The Storied Life of A.J. Fikry by Gabrielle Zevin

I started the year strong with The Storied Life of A.J. Fikry, by the same author who wrote Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, a book I loved. Like that novel, this one is charming and moving without ever feeling too dense or heavy.

Once upon a time, A.J. Fikry moved to Alice Island with his wife to open a bookstore. This pleasant life temporarily softened his cynical outlook. Everything changes when his wife unexpectedly dies. Now a widowed bookseller, there’s not much keeping him tethered to Alice Island… or to life, for that matter. He devises a simple plan: sell his rare Edgar Allan Poe book and leave town for good.

But when the precious book goes missing, his early retirement evaporates into thin air. And that’s only the beginning. Another surprise soon implodes his carefully laid plans in a much more meaningful way. The unexpected twists and turns offer A.J. something he never anticipated: a second chance. He might have become an isolated, grumpy older man, but instead life offers him love, community, and a renewed sense of purpose through books.

This novel was such a joyful reading experience. A.J.’s life has its ups and downs, as all lives do, but the story never feels like an unwieldy roller coaster. It’s more like a Ferris wheel: you reach a high point almost without realizing it, and then steadily come back down. The triumphant moments feel like delightful gifts; the harder ones are easier to swallow. Each chapter opens with a short literary review written by A.J., which feels like a little bonus for fellow bookworms.

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Dear reader, I have returned with more comforting Japanese reads for you. Every time I write this type of blog post I feel as if I am collecting my favorite throw pillows to sit amongst on my favorite couch. The pillows may be mismatched but all have the same theme, whether it be a print, color, design, etc. And each pillow has a story behind it. I hope to tell those stories well in today’s post.

Days at the Torunka Cafe by Satoshi Yagisawa

Tucked away on a narrow side street in Tokyo is the Torunka Café, a neighborhood nook where the passersby are as likely to be local cats as tourists. Its regulars include Chinatsu Yukimura, a mysterious young woman who always leaves behind a napkin folded into the shape of a ballerina; Hiroyuki Numata, a middle-aged man who’s returned to the neighborhood searching for the happy life he once gave up; and Shizuku, the café owner’s teenage daughter, who is still coming to terms with her sister’s death as she falls in love for the first time.

While Café Torunka serves up a perfect cup of coffee, it provides these sundry souls with nourishment far more lasting. Satoshi Yagisawa brilliantly illuminates the periods in our lives where we feel lost—and how we find our way again.

As with many other Japanese novels I have read, the business in question has its solidified customer base that knows how to find it, and it is always hard to find except by those who need its mysterious healing powers and the camaraderie of its inhabitants. The Torunka Cafe happens to be down a narrow alleyway and there is always a cat to guide you to its door.

This book is as much about the nourishing properties of a well made cup of coffee as it is about the customers finding healing and the ability to forgive both themselves and others. Each chapter is written in the first person from the perspective of a different character. I found this perspective switch hard to follow at first, but quickly got used to it as the book went on.

In a particular conversation one of the characters tells another, “When things don’t go well, you might think ‘damn it’, but sooner or later what happened to you is going to become something that sustains you in the future. And when you start something new, there’ll be hassles too, but it’ll be exciting, won’t it?” This is a theme carried throughout the book with all three of the main characters.

There is also an interesting backstory on the cafe’s name that sent me down a rabbit hole, but I’ll leave you to discover that on your own, dear reader!

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