consequences for the recipient. They also receive a bonus gift of a needle-felted object which will resonate with them, though it might not be immediately obvious why.
This is a charming and unusual book that emphasises the importance of human connections and community. Alison Watts’ translation is very readable and gives us access to another fascinating slice of Japanese life and culture. Thanks to Penguin Random House and NetGalley for a digital copy to review.

Ever dreamt of a secret haven, packed to the brim with books? Picture an alternate dimension where all your worries and woes fade away. If you stumbled upon such a sanctuary, would you make it your permanent address? Let me know

Librarian Komachi Sayuri will tell you NO. She will not let you stay but she will give you some amazing books that will help you to solve your problems.

"What You Are Looking For Is In The Library" by Aoyama Michiko (translated by Alison Watts) is a rollercoaster of 5 short stories, each unraveling the lives of individuals desperate for change.

Librarian Sayuri, like a literary superhero, points them to the right books with all the answers.
📖 Japan, oh Japan! Their obsession with books, tea, coffee, cats, and food is utterly enchanting. 🍵☕🐱🍜 Learning from their culture is like unlocking a treasure trove of brilliance.

What sets this book apart? While most books about books will make us enter a magical world of books to hide and lost ourselves in, the stories in does not let you dodge real-world problems. Instead, they nudge you to read, learn, and apply that wisdom in your daily grind.

Calling all book lovers! If you adore books about books, this one's a gem. It's not just a retreat; it's a roadmap for dealing with life head-on. 🙂
A 5 star out of 5. I can't give it no less rating.

This is probably one of the best translations of Japanese works that I have come across with a random theme. I must admit to only having read a handful of books that focus on people and their interactions, with no apparent purpose in the narrative that eventually shapes up into something different.
I enjoyed it enough to bump it up my reviewing list in front of books pending review, having read those others much before.
This is an extremely positive story that does not gloss over the difficult parts. Although some of it should have felt cheesy or a little too soft, but it works so well in tandem with the other plots that I felt myself thinking about my own ways of thinking.
One can call this book a set of short stories or just a book about a community as a whole. With every next person we encounter, there is a mention of someone from the previous chapter(s) to show how far they have come and how they contribute to the picture at large. It was as satisfying as reading a series that is multiple books long.
Tomoka is twenty-one and has never had any direction in life; this has translated to other parts of her life. Her bonus gift was a frying pan.
Ryo is thirty-five. He is in both a stable job and a stable relationship but harbours dreams he does not think he has hopes of achieving. His gift is a cat.
Natsumi is forty and a new mother resenting the changes in her life as she perceives them while struggling to handle child care all on her own. Her gift is the earth.
Hiroya is thirty and unemployed. He has a degree in design and skills but lacks the confidence to do anything about it at the present time. His gift is a plane.
Masao is sixty-five and retired. He feels the loss of purpose in his life as well as his identity as an employee in the same company all his life. His gift is a crab.
All of the above people arrive at different stages of their introduction to the Library and meet the enormous Sayuri Komachi. Each of them describes her in a different way, approaches her differently and gets different responses from her. Ultimately, she helps them rethink their ways of thinking and make their own changes with only a slight guidance on her part. Each subsequent chapter has an appearance or two from someone we have encountered before and a hint as to who we are to meet next. It was a truly delightful read, and I would recommend it to any reading group.
I received an ARC thanks to NetGalley and the publishers but the review is entirely based on my own reading experience.

“‘What are you looking for?’
Her voice . . . it’s so weird . . . It nails my feet to the floor. As if it has physically grabbed hold of me somehow. But there’s a warmth in it that wraps itself around me, making me feel safe and secure, even when it comes from that unsmiling face.”

My thanks to Random House U.K. Transworld Publishers for an eARC via NetGalley of ‘What You Are Looking for is in the Library’ by Michiko Aoyama.

This little novel, translated from the Japanese by Alison Watts, contains a series of inspirational interlinked stories. Here the focus is a library within a community centre and Tokyo's most enigmatic librarian, Sayuri Komachi. 

She is no ordinary librarian as she seems to instinctively sense exactly what someone is searching for in life. She then recommends the book or books that will help them find it. She also presents them with a small ‘bonus’ gift that she has created by hand.

Within this short novel are the stories of five visitors to the library, each at a different crossroads in their lives and how the encounter with Sayuri Komachi changes them.

