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What You Are Looking for Is in the Library

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What You Are Looking for Is in the Library

By: Michiko Aoyama, Alison Watts
Narrated by: Hanako Footman, Kenichiro Thomson, Winson Ting, Shiro Kawai, Susan Momoko-Hingley
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About this listen

Brought to you by Penguin.

The heartwarming Japanese bestseller for fans of Matt Haig, Fredrik Backman and The Cat Who Saved Books.

'Library. What a nice-sounding word. So comforting. I feel like I'm a student again. Library... Am I allowed to borrow books?'

'What are you looking for?' asks Tokyo's most enigmatic librarian, Sayuri Komachi. She is no ordinary librarian. Naturally, she has read every book on her shelf, but she also has the unique ability to read the souls of anyone who walks through her door. Sensing exactly what they're looking for in life, she provides just the book recommendation they never knew they needed to help them find it.

Every borrower in her library is at a different crossroads, from the restless retail assistant - can she ever get out of a dead-end job? - to the juggling new mother who dreams of becoming a magazine editor, and the meticulous accountant who yearns to own an antique store. The surprise book Komachi lends to each will have transformative consequences.

Magical and uplifting, What You Are Looking for Is in the Library is about the wondrousness of libraries and the power of books for change. Highlighting all the tiny comforts of being alive, it is a story that no listener will ever forget.

©2023 Michiko Aoyama (P)2023 Penguin Audio Fiction Genre Fiction Literary Fiction Magical Realism World Literature Fantasy Heartfelt Feel-Good Inspiring Cats

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The story was very good and positive. I loved it. The narration at the
beginning was excellent but the last couple of narrators were very 'unusual'. Over all though I would reccomend this book for its uplifting stories.

Very pleasant story

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Great stories that may be based in Japan but they could be from any where in the world. So real and so heartwarming.

Lovely characters

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Interesting storyline and compelling characters. Each story is quite different and although all of them are quite optimistic, reading it doesn't leave an overly sweet taste in your mouth. It's more of a warming feeling after a bowl of umami-rich miso soup.

Light-hearted and comforting

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I went for this one as Hanako Footman was listed as one of the narrators. As it turned out, this was not necessarily the best choice. Footman does narrate the first story, but not all of the stories. That’s not particularly a problem. The main issue was that having just listened to “Mongrel”, I was now associating Footman’s voice with the characters in that book (for some reason, I didn’t have the same issue when listening to “Mongrel” after “Four Seasons in Japan”). By the time my brain had made the adjustment, the book was onto another part and another narrator. This book is essentially a collection of five separate stories – albeit with links between them. Each story has its own moral or life lesson. For example, the second story is about the importance of trust. I really loved the third story with its views on books and life. The fourth one took a while to get used to – the narration style is a bit like an AI reader at times with short, choppy sentences, but I realised that this was deliberate to make it like manga, and it ends up being effective and endearing once you get used to it. This is one of those collection of stories that I could imagine those not used to Japanese literature not clicking with, but I really enjoyed it, but I think next time I will read the paperback/eBook or perhaps the Japanese original.

Enjoyable collection of stories

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I loved this book. The voices are incredible. You can just imagine a Japanese person sat talking to you. I loved the library and how people made later appearances in other people’s stories. They were all stand alone stories but had a strong connectedness.

Startling coincidences

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very interesting little stories, easy to digest. I like how the characters connected and the librarian is so wise!

love this book

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Liked the whole thing what a great listening experience.Would listen again and still be captivated

Wonderful

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An interesting and engaging novel, split into five stories about five different characters who encounter life challenges and overcome them with the help of a wise librarian.

Gentle, engaging philosophy about overcoming difficulties and becoming the best version of ourselves.

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The narrators change with each story, the first is perfect and I wish she carried on narrating it. The second is fine, but a contrast to the first, so it takes a bit to get used to. The third and fourth narrators seemed to struggle a bit with English, as they took longer to get through a sentence and sometimes it looked like a machine was reading. It kept taking me off the story. But worse was the third narrator interpretation of the librarian Sayuri Komachi, it was so horrible and a complete contrast to the other narrators that almost made me skip that story.
But, despite this, the book is still wonderful.

We all need a Sayuri Komachi in our lives sometime

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Some rich characters that drew me in to wishing for the best for their futures. A lovely introduction to Japanese life and purpose. I particularly enjoyed re-uniting with some of the characters in the final chapter.

Enjoyable and peaceful

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