More Days at the Morisaki Bookshop is the second episodic slice-of-life novel set in and around the titular bookstore and the people who love it, written by Satoshi Yagisawa and translated by Eric Ozawa. Released 2nd July 2024 by HarperCollins on their Harper Perennial imprint, it's 176 pages and is available in paperback, audio, and ebook formats. It's worth noting that the ebook format has a handy interactive table of contents as well as interactive links and references throughout.
This is such a warm and whimsical story, entirely character driven. It meanders, often touchingly, through the daily lives, dreams and hopes of the characters and their interactions with one another. It's indelibly Japanese in its sensibilities, culture, and grammar. It does read as though it's literature in translation (in this case that's not a bad thing). The translation work is competent and seems true to the original text.
The book is full of references to other works of Japanese literature. This would be a treasure trove for lovers of literature in translation, although many (most?) are likely unavailable in English translation. It's still nice to look them up for more depth and background.
Four stars. It's a delightful very short read. Quite a lot of story, without a lot of conflict or action. A relaxing and delightful experience. This would make a great choice for public or school library acquisition, book club discussion, or home library.
Disclosure: I received an ARC at no cost from the author/publisher for review purposes.
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