Rating: 3/5

Michiko Aoyama’s “What You Are Looking For Is in the Library” follows the stories of five individuals—a retail assistant navigating life after college, an accountant feeling discontent with his career, a new mother juggling work and motherhood and a retiree seeking purpose.

Through its five chapters—one for each character—the novel brings everyone to their local community center’s library. There, they meet Ms. Sayuri Komachi, the librarian.

Each character shares a similar impression of Ms. Komachi, noting her imposing stature and her box of Honeydome cookies filled with felting tools. Their conversations with Ms. Komachi are always brief and straightforward. At the end of their interactions, Ms. Komachi sends them off with a personalized book recommendation and a symbolic hand-felted mascot, such as a frying pan that led to a character discovering their passion in baking and cooking.

The library is ultimately a place for self-discovery with Ms. Komachi’s book suggestions leading the characters on a journey of self-growth, helping them rediscover their passions and explore new possibilities.

In summary, “What You Are Looking For Is in the Library” is a heartwarming and relatable read. The characters’ struggles are universal to the human experience, whether it be finding a work-life balance or a meaningful purpose in life. It is through the portrayal of these characters’ struggles that readers are able to resonate and connect with them. However, the novel can feel slow-paced at moments. The characters’ internal turmoil is often prolonged before they finally find Ms. Komachi’s library. After which, they each go through the same general routine. As a result, the book can become easily predictable as each character’s narrative molds into one.

Moreover, the English-translated novel uses fairly straightforward language. The Japanese language often carries richer sentiment and emotion in certain expressions than English. I think this lack of linguistic nuance in translation may have contributed to moments where the tone felt flat. For example, when the characters finally draw connections between Ms. Komachi’s book recommendation and their current life situation, their realization is not as engaging as it could be. Rather than leaving room for interpretation, the significance of the book is spoon-fed to readers through simple statements, only adding to the book’s formulaic plot structure.

Ultimately, I enjoyed the full-circle moments at the end of each chapter, which make the book great for people who like to have satisfying endings with no unanswered questions. But if you’re someone who grew up reading the “Choose Your Own Adventure” series and envisioning your own endings or plot twists to books, you might want to look elsewhere.