Description

For fans of The Midnight Library and Before the Coffee Gets Cold, this charming Japanese novel shows how the perfect book recommendation can change a reader’s life.

What are you looking for?

This is the famous question routinely asked by Tokyo’s most enigmatic librarian, Sayuri Komachi. Like most librarians, Komachi has read every book lining her shelves—but she also has the unique ability to read the souls of her library guests. For anyone who walks through her door, Komachi can sense exactly what they’re looking for in life and provide just the book recommendation they never knew they needed to help them find it.

Each visitor comes to her library from a different juncture in their careers and dreams, from the restless sales attendant who feels stuck at her job to the struggling working mother who longs to be a magazine editor. The conversation that they have with Sayuri Komachi—and the surprise book she lends each of them—will have life-altering consequences.

With heartwarming charm and wisdom, What You Are Looking For Is in the Library is a paean to the magic of libraries, friendship and community, perfect for anyone who has ever found themselves at an impasse in their life and in need of a little inspiration.

(Source: Goodreads)

Review

I received this book as a Christmas present and was pleasantly surprised by it. The cover featured a cat and books, making it seem like a perfect quick read for 2024. Naturally, I was excited to read it and knew it wouldn’t take long for me to take it from my bookshelves.

The book is divided into five chapters that tell the story of people at different stages of life who eventually visit a librarian in Tokyo named Sayuri Komachi. She can quickly determine and recommend books that the patrons want, but the real magic is when she recommends books she thinks the patrons need to enrich their lives. This is a beautiful concept, especially for those of us who see the library and books as magical in their own right.

While I like this idea, the formula in this book is pretty repetitive. Each character’s backstory is unique, but there is a lot of overlap when the patrons visit the library and meet the librarian. I felt the redundancy was a bit of a barrier to enjoying chapters 2-5 to their full potential. The backstories, though, were all interesting to read and were one of my favourite parts of reading this novel. I learned quite a lot, especially regarding work culture in Japan and how it relates to these five individuals.

The book overall has a very cozy and warm atmosphere. Readers will especially enjoy this if they enjoy slice-of-life literature or television/film. However, although the book feels very cozy, I noticed that some of the physical descriptions contrast with this tone and are unnecessary/unkind, and I felt uncomfortable reading those sections of this novel. (Content warnings below.)

If you’re a cat lover like me, you might be disappointed by the small amount of cat content despite there being a feline on the cover. Hopefully, the author will include more cat-related content in their future novels!

I enjoyed reading this novel, but there were a few things that I needed to consider before writing my review. It’s a good choice for those who want to spend time with five different individuals and learn how visiting the library can enrich their lives.

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Content Warnings

This Book in Three Words

Cozy, Enlightening, Reflective

Values/Themes

• slice-of-life
• work and careers
• life stages
• finding one’s place in the world

Favourite Part

Learning about each patron.

Feelings

• cozy
• warm
• hopeful

Overall Rating

Numerical Rating: 3.25 stars

Acknowledgements

A: Thank you for the Christmas present!

QOTD: do you often visit the library?