Overall, I enjoyed ‘What You Are Looking for is in the Library’, finding it charming and uplifting. The kind of novel that warms my heart.

Generally, this was a cozy read, atmospherically very similar to "Before the Coffee Gets Cold" series with a message why books are important. Little bit of magic, little bit of human interactions and a little glimpse into the struggles of Japanese society. Sadly, not enough for me to truly be able to immerse myself in the world created by Michiko Aoyama.

Phew, this one was not for me. After rereading "Before the Coffee gets cold" this year and reading novels like "Days at the Morisaki Bookshop" and such, this felt like more of the same for me. I have no problem with stories being Slice of Life, but it seems to me as if all the new (or newly translated) novels from Japanese authors tend to the same kind of vibe. As much as I love cozy fantasy or cozy anything, this one fell flat for me.

I LOVE IT I FINISHED IT IN ONE DAY!!!
I didn't realise I would enjoy it as much as I felt right now. The story telling flew effortlessly and it was very heartwarming 🥺🥺🥺 there are lessons on everyone's journey.

So, this book has 5 chapter. Each chapter has different pov BUT they connect one way or another. As an acquittance, friends, ex co workers, etc. What makes it more beautiful is that ALL OF THEM WENT TO THE LIBRARY AND THE SUBTLE LIFE CHANGING THEY EXPERIENCE IS PRICELESS.

I adore how the author manage to get me hooked from the 5 diff povs. We're seeing from the first person pov on every chapter. The distinctive characterization was clear. They all have solid personality. It got me care for them and happy once they get a betterment in any form.

As a 25+ reader, this slice of life book hits too close to home. I reflect soooo many things from these characters. It talked about works and dreams, and it opened a vast hopeful opportunity to still "live" your life as you grow older. Do not let age limit what you want and can do.

I'm not even 30, but I feel old already. I get anxious easily about the future and what if I can settle down the way other people are able to achieve. What if my work is not enough for me to live the old age. Not to mention the age limit to apply for a new job in my country in very very young (mostly 27yo). When I say this book is an eye opening, I'm not exaggerating. It warms me to be able to reflect that life goes on, and the playground is big. When you're forty, it could be you're about to start 💞🫶🏽

I love it so much!!!
I love the English translation, too. Turn out the translator is the same of Sweet Bean Paste (which I also happen to like)!!!

I work within Penguin Random House and received this book as part of Penguin Reads, meaning I am not expected to review in exchange for my free digital copy.

What You Are Looking For Is In The Library is a novel by best-selling Japanese author, Michiko Aoyama. It is translated from Japanese by Alison Watts. Each of the five chapters focuses on a resident of Tokyo who has some dissatisfaction with their life. Through various means, they find themselves at the Hatori Community House, visiting its library. Nozomi Morinaga, the young trainee librarian points them in the direction of the librarian.

Despite her forbidding demeanour, when Sayuri Komachi asks “What are you looking for?” they feel like gently enfolding words. She is a large lady who, between making recommendations for books, often sits behind her counter pulling wool and needle from her Kuremiyado Honeydome soft cookie box to indulge in the calming pastime of felting, creating mascots she gives away with those enigmatic recommendations: “This one’s for you. Please take it. It’s a bonus gift with the book.”

At twenty-one, Tomoka Fujiki is unhappy with her achievements and lack of ambition: advancement in the women’s wear section of the Eden department store doesn’t exactly appeal. Kiriyama, her colleague in the ZAZ eyewear department, whom she later learns gave up an enviable career with a publisher, suggests updating her IT skills at the Hatori CH.

Among several IT manuals, Sayuri’s puzzling pick for Tomoka is a popular classic children’s book, “Guri and Gura”, from which everyone she meets draws a different message. A change in perspective means that Tomoka comes to see her older, experienced part-time colleague in a different light, while Kiriyama’s attitude, “‘In a world where you don’t know what will happen next, I just do what I can right now” has merit.

An accountant for Kishimoto, a furniture business, thirty-five-year-old Ryo Urase wonders if he will ever realise his dream of owning an antique store. It was his happy place as a teen, but while his younger girlfriend runs a successful online business selling sea glass jewellery, Ryo can’t see himself saving enough to start up, let alone succeed. Among business start-up guides, Sayuri also suggests for Ryo “How Do Worms Work” which, in a roundabout way, leads him to considering the possibility of parallel careers, with unexpected support from his girlfriend.

