What You Are Looking For Is In The Library

A Book About Books And The Beauty Of Subjective Reading

My Copy Of What You Are Looking For Is In The Library

Hello, my lovely bookish friend!!!

Welcome back to my little bookish corner of the internet where I talk all things books. Have you been reading this week?

In a recent letter, I talked about the books I read in Q2 of 2024. One of those books was What You Are Looking For Is In The Library by Michiko Aoyama. I mentioned that it was my favourite book of the quarter, but felt that that wasn’t saying enough. I had thoughts I wanted to share, so I decided today I’ll do just that.

This book originally is in Japanese. I read the English translated version by Alison Watts. 

The story is divided into five chapters, each following one individual character. These characters are all facing personal struggles, and end up at the local library. There, the librarian, Sayuri Komachi, gives personalised book recommendations to them which gives them a new direction in life. Books have always been my go to solution for all my life’s challenges, so that definitely spoke to me. But that wasn’t all. 

The books Miss Komachi recommends don’t exactly address the specific problems the characters are having and give a solution. No. It’s pretty much the characters making up the solutions, with inputs from the books. Along with the book recommendations, Miss Komachi also gives each character a bonus gift— a small handmade felted toy. These toys seem absolutely random. Until, they start directing the characters in their desired direction. To the point that it seems like Miss Komachi has some secret super power, otherwise how could she have known which particular gift would suit whom?

That is a question one of our characters asks her in the last chapter. To which her answer is simple: she chooses the gifts at random. 

People find meaning in the bonus gifts for themselves. It’s the same with books. Readers make their own personal connections to words, irrespective of the writer's intentions, and each reader gains something unique.

This is something I personally have always believed. There’s a scene in the last chapter, where one of our characters is discussing a poem with his daughter because he is struggling to interpret what exactly the poet was trying to imply. But as they discuss, he realises his daughter has a completely different interpretation of it from him, and figures that the poet, too, might have had something completely different in mind while writing it. It reminded me of when my cousin was telling my mother about Wuthering Heights. My mother asked, what is this book about? Him and I answered together.

‘It’s a love story.’

‘It’s a story of revenge.’

I found that funny, because surely, Wuthering Heights is both. But still, there’s clearly a difference in how the two of us perceive it. And who knows, what Emily herself had in mind when writing it.

Books might, and they definitely have, some intrinsic meaning to them. However, it’s also the reader, with their unique life experiences and worldviews, who interact with them. That interaction creates something unique. I believe no two people ever read the same book and no-one ever reads the same book twice.

And I love this book for capturing that so beautifully.

What about you? Have you read What You Are Looking For Is In The Library? Don’t forget to let me know.

For more of my bookish ramblings, you can also find me on Instagram

Also, if you’d like me to write for you, you can contact me at joyiewrites@gmail.com

That’s it for today, I'll be back in your inbox next week.

Until then,

Joyie 🌻