The Bookshop Woman - by Nanako Hanada (Hardcover)

Book Synopsis

"I'm the manager of a very unusual bookshop. I have over ten thousand books in my vast memory bank, and I'll recommend the perfect one for you."

Nanako Hanada is a passionate book lover who manages the Village Vanguard, an iconically eccentric bookstore in Tokyo. But her story takes a turn with the breakdown of her marriage. Spending her nights alone in Tokyo's four-hour capsules, she's finding herself rather isolated. That's until Nanako finds the meet-up site Perfect Strangers.

Perfect Strangers isn't a dating site--it's where people meet for thirty-minute bursts to find friendship or romance, build a network, or just share ideas. She sets up her profile promising to recommend people "the book that will change their life." In the ensuing year, Nanako meets hundreds of people, a ragtag range of strangers who happen to believe in the power of a great book. Soon she discovers that she can connect with just about anyone, and bustling Tokyo begins to feel like a welcoming--if a bit quirky--small town.

Written with comforting humor and populated by a delightful cast of Tokyo-ites, The Bookshop Woman is a soul-stirring book about a bookseller's self-discovery. Here she shares what every bookseller knows: Books can be joyful paths toward meaningful connections.

About the Author

Cat Anderson has won the Japanese Literature Publishing Project's international translation competition and is the translator of The Curious Kitten at the Chibineko Kitchen by Yuta Takahashi and The Tsubaki Stationery Store by Ito Ogawa.