The narrator is Takako, a young woman who, having been ditched by her boyfriend, does not know what to do with her life. Her eccentric uncle reaches out to her with the offer of a room at his bookstore in Tokyo. Not much of a reader, Takako eventually comes to love classic Japanese authors and meets several people in the bookshop district who impact her life.

I liked this book but I can’t summon up a lot of enthusiasm for it somehow. Perhaps it was just a bit too nice. Also there is a cat on the front cover, but as far as I remember, no cat in the story.

First published in 2010. This edition translated from Japanese by Eric Ogawa and published in 2023 by Harper.