Days at the Morisaki Bookshop… Here we go.

First impression: hate the protagonist, and now much she sleeps. How is that humanly possible? This coming from a person who loves to sleep every chance she gets and she doesn’t sleep more than five hours a day.

Lost in translation: While I like some of the lines very grounded and relatable, a few lines sounded weird, almost as if the actual meaning the author wanted to convey is lost in translation.

A cultural difference. This is the first time I’m reading anything. Sit in Japan and for the culture references and the cultural shift in general was a little strange. Good strange, not bad.

Little pearls of wisdom like:

1. So sad I could reach and feel the grief physically
2. it’s important to stand still Sometimes, a lesson that i need to teach myself.
3. Uncle loves running the bookshop but still goes back and forth on it, just like me, love the work, hate the workmates

P39. At some places the writing feels plain.

Ch 4 I have a feeling about Tomo, will wait until it’s confirmed.

At the end of part 1, I cried. I expected what was coming and I vowed to read past and not be affected but I wept like a baby. Goodbyes are hard for me and I’m very emotional. Every time I visit some other city and leave house I cry buckets of tears. I guess what I am trying to say is: this was the only time I related to takako.

Part 2
Oh boy, it reads like a different story altogether, and not in a good way.

P90

When you read it, the writing can be clumsy, and there are a lot of places where it feels like it’s missing something.

That just about sums it all. Although the next sentence claims the book (Up the hill , in a conversation with Takano and Akira), “But there’s something about it that fascinates me.” I may not agree with. Reminds me of Mark Twain’s disclaimer at the beginning of “The adventures of Huckleberry Finn”. But he is such a master storyteller that he can say that.

Part 2 chapter 8

I realize that Takako bursts out laughing far too often, and I never like that. Forget main character, I don’t even like it if side-characters do it.

The way the is chapter ends is so weird, so weird. From a quirky, slice of life story about living at a bookshop to…this? Yikes. I almost want to throw up. What has happened? And to think there’s 20 more pages. Yuk, yuk, yuk.

Part 2 chapter 9

Okay, so Momuko’s reason for running away is serious, and kinda heartbreaking; I can’t even begin to fathom how she felt. This subject, details of which I can’t spare for it will ruin the book, is painful to hear even in real life. It makes my heart stop. Honestly, I literally can’t feel my pulse as I write this.

Okay, I need to do some breathing exercises.

I’m back.

So, yeah, this chapter was alright. And so is the book. But nothing extraordinary. I don’t understand what the fuss was about. The later half was quite bleh, especially the conflict and final resolution.

As I said, it’s a slow book, and not very interesting.

It was an impulse buy, one I’m regretting. There’s another book in the series and I don’t think I want to read it, not just yet even though I planned to read it in October. Heck, I might need to make some drastic changes to my TBR, maybe read another Wimpy Kid book to cleanse the sour taste off my mouth. Don’t get me wrong. This wasn’t bad, but it wasn’t what I thought it would be. And broken expectations leave a sour taste in my mouth, always. That, and stomach, acid. Byeee.

P.S. Read and drafted in October, posting it on 12-Nov-2026 because that’s how my mind is. I’m dealing with it; you will, too.