Sneha Jaiswal (Twitter | Instagram)
It’s only been a few days since I finished reading ‘More Days at the Morisaki Bookshop’ by Satoshi Yagisawa, and I barely remember anything. So why give it a 3-star rating out of 5? Well, it was easy and pleasant enough to finish in a single evening, and it builds on characters readers already know from ‘Days at the Morisaki Bookshop’, making the experience feel like a casual visit to old friends.
Takako remains one of the primary protagonists of ‘More Days at the Morisaki Bookshop’. In the first novel, she is a broken young woman living in her uncle’s bookshop, trying to figure out what to do with her life after a crippling breakup. In this sequel, she no longer lives at the Morisaki Bookshop, she has a new job and a new boyfriend called Wada, a nerdy literature enthusiast who works in publishing.
What’s ‘More Days at the Morisaki Bookshop’ even about? Not so much the bookshop, but more about Takako navigating her new romantic relationship, playing cupid for her friends, and trying to get her uncle Satoru (you know, the kooky guy who runs the family book store) to spend more time with his wife, the charming Momoko, who is dying. Sure, some of the novel is also about Takako missing her time living in the bookshop, so she keeps visiting the neighborhood and never loses an opportunity to take care of the place for her uncle.
While the joy of reading was a bigger theme in the earlier book, it’s more of a secondary element in ‘More Days at the Morisaki Bookshop’. There’s a small subplot about Takako and a friend going on a hunt for a rare title across several bookstores and fairs, which unfolds like a silly treasure hunt, but apart from that, books feel more like props than protagonists.
The first book introduced Wada as Takako’s boyfriend, but readers were given next to nothing about their relationship or personal dynamics. In this sequel, what we get instead is an exceptionally awkward portrayal, where the two behave more like college students working on a group project than a couple trying to romance each other. Takako is painfully bad at communicating, and Wada is somehow worse, which makes their limited interactions, mostly reduced to occasional coffee shop meetings, feel flat and, simply boring.
I mean… why are they even dating each other? Only the author knows! Takako’s playful familial relationship with her uncle Satoru and aunt Momoko is a lot more interesting than her drab dating life. In-fact, since Takako can come across as a bit of a dullard, ‘More Days at the Morisaki Bookshop’ might have been far more engaging if Satoshi Yagisawa had chosen to tell the story from Satoru’s perspective instead.
Satoru would have definitely made for a much more intriguing protagonist, since he is older, quirkier, and running the bookshop with near-militant devotion. His daily life, especially having to navigate a stormy and unpredictable spouse like Momoko, would have offered the author plenty of room to explore what’s actually going on inside Satoru’s head. That, at least, sounds far more amusing than following Takako as she fumbles through an uninteresting relationship. If nothing else, readers would get a fresh perspective.
Anyway, overall, ‘More Days at the Morisaki Bookshop’ is an easy, low-effort follow-up for readers who enjoyed the first novel. That ease, however, is something of a double-edged sword, those coming in with higher expectations may find themselves disappointed by how lukewarm and uneventful everything feels.
Rating for ‘More Days at the Morisaki Bookshop’: 3 stars on 5.
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