After thirteen successful years with magazine publisher Banyusha as editor for their young women’s magazine, Mila, thirty-eight-year-old Natsumi Sakitani is disappointed to be relegated to Information Resources when she returns from maternity leave. Her birthing of a serial novel by the famous Mizue Kanata, later published as a book, apparently counts for little. At forty, she feels she is finding little satisfaction with either motherhood or her career.

Sayuri tells her: “Life is one revelation after another. Things don’t always go to plan, no matter what your circumstances. But the flip side is all the unexpected, wonderful things that you could never have imagined happening. Ultimately it’s all for the best that many things don’t turn out the way we hoped” and recommends a novel “Door To The Moon”. Eventually, Natsumi realises she has been seeing herself as a victim. A suggestion from Kiriyama, a former colleague, finds her in a very satisfactory new career.

Although Hiroya Suda went to design school with the intention of realising his dream to be a famous graphic artist, at thirty, he is still unemployed and living at home with his mother. When he finds himself in the library at Hatori CH during a shopping chore, the attractive young assistant librarian points him to Sayuri as the source of a cute Manga mascot. The frustrated artist draws inspiration from her recommendation, “Evolution- a visual record”, and begins drawing again. Regular visits to the library result in paid work and exposure of his talent.

Masao Gonno has retired after forty-two years with Kuremiyado, and “now that I no longer work for a company I am no longer acknowledged by society at large.” He realises he was mistaken in thinking that he had a wide personal network when it was all business associates, and he has a worrying lack of hobbies.

The man who gives him a Go lesson warns him about getting underfoot with his wife, Yoriko, who teaches IT at Hatori CH. Sayuri recommends a book of poetry, “Genge and Frogs” that surprisingly helps him reconnect with his somewhat estranged daughter, and he begins to see the remainder of his life from a different perspective.

What initially seem like separate vignettes begin to connect when characters start appearing in each other’s stories, which allows further resolution and provides some back story. Aoyama gives her characters wise words and insightful observations, and her love of, and respect for, books and libraries is apparent at every turn, as “People working in the book industry are not the only ones who make the publishing world go round; most of all it depends on the readers. Books belong to everybody: the creators, the sellers and the readers. That’s what society is all about” and “Readers make their own personal connections to words, irrespective of the writer’s intentions, and each reader gains something unique” illustrate. Utterly delightful!
This unbiased review is from an uncorrected proof copy provided by NetGalley and Random House UK Transworld.

In a community centre sits an inconspicuous library. In the library works the quite conspicuous Sayuri Komachi. She seems to just know what book you should read, even if it doesn't make any sense to you why she should recommend it.

That book will change your life.

Fans of the 'Before the Coffee' series, or 'Days at the Morisaki Bookshop', will love this. It's a love story for books, the power of reading and the freedom and future possibilities that books bring. Just wonderful.

(With thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for an ARC of this title.)

A charming and fantastic read. It enchanted me from the first page, and was overall incredibly enjoyable. I'd definitely recommend picking up this book, even if you've not really delved into translated fiction before. It is a magical read.

I loved this book, such a gorgeous and comforting read. Our characters go to the library and ask Ms Kumuchi for a book recommendation and get so much more, changing in themselves and therefore experience positive changes in their lives, I enjoyed following all their individual stories and how they interlinked.

A really fabulous read. I love Japanese translated fiction and this is definitely one of them. Hopeful and fun and emotional, and just really pretty great.

This was a lovely novel full of heartwarming happy endings and loveable protagonists. A story about a librarian, told by the narration of the events of five different characters' lives which lead them to the library in search of book recommendations and possibly something more, though they aren't sure what.

In the books that she recommends and the tiny felted toy that she gifts them with each list, each character finds deeper meaning and eventually, are inspired to take a new direction in life and come to understand what they truly desire. This is a lovely wholesome read and I can see why it has been so successful in Japan! I am very grateful for the opportunity to read this and will be highly recommending it!

This book is an absolute gem! A really warm, cosy read.

The book is essentially five shorter stories of individuals struggling with finding their place on life. Each has something they aren’t quite happy with and a trip to the library in a local community centre sets them on the right path.

The stories are intertwined and it’s nice to see the small impacts and interactions that the characters we have already met have on those we are just getting to know.

This was just a pleasure to read and I would recommend it to anyone who is looking for an uplifting, charming, cosy little book to read on these dark nights.