Books finished in 2025: pre list start

[vivdunstan]

Just finished my first book of 2025. An Academy for Liars by Alexis Henderson. Dark academia. 3/5 stars. Now for my next novel started Days at the Morisaki Bookshop by Satoshi Yagisawa, my book club read this month. Initial impressions: writing style a bit brisk for my taste but sticking with it.

Comments

[greenwoodside]

Interested in your impressions of Days at the Morisaki Bookshop. I was on the verge of buying it but skimmed a few pages in Waterstones and thought it might be a bit too twee/reliant on platitudes.

I'm happy with some tweeness, but there needs to be a counterweight of some kind as well (like plot, an eye for character and setting etc) to balance it out.

[vivdunstan]

Will report back! I'm usually happy with cosy Japanese fantasy books, like the coffee gets cold ones etc. But normally they do have a bit of a dark element in there as well to balance things. I'm feeling a bit nervous about this one, as if the writing style might indicate wider problems. But will report back after finishing!

[greenwoodside]

Have never really investigated cosy Japanese fantasy (outside of Hayao Miyazaki films). Is there a book you'd recommend as a gateway to the genre?

[vivdunstan]

I'd just start with "Before The Coffee Gets Cold", though make sure you start with the first in the series. This is a light slice of life tale combined with magical realism and a bit of time travel. Slice of life + magical realism is a common combination in much recent Japanese literature that's proved very popular among Western readers reading in translation.

[greenwoodside]

Thank you! Added to my booklist.

I've noticed there's been a surge of interest in Japanese contemporary writing over the last few years. Right before the pandemic, a colleague of mine was reading 'Convenience Store Woman', albeit I don't think that was has any fantastical elements.