Yagisawa is a Japanese author who originally wrote his books in his native language. Then, they were later translated by Eric Ozawa. These books speak about the corporate lifestyle many people lead where their nine-to-five jobs consume them.

With an unfortunate twist, the main character, Takako, pauses her draining life and takes a break at her uncle’s used bookshop. The bookshop has been in her family for a couple of generations and has been her grandfather’s legacy. It is set in a small town with various bookstores and regulars are people she runs into almost everywhere.

Initially, she disliked living in the bookstore because she was no longer as close to her uncle as she was as a child. However, gradually, she learns to appreciate her life for what it is and bonds with her uncle. Being around books for so long, they piqued her curiosity, and she found herself immersed in a world she had not considered before.

Pulled quote “At some point in the past, someone reading this book had felt moved to take a pen and draw a line under these words. It made me happy to think that because I had been moved by that same passage too, now I was connected to that stranger,”

Overall, the book has tones of nostalgia and melancholy, but most importantly, it has moments of realization and finding contentment with your life. The book was engaging from the beginning because it introduced the problem in the first few chapters, which was able to hook the reader. As the book goes on, the tone is kept engaging throughout with many different relationships being built.

This book offers many moments of reflection for the characters and even the reader. If you want a break from your consuming life, this is a perfect read to escape to a tranquil used bookshop.