What you are looking for is in the library by Michiko Aoyama
These interlinked stories, which together make up a sort of novel worked well for us; giving interest and enjoyment with pearls of wisdom to take away and think about. If anyone would like to write a sentence or two about the book, please email me janet.bayliss@esneft.nhs.uk – so we can post to the book group part of the ESNEFT book group website.
These stories were both poignant and sweet, without being overly sentimental or cloying. Each one deals with the experiences of one of five Japanese characters who for differing reasons visit a “community house” in a suburb of Tokyo. There they find a library and then talk to a very large and very unusual librarian, who almost has a sixth sense in the way that she can get to the heart of their problems and find a book or books to help them resolve the issues.
It took until the second story for some readers to get into the book and there were differences in the favourite characters within the stories, which seemed to us to be quite unrelated initially, but with the threads tied up together by the end. We felt the last story about Masao, the retired cookie sales man was all about exploring life and appreciating each day, but each tale has a message about looking beyond the obvious and trying something new. We liked it both as a rather well written “self-help” sort of book and for providing some interesting insights into Japanese life and culture. Each chapter touches on the Japanese work ethic, for example and the book helps to point towards some differences with Western values.
We all wanted to try “Honeydome” cookies and were disappointed to discover that these important plot devices were fictional; we also liked the little felted mascots handed to visitors by the librarian as a “bonus gift”.
The author, Michiko Aoyama was born in Honshu, Japan in 1970 and worked as a reporter for a Japanese newspaper and then as a magazine editor. Her background influences her stories, particularly in the case of Natsumi, the former magazine editor and harassed mum who must find a way to reconcile her childcare duties and her career. Mention must also be made of the translator Alison Watts, with praise for preserving the sense and style of a book that has sold over 2 million copies worldwide.
We talked a bit about different ways of looking at things and different cultures; with the book I want to die but I want to eat tteokbokki by Baek Sehee being mentioned, an intriguing mix of memoir and self-help that was a huge bestseller in Korea.
For lovers of crime books in what I would call the “scandi-noir” tradition, Snowblind by Ragnar Jonasson was a suggestion, taking the “murder in an isolated place” type of theme and moving it into Iceland, with the addition of an avalanche. Chilling.
Paul Murray’s The bee sting is unfortunately too long for a book group choice, but is well worth a read as an absorbing, sad and funny portrait of a well-off Irish family in some trouble.
Finally, from the non-fiction sphere, An immense world by Ed Yong gives a suggestion of how other animals perceive the world; and the extraordinary senses that some creatures have: such as the ability to react to magnetic or electric fields or navigate via sounds not audible to humans.
Several of the above may be on Libby, check them out at the ESNEFT Libby pages.